Hi Reeva, A very powerful and thought provoking article. Thank you for sharing it. Huggs, Virgie and Lady Hoshi ----- Original Message ----- From: "Reeva Parry" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 5:13 PM Subject: Original Love > Original Love > > > Our friend, Cathy, has walked to get around most of her life, but recently > she started floating. She's got this glow. She's got a new bounce in her > voice when she answers the phone. She's got a new confidence. Cathy's more > alive than we've ever seen her. Now what magic could bring about all these > wonders? If you haven't guessed by now, you have been away too long. She's > in love! She's in her twenties, and this is her first really big romance. > It might be her life-long romance, and it's pretty exciting to watch. > > Let's talk about "Original Love." > > Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Revelation 2. It's > about love. God's talking to a powerhouse group of believers. He says in > verse 2, "I know your deeds. I know your hard work. I know your > perseverance. I know you cannot tolerate wicked men. You've tested those > who claim to be apostles but are not, and you found them false. You have > persevered. You have endured hardships for my name. You've not grown > weary." Man, these are believers who were doing a whole lot of things > right. They're going to get the Church of the Year Award, right? No, > they're missing what Jesus values the most. Listen to Revelation 2:4, "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." He says, "You guys have fallen. You don't love me like > you used to. Oh, you've got the right theology. You've got the right > lifestyle. You've got the right activities, but that's not it." The > height of your relationship with Him was when you loved Him with original > love. > > Could Jesus be saying to you right now, "You don't love me like you used > to?" So much is right in your life, and I'm grateful for that, but maybe > the big thing isn't right. You don't love Him like you used to. The idea > of first love has taken on flesh and blood again as I watched it come > alive in Cathy's romance. First love isn't cerebral, it's emotional. Do > you have deep feelings for Jesus, or has the passion of loving Him grown > cold? I want to be more moved by Jesus; more moved by what He did for me > on the cross than I've ever been in my life. I have more to be moved by > than I ever did when I first started with Him. Cathy's original love is > expectant. She looks forward to each new day of being with, and talking > with, and going places with the man she loves. That's how a Jesus-lover > looks at his or her day--being with Him, talking with him in the many > different experiences of this day. > > I'm watching in Cathy a love that is buoyant. No problem seems big enough > to sink her now because of a love that's bigger than all of that. Well, > those who deeply love Jesus experience buoyancy. It's so easy for the > warmth of first love to die. In our relationship with Jesus, first love > gets quenched by rules, and rat-race, and religiosity, responsibilities, > and sometimes by plain old spiritual adultery where we let something else > have the best of our love. > > Maybe Jesus is calling you back in to that love; that love you had when > you knew Him a lot less, but you loved Him more. Loving Jesus has always > begun at the same place, "that old rugged cross" the hymn says, "stained > with blood so divine, has a wondrous attraction for me. Where the dear > Lamb of God left His glory above, to bear it to dark Calvary." In the > middle of all our Christianity, it's easy to forget what it's all about. > It's a relationship; it's a love affair with the Lord Jesus. > > It's a relationship, perhaps you've never ever really begun. You have > Christianity, but you missed Christ somewhere. You've never really > experienced His love; His religion, yes--His love, no. This could be your > day if you'll just say, "Jesus, I'm Yours."