What Are the First Works?

Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when He told the Ephesian believers to "...Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else..." (Rev.2:5a) I used to think He was telling them they better get to work doing what they once had done or else they were in big trouble, mister! Actually, when we take a brief look at what other Scriptures, and especially what Jesus Himself says about this very thing elsewhere, we get a clear meaning of His words that will bless our hearts and make us love Him even more. The key I believe is when He tells them to remember from where they have fallen. They were once on a much higher plane, but they have fallen. We know first of all before we go any further that these were no doubt true believers, and we know that genuine believers can never fall out of salvation, again due to Jesus' own perfect Person and work for us. But that is for another day, for now, we know that this falling to a lower plane results in some fearful and sad consequences for a believer, and let me tell you, i have been there. I remember as a new believer, no longer sensing the joyous, precious nearness of my beautiful Savior, and sitting in my parents' living room and crying like a baby. I didn't understand. I was trying hard and working for my Savior, why did I feel so far from Him? I know feelings are not always accurate, but in this case, it was a genuine sense of something just not being right. I won't go into it all right now of what happened, but it's enough to say that God taught me a great lesson through it all. Paul told his Galatians that they had fallen from grace even though they were doing all kinds of works thinking that they somehow had to now finish in their own strength what Christ had done for them on the cross! No wonder Paul got so hot under the collar dealing with the false teachers that had put that wicked notion in their heads! He had tried that himself as recorded in Romans 7 and he ended up a wretched man! (v.24) 
So, after all this, what did Jesus mean by the first works from which these Ephesians had fallen? He gives us the answer when He spoke to the folks who asked Him what works they should work in order to do the works of God back in John 6, and His answer is so simple yet so beautiful in verse 29! "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." Ah! No wonder the Ephesians had to repent! They had a completely convoluted mindset, they thought they were to work themselves into a frenzy before God would bless them, but Paul and Jesus as well as all Scripture says they have it totally backward! Believe on Him, as Jesus says, Come to Me you who are weary, you who are worn out, worked to a frazzle, worn out trying to earn what only I can give you as my love gift of grace! Go back to realizing that we receive His wondrous grace by simple faith and then His power can and will flow through us out to others! " I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." (Jn.15:5) God Bless you all, I just had to share that with you!

When He Comes

Have you ever thought of what it will be like when Jesus returns, and we're in His blessed presence? I know that I almost always think of the fact that I'll see those wonderful Hands with nail-pierces in them, that paid such a dear price for my salvation all because of His great love for me. We who have come to Him as He invites us to, and has given us glorious rest from the tyrannical burden of our sin, we know that it will be a joy beyond description and even the possibility of full expression now when we see Him! We'll run to Him, and rejoice in seeing our Best Friend! I know this because we have Scriptural proof of it. Peter, who sinned as much as any of us, yet he came to know Christ, and even after he had denied his Savior so terribly, as we often do, when he realized Jesus was on the shore after His resurrection, what did he do? Did he run away from Jesus in shame and fear because he had failed his Savior so badly? Let's let the Scripture speak for itself on it. "But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.”  And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea." (Jn.21:4-7) Peter ran to his Savior! Not long after this, the Lord Jesus in His loving way, allowed Peter to express publicly his genuine love, imperfect as it was, for his Savior, and then He told him to feed His sheep, which he did through his 2 great epistles. Our sins are gone, as the great old hymn sings with joyous abandon, and we need to do as Psalm 107:2 says, let those of us who are redeemed by the Lord, say so!!I'm saying so right now. Maybe you want to as well, then go for it! May the Lord bless you.

I Don't Know!

No, I haven't become an agnostic! But I am compelled to write a brief note here concerning something that at one time in my life was absolutely earthshaking, & I'm not even sure that fully explains the importance it carried in my mind at that time. It was literally a matter of life & death to me. The issue I refer to is knowing the exact time that I was born again. There was a time in my young Christian life in which I had heard that unless a person knows the exact time he or she was saved, that it is very likely the person is not saved! For whatever reason, I uncritically accepted it at that time as truth & feverishly tried to delve into my past (what a waste of time!) to figure out the exact moment so I could have assurance! Talk about a total waste of time & energy, but I spent years, yes I said years, trying to do just that. It literally spent much of my spiritual as well as physical energy. Then, I heard of some very well-known Christians say that they could not point to an exact time, & for a brief moment I experienced a euphoric relief! But, whether it was ingrained habit, or just my rabid introspective nature, I went back to hunting down that elusive exact moment! Then not too long ago, I ran across the teaching ministry of a dear brother who is with the Lord now. His name is Chester, or as he was known, Chet, McCalley. Great Bible expositor. He founded & pastored a Bible Church in Kansas City for nearly or maybe it was over 40 years before his Homegoing. There is a great web site for his teachings in audio format, http://www.wordoftruth.net/. He made a statement that really hit home for me. In a lesson on some Bible truth, I forget what it was now, he made the off-hand statement that he had absolutely no idea when he was born again, & then he made an even more startling statement! He said he was very thankful that he did not know! I thought, "I sure would like to know why you are glad!" Then he told us! I hope any of you fellow strugglers who may be dealing with this will hear what he said next. His reasoning was that he thought if he did have an idea, he would make a "shrine" out of that time, & never move on with the Lord. That is not his exact words, but it is the jist of what he said. It reminds me of the bronze snake Moses had put on the pole for the bitten Israelites to look at in faith & be healed back in Numbers 21 that the people of Israel in later times had made an idol out of & worshipped it! Nehushtan good king Hezekiah called it & then summarily destroyed it! I am not sure but I do think I know my heart well enough that if I did know the exact time, I may almost worship it as well, & never really live in the present & look to the future while walking daily with Christ. I still don't do that anywhere near as much as I would like, but I am learning to trust God with the exact time & just rejoice in His salvation through Christ & hopefully tell as many about it as possible.

Before I end this post, may I say that if you do know the exact date & time, then praise the Lord! You have a great gift as well, & there is certainly nothing wrong with that! Every soul is unique & we have our own needs that God is certainly aware of & sensitive to. He knows how to get our attention & what we need. I just wanted to make that clear before I concluded.

OK, this short note turned into a long one, but I just wanted to share that in case anyone else may be going through something similar. If not, then I guess the Lord knew I just needed to get it off my chest! May the Lord bless you all!

When We Can't Pray

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Ro.8:26-28, NKJV)

Has there ever been a time when you just felt a great urge to pray, but didn't know how to express it, or as strange as it may sound, what to even express? I can remember a few times, when I just lifted up a grunt, or groan toward the Lord, because the pain & confusion was just too heavy & thick to say anything. I have a strong suspicion that I am not the only one. Well, one of the many benefits (Ps.103:1-5) of being a child of God is that this is enough, when we just cannot express our prayer needs. Our Father knows our needs, & our hearts. He also knows how to supply those needs in such a way that we'll receive them.
I used to think that verse 28 was a new thought after the verses before it, but they are perfectly interrelated! God knows that sometimes it is only severe trials & testings that will get us on our knees so to speak, & it is then that He can use those hard things He lovingly allows into our lives to all work together for good! Not that they are good, but they work together for our good!
Notice however this only works for those called by Him & who love Him. This of course are His children in fellowship with Him! All can be His children if they'll just trust in Christ as Savior, then this magnificent promise is good for you as well! I trust the Lord will use His precious Word in your life today!

Psalm 27:8

"When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek."

What a precious text of Scripture! Certainly this reveals the intimate & loving communion between a believer abiding in fellowship with the Lord & the Lord Himself. This entire Psalm, as so many in the Psalter, reveals this beautiful closeness that the Lord so desires from us.
You know, I was looking over the Book of Acts this week, & a great Bible teacher now with the Lord, Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, made a tremendous point in connection with the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, & the Lord's faithful disciple, Ananias (not Sapphira's infamous husband!). As the Lord directed Ananias to go & lay hands on the freshly converted Saul, Ananias understandably balked at first! His response is almost funny! "Lord! Don't You know all the bad things this fellow has done, & that he came here to keep on doing those awful things..." Certainly this is a very rough paraphrase, but the point is clear! Ananias felt comfortable being very open & candid with the Lord, obviously something he was in the habit of doing. Dr. Morgan pointed out that the supernatural simply seemed natural to these early believers! The point is, that they were completely at home with the Lord! The reverse was also true...He was at home in their hearts & lives as well! Isn't that what Paul meant when he said what he did in Ephesians 3:17? Listen to the Amplified version of that text: "May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love..." Now we know that once we trust in Christ for eternal life, that positionally we are in Him forever, but in our everyday lives, the Lord wants to do what Paul said in Ephesians 3:17, & what He was doing in Ananias' heart in Acts 9! The Lord desires much more than we do, even at our best moments, to be in intimate, close fellowship with us! This is encouraging, yet also sobering, to think how many times I have left my wonderful Savior desiring much closer fellowship with me while I went off to do some pointless thing in light of eternity...
Anyway, I'm not really sure what my reaon for posting this was, but I do know that we as believers can be as close to the Lord as we want to be, since He has made every effort & put everything in place for it to be so! Let's be like David when he said, "When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek." May the Lord bless you all!