First Love

Girlfriends, do you find that love is misunderstood in our world today? We are "taught" that it is a feeling instead of a choice. Do we tend to find that love is totally missing from so many that we make contact with each day, day in and day out? At times, perhaps even missing from us? We may be asking ourselves, how did I allow MY love for God and others to dissipate from me?

I think that Revelation 2:4 NIV is a great place to start when we are looking for that answer.

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love."

What is our first love, as Believers? GOD, Himself! Why? Because His word tells us that we can't love without Him.

"We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4: 19 NIV

Do you see that? first love, God's word is PERFECT!

And in the very next verse from Revelation 2:4 from above is that He tells us how to get that FIRST LOVE back in verse 5:

"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 lampstand from its place."

How about looking at this from the New Living Translation, wow!

"But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first! 5 Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first. If you don't, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches."

Do you remember that on fire, giddiness, LOVING, compassionate woman you were, when you FIRST fell in LOVE with Jesus? Has that person become less than who they were at that moment? If so, I think we need to reflect on why you and I have fallen below the mark. Have we let pettiness, faults, back biting, nit picking, anger, bad attitudes and unforgiveness to over take us? We simply may have become annoyed with one another? What does His word say? TO REPENT, make that U-TURN, turn 180 degrees opposite of where we have been headed and get back on track. What was the jest of Revelation 2:4 out of the NLT? You, (Yolanda), don't love me or each other as you did at first! (Insert your own name instead of mine.) OUCH!

"And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." 1 John 4:21 NIV is a COMMAND. Not a choice, but a command.

WHOEVER LOVES GOD MUST ALSO LOVE HIS BROTHER. Ok, that causes me to need some alone time with God, you might be saying. GLORY TO GOD, that is what He is after, our alone time, our hearts to turn towards Him, to have a true blue REAL conversation with Him. To be honest and to be obedient.

I would also like to suggest that to have hearts turned towards our First Love we need to praise Him.

Psalm 34:1b NLT: "I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises."

Did we in the beginning PRAISE THE LORD AT ALL TIMES, and CONSTANTLY SPEAK OF HIS PRAISES? If so and we've slipped, how about you and I dusting ourselves off, and give a sacrifice of PRAISE! Lord YOU ARE MIGHTY, LORD YOU ARE HOLY, LORD YOU ARE AWESOME, LORD YOU ARE MY ALL, I NEED YOU LORD, I LOVE YOU LORD.

Praise Him in the morning, in the noon time, and PRAISE HIM WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN!

While we are praising in the midst of the storm as well as on the mountain top, may we always strive to walk as Nehemiah 8:10b NIV encourages us:

"This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."