Nevertheless, I have this complaint to make: you have less love now than formerly.
– Revelation 2:4
Jesus tells us: Don’t come to Me just for what I can give you. Anything can become an idol if it distracts you from Me – even My blessings. I do love to give you good things, but the greatest blessing I can give you is Myself. I want to be your First Love. Don’t let yourself be distracted by anything else – not even my blessings. When the strongest desire of your heart is to live close to Me, I am filled with joy and you are safe from the danger of idols.
Jesus concludes: So, don’t skimp on your time with Me, Pray, Study My Word, think about who I am and how I work in your life. Yes, enjoy My many blessings. But don’t forget the greatest blessing of all: having Me in your life!
Revelation 2:4; Romans 12:2; Colossians 1:27
Footnotes Revelation 2:4 Many small things make us feel the fervor of a community, or, on the contrary, may reveal that the essence of authentic, passionate and faithful love of God is missing!
There is a widespread mentality, according to which the material elements are insignificant and therefore the adaptation to all aspects of pagan life is seen as normal and right. But Christ reproaches the lukewarm and yielding communities, the loss of enthusiasm and loving enthusiasm while He praises the faithful and decisive Communities and exhorts them to constancy and consistency.
Passage Romans 12:2 Do not model your behaviour on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and mature.
Footnotes Romans 12:2 We are invaded by propaganda, fashion, and songs without considering the weight of our cherished past. All that is the world: it encloses in its logic and its would-be necessities. Yet we should be free for our heart to be only for God! We however become accustomed to what everyone does and thinks and, to the sweet slaveries of money as to the many worldly slaveries.
The Christian who lives the new life in the spirit, must be not conformed to the present world which is illusory and vain. The Christian must change radically: himself and then the world, continuously renew his judgment, to be free heart and ready in the search and discernment of God’s will.
Passage Colossians 1:27 It was God’s purpose to reveal to them how rich is the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; it is Christ among you, your hope of glory.
Footnotes Colossians 1:27 We must not forget that in those days, no one even thought of the common destiny of humanity: they did not even speak of humanity. Neither Greeks nor the Romans looked beyond their actual existence. Paul is amazed by the generosity of God whose promises are for all people, without distinction. We, too, are offered nothing less than a share in the Glory of God, that is to say, all the riches found in Him.
Even the pagans are made participants in the divine plan of salvation which now appears more understandable as it is manifested as “the richness of glory”. The access of the pagans makes the glory of the mystery shine, highlighting the overcoming of every division. Diversities are called to reconcile in a higher unity of a new and different kind. The glory of God is now made visible in Christ creating a new humanity. Those who were once foreigners and marginalized find themselves today “fellow citizens of the saints and relatives of God”.
THE WORLD…we see history
REVEREND JOHN ROBINSON & HIS 120 PARISHNERS,
LAND AT PLYMOUTH ROCK LIVING BY THE PASSAGE OF EZRA 8:21,
WHERE EZRA LED THE REMNANT OF JEWS FROM EXILE TO GOD’S PROMISED LAND,
AFTER HAVING ABANDONING THEIR LORD, THROUGH REPENTANCE.
The replica Mayflower in Plymouth, Massachusetts today
THE PILGRIMS FOUNDING OF THE NEW WORLD AT PLYMOUTH ROCK ABOARD THE MAYFLOWER SEPTEMBER 22TH 1620
After King Henry VIII severed ties with Rome and appointed himself head of the Church of England in 1553, three groups of Protestants emerged: (1) Anglicans who continued the traditions of their church; (2) Puritans who wanted to work within Anglicanism to reform and purify it; and (3) Puritans who were Separatists and dissenters determined to establish their own independent congregations. “Harried out of the land” by various British monarchs. Many of them had fled to Holland, where one Leyden congregation, led by Rev. John Robinson, flourished and tripled in size.1 But these dissenters grew concerned at how easily their children were being assimilated into the Dutch culture. They were strangers in the land. Somehow an idea arose in their hearts to immigrate to the New World, where they could establish a colony to freely pursue their English customs while retaining religious liberty.
The WORD…we see Jesus, His Story!
Midway through the voyage on September 22, they read the scripture for the day and felt it was placed in the Bible just for them. It was Psalm 107:30 So He guides them to their desired haven. Verses 23–31 say: Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet, so He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Source: 100 Bible Verses that made America