First Love

Oftentimes I feel that we in the Church fall short in this great essential truth that the Word of God sets before us: loving God and loving one another. You might think, “Well, what could make you say that?” I would answer, "By the things that we say, the things that we do, and by our attitudes towards one another." We are not called to function as the world functions. We are not recreated in Christ Jesus to think as the world thinks, to behave as the world behaves, or to treat one another as though we live in a corporate world. If you live and work in the corporate world, you’re still called, commanded, ordained, and anointed to live and act differently. You can’t separate secular from spiritual. Your work is spiritual.

Jesus says, “Love Me like you did when you were first saved. You were full of passion and excitement! You desired to spend time with Me, and you loved me with all of your heart, and it showed!" So He says, “Have a change of heart: repent. Change the direction of your life; do the first works  . . . or else (uh oh, that sounds threatening) . . . I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place." In other words, I’ll remove the light from your midst; I’ll remove the anointing from your life.

How can a man or woman in ministry who has walked in such a great anointing for a lengthy time stumble and fall into sin? It is the result, I’m convinced, of leaving their first love. How is it that those in the Body can be so competitive? I’m telling you that sometimes I get around Christians in ministry, and I might as well be around a bunch of lawyers, bankers, etc. They are competitive and territorial, and this is mine and those are mine, etc. I am so glad that I’m just an undershepherd. Ain’t none of you “mine.” You don’t belong to me. You’re not, “my sheep.” It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you, but it does mean that I don’t own you.

Christians become control freaks! What is that the result of? Leaving their first love. Having commended and acknowledged so many good things about the believers in the Ephesian church, Jesus said, “I have this one thing against you.”

⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”

“Unless you repent,” means, “have a change of heart, mind, and attitude.” What He’s really saying is, “Come back to Me. Love Me like you did in the very beginning.” It’s much like a marriage relationship. As the years go by, a couple either falls more in love or less in love. It rarely remains neutral.

Even as Christians, we can have the appearance that we’re doing something great, but things can be vastly different than how it looks. Sometimes we’re more concerned about how things appear to be than how they actually are. That’s why it’s possible to get up and preach or minister in any capacity and have all kinds of mess in one’s heart or life, and people for the most part wouldn’t even know! There are some in public places that would say, “What business is it for anyone to know? What difference does it make?”

Many times we’re more concerned how we appear to other people than how things really are in the eyes of God (who can look upon our hearts and read our thoughts). Then the Scripture says, “How is it that you can say you love God but hate your brother?” Okay, let’s change the word, “hate.” It may not necessarily mean, “hate and want to kill,” but it can also mean, “despise, have contempt for, be jealous of, or be envious of.” How can you say you love God and be in that state? Yet, we could ask any Christian, “Do you love God?” and we’d hear, “Oh yes, hallelujah, brother, I love God,” and  still be the biggest gossiper in the church or the community.

I like one of the things that I read recently: “If people are going to gossip to you, then they’re gonna gossip about you to somebody else.” When people come and start dumping on you, just look at them, point to your ear, and say, “What is this? This is an ear, not a garbage can, so take your trash somewhere else.”

We deceive ourselves oftentimes! How do you show your love for God? I believe first and foremost it’s by showing love towards other people, because if I’m not showing love towards other people, then I deceive myself by thinking that I love God. That also means that I have probably fallen from my first love. Scripture doesn’t say, “Love people first,” it says to, “Love God first.” Why is that important? Because we are called to love one another with the love of God. We’re told to love each other even as God loves us! How can we love other people as God loves us if we don’t truly love God?

Grace and Peace,

PG

Stepping Out In Faith, Part 7

Good morning to you! I pray you are doing well and that every part of your being is prospering. This blog is the last in the series of “Stepping Out In Faith.” Vickie and I have found ourselves doing this quite frequently as we’ve been on an extended mission trip to the DR. Thank you so much for your prayers and continued support!

With that being said, let’s talk about stepping out in faith. It definitely requires motion/walking, which involves taking steps. We need to get our feet, minds, and hearts moving in the direction that God has told us to go, and He will be with us every inch of the way. The prudent man considers well his steps. Are we even taking steps? Some are standing still waiting for God to do something, but He has already dictated the direction in which He wants us to go. It’s up to us to take that step!

I encourage you to consider well the steps you’re taking. Are you being proactive to change your perspective on life and come into line with the way that God sees things? I’m telling you, that’s a game changer. Has God’s purpose become clear to you?

I’ve always been passionate about world missions; in fact, I was reminded about a time before I was even saved and still a kid. John Kennedy was the president, and he started this thing called the “Peace Corp.” I read a book about it, and I said to myself, “I’m joining the Peace Corp.” I wanted to do this, not only to go to remote places in the world, but I also wanted to help people. This was years before I became a Christian. I have a passion for missions!

Maybe you’re trying to determine what God’s purpose is for your life. Let me ask you a simple question: what’s your passion? Some of you might say, “Man, my passion is to get rich and make money.” There’s nothing wrong with that. You know why? Because guys like me need people like you, and you can give me the money to go do what God has put in my heart to do. We need one another. Activities in the Kingdom of God need to get financed. Who do you think is going to finance it? God has yet to cut a hole in the ceiling. We ain’t never had a hole cut in CCC’s roof for money to be dropped in, but we did have one case years ago where there was a hole cut in the roof—inside job—and they stole the whole safe with all of the Sunday morning tithes and offerings.

Finances come in through people. I don’t sit around praying, “God, just drop it from the sky.” No, it’s more like, “God, prosper your people so the Gospel can go forth.” We have airplane tickets to buy, and there are souls to be saved and disciples made. The Kingdom needs money generators; there’s nothing wrong with that.

What’s your purpose? What’s your desire? I’m not even asking for the motive behind it. If you have a strong desire to do something, chances are, that’s God’s purpose for your life. Right there. Boom. “Well, I’d like to be a nurse . . . I’d like to be a schoolteacher . . . I’d like to be a doctor . . . I’d like to be a lawyer.” God puts that desire in you because He has a purpose for you. Ya gotta be enthusiastic about God’s purpose. That’s what desire is: it’s enthusiasm to achieve something.

So Father, I pray for an ignition of passion; I pray, God, that we would do what’s needed to get our minds renewed and our feet moving in the right direction.

In Him,

pg