Ears to Hear...

Dear Mars,
 
     I write today to take you back...back to a time when you first met the Lord Jesus Christ. No, not when you first joined the church, the choir or any other ministry. But when you were inadequate, feeling out of place, perhaps unsure if you want to even walk down that church aisle to give you life to the Lord. Now go a step further, when you first decided to seriously consider what to wear to church. Ponder on how you felt when you thought about picking up the bible; 'what is it talking about you said, it doesn't make sense.'
     You were as a new born baby, unable to drink milk without choking. You needed so much help, having to learn all over again. In this dispensation of time, most of us have come very far and wholeheartedly decided, we are not going back. Regardless, of how awkward our journey has been, we are now comfortable and safe in His arms. The man we grew to fall in love with, Jesus!
     But how far have we come? So far, that we feel a sense of arrival or even better, complacent. I will be the first to admit, that yes, I still have areas that need His undivided attention. I've been on this journey since 1981 and I have done of it all, so it appears. But there still that deep intuition that calls from the deep, saying, 'no Jerri, you need to go further...keep moving on. And in doing so, don't forget your first love.' Like the church of Ephesus, who was very pleasing to the Lord, but was unaccountable to one thing, they forgot their first love.
     What was it? We could never forget Jesus, after all we wake up each day to Him in prayer and meditation. We read His word, give encouraging words, fast, humble ourselves, avoid our former ways, all so that He may be glorified. I found to believe that our first love wants us to never forget, how it all started and how we felt...fear and trembling...working out our salvation. We've gotten or can get so courageous and lofty because we come so far on the journey and we "think" or "feel" we "know Him".
     Enough said, in your spare time because you have soooo much to do. Get back to the basics, as if your not the Pastor, president of an auxiliary, your not even a proclaimed prophet or deacon. You are just YOU! Jesus' beloved. Still unsure, unpopular, awkward...because like walking down that church aisle, you want to feel that uncharted ground under your feet. Because you don't know it all and perhaps did some things wrong, but still how loved are you by the Lord. Never get too comfortable because you don't know Him still. He tells us in Isaiah 55:8..."my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways...
     He who has an ear to hear....click on this link and just read www.eartohear.net/kingdom/know.html
I found this site to be a very word worthy lesson, to bring us back to the basics of our first love. We can never study enough, so just read it. Don't dissect it, with pen and paper because you already know it. It's all word. Take your time, read it over a period of days, don't rush. Let this study be a refresher, let the Holy Spirit revive you. Watch how rejuvenated you'll feel, where all your hopes and fears will once again, be gone, just from reading His word and knowing Him even more. Paul said, "I pray, so that will know Him more..."

You are not alone,
Jerri of Mars