How to retain your first love for Jesus

The definition of first love is loving the First. God is first and He should remain first in our lives forever. 

The whole journey of walking with Christ through our lives is a journey from selfishness to selflessness, from pride to humility. What will keep us going down this path? This hard, narrow, painful path? The answer is - Our passion for the Lord.

At the beginning of our Christian walk, we are full of joy. As we go through various trials and temptations it is easy to lose our passion for Him. It is easy to lose our first love for Him.

The following is the first of a series of sermon named – “Your Spirit. Your Passion” taken by Pastor Clariss.

 God is seeking true worshippers. We are the last or the last but one generation before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  2 Timothy 3 talks about how people will love many things and neglect the love for God. It also describes how apostle Paul went through persecution and yet stood strong for the Lord. None of the apostles wavered in their love for God. They did not become too familiar with the Lord. They did not grow lukewarm. They loved Him with a fervent passion. What can go wrong that we lose out this passion? 

Revelation 2:3,4 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Passion for the work of Christ can become greater than the passion for His presence. 

If your passion is set in the right place then everything else will fall in place. The things we do for God, the blessings we receive would all be a byproduct of our passion for God. 

So how do we measure our passion for the Lord? Do we measure by the things we do for Him? Eg. I clock in time with the Lord. I pray. I follow our pastor’s instructions. 

 David's passion for God was a hunger, a longing, a yearning for His presence. 

     Psalm 42:1,2 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
            So my soul pants for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
            When shall I come and appear before God?

      

    Passion is powered by 3 things

1.    Desire – (A constant hunger for the favor of His nearness)

You must have a commitment towards Him; An attachment, a connection with Him. The key verse in my (Clariss maa) life. Mathew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.   Keep talking to God; at the level of your understanding. You may not know how to pray. Just talk. Pour your heart out. Without your spirit getting attracted to Him, He cannot come close to you nor can your passion grow. (Draw near to me and I will draw near to you.)     Throughout the day desire Him, thirst for Him, hunger for Him more, and more. Passion is expressive. When you express easily in your personal time you can express in public worship also. 

2.    Discipline – Passion for God is birthed by an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. You cannot become passionate about someone until you know the person. Passion is produced by quality time with Him. Exodus 34:14 —for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. If you give more time to children, work, etc you are making God jealous. Our time with Him cannot be disturbed. Fix it. Lock yourself in. Don’t allow any distractions. He is waiting, looking, longing for you. There must be order in our life (God is a God of order; not chaos).  We must be clean vessels (no bitterness or resentment). Passion sets boundaries. God sees how you stop calls, stop people from disturbing your focus on Him, and set aside exclusive time for Him. Psalm 37: 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Those who diligently seek Him will be rewarded.  Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Create your secret place where you spend intimate moments with Him alone. After your fellowship with the Lord, you leave that place filled and full of the Holy Spirit

3. Determination – Breakthrough prayer. Breakthrough worship. God is attracted to such people. He sees the spirit and passion. He sees how His people press through, passionate; breaking all barriers to reach the goal. Philippians 3:13, 14 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. You are putting your past away, leaving it behind, and pressing on. In the natural, we are willing to do everything to achieve success. That is determination. The same goes for loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. We must have the Spirit of holiness and righteousness living in us. Without it, we cannot enter into His presence. The onus lies on us to kindle the spiritual fervor and keep going.

WE ARE CREATED FOR HIS GLORY – THIS IS OUR PURPOSE

Psalm 150: 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! Breath is given to us to praise the Lord

    Isaiah 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made." 

There is a step higher than worship – that is activating His glory in us. Jesus modeled a passionate, purpose driven life doing the will of God. John 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. 

The living word shows us how to manifest as the Son of God. The heavenly pattern should be activated and lived on earth. We have to be more of heaven and not earthly. Only then we can transform into His likeness. Righteousness will increase and the glory of God will come and dwell in us. 

Holy Spirit and God’s glory are connected. Only through the strength of the Holy Spirit, the power of Christ can increase. The presence of the Holy Spirit depends on your response to the Word of God. Ephesians 3:16-18 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 

Once you achieve spiritual stature it is impossible to stop you. You’ll be flowing like the river with the Holy Spirit. Spiritual stature is our destination. Like father, like son. Like Father, like daughter. Without passion, nothing can be established. 

Spiritual passion is for fulfilling the purpose of God. If the spiritual dimension is not there we have nothing to give out. Ministry without God encounter is dangerous. Then you depend on your own strength. Your talent and skill are not what He is looking for. He is looking at how your heart is.  

Spiritual passion is for warfare. 

     Psalm 149:6-9 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
            And a two-edged sword in their hand,

      7To execute vengeance on the nations
            And punishment on the peoples,

      8To bind their kings with chains
            And their nobles with fetters of iron,

      9To execute on them the judgment written;
            This is an honor for all His godly ones.
            Praise the LORD!

     This should be our identity

-        High praises in our mouth

-        Carrying His word and His presence

-        The power of the Holy Spirit

-        Anointed for service

-        We build passion first before we carry weapons of warfare

-        We function as the double-edged sword

-        We are the power against the enemy

    Are we there yet?

    How does passion fizzle out?

Only we can put out the passion for God by sin, rebellion, and procrastination. We may become lazy, undisciplined, or procrastinate (this is the worst of all because then He cuts you off) 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit; Don’t put Him out. Don’t ignore Him when He comes to convict us. Acts 7:51 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.  Identify areas where we are not yielded to the Holy Spirit. Have a circumcised heart. Return back. Rekindle the fire

Satan's plan for us
Satan hates the anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Fire for God drives him crazy. Quenching it is his main assignment on earth. Satan knows this anointing because he had it once before when he was the closest to God until wickedness was found in him. All challenges set before us is known to God before it is executed on us. Luke 22:31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; God has to give satan permission before he can touch us.  Challenges are necessary. Then we are tried, tested, proven then taken by God

God's plan for us

     God is raising a generation that will not fail. Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. We are His prime property. He has all intentions to build us, build up our potential, help us finish what He has purposed for us. Mark of the unstoppable generation is passion set on Jesus Christ. 

How to know if our passion for God is growing? 

    Is the presence of God coming in increasing measure in our lives? When passion for God increases this will happen. More interaction with the Holy Spirit results in an increase in passion for God. How is your water level? Is it increasing? Has it become stagnant? Has it run dry? Our inner reservoir should never run dry. Learn how to go deep in God. Use the worship patterns shown in the Word of God. Are you growing more like His nature, His values, His principles?

    An example of a passionate worshipper is David

    Psalm 63:1-8 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
            My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
            In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

   2Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
            To see Your power and Your glory.

      3Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
            My lips will praise You.

      4So I will bless You as long as I live;
            I will lift up my hands in Your name.

      5My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
            And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

      6When I remember You on my bed,
            I meditate on You in the night watches,

      7For You have been my help,
            And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.

      8My soul clings to You;
            Your right hand upholds me.

    David was a great leader. Passionate worshipper. A favorite of God. Even though He sinned, he never repeated the sin. He was the only one that God called – A man after my own heart. He gave the highest priority to worship. His spiritual eyes were opened to see God. He kept encountering God in an increased measure. 

In the wee hours the Holy Spirit comes in and communes with you; sleep will leave your eyes. Long for such experiences. 

    What are we really passionate about? Where is our heart? Let us strive to be called a man or woman after God’s own heart