| November 2008 RETURN Revelation 2:4-5 "Yet I hold this aginst you. You have left your first love."
"Return to your first Love!"
October 1st of this year sitting in His presence, The Lord quietly spoke these words to my heart in a very loving and inviting manner, "return to your first love." After twenty eight years of ministry and many traveled miles endeavoring to live a life for my Lord and for the advancement of His Kingdom, I did not expect to hear those words spoken to me.
I have been seeking the Lord concerning direction for the ministry He has entrusted to Marie and I. It seems lately, we have more questions than answers. We have been sensing a change coming about in our ministry. However, I didn't expect Jesus to say to me at this time, "Return to Your First Love."
When Jesus appeared in all His Glory on the Isle of Patmos He spoke clearly to His friend, John; "To the angel of the Church of Ephesus write: "Yet I hold this against you. You have left your first love." Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works... Rev. 2:4-5 Jesus was calling the Ephesians to return to their first love. I bet the Church of Ephesus didn't expect that admonition either.
Reflecting on my spiritual condition, I found myself comparing my present day activities to those things which I had done at the first. I was assuming that Jesus wanted me to DO the WORKS I had done in the beginning. I looked at the first works which I did after giving my life to Jesus and took a tally of them. In those early days of walking with the Lord I would read my Bible at least three hours a day, pray in the Spirit at least two hours a day, take in the homeless, and feed the poor.
Then I noticed there was a great deal of "I" in all these activities. They were all good and have remained a part of my life in varying levels of passion. However, today I am realizing that the returning to do the first works is not so much a returning to the things that I did, or to the intensity at which I accomplished them, but a returning to the works of God which HE did in my heart at the first.
What are the things which God does in our hearts after we become Born Again?
The first thing probably was to give us an appetite for His Word. In the Bible. Peter writes that we have been "Born Again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." I Peter 1:23KJV Now is the time to ask Jesus to make us hungry again for His words. I believe He will be faithful in answering that prayer.
Another thing which God did in our hearts at the first was to cause us to see others through the grace that He had given to us. We were full of joy, knowing that God loved us, and we looked at everyone else with His love. Paul wrote, "... the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us." Romans 5:5. When did we begin to look at people through the eyes of judgment, envy, and strife?
I feel the greatest thing that God did in my heart at the first, was to make me truly sorry for my sins and for the pain they caused Jesus on His cross. I was so genuinely grateful for Jesus washing my sins away. My heart was filled with love for Him for doing this for me. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
Increasing hunger for His Word, extending love and grace to others, appreciating the work of the cross, these and other things which were a part of my first love experience with Jesus are what I am RETURNING to in this season.
Perhaps you would like to join me in this journey?
Let's pray;
Dear Jesus, We answer your call to return to our first love, which is You. Forgive us for straying from the purity of our relationship with you that we had at the beginning. In coming back to You, we choose not to concentrate on those things which we did at the first, but we choose to again be open-hearted to receive those wonderful things which You did in our hearts from the start. We yield our hearts to You in open surrender. Fill our hearts anew Jesus, with Your Love. Amen
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