Hey guys,
I got this in an email from Gerrit and asked his permission to pass it on. I love what's happening in his heart and life, it's such a privilege to be a pastor and watch up close what God is doing in people's lives. And, yes, this is original, he just got blasted in this passage by the Holy Spirit and sent this to a few friends to encourage them. Here you go...
Revelations 2: 2-5 Says the following: "I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardship for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet, I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love...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."
Remember that first time you came to know Jesus, came to believe in HIs name. I recall staying up at night not being able to sleep so excited was I about Jesus. All I wanted to do was to hear from him. I studied God's word with a passion, hungering for it regularly. And surely God answered my prayers, even to this day, showing me great and unexplainable things I never imagined. I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit praying on my hands and knees. I received it on my knees, in my room with no-one around. Just me and God. Man, did I/do I love Jesus.
But unfortunately we tend to get so busy working, studying, living, even serving God, that we end up forsaking our first love. I know I have. As we get busier, rushed by the urgency of everything around us, that light in our lives begin to dim, so much so that after a while you don't even recognize it anymore. Your lampstand gets removed "from its place." I love Angus Buchan where he says, "The First thing the Lord created you for is to have fellowship with him. My dear friend, he wants to talk with you like he is talking with me in the cool of day, like he talked with Adam. He craves time with you."
May I sow this truth into your lives today, more than anything, God desires to spend time with you. Let's keep the lampstand burning brightly in the center of our lives. Let's not forsake our first love. What a privilege it is to serve such an awesome God.
God, may you bless us, and enlarge our territories! Let your hand be with us, and keep us from harm so that we may be free from pain. If we learn only one thing today, may it be to love you more and know you better. In Jesus name, Amen!
What is your response? Would you take some time to pray? Would you pray for Gerrit, for his family, and for the people that read this? Prayer is clearly the greatest privilege we have this side of eternity.
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