Go Back to Your First Love

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. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 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. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Revelation 2:2-6 NIV

There was a lot that the Ephesian church was doing right. They were hard working people who persevered and even endured hardship for the sake of Christ's name. But, they had an issue. 

The issue was one I think we must all confront if we have walked with the Lord for any length of time. It's when what you do starts to be more important than the one you do it for. "You have forsaken the love you had at first." When you are first saved, you realize the depth of your own spiritual poverty. You just know you need Jesus. Isn't it true that at times we forget what is important is that we just love Jesus. We have no idea what's going to happen or how it's going to happen, we just believe that Jesus will work things out. So, we try to love. We forgive that person who hurt us so deeply. We stop trying to defend ourselves and just make up our minds to be more Christlike. We look to the Lord realizing that it only matters what he thinks of us and if we know we are trying to love others like he loved us. 

Listen. There is a big difference between when I first gave my life to Christ and now. I was a kid and now I am an adult. I was single and now I am married and have four children. Trusting God for a family is a whole different level of maturity. But, it's still trusting God and being Christlike. I friend of mine says, "I got married and than I began to realize I was selfish. I had kids and then I knew I was selfish." My first love was simply total dependance on Christ. My first love was realizing that everyone around me, like me, needed Jesus. My first love now is still the same. Everyone around me still needs Jesus. Frankly, I used to wake up and I would have to go someplace (like work) before I encountered someone. Now, I wake up to a house full of people who need Jesus' love from me. Then I go to work and there is more people who need his love. My first love was and is just trying to love like Christ loved me...

How did you first love Christ? Do you need to go back?

Love Is Not a Warm Fuzzy

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:12 (NIV)

"Love one another". What an iconic phrase, something we hear all the time. You see it on mugs, Facebook, Twitter and hear it in sermons and worship songs all the time. It has become what I call a warm-fuzzy phrase. It feels good to say but it's hard to do. In a way we have heard it so much that we are kind of immune to it's real meaning and true intent.

When it matters is when real love is needed to deal with the hurt and injuries inflicted by sin and our sinful, selfish ways of dealing with each other. Real, Christlike love is sacrificial, do what needs to be done, love. The writer of Hebrews said, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Emphasis mine.) Jesus was not feeling all warm and fuzzy on the cross, he was experiencing all the pain, separation and rejection of our sins. That is the love John is talking about when he says to love one another. 

If you are married, you know that it isn't a warm fuzzy that gets you through sometimes. Dying to yourself, forgiving a wrong that your spouse can not see or acknowledge, is what makes a godly marriage work. All relationships need Christlike love to make them work. 

How do you need to love today?

Father, thank you for your love for us in Christ, what he endured on the cross so that we may be your children. Help us to love one another like you loved us. Praise be to you in us today!

Do You Have a Forgiveness Plan?

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:10-12 (NIV)

Sometimes perspective is everything. Seeing God's love only from the time we encounter him is just a partial picture of the reality of his love for us in Christ. 

I first saw my wife while greeting at church. I saw her come in a week or so later and thought maybe she might go by the church bookstore after the service. So, I went by there to "look at some books" after church and lo and behold she came in with a friend. I made my way over to her and struck up a conversation, trying to not look to obvious. 

After we had dated for awhile she shared with me her perspective. Apparently she told a long time friend of hers that she had see this guy who smiled at her funny or something at church. They decided that I might drop by the book store and guess what? I was there.

If we only think of our relationship with God from the time we first were confronted with the gospel we won't fully appreciate the depth of his love for us. God loved us before the beginning of time, before we were even a twinkle in our mama's eye, before we loved him. Here's the other part of the equation we often overlook. He knew we would rebel and sin so, he planned for it and chose to send his Son to die for our sins. 

We all are sinners. Everybody sins. We all hurt each other. Since God deals with our sin in foresight, knowing he will have to forgive us, we should do the same for each other. Do you get that? Plan to be forgiving. Know you will have to be forgiven. Remember, in Christ God has forgiven you. 

Father, thank you that even though you knew we would rebel and sin against you chose to send your Son Jesus Christ to die for the sins we would commit. Help us to love each other in the same way. Praise be to you in us today!

ARE YOU PLAYING FAVORITES?

     "My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.

     Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" James 2:1, 5

I think the bottom line on this is that to God our outward circumstances do not make us more or less worthy of his mercy, grace and forgiveness. Romans 3:10-12 reminds us "As it is written, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no who does good, not even one."" In God's eyes everyone, regardless of your social standing is unworthy. 

Yet, Christ died for us all, rich or poor. Paul says in Colossians 3:11, "Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." The love of God, the forgiveness offered in Christ, is for anyone who will accept it, regardless of their position or circumstances. 

Favoritism can come in many different ways. But, what James was dealing with was the intentional favoritism (what I might crudely call "butt-kissing") toward people of wealth and status. The pathetic thing was that these people were exploiting them! I think the crux of the matter involves faith, as in who or what are you trusting. If you look to the world and its' system of dominance built to make you trust in anything but God, you will always be in bondage. But, if you trust in Christ and view the world from his perspective, you will inherit the kingdom of God. 

James was concerned that this very worldly manner of living was creeping into the church and people were making choices in an ungodly way. In this respect I think James' message is timeless and therefore relevant to you and me, even today. Trust God, not people and treat everyone, regardless of their outward appearance and social status the same, God does. 

Father, help us to see each other through your eyes. Praise be to you in us today!

SIMPLE GODLINESS/ Titus 2:11-13

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. I teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of Christ." Titus 2:11-13

One of the great blessing of my life was being able to attend Capernwray Bible School in England for a year. So, while studying the Bible I was able to see a little bit of Europe. There was something that tourists, particularly Americans, did. Americans tend to walk with their heads up. The Europeans told me we were cocky because of that. I laughed and explained that we were not be arrogant, we were just looking at all the amazing architecture. But, you see, when you walk uprightly it is generally perceived as confidence. 

What does someone do when they know they did something wrong and asked? If they have a conscience, they bow their head. I once asked a teacher if they had said something to a student. He bowed his head and said, "Yes. Yes, I did. It will never happen again".

The idea of living an upright and godly life is that when we seek to love others as Christ loved us we can rest in the assurance that we did the right thing. Mark Twain said, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."  

In I John 2:10 reminds us, "Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble." Love as Christ loves you. 

Father, teach us to say "No" to ungodliness and "Yes" to godliness. Spirit of God, reign in us. Praise be to you in us today.  

OPPORTUNITIES TO ENDURE: Titus 2:2

"Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance." Titus 2:2

When I first gave my life to Christ I felt such a dramatic turn around within myself I kind of thought that if God continued to work as much as he did that first few years, that in about five or so he would have to take me home. I was young. I obviously didn't really get the depths at which God can work in our lives. I eventually realized that God had a lot to work on within me and following Christ was going to involve some patient endurance. 

I attend a men's study on Wednesday mornings. A friend shared that a battle he was having was his marriage was in shambles. You know, there has been times when I felt the same way. We made it through, but it really was a struggle for a while even though I believe we were both trying to seek God. Patient endurance can only be learned by going through something that requires patient endurance. My only hope was that somehow God would reign where I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Eventually a light came into view. The only thing I could do was trust God and try to love my wife like Christ loved me, even though I apparently wasn't doing to that too well. 

The bottom line is that Christ patiently deals with me with his enduring love. And I am to love others with that same patient endurance. Life will present us with opportunities, we just trust God and try to love others like Christ loves us.

Father, help us to keep our faith fixed on you. Open our eyes to see your love in our lives. Help us to love as you have loved us. Praise be to you in us today!

ACTIONS ARE THE GAUGE OF LOVE: Titus 2:2

"Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance." 
Titus 2:2

The soundness of my love can be gauged by my actions. That is the only way I know how to honestly assess it. Some might say that it's the thought that counts, but, I guarantee my wife doesn't care if I say I love her but my attention is elsewhere. 

There are two kinds of people: Here I am people and there you are people. Christ came into this world, God incarnate, to serve. He did not come to earth and tour to adoring crowds. He came and healed people, sought out sinners to bring them back to God, and died in our place, for our sins upon the cross. If I get that truth, I have to love in action, not in feeling. I think in some respects everyone is a here I am person. We have to feed ourselves, take care of ourselves, provide for ourselves. But, as a Christian, I learn to die to myself and put others first, to be a there you are person.

Yesterday at work a friend was telling me how concerned about his daughter he was. She had been sick and was home with his wife. He said he just wanted to be there, not at work. It is the last week of classes with our students so there is a lot of work to be done to close out the school year, but he just wants to make sure his daughter is all right. You know, sometimes having children teaches you to die to yourself.  

To be sound in love is to love as Christ loved us. It's not about, "Here I am, Lord, love me!" It is about thanking God for his love and loving others because he first loved us. 

Lord, open our eyes to see the opportunities you place before us today to love others in your name. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for loving us first. Praise be to you in us today!

GODLINESS IS THE END GOAL: Titus 1:1

"Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness." Titus 1:1

The playoffs are coming up for my son's little league baseball team. We have great pitching, but, our hitting has been a weakness. So, we have been spending more time in the batting cages. The goal: to get a lot of hits and score a lot of runs. 

Godliness is the desired effect of the knowledge of the truth and faith.  Although it may not always seem easy to be godly, it is fairly straightforward. To be godly is to be Christlike. To be Christlike is to be loving. Think for just a moment of a few things you will encounter today...how can you do that in a Christlike way? 

Lord Jesus, help us to treat people like you would treat them and to act with integrity and honesty, unlike many around us. Praise be to you in us today!

REGARD FOR THE WEAK;Psalm 41:1-3 and Happy Mother's Day!

"Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;
     the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.
 The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;
     he will bless him in the land
     and not surrender him to the desires of his foes.
 The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed
     and restore him from his bed of illness." Psalm 41:1-3

So many truths in Scripture are a two edged sword. Repent and be saved. Forgive and be forgiven. Die to yourself and live. And here in Psalms we are reminded that we are to have regard for the poor. 

What kind of person are you? Do you consider that state that someone else is in with any sense of compassion and empathy? You may not be able to rescue a person from the circumstances in their life, but, do you have any regard for them? 

I have a good friend who has been struggling for a few years trying to get a job. So, many times I wanted to help, but, was unable to help (financially). But, I prayed with him and tried to empathize with him. After a lot of prayer together (and I am sure not just by me) a door seems to be opening, he has had work these last two months. Sometimes we are reminded that we are not God and only he can act Sovereignly and provide for the needs of his people. (Yes if you can give, give.)

This is no formula. We are not talking about a universal law of karma. We are simply remembering that God wants us to have regard for the weak. He will take care of us.

Father, thank you that you know are needs even before we do. Praise be to you in us today!

*By-the-way, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to my mom, my lovely wife (an awesome mom), and and the mom's who love their children like only a mom can!