Fruitful Living
Letters from God – Why forsake your first love? (FinalPart)
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” – Rev. 2:1-7 (NIV)
LET us now examine the different parts of the letter using our diagnostic, descriptive, and prescriptive values described earlier.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE EPHESUS CHURCH
Remember that this was a church that loved God, but was sick and needed help. The letter was sent to them so they could get help, and its contents was sent by the Master Physician who sees all – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
It is so easy for us to overlook or forget the good when things are not going well. Not God. He did not just focus on the bad and ugly, of which they already had an idea.
He gave them the total picture, starting with the good. His description of their condition summarised them in totality in the following verses:
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my Name, and have not grown weary. ……… You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
DIAGNOSIS OF THE SPIRITUAL
CONDITION OF THE EPHESUS CHURCH
Yet, in spite of the good description of this church in Revelation 2:2, 3 & 6, they were still sick and had a problem. And here is what God’s microscope revealed about the cause of their sickness and the damage that had resulted from it:
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen!
Because of their sickness, they had fallen far from the great spiritual height they had previously enjoyed and now at a low depth of despair. This same experience had earlier made David cry out:
“Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation. And sustain me with a willing spirit.” – Psalm 51:11-12
PRESCRIPTION FOR THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE EPHESUS CHURCH
Many go through the same stage of experience as was diagnosed for David and the Ephesus church in the walk of faith. And so, the letter continues with a prescription of what should be done to receive healing, as well as what will happen if the prescription is ignored.
… If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
The apostle Peter preached the gospel at a gathering where many were desirous of something more meaningful than the life of ease and merrymaking that they had.
He gave them the same prescription as was sent to the Ephesus. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” – Acts 3:19
A WARNING TO 21ST
CENTURY BELIEVERS
Perhaps you or someone around you is currently going through the experience of the early Ephesus church. Perhaps you love God once and pledged to love Him forever and have now surrendered to the allure of worldly interests?
The profound messages of this letter to the Ephesus church are equally applicable to each of us as believers today. God wants us to live a full life as responsible men and women, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:33. It is the only way to maintain the spiritual height where we can be truly free, and be the best that He has created us to be.
THINK ABOUT IT: Andrea Crouch, the legendary songwriter in one of his classical hymns repeats this poignant plea in the refrain: Take me back dear Lord to the place where I first received you. Take me back, take me back dear Lord where I first believed.” Why not sing the same song to get back to God, your first true love?
To be continued!
Stay Blessed!
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Email: saltnlightministries@gmail.comWebsite: saltandlightministriesgh.org
By Dr Joyce Aryee,the author
Fruitful Living
Honeycomb Ministries founder ordained as Priest
Rev. Dansu (third from left) with other officiating ministers at the event
The Dominion College of Bishops, last Saturday commissioned and ordained as Reverend Minister, Ms Cecilia Dansu, the Founder and Lead Facilitator of the Honeycomb Ministries, a non-denominational end-time revival movement, in Accra.
Minister Dansu who undergone an intensive theological training and gazetted by the government was ordained in recognition of her humanitarian outreach and dedication to spreading the word of God to schools and communities.
The colourful service which was officiated by the Deputy Prelate of the Dominion College of Bishops, Bishop Dr Albert Ken Dapatem and Director of Programmes, Bishop Peter Koomson was attended by family and loved ones.
In a short exhortation on the theme: ‘You were chosen for a purpose (John 15,16),’ the Associate Pastor of Change Life Baptist Church, Rev. Samuel Ohemeng Damptey, admonished Christians to avail themselves for the gift of God to operate in them.
According to him, it was not only the clergy that the Lord had called but each and every one for a specific purpose.
“If you cannot preach like Paul, or all the other Bishops, at least there’s something you can do. You can share the word of God with children for the bible says, He has chosen us for a purpose to bear fruit-a fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you,” he added.
Rev. Damptey charged the newly ordained minister to be committed to the cause of God, and use her mantle to save people and expand the ministry, whiles keeping in mind that she was called by God to spread His message.
She was presented with a Holy Bible, pastoral collar and awarded a certificate of recognition.
As part of the consecration, the officers used the opportunity to officially inaugurate her ministry, the Honeycomb Ministries to ascertain the feasibility of the ministry’s vision and action plans.
In addition, two Christian publications authored by her was also launched to shape the Christian youth in their everyday lives with God.
By Vivian Arthur
Fruitful Living
WHAT IS THE LOVE OF GOD? (PART 1)
God is love
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love – John 15:9-10
INTRODUCTION
Remain in my love – Jesus calls us to a life of holy intimacy and personal devotion to Him. This is possible because of God’s love for us, which he has poured into our hearts by the holy spirit (Romans 5:5). God demonstrated His great love through Christ’s dying for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). We remain in Jesus’ love by pursuing spiritual intimacy and communication with Him, and by obeying His commands, just as He did with the Father.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. – 1 John 3:1
CHILDREN OF GOD
The truth that God is our Heavenly Father and we are His children is one of the greatest revelations in the New Testament.
1. Being a child of God, adopted in Christ as His very own (Ephesians 1:5), is a high honour on privilege of our salvation. (Galatians 4:7).
2. Being a child of God is the basis for our faith and trust in God (Matthew 6:25-34) and our hope of glory for the future. As God’s children, we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17; Galatians 4:7).
3. God wants us to be increasingly made aware through the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of Sonship” (Romans 8:15) that we are His children. The Spirit produces the cry “Abba, Father” in our hearts (Galatians 4:6) and gives us the desire to be “led by the Spirit” (Romans 8:14).
4. Being a child of God is the basis for our discipline by the Father (Hebrews 12:6-7-11) and the reason we live to please God.
God’s ultimate goal in making us His children is to save us forever (John 3:16) and to conform us to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:29).
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is an activity and behaviour and not just as an inner teaching or motivation. Other aspects of love are characteristics of God Himself who has been revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ.
The love of God is His passion to sustain and uphold and exalt His holiness and His Son for your everlasting enjoyment. If you put yourself at the centre, you’re suicidal because it robs you of the very glory of God and his enjoyment.
1 John 4:8 describes one of God’s primary attributes as love. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” This verse does not define God as love; it describes God’s love as permeating His essence in all He is and all He does. As for today’s headlines tout stories of scandal, tragedy, and war; believers can be confident knowing all they need is God’s love.
I agree with the Theologian A.W. Tozer once stated, “Nothing God ever does, or ever did, or ever will do, is separate from the love of God.” Everything He has ever done has been out of love.
THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LOVE OF GOD
1. God’s Love Is Incomprehensible. – “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” – Ephesians 3:17-18.
2. God’s Love Is known and Proven – “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”. – John 3:16.
3. We Can Trust In God’s Love.
4. God’s Love is Pure.
5. God’s Love is Perfect.
6. Our Salvation Is An Expression Of God’s Love.
7. Our Ability To Love Is Enabled Through God’s Love.
8. We Can Rest In God’s Love.
9. We Can Have Confidence In God’s Love.
