Hey, everybody, welcome back to another episode of Ignite, I want to talk to you about first love Christians. And it’s a term I’m using, I hope we can go with a better term. But I’m looking, we’re all looking for a term that best describes Christians that are really fully dedicated to God and waiting to live for him and everything that we do. And the term evangelicals has been used through a lot of years. And I’ve always been proud to be an Evangelical, but I don’t know what that term means anymore. I really don’t. You look at the statistics and less than half to say the least less than half of all evangelicals even hold a biblical worldview anymore. And believe that there’s multiple ways to heaven and on and on and on, you know, I gotta say, what’s an evangelical? So I don’t even call myself an evangelical anymore. And when I’m looking at people and trying to determine what are they, and I’ve come down to this term, first love Christians, and I don’t think that’s the ultimate term, but it’s my working term for the moment. There is this term going on right now, sage, people who are spiritually active, government energize, and in other words, we’re alive in the Lord or we’re live in our faith, but but we’re not just sitting there doing nothing, we’re actually wanting to change our environment. It’s not that we hold politics to be our God, but we need to influence government. And I’m finding a lot of sage Christians that excite me because they understand where we are practically and every other way and then, and all the turmoil is going on. But they’re excited because this is a wonderful time to share faith. And of course, that’s much of what we’re about. But I use this term first love Christians because you know, in in Revelation, chapter two, the love of the church at Ephesus, and by the way care and I went to the seven churches, you know, letters went to seven churches. Back in the first part of revelations, you can read them and we’ve been to all those sites, and heard a biblical scholars talk about what what the impact of what the message is going to be. The one to the love of the letter to the church of Ephesus caught my eye more than any others, because, again, speaking to the church, right? And he says, I know you’re in church, I know you’re there. In my own words, you’re there every every moment you can be, and you give sacrificially and you phrase my name and you know, good teaching for bad, you know, all that, but I have this against you. You’ve left your first love, and you’re no longer doing the first work. And looking at the church today, I would say that kind of sums up much of where the church is today. I found our own life, you know, my age I, I always talk about the right way to do it. Because I learned that over a period of years, I did it the wrong way many times. And one time I went for two and a half years in earnestly seeking God to solve a problem my business, a family, business and family business have internal problems with family. And it was driving me on my mind. I was ready. God help me god help me God help me. I was praying or traveling all over the country looking for people that could help us and then I heard this preacher on radios. I was driving down the street, two and a half years into this visit. Where are you guys? I’d never prayed so much my whole life for two and a half years. And this preacher on the radio said, Who’s your God? He’s I got that figured out. I don’t need to have that message. I’m gonna ask you again. Who’s your God? And I thought Yeah, I don’t need to hear this but I want to change the station is out tell you who your God is. Whatever feels your prayers. Is your guide. Wow. I don’t know if they hit you right now. Like it didn’t mean that but it was like shooting a bullet in my head. I knew immediately. I had made my business my god. How can I do that? I couldn’t wait to get home I cried. The guy’s a guy. How’s that possible? I can’t believe it. I know better. And I made my business my God. I don’t care, Bob, I just want to be with you. I just want to love you. I don’t want anything separating us today. I just want to be close to you. I want to know you more. It was like 10 years before I prayed for my business again. And that horrible David Gord our business was solved in the next two weeks also to just all smoothed out for a long period of time. It was a message that I’ve learned ever said. So we just been through the election cycle where I am and I know a number of the candidates and I know some of them lost. And there’s actually leading up to the election. I taught each one of them you know, who’s your God? Is this election year God or is God God? Is we want his will to be done in our life. Right? Not our will. And I’ll talk a lot about that as we go through these podcasts. But that’s really important. But if we keep him first, he never lets us down. He never lets us down if we we can make a ministry. I had a precious brother cut to be a national broadcast he’s a broadcaster loves the Lord. And he started a side ministry and he was all into it all Senator wasn’t going well and the owner of his radio station wasn’t gonna support you and he was already turmoil and I think you’ve made it your god why I say God may want to worse that ministry He may want that to go over but right now your priority you’ve made that a higher priority than him you know when you when you make anything your god that’s not God. It evolves people and people will always let you down. So you need to ask yourself what fills your What gives you joy? What fills your life what fills your prayers, and and that should convict it convicts me every day. It’s a constant battle. Because things capture our attention we wanted we want to help better and it for righteous reasons. But when you do that, and all sudden that’s capturing your whole life, and God says capture you, we start moving away from him. And he’s no longer our first love folks. We always have to keep him as our first love bye for everybody is God you’re my first love. I love you. And I want nothing separate you know my, you know my frailties. You know how weak I am. I believe I’m just a reg, I believe you would love it. You saved me. You’re just amazing. And I want nothing separating us try my heart. Oh god, I’m an open book. You own me. That’s the prayer. That’s how God wants us to have him as our first love. And then when we do that, you do the first word because it’s automatic. The first the first thing every Christian is is share their faith. They gotta tell people you cannot stop I do Chris ever tell people about Jesus. That’s where we should live not that first day of our salvation but every loved every day of our life. And we can keep that when we do it. And when we love God, you know, whatever we love we talk about if you love your wife, if you love your girlfriend, you’re gonna be talking about her. If you love that hamburger you had last night you’re probably gonna be telling people today about hungry that hamburger was if you love God, you can’t stop yourself you can tell people where they are in their first love real quick just listen to him talk take him to dinner and over dinner listen to how much they talk about God how much they talk about other things you tell real quick are their first love Christian? Are they not? is amazing. So that that context you know, it goes on and on in scripture you know, Jesus said If you love me keep my commandments. First that first love first week you got that? Okay, next thing is let’s go back to where he said you know if you let me keep my commandments, you know that I think is John four. So we’re but then they asked him okay, what’s the most important commandment? What’d he say? He said, Love me all your heart mind soul strike love me nothing between his first love. Okay? If you love me and you love your neighbor as yourself, if you love your neighbors yourself, you’re as concerned for their salvation as you are your own. And 90% of the people around us are not saved. So are you as concerned for their salvation as you are your own? And if you are that changes you I can this realization about 20 years ago, maybe 25 years ago, that I have responsive ability. And people around me are lost and so that’s that changes everything. He says if you do those two you fulfill all 10 You fulfill all the law. Well, how’s that possible? If you’re doing everything you can to bring everybody around, you’re closer to Jesus, if you’re seeking and saving the lawsuit, if you love them, and you’re concerned for their sub issues, you are your own. Everything in your life is committed that all affect what you talk about what you laugh at. You know what, what gets you excited? What What’s the center of your conversation? Probably how you dress, probably how you indoors. You think you have free to do that? Well, you do and you’ll get to heaven. But is that helping you lead people closer to Jesus? I don’t know. That’s something you have to figure out for yourself. There’s a mirror that all the way down to about every podcast I think I mentioned Romans 828 I love this scripture because it’s so misunderstood and I think it should be preached from the pulpit every Sunday and every church is after John 369 convinced it’s the second most important scripture in the whole Bible. Yeah, it’s the one that says I’ll make everything your life work together for good. But most you said Yeah, I know that Scripture but it hasn’t worked out very good for me so I don’t know if I could really trust God or I you know, I’ve already doesn’t love be everywhere. All these things. You have to read the whole scripture. You know, he promised eternal life John was right. But are always gonna go to heaven. No, it’s a partnership, right? I promise you eternal life but but you have to recognize it, you’re a sitter and, and accept my gift of eternal life I, my setting my son to die in that cross for you. That’s what God did for us. And by recognize that, and may Allah realize, and then we confess this and when you confess with your mouth, you we say that’s telling people about Jesus. And that amazing how that works. So when that all when you put that all together, you have this total promissory hymn that you love God with your whole heart. And then what is it that if you read the Scripture, it puts it together? It didn’t say, and it says to those who love me, to those and say, and to those who live their lives for my purpose? What’s God’s purpose? He came to seek and save the lives. That’s his purpose. I mean, there’s no, there are no theologians that would debate that issue. So he’s saying, When you love me, and you love your neighbors, yourself, you your concern for their salvation is you are for your salvation, follow me. If if you live to seek and save the lives if you’re, if you’re living your whole life, to bring fuel to him, if you’re living your life to move everybody everyday, closer to Jesus, you’re living the promise of Romans 828. And he’ll make everything in your life work together for good. That takes us back to when you love God first. When you really love God, first, you will share him first. That will be the driving force of your life. And he’s telling you when you do that, he sets you free. You’re living the promise of knowing he’s making everything. Even the bad stuff in your life work together for good. I mean, can you imagine what that means? It’s incredible. All you have to do is just focus on not trying to get scalps and not trying to be preachy, not memorize scripture, read scripts and tell your story and all that just simply love on people. And focus on moving everybody every day closer to Jesus. That’s a strong message. See you next time
