Renewal and Restoration

Revelation 2:4 - Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because you hast left your first love.

Our first love is not winning souls.

Mark 12:29,30 - Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

God should be our first love… Him alone. Focus on loving Him and serving Him. Everything else will fall into line if we do that.

Are you struggling, how’s your relationship with God? Have you left your first love? Get back with Him.

He is THE source of all good and everything that we need.

God created us and put us here.

Once we learn to love ourselves, we can help our neighbor… but we have to love God first.

Psalm 1:1,2 - Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

“Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Everything grows and improves when we’re focused on God. Not everything will be fixed but it will be much better.

Fruit will follow our improved relationship with God.

Psalm 37:3,4 - Trust in the LORD, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

Delight yourself also in the LORD,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Spend time with God. Enjoy His presence. He will enjoy yours… that’s why you were created. How long has it been since you did that?

When you delight in the Lord, the desires of your heart will change. Then, God will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit yourself to God. Put all your trust in Him, and He will bring it to pass.

Romans 7:21-23 - I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Let God’s nature enter and dominate over our own natures.

Matthew 4:4 - But He answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

We need to feed on God’s Word. We need to read it daily and keep it in front of us at all times.

Matthew 6:11 - Give us this day our daily bread.

You can only eat today’s bread (like Manna). Each day you need to read the Word and absorb something new or strengthen something preexisting that day.

The business of life keeps us occupied with the physical world and we neglect our relationship with God. When we get dry, that’s when the cares of life can take away our joy, our successes, and our peace.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

God’s Word should be in front of us at all times.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

We need to eat physical food regularly… daily… to stay operational. Our spirit also needs renewal. Do this by staying in the Word.

Faith gives us the ability to see things with our spirit. When our physical eyes can’t see them, we can understand (or actually see) through the spirit. Often times we “see” things with our ears (understanding) as we read through the Word.

Few take renewing the inward man seriously. Most of us don’t do it as much as we should.

Spend time renewing and restoring our inward man. Refresh your faith.

Psalms 119:16,24,35,77,174

When you fellowship with Christians, you’re fellowshipping with God (Jesus lives in them).