"god is love"
9 Letters, 3 Words, 1 Message
Revelation 2:1-7
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 lamp stands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, 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 your first love. Remember the height from which 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 lamp stand from its place. But you have this in your favor: you hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
He who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
1. God knows us intimately.
Jesus said I know your deeds. We all understand that God knows us, but sometimes we don't appreciate just what that means. David paints a great image for the depth and intimacy of God's knowledge of us.
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
You hem me in – behind and before; you have laid you hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go form your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become darkness around me,
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of the m came to be....
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139: 1-16, 23-24)
In all of our joys, sorrows, victories, and defeats God is right there. God sees our most private thoughts as though they were shouted out loud. Since God knows us so well, let's seek to be honest with ourselves when we look at our spiritual lives.
2. God wants us to know him intimately.
In many ways the Ephesian church was a model that the other churches should follow. They were secure in their convictions. They were able to discern if teachings were in accordance with sound doctrine. They did not tolerate wicked men in their midst. They worked hard for God without quitting or growing weary. They hated the practices of the Nicolaitans ( a group believed to have followed the teachings of Nicolas, one of the seven chosen in Acts who later left the faith and taught moral and doctrinal looseness).
But they had forsaken their first love. Their devotion to God was hollow because they had forgotten the greatest commandment – to love the Lord with all heart with all of your heart, with all of you soul, and with all of your mind (Matthew 22:37).
How does this happen to us? What's are we missing our relationship with God?
Jaded because of sin - “Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:12)
-It gets harder to fight when others give up
-When we fall into sin it is very difficult to believe that we can ever love God the same way again
Habit - “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13)
-Follow Christianity rather than Christ
Distracted by life - “Still others like seed, sown among the thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Mark 4:18-19)
-We are sometimes so worried about our lives, that God gets put on hold. We come to church and have our quiet times, but we are never really there with God because we are constantly thinking about all of our responsibilities.
-It's easier to seek fulfillment from your career, relationships, belongings, and the like than it is to be content with your life from God.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 8-12
If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender by body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing...Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
Paul makes the point very clear, without love everything else we do has no value. You can preach and teach all day long, you can be completely pure, you can serve and meet the needs of others and still go to hell.
There will always be things to do. There will always be studies to get in on, conversations to have, people to encourage, poor people to feed, but if we aren't spending time with God then all of these things are a waste of time. God wants us to know him fully, just as he knows us.
3. Make your love for God new.
How easily our spiritual lives become doing things for God rather than communing with God. Many times we see fathers and husbands who are so busy “providing” for their families that they don't take the time to get to know their kids and make their wives feel appreciated and special. We look at them shaking our heads thinking of how much life they are missing out on. But how many times have you done the same thing with God?
What first drew you to God? What made you even consider giving up your entire life for something that you can't see, touch or hear? What compelled you to change your life?
I'm pretty sure it wasn't simply because you wanted to be righteous or because you wanted to be secure in your doctrine, or because you wanted to deny yourself of sin.
If we want to fall in love with God and stay in love with God we must spend hours in bible study and in prayer, in song and in meditation.
Make your relationship with God special. When's the last time you spent time with God outside of your normal routine?
Practical suggestions:
-Write a psalm
-Spend an afternoon in singing and prayer
-Go on a prayer adventure in the woods
-Do a piece of artwork that reminds you of your relationship with God
-Play basketball with God
-Pray all night and watch the sunrise
-Make a list of all of the things that you are grateful for
-List out all of the qualities of God