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Returning and Rekindling

Words of Faith Final

Returning and Rekindling

Words of Faith 11-12-2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2020

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

www.faithfellowshipweb.com

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Revelation 2

 [4]  Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. [5]  Remember 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.

 

          The Lord will confront His church. We see that powerfully in these letters. The Lord knew every good thing and every strong moment at Ephesus. But He also knew the ways that the Ephesians had drifted.

          How do you get back from that place where you have abandoned, even slowly over time, your first love for Jesus? The Lord set out the path home.

          Jesus called for three things that were all active.

          The first was to remember from where they had fallen. You have fallen out of love with Me and you, my Church, are my Bride. The word used here is active. It means to deliberately remember or choose to recall. Remember when you first were in love with Jesus. When you first were in love with the Body of Christ. When you first experienced the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the generosity of the fellowship.

         Second is the call to actively repent. This is different from the initial repentance in believers that leads to salvation (Acts 3:19). This repentance recognizes that we are off course and need to make a radical adjustment (2 Timothy 2:25). This is a commitment to listen and change course. This repentance is a total surrender to God. It calls for setting aside our way and making a change of mind and change of direction.

         Finally, there is the active work of rekindling. Rekindle the works that you did at first. This actually works in marriage.  Where did we start? What did we do at first? This is the same. Where do I start?  Start where you started and do the things you did at first with Jesus. Spend time alone. Read and reflect upon the Bible just for the joy of it. Speak time in corporate worship and fellowship.

          Then comes the warning. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. We will either repent or our lampstand will be removed from its place. This is not a matter of losing salvation.  But our place of prominence and influence will be removed. Interestingly, all seven of these Revelation churches now lie in ruin. Their moment of prominence is gone.

          For us, personally, we are called to these active steps. We must choose to remember, choose to repent and choose to rekindle. This is the way home when we find that we have drifted away and abandoned our first love.  Take stock. Maybe you have only drifted a little bit, but most of us would say we need the course correction back to the heart of the Lord.

 

          Father, draw me near to You. I choose to remember. I also choose to repent. Change the course and trajectory of my life. Point me back to You. Rekindle the love and the gifts that You have placed in me. Rekindle the works and disciplines that I did at first. In Jesus’ Name.

 

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)       

2820 Business Center Blvd.

Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.