Dear Heritage Family and friends,
Generally speaking, the people of the world could be divided into two groups: those who know God, love God, and serve God, and those who do not know Him, but who may be seeking Him. However, I know of a third group, for I spent 18-years of my life in it. In fact, I think it may be the majority of those involved in the postmodern religions today, and that is those who profess to know God, but their knowledge of Him is indifferent; it makes no difference in their daily lives or their hope for the future. Spurgeon said it this way:
“Perhaps not a single one of you would accept the title, and yet, if you live from Monday morning to Saturday night in the same way as you would live if there were no God, you are practical atheists.”
Jesus identified the first step toward practical atheism in his letter to the church of Ephesus. He said, “I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.” (Rev. 2:4) Like the first cry of a baby when it leaves its mother’s womb, those who are genuinely born again by the power of the Holy Spirit cannot help but express their “first love” for the Lord Jesus, and most often, those cries of love come with tears of joy, and an overwhelming sense of oneness with God.
Does that describe your intimate relationship with God at this moment? If not, “thou hast left thy first love!” You haven’t lost it – it’s still there, or you would not be reading this article. However, as it is in our relationship with others, so it is with our relationship with God. We allow other things and other people to rob us of our intimacy with the Lord.
Jesus also gave us the answer to this issue when He told the church at Ephesus, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” (Rev. 2:5) That is the purpose of this Bible Study Guide entitled “Rediscovering Your First Love.” Over the next 30-days, through your study of the Scripture, you will retrace the steps of your salvation experience and surface those sins that attracted you away from your first love for the Lord. Then we will guide you through the process of repentance, show you how to rekindle your first love for the Lord, and how to keep those love-fires burning!
After the first few days of introduction, we will post the remainder of the Bible studies daily. Let me encourage you to enlist a “prayer-partner” to go through this study with you, not only for their daily encouragement but, more importantly, for your accountability. If you have questions or need help working through some of the issues, please respond to heritage@comsouth.net. We will be glad to assist you on your journey!
Pastor Wayne and Mrs. Linda