Revelation 2 - 6.10.26

Scripture

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. (Rev 2:4)

Observation

This is a part of Jesus’s message to the seven churches of Asia. Jesus is speaking to the church of Ephesus. It is as relevant to the church in the United States and to each one of us at Desert Streams, as it was to the church of Ephesus.

Jesus appreciates their walk with Him. He says, “I know everything you have done, including your hard work and how you have endured. I know you won't put up with anyone who is evil. When some people pretended to be apostles, you tested them and found out they were liars. You have endured and gone through hard times because of me, yet you have not given up.” (Rev: 2:1-3, CEV).

But they had one thing that they lacked. They had forsaken their first love. “You have left your first love” (Rev 2:4, NKJV). Jesus is not saying that they stopped loving Him. They still loved Him. But the intensity of their love had grown dim. The passion of their first love had faded. 

Jesus urges them to repent. “Consider how far 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.” (Rev 2:5).

Notice that Jesus is calling them to “do the things you did at first”, in order to return to their “first love”. Biblical love is a verb. It is not a warm fuzzy feeling that Hollywood portrays. Biblical love is a choice. You choose to love. Love is what you do. Feelings follow action.

Application

We love Him because He first loved us (1John 4:19). The first and the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all your soul and with all our mind (Matt 22:37-28). Let us check our hearts to see if we love the Lord as we did when we first got saved. Has our intensity of love for the Lord waned as time passed by? The Bible portrays the church as the bride of Jesus. The bride belongs to the bridegroom (John 3:29, NIV). That is the love that the Lord expects.

Our love for Jesus must be more than any other love in our life. Quoting Jesus’s words from Matthew 10:37, “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” If our love has waned, let us repent. Let us ask the Lord to restore love for Him in our heart. 

Our love for God must reflect in our actions. If we love God, we will obey his commandments (John 14:15). Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister (1 John 4:21). Whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen (1 John 4:20). If we love God, we will seek his kingdom first above all (Matt 6:33). If we love God, we will not conform to the pattern of this world, but will be transformed by the renewing of our mind by consuming the word of God (Rom 12:2). If we love God, prayer will truly be our priority. The Bible commands us to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17). Jesus is our model, who valued prayer more than His own personal rest. He spent whole nights in prayer without sleep.

Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18).

Prayer

Father please help me to love you with the first love I had when I started following you. I repent of the times I have not given you the first place in my life, as I should have. Please help me, because I can do nothing without you (John 15:5). Please help me to judge myself so that I will not be judged (1 Cor 11:31). Please help me to love you with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind, and help me to love my neighbor as myself (Matt 22:37-28). Please help me to draw closer to you with prayer and fasting and walking in obedience, knowing that when I draw near to you, you will draw near to me (James 4:8). Help me to delight in your word and meditate on your word day and night (Ps 1:2). Help me to continually walk in your presence. One day in your courts is better than a thousand days elsewhere (Ps 84:10). Make my life a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to you (Rom 12:1). In Jesus’s name. Amen.

- Asha Chacko George

Revelation 1 - 6.9.26

SCRIPTURE:  Revelation 1:1-3

“The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.  He made it known by sending His angel to His servant, John, who testifies everything he saw - that is, the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.  Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”

OBSERVATION:  John was in exile on the island of Patmos, sent there by the Romans for his witness of Jesus.  John was nearing the end of his life when he received a vision from Jesus regarding the seven churches in Asia. In this letter, John commended the churches for their strengths and warned them about their flaws.  God allowed John to see certain future events that were indescribable, but John used the signs and symbols God had given him to encourage the believers by describing what he had seen in this vision. As gloomy as the world appeared, John reminded the believers that God is in control of the future, and that He is the ultimate victor to all who take hope in Him.

In this chapter, John addresses the seven churches and the seven spirits.  The “seven spirits” is another name for the Holy Spirit.  The number seven is used throughout Revelation to symbolize completeness and perfection.

APPLICATION:  This letter from John was written to the seven churches in Asia back then, but it is also a message to the Church today, reminding God’s people to be faithful, devoted followers of Christ. Though Satan’s power may increase in these last days, it will only be temporary!  God is faithful, and He will bring all true Christ-followers to our eternal home where there will be no more sorrow, sadness or suffering.   He will give us strength and endurance with unwavering dedication as we keep our eyes on Jesus.  

PRAYER:  Thank You God for this Book of hope!  Everywhere we turn today, we hear about all the evil deeds that are taking place on earth.  But, I thank You that in the midst of all the crisis, calamity and chaos, You are in control, and will return to vindicate the righteous and judge the wicked.  What you have promised, will come true!  As we wait for Jesus to return, I pray we will be fully devoted followers, and that You will use us to give warning about hope without Christ, as well as hope with Christ. Thank You for the promise You have given to us about this Book of Revelation; that if we listen to it, and do what it says, we will BLESSED!

- Robin Orefice

Genesis 45 - 6.8.26

S - Genesis 45: 4-8 

Then Joseph said to his brothers, " Come close to me."  When they had done so, he said, " I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.   For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping.  But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.  "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.  He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

O - Wow!. Who wouldn't want the faith of Joseph?  Here is a man that is literally sold as a slave by his own siblings and has been called by Jesus to not only forgive and forget, but also to take care of his family while a famine is happening.  This clearly shows us that we may not want to listen or confide in our maker at times.  The Lord has given Joseph the grace to look past and endure unjust people.

A - This scripture screams, "Just Listen and Get Over It"!  I would like to be more like Joseph and more forgiving with knowing the Lord has control over these things, not my control.

P -  Lord, I pray to have more faith in what you call us to do in life.  I pray that we all can seek faith and comfort in knowing your will and learn to listen even when it is difficult. Amen.

- Brian Moen