But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. Revelation 2:4-5.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
I gave you a beautiful, awesome gift. It is YOU. It is being YOU. There is no one else like you and never has been and never will be. And for every person that is true. I gave each person the gift of him or herself. Cherish that gift and care for that gift. Appreciate your life but especially who you are. Don’t mutilate it and harm it. Don’t mar it and demean it. Don’t waste it. Don’t beat it and chastise it. Don’t berate it and belittle it. Don’t overfeed it, don’t underfeed it, don’t drug it, or fill it with alcohol, don’t abuse it. Never throw it away for others to use. Don’t treat it as cheap. You are priceless. There is no one else like you.
And even if you are valuing the gift of your life, do not limit it. I created you in My image and according to My likeness and I want your life to be amazing. I gave you rule over the works of My hands and dominion over the earth. I want you to live that to the full. Please do not limit Me in what I can reveal to you and what great works you can do together with Me. I told you to do the works Jesus did and greater works than those. Are you? If not, it is time you enlarged the vision in your heart. It is time to begin to see what I see in the plans I have for your life.
Jesus told His disciples that day on the mountainside when He taught the Sermon on the Mount that they were salt and they were light in the world. Matthew 5:13-16. But it is not automatic, He warned them, as He does you today, not to let their salt go flat or to hide their light under a big basket. He was telling you who are His followers not to bury your gifts by limited thinking. It will make your salt flat and your light imperceptible, like the servant who buried his talent in the ground. Why did that servant do that? Wrong thinking about who the master was which then limited his desire to work. The useless servant saw his master harsh and hard, displeased with any efforts he could make and saw himself unable to meet the master’s standard. And though he did not lose the talent, he did not indulge in sinful pleasures with the talent, he did nothing with the talent, and the master judged him worthless for kingdom work. Matthew 29:30.
Be fruitful and take dominion authority. That was the blessing I spoke to the first man and woman when I created them and it was the first thing they heard—the Blessing of the LORD which makes rich and adds no toilsome sorrow with it. And Jesus gave the same Word again on the night of the Passover Seder before He died for you. He told you that I am the vinedresser, He is the vine and you are the branches and when you remain in Him by remaining in His Word you will bear MUCH fruit and show you are His disciples. And He had already told you that you would do the works He had done and greater ones. Much fruit.
But most believers are not bearing MUCH fruit. They have put their light under a big basket so that it is hardly perceptible in the world today. Believers are not amazing the world as they once did. They are not turning the world upside down (that is, right side up). And you should not be walking in lesser glory but in greater glory. You should be going from faith to faith and glory to glory.
What has happened? The same thing that happened to My people when Joshua and all who knew him died after the conquest of the Promised Land. They had seen amazing miracles and mighty works and been part of them. Joshua had led them in mediating on the Word day and night and speaking only My Word and following My directions and plans to win the battles, but after he died and all who knew him did likewise, the Word was not been passed to the next generation and they did not value it. It was set aside and every man did what was right in his own eyes. Their lamp went out and word from Me was rare in those days, and visions were infrequent.
It wasn’t that I became unwilling to talk, it was just that no one was listening. I sent them prophets and judges who would lead them to a few victories but when they died the people went right back to their idols until they called out, like Gideon, for Me to rescue them again. And I always responded. But no one was interested in changing and returning to My commandments.
But then Samuel came, the light began to shine in the darkness. Why? He listened and he obeyed what he heard. In fact, he was delighted with Me. And he brought back the light. And it was very significant where he was when he first heard My voice. Though he was not a Levite, his mother Hannah had prayed for him to be born to end her barrenness and when I gave her a son, she consecrated him to Me and left him to serve in My house under Eli, the High Priest at that time. And Eli had him sleep by the Ark of the Covenant and care for the lamps on the golden lampstand. And the night he first heard My voice, it is written that “and the lamp of God had not yet gone out.” There is still time for you to take your light out from under the bushel basket if you will listen to and obey My Word.
But what is it that makes that light shine so brightly it cannot be contained? What was it about Jesus that made Him shine so bright that He could not escape notice? What made Him the Light of the world? Love. My Love for you and My love for Him. And just as I loved Him so He loved you. “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.” John 15:9.
“Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is stronger than death, its zeal is as severe as Sheol; its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD.” Song of Songs 8:6. I light the lamp of your spirit from the flame of My Love.
John the Baptist told that the one coming after him, who was greater than he, would baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire! He came to light your lamps that had gone out. And what did He light them with? The fire of love. Without love life means nothing. With love it is the sweetest flow that carries you over all the obstacles and pitfalls as easy as floating over them in a rushing stream, the river of delights pouring into your heart from My throne. Acts 2:33. “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” Psalm 36:7-8.
What was it that made Jesus reach out to teach, to heal, to give provision, to raise from the dead, and ultimately to take your sins on Himself and die for you so you could be in fellowship with Me again and receive My gift of the Holy Spirit so that you became one with us? Love. His love for Me and His love for you. I so loved the world that I gave you My only begotten Son so that you would never perish but have eternal life. He did not come to judge you but to save you. He came to set the captives free. He came to take you out of your fishbowl to a life of unlimited love and glory. Into your wealthy place, the place called grace. He came to lead you back to the Garden of Eden—to live in My REST. The grace in which you now stand, justified, holy, blameless and beyond reproach because of His death and resurrection.
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8.
And how did He do such great miracles and works? Love. “And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.” Matthew 8:40-42. And again, “When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.” Mark 6:34. And why did He multiply the bread and the fish to feed the crowd? “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” Mark 8:2-3.And no one who came to Him did He ever reject. He loved. Even on the Cross, He prayed I forgive all who were putting Him to death because they knew not what they did, thus qualifying everyone to receive the forgiveness of sins because He judged your sins as unintentional meaning you qualified for the burnt offering, the sin offering, the peace offering and the guilt offering, which only could be offered for unintentional sins. He never did anything to impress people or for His own glory, He only sought My glory, and when Herod taunted Him to work a miracle to prove who He was, He kept silent, just as He did when they taunted Him to come down from the Cross if He was really My beloved Son, but He did not answer or obey. Love has nothing to prove, only to heal, provide, protect, and increase those loved. Love is awesome and Love never fails.
Why could I do such extraordinary miracles at the hands of Paul that even cloths touched to him when laid on the sick healed them and cast out demons? Let Paul tell you, “For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. Love. And he explains again, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20.
And it was Paul who wrote that nothing you do means anything if not done in love. And He wrote that nothing, whether adversity, persecution, abuse by others, life or death could separate him from My love, “No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39. He wanted everyone to know the unfathomable riches of Christ.
And the beloved disciple John did amazing things, with Peter he healed a man crippled from birth in the Name of Jesus. And what did John write? “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. his is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4:16-21. Love made him unconquerable.
What makes the light go dim that He lit in you? Let Me show you. When the apostle John was exiled to Patmos for preaching the good news of Jesus, I showed him much in the Spirit of what was at that time and then that which was yet to come. When the glorious Jesus appeared to him, Jesus was walking in the middle of seven golden lampstands (menorah) like the one in the tabernacle built by Moses and the people who I gave the skill to in order to construct it. Jesus told John that the seven golden lampstands were the seven established churches teaching the good news of Jesus at that time and Jesus gave John a Word to each of the churches. And even though all the churches but one received correction there was only one to which Jesus gave the message that their lampstand would be removed if they did not repent. And what was it that would cause your light to be removed, not just hidden but removed? No love.
“The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks in the midst of the seven gold lampstands says this: “I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate the wicked; you have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and discovered that they are impostors. Moreover, you have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first. Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” Revelation 2:1-5. They lost the love they had for Me and for others.
I do not want churches operating that have no love. That do not feed the sheep and carry the lambs. That abuse their sheep causing scandal to My Name and to My Love by abusing the children they should be setting free to do amazing miracles in the world. I do not want the leaders in My church living lives of impurity and greed while they preach righteousness and holiness as many of the Pharisees were doing. And Jesus took away their lampstand and the temple was destroyed. Do not fill My house with idols. Jesus took a whip of cords and overturned the money changers tables in the temple because they had turned My house into a marketplace that was cheating My people in My Name. No love and I take away what little light you have. To the one who has more love, more faith, and more compassion, I can give the hundredfold, to the one who has little or no love, that one will lose the little he has and I will give it to the one who has more, like I did with the man’s talent he hid in the ground. I took it from him and gave it to the one who would be fruitful with it. The one who loved Me and others.
The Light of the World is love. The light of life is love. And I am Light and Love. Light and Love come together. And it is the revelation of My Word that sheds light. One Word from Me can open up your destiny and that one word is LOVE. For as you follow Me, directed you will be along the pathway for your life. For all are blessed by one who loves. I blessed Abraham so he could be a blessing. That is love. Love blesses just because that is who love is.
What am I looking for in My followers so I can send them out as I sent Jesus to undo the works of the devil and do the greater works of bringing people to be born again? My heart’s desire is that all people be saved and come to know the truth. And what is the truth? My love. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and what was that truth? That I so love the world that I gave Him to you to die for your sins and bring you back into My bosom. That in Him I have forgiven you as if sin had never been. In Him, your sins and offenses I can legally remember NO MORE for I put them on Jesus and punished them. I will never bring your sins up to you again. They are gone like a heavy mist in the strong sun, in the Sun or Righteousness with healing in His rays, His Light. And His light was life, light for the life of men. He is the fulfilment of My Covenant promise Name: The LORD our righteousness. I am your righteousness; you could not achieve it so I gave you Mine through Jesus. In Jesus, you are My beloved child and EVERYTHING I have is yours. Why? I am love and I love you and you are precious in My eyes. And that is where all signs, wonders and great miracles come from, from love Himself as I work through, in, and with you who will love with Me. Come share your Master’s joy!
It is time to shine for I am about to do something new and I need you to come out of the darkness into My marvelous Light to do the greater works.
In the prior Life Lesson we talked about goldfish, that is, that they grow if you do not put them in a fishbowl, but if you do, they stay small and never get larger than the environment they are in. They same is true of you in many ways, you can keep yourself in a fishbowl or enter into the flowing river of life, but just as a goldfish cannot get out of the bowl without someone setting him free by putting him into a flowing river, you need someone to feed you the truth that sets you free before you can grow into the awesome person I made you to be. And that Person is Jesus for whom the Son sets free is free indeed. And what does Jesus bring you? Grace and truth. Grace upon grace. And when you receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness you reign in life through Christ Jesus.
To walk in grace and the hundredfold, to get out of the fishbowl, you have to love as I love. And that is a disposition of compassion for all—just as much for the mean one and the sweet one. Just as much for those who are difficult but demand your service, as you do for the easy one who humbly seek your service. Jesus did not condemn or cast anyone away who came to Him. He saw everyone as valuable and precious, worthy to be saved and loved. And He saw that in the demon possessed man of Gadera that lived in the tombs whom everyone else had rejected and given up on.
If you have hate for others and count them as cheap, not worth your attention, Satan will keep you captive and limited to the bowl. And there you will never grow.
The only way you will come out of that bowl and leap over a wall right into the river of life for the thrilling life of a disciple who becomes an apostle and My ambassador to the world is to enlarge your heart. And you do this by putting aside your stony hard heart and opening your heart to LOVE without limit. I pour My love into your heart by the gift of My Holy Spirit. You have it, just open your heart and receive. In Jesus, you have been born again by the imperishable seed of My Word and I have taken out your stony heart and given you a soft heart of flesh and put My Spirit in it. Renew you mind to that and receive My love, so much that it overflows into the world and everyone is caught up in the flow. From your innermost being rivers of living water shall flow!
You do not come out of the bowl to wreak havoc in the earth, that will keep you in the bowl, you come out by love for Me and for your neighbor as yourself. The life of love is the sweetest, freest, most wonderful life there is. It is days of Heaven on earth. And signs and wonders are from the Kingdom. And they are from Love.
Love alone can win the throne.
I love you. Love is your answer. Pull every bitter root out of your heart if you want to live a life of extraordinary miracles, for they are all done from Love. Come live in the light of My love. And go about lighting other people’s hearts from the flame I have lit in yours.