Believing the best

Good morning! Another day, another opportunity for greatness. Not in the sense of survival but in the sense of overcoming. There was a hymn that stated, “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back…” On this most difficult journey is this our testimony? You have to decide that you will not turn around.  As we have traveled this journey, it has been significantly clear of what we lack, but have we also become aware of the progress we have made. Day by day, we are challenged on this journey and I want to congratulate each who have remained faithful. It’s easy to quit, to turn around only to face the trials we have been through once again and to find ourselves on the journey back to where we started. I look forward to the new adventure and not looking back to the past disappointment.

Revelation 2:4 EasyEnglish “But I have something to say against you. You loved Me very much when you first believed in Me. You do not love Me as much now.” I found this passage to be convicting, as I thought about when I first believed.  In this statement, in our everyday relationships, examined under the microscope of our Father, self-examination proves our progress. The love we have when we are just getting to know someone, typically over time, becomes diminished. Note this is true of our relationship with God as well as children, husbands, wives, and friends. When was the last time you told a loved one that you appreciate them in your life? The writer states you don’t love Me as much as you once did. Here is the conviction that I had in my relationship with others. The love I once had, was based on hope and there were no expectations. Over time, because of disappointment or opposition, that same level of forgiveness was not active. I had taken it for granted, and it had lost the luster. The same pair of shoes that brought you such joy when you first received them, lack the same significance after having worn them for a while. 

That was the conviction, but the freedom came in the next verse. Revelation 2:5 EasyEnglish “So remember how much you once loved Me. Be sorry about the bad things that you do. Do again the good things that you did at the beginning. Unless you are sorry about the bad things, I will come to you. Then I will take away your lampstand from its place.” I don’t want to make this complicated, so the answer is to do again the good thing that caused you to believe in that person. Before you lose that individual, begin to love with fervor. I’m not sure whether you caught what was just stated. It’s difficult and maybe even impossible to love if you don’t have belief in that person or even in God. The answer to this part of the journey is to stir up that belief once again, that you might obtain a higher appreciation of the value and love that you can portray.

I’ll end today not with a challenge, but with a verse to another church as it relates to love. Revelation 2:19 EasyEnglish “I know everything that you do. I know how much you love Me. I know that you go on believing Me. I know that you are My servants. I know that you are patient and strong. I know that you do more work now than you did before.”  Think about that. He already knows about you.

No challenge today, but a reminder as we deal with those we love. 

• Can we see the good as well as the bad?
• Can the focus be on believing the best and not focusing on the bad?

Have a blessed week as we celebrate the greatest gift you can receive, and that’s love. Don’t take love lightly. God bless you, my beloved.