How to Return to Our First Love: PART 2 :D

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April5

Guest
#1
"How to Return to Our First Love" by Guillermo Maldonado

PART 2 of my typing.. all we need is God, that's all:D
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WHAT CAUSES US TO LOSE OUR FIRST LOVE?

1. Serving God continually in ministry without taking time to receive.

Many people get so deeply involved in their service that they neglect to take time to receive; they do ot rest and become spiritually cold. They lose their joy of service and perceive everything that they do as a routine which makes them feel spiritually dry. This happens often in pastors and leaders that preach and teach constantly but never find time to receive. If you are a leader, discipline yourself to sit and receive during one service and to serve in another. Remember, your relationship with God is far more important than your service to Him. We give to others what we receive directly form the Lord. If you do not take time to sit and receive the good Word, and if you do not have a good relationship with God, then you will not be able to give to others because there will be nothing to give.

2. Our first love is lost when the cares of the world close in on us. (I LOVE THIS ONE!!!! We don't need anything but GOD:D)

I have met Christian leaders who used to serve God wholeheartedly, but the enemy caused many worries and anxieties to come into their lives which caused them to lose their first love.

"...and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful." -Mark 4:19


"Then the cares nd anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceifulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desrie for other thigs creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless." Mark 4:19 (Amplified Bible)

WHAT ARE THE CARES OF THIS WORLD?

The cares of this world are: food, drink, and clothing, and much much more

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'" Matthew 6:31

How do gentiles respond?

"For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."
Matthew 6:32

As believers, we should not seek any of these things or allow them to be a priority in our lives. Yes, we should work, study, eat, and clothe ourselves, but our priority should be to seek the face of God.

What is the answer that Jesus gave us?

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" Matthew 6:33,34

3. Our first love is lost when we spend too much time in spiritual warfare and under the enemy's oppression.

When we deal with a problem for a prolonged period of time, and we do not see any change, there is a physical and spiritual wear and tear process that ends in spiritual frigidity and discouragement.

4. Our first love is lost when we keep wrong relationships and friendships.

The level of success that we have is determined by the people that are closest to us. Many friendships and relationships can help us, support us, and strengthen us, but others can destroy and discourage us spiritually. The transference of spirits is real even when people insist on denying it. If we hang around people who do not consider their relationship with God a priority, we will eventually experience their criticism: "You are a fanatic!" "Why do you spend so much time in church, why don't we go to....?" "The church can't feed you." After a time of listening to these unwanted comments, our association with these people leas us into worldly activities rather Godly activities. In the end, when our eyes are finally opened, we realize that we have lost our first love and we are in sin, confused, and in despair.

5. Physical and spiritual fatigue.

Physical and spiritual fatigue is another enemy of our first love with God. Therefore, it is important to rest and intensify our prayer time immediately so that we can be filled with God's presence and recharged spiritually. Let us read what Isaiah had to say on the subject:

"And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitant of Gilead, said to Ahab, 'As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan." 1 Kings 17:1-3

Cherith- means place of rest. God had to send Elihjah to this place to find spiritual rest; there he could separate himself from the world and be apart from everything that could affect him spiritually. In this place, God provided his daily bread and guided and strengthened him on Mount Carmel.

When we decide to seek God, He takes charge of our needs; He sends His ravens to bring us provisions, to guide s, and to provide everything that we need. He did it for Elijah and He will do it for us.

6. Disobedience to God.

Some believers lose their first love because of disobedience; it is easier for them to continue in sin that to repent and make every effort to recover their first love. When we disobey God, and we hear someone talk about disobedience, it sounds like an old and boring preaching because our conscience has been calloused. We can not pretend to live in that first if we are in disobedience to His Word and His commandments.

3 types of obedience:

Conditional: Obedience only when the circumstances are favorable to us. In other words, obeying when it is convenient.

Unconditional: Obeying the Lord any time, any place, and in any circumstance.

Delayed: This level of obedience is equivalent to disobedience. What God wanted done was not done immediately. Delayed obedience is equivalent to disobedience and it leads to us losing our first love.

7. Lack of communion with God.

Our relationship with God is the most important thing in our Christian walk. When we have a good relationship, it becomes harder to suffer any of the mentioned situations. Many people sing, serve, minister, and give everything that is in them without spending time with God; this causes them to dry up spiritually because after giving everything they have they do not return to the source of their strength. For love to remain strong in the marriage, it must be cultivated. Our relationship with God works in much the same way. Thousands of believers around the world have decreased their intimate time with God, thus diminishing their relationship with Him. Little by little their relationship with God chills and weakens until they begin to lose sight of their first love and become discouraged.

The spirit of hopelessness is another consequence to the loss of our first love. This spirit has infiltrated the church, but this is not the worse of it. God's children are not doing anything to get out from under its influence, which is nothing more than a demonic spirit that takes advantage of the lack of relationship with God in believers. These "high maintenance" people are continuously requesting prayer; they are always dealing with one problem or another. They complain endlessly and are always in need of help, and yet, regardless of the constant attention that they receive, they are rarely satisfied. After a while, these people leave the church. The leaders become discouraged because they invest too much of their time, and give too much of themselves, without seeing any positive results or the fruit of their labor.

Discouragement is one of the most important reasons why people lose their first love. Because of its importance, this subject will be studied in greater detail int he next chapter.

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