Revelation 2:1-7 NLT says “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:”
“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.”
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.”
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the Tree of Life in the paradise of God.”
“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.”
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.”
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the Tree of Life in the paradise of God.”
Do you remember when you first came to Jesus? Do you remember your first encounter with the Savior? I can remember simply overwhelming LOVE. Love for God, love for everyone around me. It was as if I was given new eyes as well as a new heart as I saw everyone differently than I had before I met Jesus. The Word of God gives us plenty of instruction on how we are to love after coming to Jesus. We must begin at the altar, recognizing the diminishing of our relationship with God as well as others as life just hits us from all sides and circumstances.
If I am honest with myself, that love; the first passionate love has diminished over the years. Life itself has a way of doing that. We must be intentional in our pursuit of Jesus, the Word of God, The Holy Spirit of God, the will of God, what God asks and requires of us to be His true disciple. What do you hear the Spirit of God saying to you in this scripture? I need to Repent and turn to him as never before. Now is the time for the people of God to rise up; return to the Lord that you first came to know and love. We must be a people of prayer in close relationship to God, learning more and more about him, because we will never in this lifetime learn all that we need to know. What I do know is that I need Him. I need God, I need to know him.
Philippians 3:8-11 NLT says, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law: rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” This was Paul’s cry to God, what is ours? Are we loving Jesus as we should? May we truly come to know and love Him.
If I am honest with myself, that love; the first passionate love has diminished over the years. Life itself has a way of doing that. We must be intentional in our pursuit of Jesus, the Word of God, The Holy Spirit of God, the will of God, what God asks and requires of us to be His true disciple. What do you hear the Spirit of God saying to you in this scripture? I need to Repent and turn to him as never before. Now is the time for the people of God to rise up; return to the Lord that you first came to know and love. We must be a people of prayer in close relationship to God, learning more and more about him, because we will never in this lifetime learn all that we need to know. What I do know is that I need Him. I need God, I need to know him.
Philippians 3:8-11 NLT says, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law: rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” This was Paul’s cry to God, what is ours? Are we loving Jesus as we should? May we truly come to know and love Him.