Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
Back to Your First Love
I believe this warning to the Ephesian church is intended for every Christian living in these last days. "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." (Revelation 2:4, NKJV).
Simply put, the Lord is telling us, "It's not enough for you to be a caring, giving, diligent servant who grieves over sin and preaches truth. It's not enough for you to uphold moral standards, endure suffering for my sake, or even be burned at the stake for your faith. This is all part of taking up my cross."
You can do all these things in Christ's name, but if your affection for him does not increase in the process of doing them, if he is not becoming more and more the one great delight of your heart, then you have left your first love. If your affection for him is no longer a matter of great concern to you, he has something against you.
Consider David's words: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides you." (Psalm 73:25). These are strong words, yet David was not saying that he did not have human love. Rather, the love he had exclusively in his heart was for the Lord. He desired him above all others.
David also wrote, "O God, you are my God; early will I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water." (Psalm 63:1). "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?" (Psalm 42:1-2).
David was saying that he thirsted deeply for the Lord, the way a deer thirsts after it has been chased. A deer will go past the point of exhaustion to find the water it seeks.
Jesus told the Ephesian Christians, "You no longer seek me as the deer seeks. I am no longer the chief object of your desire. You may be willing to do things for me, but I am not at the center of your heart anymore."
Beloved, go back to your first love today. Ask Jesus for grace and strength to begin again to guard your affection for him.
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I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4
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