| | Yesterday we heard a sermon on Daniel 5:
And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
–Daniel 5:25-28
It is often easy for us (me) to become casual about our own sin (my sin) and to keep pointing to the need in the Church as a whole, or to point to the sin in the world. It's easy for us (me) to say my sin is forgiven and covered with the blood of Jesus because we're not saved by works but by grace.
But, brothers and sisters, we cannot ever receive God's grace in vain.
You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God...
–Exodus 20:3-5
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
–Revelation 2:4
No other gods means no other gods. As I've been reflecting on Jesus' call for us to return to our first Love in Revelation 2, He has challenged me on this and has been showing me how much I bow down to and serve other gods — how much I love and lust after other gods.
God has called out the Church to be a people holy to Himself, a people who love Him with a pure love, a people that love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength. The Lord Jesus Christ rebuked the church at Ephesus because she had left her first Love. Leaving our first Love is the greatest sin we can commit against God; in fact, all other sins stem from that sin. If we are loving God rightly, if we are loving God wholeheartedly and with a single eye, we will not sin against Him.
How have we abandoned our first Love?
I posted the following as part of a prayer at tent of meeting, but I wanted to include this on my regular blog as well. Tent of meeting is the site I have devoted to prayer for revival. Brothers and sisters, we cannot pray for revival in the Church as a whole if we are not praying for revival come to our own individual hearts.
The prayer below is based on the story of the sinful woman in Luke 7 who showed extravagant love for Jesus. I had posted previously about that passage (see here), but when I heard the passage read aloud last night, the phrase from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet really hit home with me. Have I not ceased to kiss His feet? Have I not ceased to love Jesus? My love is so fitful, like the morning dew. His love is perfect and steadfast for me. His love is never ceasing toward me. God has been challenging me as to how much I really love Him. Should I never cease to worship and love Jesus like this woman?
"Do you love Me?" comes the question from His mouth to each one of us and to the Church as a whole.
How much do I really love Him? How much do we really love Him?
How have I have left our first Love? How have we left our first Love?
May He come and show us the truth about our love for Him. May He grow His love in us so we might love Him as we ought. O, may we not be found wanting. May we more and more love Him like this woman. May we never cease to love Him! He alone is worthy! He alone is lovely! He alone is our first Love! He alone is the Lover of our souls! May He grow His love in us, so we might love Him as we ought! may we not be found wanting in our love for Him!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often we do we leave You, our first Love, for other things!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, priceless Treasure, for fleeting earthly treasure!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our Pearl of great price, for worthless trinkets!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our devoted Husband, to lust after gods!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
Yet how often do we leave You, the Lover of our souls, for fleshly lovers!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, the Fountain of Life, for broken cisterns!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, the Bread of Life, for maggoty bread!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, the Fountain of Life, for broken cisterns!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our Rock, to build on shifting sand!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our loving Master, to be bound to Satan!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our Yokefellow, to be unequally yoked to idols!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our good Shepherd, for hirelings!
From the time You came in to our hearts by faith, have we not ceased to kiss Your feet? O Lover of our souls, we confess how often we fail to love You. Yet You deserve all our love all the time. Forgive us for Jesus' sake. Cleanse us from our sin of not loving You as we ought. Cover us now with His blood. How our love goes in stops and starts. Your love is so unlike that. How wretched we are that we would consider loving any other, yet we do. Forgive us for Jesus' sake. Cover us now with His blood. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
By Your indwelling Holy Spirit, empower us to love You as we ought. Help us to put aside all other loves. Help us to cast off the sin that keeps us from loving You as we ought. Help us to cast of the idols that keep us from loving You as we ought. Show us these things. They can even be good things but we cannot allow any thing or any person to hinder our love for You. You must be our first Love. We are to have no other loves but You. When we put other things and people before You, we are making them gods. We cannot love You with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength when we continue to entertain idols and other loves. Apart from You, it is impossible for us to tear down those idols and forsake other loves. Strengthen us to to tear down our idols and forsake our other loves. Help us to continue to guard our hearts and minds so we might love You alone.
You alone are our true Love. O, Lover of our souls. O Lover of our souls, may we never cease to kiss Your feet, may we continue to love and adore You and to have no other gods before You. That is the kind of love You have for us. You have never ceased to love us. You loved us while we were yet sinners. Your love flows to us through the unceasing flow of Jesus precious blood at the throne of God. Your love flows into us through the unceasing flow of Jesus' Spirit into our souls. Your love flows to us in continuous intercession at the right hand of the Father. You cannot conceive of not loving us for even a moment. How great and high Your love is for us! You have never ceased to love us! Might we never cease to love You! Might we never cease to kiss Your feet! O God, we can only consider loving You because You first loved us. Continue to fill us with Your perfect love, so we might cling and cleave to You alone, that we might desire You alone above all other gods. You alone are our God. You alone are the Lover of our souls. You alone loved us while no one else loved us. May we not leave You, our first Love. Keep us and guard us from lusting after any other loves. Teach us to love You as we ought. Protect and grow the Church's love for You, our wonderful Bridegroom. We love You, O God. Grow in us the love this sinful woman had for you for that is the kind of love You seek from us.
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
Prayerfully come before your first Love and and ask Him to show you how you have left Him for other loves. Confess to Him and ask for His forgiveness and His power to work in you to love Him wholeheartedly.
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