1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
I hear Jesus reminding me of one of the biggest dangers for someone who has been in church for years. I hear Jesus tell me not to confuse being busy with church work with spending time with Him. I must constantly remind myself that I was created to have fellowship with the Father, not to work in church.
I must remember that Jesus said, the greatest of all commandments was not to be committed to church, but to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul; and to love those He loves. This leads me to recommit to my daily time reading His word, talking to Him, and hearing from Him. It also leads me to look for ways of letting others know that I care about them and Jesus loves them.
Dear Jesus,
Forgive me for being too busy and too opinionated to love You with all my heart and to also love those who You loved enough to die for.
Jack Roberts, Pastor
CostaMeda Baptist Association
My quiet time in the morning offers me balance in my attitude towards life, my walk here on earth. I’m able to see my negative thoughts through how Jesus interprets things. Today I will try to do what Jesus does for me through his words, for others through my words.
Today I will ignore the enemy’s lie that “this is too tough, just forget about it!” and I will persevere…again. A bit weary, perhaps–but no where near yielding! Verses 1-3 give me strength for today: He knows my deeds, my hard work, and my perseverance. Thank You, Papa. That puts a bit of wind in my sails.
I needed to hear “Ignore the enemys lie” Thank yo for sharing that.
I see that God admires and encourages a church that tests doctrine and does not tolerate wicked people. This raises more questions for me. How do I separate wickedness and error from my own personal cultural preferences for acceptable, tolerable behavior and opinions? Holy Spirit, you can shed light on this. Come and show me and all of us.
If I were a member of the church at Ephesus I would be feeling pretty good about myself hearing those first words, puffing out my chest a bit with pride. But–then comes the second part: ‘You have forsaken the love you had at first.’ Could it be that I’ve made church about me and all the things I’m doing? Is that where the pride comes from? Time to ‘think differently’ and rekindle that first love.
I’m on chapter 8 of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and I’m loving the whole Sabbath idea. Who wouldn’t love a day to ‘veg out’! But it’s a day not of vegging but a day of being still long enough to let God fill me back up. Sounds easy, but in our busy lives it’s actually quite a challenge. My ‘doing’ today and every Sunday is to quit being a moving target and sit still so God can do just that–fill me back up.
I “… have forsaken the love (I) you had at first….”.
I am that man.
Years and years of Christian culture, lingo, program, and forgetting. As I read this passage again, I am struck by the simple reminder to repent and do the things, think about the things, focus on the things I once I did at first. A wonderful thought….
I once heard a pastor in his 60’s asked what he did to stay connected to the “New Every Morning’ truth of his faith, he responded, “I love to spend time with new believers as often as I can… there is an excitement in someone who has just recently discovered and come to an understanding that THEY are the Beloved…. amen.
I also know that old Christian music from my infant Christ following years can bring me right back to those thoughts…
Perhaps it’s time to go back and listen to a bit of Keith, Amy, Michael, Russ, Leon….
Blessings in this time of Lent.
tc
“You have forsaken the love you had at first” reminds me that when He first draws us to Himself we are often keenly aware mentally, emotionally, and spiritually of His love for us. As He says elsewhere through John, “we love Him because He loved us first”, which takes my focus right back to Jesus: As a dear friend is fond of saying “It’s all about Jesus!” For me that starts a flood of remembrances about the greatness of His love, extending “from horizon to horizon”, new every morning, and demonstrated while we were still sinners, when I was still dead in my sins, while I still had an “in your face” hostility toward Him, at the right time He died for the ungodly John Michael. Thinking such thoughts, being “in touch” with those realities, are the things I did “at the beginning” that I am told to “do again” (and again, and again). As I gaze on Him in these ways, the Spirit re-kindles my responsive love. I experience an answer to the prayer “let me love you more at the end of today than I did at its start.”
To a fair degree, I think I just did what He’s telling me to do. So I’ll trust Him to keep it going in me. And I will also trust His Spirit to be reminding me this week to remind others in the family of His love for them. He gives me a smile when I am able to conclude an email with, “Live as one beloved by Papa,because you are.”
This scripture and your remarks reminded me of the importance of spending time with Him first to put my activities in proper perspective. I claim your prayer as my own.
Fist of all I am finding myself growing weary,I find myself doing so much for my recovery and life today that I let my mind get discouraged that its not enough… I hear that I need to keep in mind how far I have come and but also remeber thats it is ok to still have far to go. Its ok to cry but with those tears pray for healing so that i might continue to grow and change in the way God will have me go so I do not repeat my past. I am also reminded that i have a new family in christ now and I need to be honest about my needs for prayer so that I can be strengthened and encouraged. I am not alone any longer. Today I will give myself permission accept the love of my family.
Thank you God for standing by me and guiding my every move, Thank you for giving me a family that loves me for me and lifts me up with encouragement and smiles at every encounter reinforcing that I am not alone anymore.Give me courage to reach out when i am weary ,ever trusting that i am your child and you are my father.In your sons name, Amen
I hear the Lord saying I would benefit from looking back at the things I used to do when I first
started following Jesus.
Today I will spend time in prayer asking the Lord to show me if there is some spiritual discipline I need to “restart” in my life.
Part of ilent breakthrough it the total up, in, out life. Pastor Swap today – a glorious thing! Pete Foster rocked the word on rest at New Life!
‘First love.’ Jesus Christ from whom all my other loves flow. Jesus is my leader and best friend. At least that’s what I want to be true. So for the last many months God is leading me into a deeper love and relationship with Him because He knows that my life works best when He is my first love. Today He telling me to take an hour this afternoon to remember the things I did at first and see if there is something I have stopped doing that I need to restart.