More Revelation Since the Book

The past two weeks have been a Revelation 2 time period for me.  Everything I have been seeing points me back to Revelation 2.  I have been talking to young married couples with struggles...Revelation 2.  I have been looking at my involvement in our church...Revelation 2.  My homework for Bible College... How ironic, it ended up being Revelation 2.

You are asking how this relates to "So you don't want to go to church anymore.." , so I will tell you.  I mentioned in my review on the book that its best foot was put forward in pointing people back to their first love.  How does that relate to Revelation 2?  The church at Ephesus gets a strong warning because they forgot their first love.

Many people write off Ephesus as the backslidden church or the loveless church.  I don't agree.  As I read the passage I saw much of my own life in there.  As I listened to people I heard much of the words of the passage.  I thought about my homework as being a prophetic teaching tool for my life.

I love the Lord.  I work hard in the church.  I minister regularly.  I help organize many of the outreaches we do.  I hate when people are deceived.  I hate when the devil gets into a persons life and messes with their head.  I hate false teaching.  I even get upset at misinterpretation of scripture.  Do you see how I am like the church at Ephesus?

What was the warning, then to a church who did so much and hated what is evil?  In all their work and good principles, they forgot their first love.  This is scary.  I have so many times forgotten things.  I have forgotten how far He has carried me.  I forget how often He has healed me.  I forget how many times He has provided for me when there was no other provision coming in.  I forget how many times I have seen Him in my life.

In reading about Ephesus, it is mandatory that you go back to the founding of the church in Acts.  In Acts 19, I believe, you get a glimpse of the work the apostle Paul does in the church.  One of the key things to me is the fervor in which they were converted.  In Acts 19:19, you get  a snapshot of something amazing.  These people were so radically moved by the love of Jesus that they burned anything that wasn't of Him.  The value on the items burned was pretty high.  Depending on what study you read, the value of what was burned could be equal to a Grand Caravan in your driveway. 

So, I sit here thinking about Revelation 2.  Thinking about how much I have worked.  Thinking about how many good principles I have.  Heeding the warning, I think about how good He is.  I think not in the abstract of what I was before Him, but in the specifics.  I was hurt.  I was wounded.  I had gotten bitter.  I did not know love.  I couldn't accept love.  I felt I was only there to entertain others.  I was on no path.  I had no direction because I had no worth. 

I needed Jesus and He knew it.  He did not exempt me from the cross.  He did not say "I will love everyone except Rob."  He said "Rob, I love you."  He showed me love.  He led me to Him.  He held me.  He gave me the direction I needed.  He ordered my steps and created a desire in me to work in the church.  He loved me enough that it made me want to make sure everything revolved around Him.

I had gotten into all of the work I have been into out of a motivation to serve Him.  The truth is, I think we all do this.  We all make decisions because of Him.  We all make decisions because we think we should do certain things.  But, have we made our decisions, or done our work, or built our principles out of love for Him?  Sure we made our choice to follow Him out of love, but have we based everything on our desperate love for Him?  Did we wake up this morning, turn on the computer, and plan our day with a mindset that said, "God help me to do the things today that get me closer to you.  Help me to love my children like you love me.  Help me to guide them like you guided me, not just to teach them good principles, but to love them forward.  Lord help me to remember the depth from which you reached to get me, and live out of that love."

I think about parenting.  I think of how I teach my kids good principles.  I teach them the Bible.  I teach them right form wrong.  I think they are getting old enough to know the difference.  Here is a common Revelation 2 mistake that I see in many parents.  I, and many of us do the right things. I train and love my kids, but I need to apply Revelation 2.  I need to be desperate for them.  I need to love them.  It isn't enough to show them right from wrong, but to continually show them Jesus.  This isn't the job of the pastor or the youth pastor.  I need to focus as a parent on how to worship Him through parenting.  I need to commit them to Jesus and care for them like Jesus cared for me.  I need to go a step further than good principles and give them the "why" sometimes.  I need to show them Jesus' love for them at every opportunity.  I need to focus everything on Jesus so that they focus everything on Jesus. 

Many of the things I do are teaching.  I need to rethink this.  With kids, more is caught, not taught.  When my kids see me desperate for Jesus they become desperate for Jesus.  I have seen this on the times I have been this way in front of them.   Lord help me to live this way.