OUTLINE:
1Jn 4:18-19
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.
Singing a Song of Gratitude in the Face of Sadness – blog 12/9/22
Sing a song of gratitude as God’s Word washes over your weary soul. Bask in gratitude for all the beauty and good God has bestowed on you in this life. Thank Him for saving you. Thank Him for sanctifying you. Thank Him for giving you faith, hope, and love – the greatest of these being love (1 Corinthians 13).
When your love wanes your gratitude fades.
Rev 2:4 [NLT]
But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first.
Rev 2:4 [AMP]
But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me].
Rev 2:4 [NASB]
But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
When You Lose Your First Love
When you become familiar with God’s grace, the fullness of love you once had towards Him suffers. When this happens, you suffer the consequences of “losing your first love” (Rev 2:4).
Is 9:6a
For to us a child is born,
Affections Gone Astray
When we lose love and gratitude for the Lord, we look for other places to share it and receive it… often towards counterfeits the world is seducing us with.
Testing Our Love
Is the Lord FIRST in our hearts, as the One who came to die for us, and also gave us the blessings of this church, and our families, even?? (i.e. – Lk 14:26)
Contemporary “Christianity”
The church at Sardis was puffed up in reputation but void in substance. As a corporate body, the church was “dead” (although there were “still a few names” alive). John’s exhortation was to “repent”. Reputation and celebration don’t save a person.
2Ti 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
When your love wanes your gratitude fades.
When You Lose Your First Love
When you become familiar with God’s grace, the fullness of love you once had towards Him suffers. When this happens, you suffer the consequences of “losing your first love” (Rev 2:4).
Stress Implies Cause and Effect
There are two fundamental ways of dealing with stress:
1. Remove the cause
2. Remove yourself from the causeAffections Gone Astray
We are being encouraged to recapture our first love of Christ! Col 3:12-17