Beneath the Tree

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:  I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, 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. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 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. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. – Rev. 2:1-7

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A friend and I were talking today about returning to our first love, in reference to Revelation.   We both were rather clueless as to what that exactly means, and that prompted some further thought.  This idea comes from the above passage, which is one of the letters that John transcribed in the book of Revelation.  These letters were meant as encouragement and as warnings.  Ephesus was being warned to repent and return to their first love, to do the things they did at the beginning.

I was thinking about how we get used to certain things after time has passed.  Take a child and his joy and excitement at receiving a new toy!  He can’t be parted from it for days, yet, eventually he sets it aside for a new toy or diversion and gets tired of the original toy.  The excitement is gone and the toy is thrown into a corner, languishing until the next yard sale.

Is that the way we treat Jesus?  Is that what happens as time goes by?  Do we get tired of God?

Now, I’m not talking about the trappings, the rules, the glitz and glamour of church buildings or programs.  I think we all get tired of false fronts, and rightly so.  No, I am talking about that relationship that we have with God through Jesus.  Is it so easy to set aside and forget about our first Love?

I know it’s not a purposeful thing.  I don’t go out and say, “ Yeah, I’m tired of you, Jesus.  I think I’m going to set you aside for now and go after this new thing.” If I was doing that, it skirts dangerously close to denying Him, and that’s something we don’t want to do!  No, it’s more of an insidious turning.  I get distracted, I watch too much TV, I spend too much time on Facebook, or a multitude of other worldly things.

What does it mean to me, then, to return to my first love?  It means to turn to that place where I had passion for God.  It means setting aside, repenting of those things that have distanced me from Him.  It means falling on my face and worshiping the Merciful, Mighty, All-powerful, Loving GOD!

What is the result?  A stronger, renewed relationship with God and more Love shining forth from me into the world around me.

What does returning to your first love mean to you?

I recently had the opportunity to speak at a local church.  I spoke on hope.  This blog is my attempt to turn my notes into a blog entry.

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1st Peter 1:3-5

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

That phrase, “living hope” stands out to me.  What does that mean? What does hope mean?

In searching for the definition of hope, I asked a few friends about what the word “hope” meant. They came back with some interesting answers:

• A wishful feeling – I hope the weather is nice today.

• A campaign slogan

• An expectancy

• The light at the end of the tunnel.

• The hope of the new life that we have in Jesus Christ.

When I talk to people, most of the time I’m using that first definition.  I hope they are having a good day.  I hope their baby is sleeping well – that sort of thing.  And there’s nothing wrong with that use of the word.

However, there’s a deeper meaning to hope.  This is where Peter’s words “living hope” come in.  Hope means that we look forward with expectancy to the day where we are with Jesus in heaven.

Think about this:  We’re going into winter and in most areas it’s cold, dreary and frozen.  We bundle up, complain about the ice sickles hanging from our noses, and build large fires.  If we had to stay in winter without end, it’d get overwhelming and we’d be in despair. But there is a hope to look forward to. We have that hope that we’ll have sunny days and good weather.  It will warm up and we will have days of short sleeve weather and water fights.

That’s the hope we look forward to.  Yes, I know summer isn’t perfect, but the point is, we’re going to be in a perfect place with an awesome God!!!

By having Jesus in our hearts we have something to look forward to. He is the reason to hope, and that allows us to have that living hope fuel our lives. He’s preparing a place for us and we are going to be with Him! Thus, living hope is being able to live our lives empowered by Christ and the Holy Spirit.

We all know life is a struggle sometimes. We all have seasons of winter where trials, pain, and despair seem to fall down upon us. Rent is overdue, someone has cancer, the car’s not working, etc.  Life can be a difficult path to follow.

One of the reasons that I moved to Butte was to help my parents take care of Grandma Bernita. Over the last year I’ve seen her health fade and recently she passed on. It was painful to watch and there were definitely some sad and frustrating moments, but I knew that she knew Jesus.  That hope was evident when there was a moment where the family was all gathered around her and she saw Jesus, and Grandpa. She had a peace about her at that time. When she eventually died, we knew that she was dancing with Grandpa at the feet of Jesus.

That’s the hope we have. That hope of Heaven, of being with Jesus can make a sad time into a joyful time.

So what does living in hope mean?

It means looking past our struggles, grabbing hold of faith and pushing forward with our eyes on Jesus. It means allowing the Holy Spirit to breath that flame of hope into a fire. Hope and faith are related and that hope can power our faith, making our lives glow with joy!

1st Peter 1:8,9 says:

8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Think about that! Our faith in Jesus, who we haven’t seen, yet is our lover, should be that hope that fuels our lives and gives us joy!

So in the middle of your trials, remember that glorious throne, that wedding feast we are going to be part of. Know that pressing forward in faith is worth it and grab onto the faith and the joy that living in God’s will brings.

I want to leave you with this verse:

Isaiah 40:31

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Blessings upon you.