AWAKENING (Part 3)

I Was Just Thinking About – AWAKENING (Part 3).

In Revelation 2:1-7, when the Lord is described as walking among the Churches, what is the primary area He points out about the Church at Ephesus? The threefold paradigm is given to “Remember, Repent, and Recover (return to first things)” The primary focus the Lord shares with the Church is Revelation 2:4, “But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.” Those words need to be internalized by all of God’s people today – “You have abandoned your first love.” Is it possible that God’s people no longer crave the intimacy, passion and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in one’s personal life? The very thought of it should penetrate deep within one’s soul – “I no longer love the Lord as I once did?!” Even if this is marginally correct, it should drive one to his/her knees before the Lord and remain there until correction is sought and becomes one’s reality? Is this something you need to do – now? 

One concern of the Revivalist Preachers in the early 1700s was the state of worldliness that had been embraced by the people. Materialism had become the primary focus rather than Biblical adherence. There are many ways to describe the Culture and Church in America in the twenty-first century. Materialism and Worldliness stand out among a longer list of departures from Spiritual Verity and Commitments. That which seems to have become distorted and misrepresented is how great the drift has become in terms of worldliness. It seems as though the key words in I John 2:15-17 have been blotted out of the memory of many people today, and that includes professing Christians. What did John write and what did it mean? John wrote: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God remains forever.” 

The direct statement that should arouse concern among the professing Christians is: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Does that remind you of what the Lord stated to the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:4, “You have abandoned your first love.” Jesus was very clear in what He stated and meant in The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In other words, Jesus wants us to focus on the eternal and not the temporal. Where is your focus? What are your values? How would Jesus Christ assess them?

Prayerfully – consider these things with me!