The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly..Week 1:Ephesus: 1st Love
Here is the text for this week everyone:
Week 1: Rev. 2:1-7 Ephesus: 1st Love
Rev. 2:1-7
1″To the angel [a] of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 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. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! 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. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Footnotes:
1. Revelation 2:1 Or messenger; also in verses 8, 12 and 18
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Let the discusions begin…if you would like…. heh.
My shimmer point was, “Remember the height from which you have fallen.” When I found Jesus there was a fire burning in me that I could not explain. He was all that I could think about night and day. I just wanted to climb on a mountaintop and scream at the top of my lungs about what I had discovered. I wanted everyone to experience what I was experiencing.
Today, although my love for the Lord has not changed, I am sad to say that I have allowed the fire inside of me to become somewhat dampened. The many sins that had blinded me for years have begun to creep back into my life. I find myself seeking power, and recognition, and security, and all of those other things that I used to hold onto before I found Christ. I want to repent and let go, but I don’t know how. How do I stop focusing on my own selfish desires, and focus on what Christ desires for me? I know that I have, but it hurts. He never said it would be easy, I guess. When God says that he hates the practices of the Nicolaitans, I think he is talking about my practices…my thoughts. I have to overcome, though. I have to, because nothing will be sweeter than stepping into paradise and eating from the tree of life!
Be patient. How sweet paradise will be! As Christians, we can become complacent when things are going our way and forget who is in charge of the decisions we make. As we’re challenged in our day to day lives, we need to remember not to leave the game too early or we may lose direction on where and who God wants us to be. I will pray for you to focus on what God desires for you.
Some think that the Nicolaitans, were Gnostics and that their beliefs were not the same as the Gospels we have today. But, yeah the point was that they were a church that prided themselves in they correct theology, but in prooving it to evryone, they had forgotten about their first love. Love of God and Love of others. You can speak the truth, but we must do it in love. And with the lamp stand possibly being removed from the community..that in my mind was huge, it was not from an individual, but the entire community….so this shows me that the church and entire community is responsible for the others.
All that to say, you were never created to handle the things you speak of outside of community, by yourself. Make sue you allow God to care for you through his people… and pray for them to be able to listen to God enough to help. heh heh.
“you have forsaken your first love” (v.4)
it can be easy to get so wrapped up in the work of the church that you forget why we came here to begin with. “I’m coming back to the heart of worship because it’s all about you jesus. It’s all about you.”
this is key. when you put Christ first above all, everything else will fall into place. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but oh what a sweet reward there will be (v.7)
yeah, it is one thing to know exactly what it right theology, but it is another thing to love God and love others! We all forget to do everything in love! God is love…. so how could we ever live our lives, our thinking, and or relationships without love.