first love

I am so inlove. I am getting married soon and am so excited to spend the rest of my life with the man of my dreams. I always want to be with him, whether it be… hanging out, talking, running, sitting on the couch being lazy, riding in the car, being active, out to dinner, cooking dinner, taking a stroll, watching sports or just sitting in silence. [I love being around him].

I would not be as close to him if i had not spent so much time with him. I would not desire more time with him if i did not know him so well. I absolutely love this man.

It makes me think though of my relationship with Jesus. The Creator, My Savior, My Deliverer, My Shelter, My Strength…My Everything—-> if i allow Him to be. How much time you spend with Jesus shows how much you value your relationship with Him.

Revelation 2:4 “But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love].” (AMP)

Why is it so much easier to forsake our first true love – Jesus- above anything else here on earth?

Jesus should be our very first love and out of our love for him flows the love we have for other people. So many times we place idols in our lives that take place of the love we have for Jesus…whether that be… people, tv, music, food, money, ourselves, and so on. Now, all these things are not bad things, its when you place them above the love that you have for your Savior…thats when they become idols. Sometimes the blessings the Lord gives us can become idols. But when you make the Lord the ultimate desire of your heart – you are free from the danger of idolatry.

So how can we change from having idols to loving God first and foremost?

Romans 12:1-2 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (NLT)

When we are totally transformed from idol worshipers to God worshipers we are new creations- living the way that the Lord has desired us to live all a long- we become who He created us to be. He transforms our mind…the way we think which leads to the way we act. We acknowledge that He is bigger and more powerful and that He loves us more than any idol ever could come close to. God sent His one and only Son to take upon our sin and die for us and was raised up the 3rd day so that we could live free lives from sin- so we would not be in bondage to sin any longer. Christ sets us free from death and spending eternity away from Him. And He sets us free here on earth so we can live the lives that mirror his- being a holy sacrifice for Him- loving Him so much that we put everything else aside to be wit Him.

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” (NLT)

Keep your eyes on Jesus. That is how we can strip away the sins/idols that entangle us without feeling we have lost something. We have to let go to gain something more valuable than what we are holding onto. We cannot hold onto God and something else at the same time. It’s an all or nothing deal.. and sometimes its scary because you haven’t lived without that “thing” you can’t let go of– but that is why we are called to keep our eyes on Jesus…because when we do we won’t even remember the value of the other thing because he is much more precious and powerful and fulfilling than anything else can be. Trust Him and let go. He has always been faithful to fulfill His promises…why wouldn’t he with you?

Let’s be a people who “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

Lets not forget who our first love is. Our first love is Jesus. Lets not put anything in his place. Let go and Let God. Let’s have Him satisfy us. Lets desire Him above all. REALLY, above all. Lets be so inlove with our Savior that we always want to spend time with Him, Always want to be with Him, Always want to live in Him.

CHANGe. DESIRe. LOVe. ABOVe…ALL.

the storm

On that day, when evening had come, he [Jesus] said to them [the disciples], ”Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ”Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, ”Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ”Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4:35-41

I was re-reading this passage the other day and I have read this story multiple times. However, this time I pulled different things out of the passage that I had never thought about before.

One was it was Jesus’ idea to go across the lake. Now, this lake (Sea of Galilee) was known for high winds and intense violent storms. Jesus knew what he was getting him and the disciples into. He wanted to see how they would put their faith in him. So paralleling that to your life- the storms that happen, the things that seem so bad in your life- Jesus is taking you through them for a reason. He never takes us somewhere where he doesn’t want us to go. He has the storms perfectly planned out and is always available during the storm. It is if we will put our faith in him. Jesus just being in the boat with us should be enough, no matter how high the waves get or how much we feel like we are sinking. . . Jesus is there. He promises he will never leave or forsake us. But we freak out when storms come even if we have been in one before and seen his faithfulness. We want him to calm the storm. And sometimes he will. And the other times we just have to have more faith and trust.

The second thing that I saw was the reaction of the disciples after the storm. They were filled with great fear because they had just seen such a powerful miracle performed. This Jesus could make nature obey him. The disciples underestimate the power Jesus had. They had seen him perform so many miracles to other people, but never seen the power applied directly to them. Now, what is our reaction after a storm in our lives is calmed? Do we just say, oh thanks Jesus and go on with our normal lives, almost forgetting the power of the Lord?  This really struck a nerve with me. After we see the power of the Lord in our lives we should be completely fearful of Him- and his power. He has the power to do anything in our lives and anything at all. Now this is a reverent fear that shows a complete awe towards our God. It compels us to obey him, to love him, to do anything for him. Let’s not forget how big the Lord is. He can do the impossible in your life. So when the Lord works in your life, do not just forget what has happened, let that miracle compel you to have more faith in him.

Don’t tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big your God is.

eyes on eyes off

Throughout this past week I have really had time to think. Things that have been popping up in my head revolve around the power of God and how we can obtain the same power when trusting in Him. First though, I have come to find out that I need to be completely satisfied by the Lord alone.

The LORD upholds all who fall,
         And raises up all who are bowed down.
 The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
         And You give them their food in due season.
 You open Your hand
         And satisfy the desire of every living thing. 
 The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
         Gracious in all His works.
 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
         To all who call upon Him in truth.
 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
         He also will hear their cry and save them.    Psalm 145:14-19

Once I am satisfied and fulfilled by God I can more easily trust Him  Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
   don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
   he’s the one who will keep you on track.

This is not an easy one time thing to do. I daily have to be satisfied by the Lord and trust Him completely. This takes me to Matthew 14…

Matthew 14 is the passage where Jesus’ disciples are in the boat with a storm and Jesus comes walking on water towards them… and then Peter steps out of the boat to go walk to Jesus. Peter had his eyes completely focused on Jesus when he started towards him…and he was walking on water! But then all of a sudden Peter realized the circumstances around him and saw the raging sea. He took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink… Peter looked back to Jesus and cried to Him… Save me! Jesus IMMEDIATELY reached out His hand to save Peter from drowning.

You know what…Peter was completely alright walking on water- (with God’s power!) – when he had his eyes focused on Christ…but when he looked at the circumstances around him he began to sink and slip away from Jesus. He allowed his circumstances to overwhelm him and not let the power of Christ dwell within him. So then he cried out for Jesus to save him- and what gets me is Jesus immediately saved him. Jesus didn’t allow Peter to drown or he didn’t wait a couple of minutes to teach him a lesson or anything—it was immediate. Peter cried help and Jesus was there to pull him out of his circumstance. Peter needed Jesus.

We are such in need of a Savior…the circumstances of life can overwhelm us if we are not focused on Christ. When we are focused on Christ then we have such a connection with Him and use His power that is within us to accomplish the impossible…but once we lose focus…we lose that power and we drown. As long as we recognize we need Jesus we can be saved.

So how about we trust Jesus enough that we don’t take our eyes off of Him. He can take care of our circumstances and at the same time we are being filled with His presence. That connection with Jesus will be like nothing we have ever felt…and once we have that- we cannot let doubt overwhelm us and allow ourselves to take our eyes of Jesus. Let’s keep our eyes on Him no matter what…no matter what. – however if we do slip and start to drown- do not wait to cry out for help- cry out to be saved before you get underwater. . . cry out to be saved and never go back down.

Keep your eyes on Christ.

…He is the source of satisfaction.