First love

"Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." Revelation 2.4

The church in Ephesus was supposed to be a reference of the Lord Jesus on Earth: with good works and perseverance, they had been proven and approved by the Lord and everything else. But their passion for souls had faded and in its place came another ...
However, the compassion of the Lord gives us a new chance to get back to what we were before. It's just a matter of wanting it and taking action.

The First Love

"Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." Revelation 2.4

The leaving of the first love happens when there is an exchange for another love. What good is for a husband to provide comfortable living, jewelry, luxury and money but to be absent to his wife? The same is with those who give the best of themselves in the church but, at their hearts, Jesus no longer occupies the first place.

Taking Christian faith lightly

"The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked..." Nahum 1.3

That word is addressed to those who are take the Christian faith lightly. Especially for those who, claiming that God is love, are deliberately living in sin, as if the love of God would make Him tolerate sin or injustice.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in mercy and love, but never clears the guilty.

Whoever loves his wife loves himself

"So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself." Ephesians 5:28

Much more than a feeling, love is caring. A wife's role is to replace her husband's mother and a husband's role is to replace his wife's father. The relationship between parents and children goes beyond feelings. Feelings are like clouds that come and go. But true and pure love cares about the other person with perseverance, and forever. He who loves his wife loves himself. Whoever mistreats his wife, hurts himself.

The love God wants

"He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'do you love Me?'And he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.'Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep.'" John 21.17

Why did Jesus ask Peter if he loved Him? From my understanding, he wanted to teach about pure and true love. Just as faith requires attitude, love also requires action. Those who think that pure love is a feeling are completely wrong. It is not. Just as  and faith, it also requires sacrifices.

Discipline

"Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12.11

The proud sons of the devil, hate discipline. But the humble sons of the Spirit, love to be corrected because most consider it a learning experience.

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Proverbs 27.6

Spirit of power

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1.7

Fear is a spirit that dwells in the minds of those who are distant from the Creator. However, this same spirit is empowering those who are possessed by it to do what is evil.
But the Spirit of God gives us power to overcome evil, love to love even our enemies and a sound mind, which means balance, not to be radical.

I LOVE THOSE WHO LOVE ME

"I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me diligently will find Me."      Proverbs 8.17

God is Love.
In practice, the result of this Love depends on the love He receives from the obedience to His Word.
The same is true in regards to having an encounter with Him.
Only those who seek Him wholeheartedly with all of their soul, with all of their understanding and with all of their strength will find Him. 

MONEY CANNOT BUY

"Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised."
     Songs 8.7

Even if a man gave all of his wealth in exchange for love, it would not be enough. There is nothing in this world that can be exchanged for true love...
Only the Holy Spirit can guide us in the direction of pure and sincere love because He is love.
Therefore, those who want to love and be loved must first seek and receive the Spirit of love. 

GOODNESS AND SEVERITY

"Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but towards you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off."         Romans 11.22

Modern Christians consider God's love, kindness and mercy. But they forget about His justice and severity.
However, if He did not spare the fallen angels, or mankind during the time of Noah, or the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, do you think that He has changed and will spare those who have fallen and didn't repent.   

FEAR OF THE LORD

"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death."      Proverbs 14.27

 Where there is fear of the Lord, there is justice, true love, faith and abundance of life. But in the absence of the fear of the Lord, the spirit of sin triumphs.
Those who are wise fear the Lord, run from sin and live according to the teachings of the Divine.

LOVE

" 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and '(love) your neighbor as yourself'."    Luke 10:27

If the love God is asking us for had anything to do with the emotions of the heart, it would be impossible to love Him. Because how could you feel love for the Unknown? 
How could you demand any emotions from your heart?
The love mentioned above refers to a thought, followed by an action.
Biblically speaking, love and giving walk hand in hand. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son... John 3:16
Therefore, love is giving, caring, respecting, helping, overall it is doing something for someone you love. 

Require of You

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul… for your good?” Deuteronomy 10:12

The one who is obedient to the Word of the Lord is properly blessed with the passing material things of this world, but above all, he has the guarantee of his soul’s eternal life.

If you love Him

"I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me." Proverbs 8:17

If the first motive of satisfaction in life is the Lord, then He'll reveal His greatness and give the Holy Spirit to guide to green pastures.

What a Day!!!

"Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust." Psalm 16.2

Those who are sealed by God can finally recognise that everything in this world is vanity. There's only One True Eternal Love. And we've found Him... What a day!!!

Fear

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."

1 John 4: 18

Those who know God live by faith, they have assurance that His eyes are upon their lives, there's no fear, for they feel secured in God's love.

To love

"If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?"

1 John 4:20

The love for God and consequently for those around us is not about a deep feeling, but about an attitude of respect and consideration. True love consists of unconditional surrender to those who are loved.

Iniquity

"And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold." Matthew 24:12

The coldness of the heart you find too often nowadays is a result of the iniquity abound. When one lacks spiritual values, moral values are usually affected with little and almost no true love left, which by the way, can only come from faith.

Love and Faithfulness

"Do they not go astray who devise evil? Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness." Proverbs 14:22

There is indeed much evil being done in the world, but those whose only aim is to help the needy will find God's love and faithfulness.

Refuge

"May the Lord reward your work and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge." Ruth 2:12


For her kindness to her mother-in-law, Ruth (who was also a widow), received a Divine blessing. Her reward was another marriage - which was even more happier than her first - and her honour was extraordinary! She became the grandmother of the great King David. 


All this because she clung to her mother-in-law, and above all, to her God. The God of Israel.