Your First Love

Have you left your first Love? According to Rev. 2:1-7 it's God's will for you to know the answer to that question. If you want to make sure, ask God to reveal it to you. Examine yourself.  If you judge yourself you will not be judged. When you are chastened of the Lord it's so you may not be condemned with the world.(1Cor 11:31-32)

Our Father God chastens whom He loves. It may not feel good at that moment, but it is ssssssooo good after He restores you to a better place.

It is Gods' will to draw you closer and closer to Himself and restore your first love. Inspirational Bible verses keep you on the right path. The end is far better than the beginning – the joy is overwhelming – you will Know you are much loved of God. It's is a very good thing to continually grow in the Word of God and make adjustments as the Holy Spirit leads you into all truth.

Opening Up
Deeper Understanding

Examining "first love" from a little different perspective may give us some deeper insight to the subject. Studying the Bible from different translations may open up understanding that we haven't noticed before.

Bible verses in Rev.2:1-7 speak to the church of Ephesus about their first love. As we read from 'The Complete Jewish Study Bible' (TCJSB)  let the Word speak directly to you and become personal between you and God.

Revelation 2:2...5 ”I know what you have been doing, how hard you have worked, how you have persevered, and how you can't stand wicked people; so you tested those who call themselves emissaries but aren't and you found them to be liars. You are persevering and you have suffered for my sake without growing weary But I have this against you: you have lost the love you had at first."

Again, in the Amplified Bible,... "But I have this charge against you, that you have left your first love you have lost the depth of love that you first had...   
So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self- your old ways of thinking, your sinful behavior- seek Gods will and do the works you did at first when you first knew Me];otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place-unless you repent.

"(TCJSB)Therefore, remember where you were before you fell, turn from this sin and do what you used to do before. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your menorah from its place- if you don't turn from your sin!"

A Lucifer fall!

Leaving your First Love is obviously no small thing in the eyes of God.

The Holy Spirit begins by describing what the people have been doing. You may relate to some of these things; a person who labors for the Lord, can't stand wicked people(TCJSB) or as the Amplified Bible says, 'you can not tolerate those who are evil, and have tested and critically appraised those...

The first instruction the Lord gives is to remember from where you have fallen. The Message Bible puts it this way, ..“Rev 2:5 Do you have any idea how far you've fallen? A Lucifer fall!”

What?! A Lucifer fall? Wow-THAT sounds SERIOUS. That should make anyone want to sit up and take a good hard look at what God is saying here about leaving your first love.

Lucifer was the highest Angel in Gods angelic kingdom. He was the most beautiful of all, the worship leader, a covering cherub and many other angels looked up to him. When Lucifer began to think himself better than  others, pride was found in him.  This was the beginning of the Lucifer fall.

Trusting in our Own
Good Works

When walking in "good works" for a long time, it is easy to fall into a state of mind that is like the Pharisee who thought in his heart...
“Luke 18:11-12 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'....etc...
 Don't be like this Pharisee who was walking in the flesh trusting in his own good works. Our flesh is anything bad or good that we do in our own ability. That's walking in the flesh.

Gal 5:4-5 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. NKJV Grace can not be mixed with any Law. In other words our own works can not be mixed with the works of God-with Grace. It's either me doing it or its God doing it in me. And if it is God doing it in me, then it is no longer me doing it but God.

If we attempt to be justified by our own works, (as written in the Expositor's Study Bible;...) "Christ is become of no effect unto you."

The"good works" that come automatically, they are the works of the Holy Spirit. They took no effort on your part, it was just a result of the encounter with God.

Your part is only believe. You had faith in Jesus and chose to believe in Him, knowing that He alone will cause you to stand before the Father sinless. Because of the Blood of Jesus alone you were justified. There was a leaning on Jesus, a trust in Him to work all things out in you and joy filled your heart. You knew you were justified by His blood saved by His Grace.

First Love
Unconditional Love

In the beginning when we first loved Him,  we loved Him because He first loved us.  The kind of love that He loved us with was unconditional love.  To gain our first love back we must also love unconditionally.

We should recognize the value and be tolerant of others who are at different levels of maturity in the Lord. No excuse for sin but our love for the sinner should shine through the sin knowing that Jesus died for all sinners.  Jesus ate with sinners and was criticized for it. Yet it didn't stop Him. Sinners felt the love He had for them and they felt comfortable with Him and by His love they were converted. We also must make the sinner feel comfortable around us or we will be totally ineffective for the Kingdom of God. Our lampstand will be removed.

It is not our job to judge anyone but our self. Even Jesus came not to judge but to save the world.  The impact of the church on the world depends on that first love within the church. We Are the Church, the ekklesia (or ecclesia)of God which is Greek meaning 'a called-out assembly. 

Our first Love is not just loving Him but loving others unconditionally.

Left Your First Love?
That can be Corrected

God continues and says, “repent and do the first works.” Repent means to turn around, change your mind. Do a 180 in other words, change your thinking. So go back to the time when you were first converted and remember how it was.

When Jesus is your first love, you walk in the Spirit. As in the beginning, all the works you did were by simply believing God. All works were by the power of the Spirit not the flesh. The results were amazing, it took no effort to succeed for it was God working it in you.

God lifted us up, God cleansed us, God picked us up out of the pit because of His mercy not for any good works we did. It was God the Holy Spirit who opened up the scriptures to us and kept the Word fresh and gave us revelations. It was the Holy Spirit who lead the relationship and kept it fresh and exciting. We simply followed Him keeping our eyes focused on him.

In the beginning we didn't know enough to let pride take us down the wrong way. Our heart was soft and pliable toward God when He was our first love. We were open to new truths in the Word and teachable knowing nothing and relied on God alone to lead us and do it in us.

An Act Of Your Will

Where have you missed the mark? Pride will try to stop us from seeing it. Begin again your walk with God and open yourself up to the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to show you. Be painfully honest and allow God to shine His glorious light in you. You may be shocked to see what is hiding in the deep corners inside your heart. Things you had no idea were there.

Scripture tells us Jer 17:9-10... "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind,”NKJV

How after all this time we have walked with the Lord could we still fall so short? Don't let pride cause you to be embarrassed – no, being able to see it is actually a sign of maturity.

If we can see it and acknowledge areas where we have left our first love, we have just gained great success. With an act of your will give those areas to God and ask Him to take them and replace them with the First Love you had in the beginning. Choose to believe that He will do it in you for it is Gods good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

Be Blessed

Angel Messenger