First Love Archives - Page 2 of 2

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 3 – VOTD.01.30.17

Post author:
Post published:January 30, 2017
Post category:Verse of the Day
Post comments:0 Comments

God has said: “I will never leave you, never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Hebrews 13:5,6

Last time I mentioned that sometimes when I meditate on the words to the worship chorus, “How Great is Our God,” I insert the words ‘How big’ into the song. The size of our God has a lot to do with why we have so much trouble with the ‘first love’ thing. Loving a Big God takes less effort and less discipline, but it requires more faith.

Doctrinally speaking, we all know that God is all-powerful—He’s stronger than the devil; He’s stronger than our problems. But if you talk with many Christians who say they believe this, practically speaking, their devil is bigger than their God, and their problems are too. Some, because of their low expectations of God, have not only shied away from seeking their first love for themselves, they’ve actively discouraged other Christians from pursuing their Lover God.

After all, history shows us many times when Christians were rejected, persecuted, even martyred. When we focus on that, fear becomes our master and we end up walking by fear instead of by faith. History also shows us many times when Christians have seen God rescue them out of certain death. When we focus on that, our confidence in God is fed and we end up walking by faith instead of fear.

Those who focus on our need to protect ourselves and our flocks will always be overwhelmingly aware of the power of the devil. Their God will always be small in their experience of Him. But if our hearts are completely fixed to the One who promises to never leave us nor forsake us, our God grows in our experience and we find Him almighty. We live by faith, not by fear. (more…)

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 2 – VOTD.01.24.17

Post author:
Post published:January 24, 2017
Post category:Verse of the Day
Post comments:0 Comments

You have forsaken your first love. Revelation 2:4

“The good is ever the enemy of the best.” Think about it. Even in military warfare, an opponent will allow their enemy to win a series of small skirmishes to distract them from readiness for the big battle. They’re so busy taking and occupying acres that they miss the enemy advance on miles. Our enemy employs this tactic against Christians all the time. It’s one of the enemy’s oldest schemes.

However, the Bible tells us that we are not unaware of our enemy’s schemes. Wherever God is at work, you can be certain that the devil is not far behind. He is our enemy who like a roaring lion is seeking whoever he can devour. One of the enemy’s more common schemes is to “defeat us with victory.”

In the context of today’s verse, Jesus applauds his followers in Ephesus for many things: they were serving, discerning, and persevering (vv. 2-3). They were ministering to the practical needs around them; they pursued the truth of good doctrine with care; they faced opposition with diligence, standing firm in their faith. So what’s the problem? (more…)

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 1 – VOTD.01.23.17

Post author:
Post published:January 23, 2017
Post category:Verse of the Day
Post comments:0 Comments

As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:2,3

Some of us can remember what it was like when we were new to the Christian faith; that’s why I always feel a little awkward thinking about “returning to (my) first love”. I’m afraid my “first-love” days were pretty uninspiring. But I’ve learned something along the way…

Returning to our first love isn’t so much becoming a Bible-ignorant newbie again, but growing in true and deep intimacy and passion for the Jesus we once had a superficial (though real) crush on. Babies aren’t supposed to be adults. They have diapers—lots of diapers. They are self-focused. They need constant attention and lots of milk—and spit up a lot of the milk that their caregivers so selflessly supply. That’s all as it should be—for babies. For spiritual babes, too.

But babies don’t just turn into adults one day—not without going through childhood and adolescence. Those teen years can be pretty tough…and when they finally find themselves out in the “real world” with “adult” plastered on their foreheads they’re still growing up, really. (more…)