Have we left our first love? Many times we get so busy being involved in serving the Lord that we forget all about loving the Lord. Then whatever it is that we do becomes a burden for us and we feel the weight of the world upon us. This is how the enemy traps us. We end up Being Under Satan’s Yoke. Have we left our first love? Join us in this special message directly from the heart of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Deliver on how much He loves us and desires us to return back to Him, our first love.

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”

Revelation 2:1-7

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

² “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. ³ You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
⁴ “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! ⁵ Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. ⁶ But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.
⁷ “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.”

2 Kings 3:3-14

³ Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. ⁴ The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. ⁵ That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

⁶ Solomon replied, “You showed faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued your faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.

⁷ “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. ⁸ And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! ⁹ Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. ¹¹ So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—¹² I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! ¹³ And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! ¹⁴ And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 5:6-11

⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Ephesians 2:8-10

⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Philippians 1:6

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Paul says in Acts 21:13, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

With the certainty that Jesus gives us, and the love that He has for us, those who truly believe and completely trust in Him have no limitations to sharing the gospel. Many people reject it, but some do accept Christ into their lives after hearing the love that Christ has for them. As Paul expresses he becomes all things to all men with the hope of winning a few for Christ Jesus. At times, we will be persecuted, ridiculed, even attempts to hurt us because we share the love of Christ to the world. Let us share the same assurance and confidence that Paul has in Christ and live without fear or limitations. It is a beautiful love story how Christ died for our sins while we were still sinning; we should be honored to live without limitations, even including death, for His name, His life, and for the fact that He still lives today!

God is so amazing! I remember nights of being awake with nothing to do, my mind being consumed with boredom. Yet, I had so many materialistic toys of this world and yet none of them were able to satisfy my hunger for more. The devil is a very careful planner on how to use the fruits of the world to deceive us. When your spirit is empty, it is bored and inactive no matter how much you may possess here on earth.

However, as a child of God, when we journey deep into His word, and walk far along in the path He has set for us, boredom is impossible, and the devil’s lure is desolate. In all situations, being the victim is never a good thing. We prosecute the offenders for what they have done to the victims. Yet, we have all been victims to the devil manipulating us and stealing our souls like a thief in the night. Jesus says in Matthew 16:26 “for what shall it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose their soul.” Our soul, our spirit, is what the Lord uses to communicate to us. However, when our hearts are hardened, we turn away from the Lord, and enter into Satan’s playing field with no protection. It is like a football player going onto the field with no pads, helmets, mouthpiece, etc. and getting hit by 250 lbs of a pure muscle linebacker. Being in this world which is quickly passing away, we are in Satan’s battle ground any and everywhere we go.

We think that there are certain places that Satan refuses to go, but that is the life of the enemy. He is everywhere and he has many demon servants. If the devil has the audacity to try to tempt our Lord, Jesus Christ, what makes us think he won’t come into our homes or come into our churches.

Satan watches us, waiting for our perfect moment of spiritual boredom and emptiness, to come upon us to sift us as wheat. Jesus said to Simon Peter in Luke 22:31-32, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Our Lord knows that we go through trials and tribulations in our lives and temptation is guaranteed. If we notice, the name Simon is issued when His faith is tested, but Peter is the name used when he is following the Lord.

However, notice in the next verse in Luke 22:33 Simon Peter says to Jesus “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both prison and death.” So many of us proclaim our faith and trust to the Lord in the good times, but when we are tested, we fail and deny God just as Simon Peter did. All of this is caused by our lack of understanding and not having relationship with God. I have met many people who proclaim to trust in God and put all their faith in Him, yet they are miserable about their situations in this life. To fully trust and have faith, we must read His word, our guidelines on how to live life through good times and bad times.

Now with the Holy Spirit living within me, I cannot recall the last time I have been bored and I do not foresee being bored in the near future. It is amazing how the Lord takes control of our lives when we allow Him to. He provides us everything to fill our lives with Living Water so we will no longer thirst.

There are many resources that the Lord provides us to stay in His word and on His path. The two best resources provided to us to satisfy our spirits are His Living Word, and prayer. As a child of God, we are to pray anytime and all the time. In all that we do, there must be a prayer through our hearts to lead us through the way.

Now, the Lord loves us so much that He also sends His messengers to help fill us with His word and continue to walk on His path.

Moreover, the Lord has commanded us to make disciples so that the lost sheep can come home to Him.

I have realized the more I am filled by the Holy Spirit, I have no more desires for the things I once held dear.

Oh Lord, thank You for taking control of my life and removing my spiritual boredom far from me. I have never felt so alive before. Only You Lord has the capability of removing the nonsense of this world. I thank You for this Living Water that constantly flows through my body that you have provided.

⁷ Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
John 10:7, 9-10

Jesus says in John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

There is a difference being weak in spirit and going against the Spirit. When we are weak in spirit, we allow the Holy Spirit to begin to be a light to our path, and although we may stumble as toddlers in the faith, we are striving to build up strong spiritual legs. As time passes, we become strengthened as long as we humble ourselves. However, if we blatantly go against the Holy Spirit, how can we honestly say we love God? The way we dress and carry ourselves which bring lustful or deceitful thoughts to those who witness us, or the profane words that come from our mouths that preach hate, envy, greed and more are the same mouths and bodies that say they love God. Acts 5:1-9 speaks on lying to the Holy Spirit and how the lives of Ananias and his wife were taken in an instance. Let us pray for those who are constantly lying to the Lord our God their eyes be opened and realize that God knows all things. He is giving an opportunity to repent and turn from our lying wicked ways. Love has no measure so take the time to look at yourself in the spiritual mirror and ask the question: “Do I really love God?” If the answer is yes, let’s obey His commands. God bless!

In John 21:15 it reads:

15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

We all know that Jesus asked Simon Peter three times if He loved Him to restore Peter after His denial of Christ when He was arrested the night of His betrayal. Let us focus on the first time the Lord asked Peter if he loved Him. He asked “do you love me more than these?” In our lives, Jesus asks us the same thing. Look around at all the things and people that we have here on earth, and ask ourselves how much do we value them. Do we value our cars, houses, jewelry, jobs, money, wives, husbands, children, parents and anything else imaginable more than Christ, the risen Lord, King, and Savior who died for and with our sins, took them far away, and resurrected back to Heaven to be with the Father? We must be careful not to let the fruits of this world blind us from what is important. It is nice to have “stuff,” but it is LIFE to have Christ who redeems us and makes us righteous before of the Father.

May the Lord bless you now and forever more and give you life, life more abundantly.