"The Truth Misdirected"

"Our Fathers did eat manna in the desert: as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat." (John 6:31 KJV)

  "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of this place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which also I hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:4-7 KJV)

  Just so you know, my goal was not to make us aware of the weaknesses that we deal with; those are made perfectly clear, every night that we lay down our heads. My intention was to remind us that Jesus died on the cross because we are unable to be perfect; which we need to be, in order to have fellowship with a Holy God! That said, there is something very real about where these people have directed there thinking to, because the focus is upon this life: What can you give me to get through this life!  

 As to the issue of, "thou hast left thy first love," there are several points of view on what Jesus is talking about, as first love, may or may not be the same for every new believer. I might not understand as much as I should; having been saved for over forty years now, you would think I might have a better grip on what is what and all the basic workings, of what makes a Christian, Christ like! Forgive me for my ignorance!

 For me, my first love, was the Power of Change! Yes, that is what I said, the fact that I was changed in an instant, and it was the most amazing thing that I ever felt. I hope you are listening to what I just said, as it is really not what I am proud of saying; as a matter of fact, it really confused my understanding of the Gospel. I felt moved, transformed; from sinner to saint, within minutes; unfortunately, I also felt that I went back to sinner, rather quickly. 

 Did you know, Moses wore a veil, not to hide the glow on his face; but so as to not bring judgment upon himself from the people, once the glow had faded away. The way I understood it, it is much as with everyone of that serves the Lord by teaching or preaching the Good News; there is an anointing that comes upon them, making them preach and teach God's word with authority and passion; but then, unfortunately, it soon goes away. 

 It's called the Power of God; like a light switch, it's manifested when we need it, and gets turned off when we don't. Whether you can control the switch or whether it be God, not quite sure that I have figured that out totally yet. But this much I know, the Holy Spirit will not force us to do anything we do not want to do. But if we ask Him, He is always willing to assist us with the power needed to get the job done: Bringing Glory to God! 

 To get through all the nonsense and cut to the chase, That saint that ain't, is hooked on a feeling! We can feel in and out of love, really, more often then we should: But love is not based upon feelings! It took me way too long to learn that; not quite sure that I have learned it well enough! But, God is still working on me, so I am not giving up...

"Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too." (Philippians 2:1-4 NLT)