Our First Love

Our First Love. Isaiah 29: 13-14

We need to understand who Isiah is delivering this message to

Nation of Israel has been delivered from bondage of Egyptians

12 tribes of Israel that came from 12 sons of Jacob

The 12 tribes split b/c of not agreeing on things and became Northern and Southern Israel

Sound familiar?

Ole Isaiah got sent in to deliver this message to the people

Isaiah was simply calling them back to the Lord

If you could have been there to hear it delivered, you would have heard the people say

What are you talking about - (Turn back to God? - I haven’t gone anywhere, I am here doing what I am supposed to be doing every time).

Sound familiar? Evaluate your heart - not your spouse heart

13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Wouldn’t it be great if we could live a sin free life

No heartache, nobody to talk about you, no more I am right and you are wrong - it’s easier to see the bad in someone than it is to see the good in them

We focus on the bad way more than we see the good

Some folks will believe the worst about you rather than the best about you

Satan is a part time lover, that old deceiver will distract you from doing the will of God - He is the reason our hearts are far from God b/c he has us distracted

Do you remember the day you got saved?

We started out on fire

You couldn’t beat us to the house of God

Every time the church doors was open, you was there

Sunday school to bible school - we wanted to be there

Bible study, try to keep me away

But somewhere along the way, we got distracted

Jesus was no longer our first love

Where is our spark - where is our desire,

Satan’s love will only last until he gets you where he wants you or all that he can get out of you

That is why we have to get our focus back on our first love

B/C This world has so much to offer us - we are told that christianity is outdated, to old fashioned - to boring

But God will get us where we need to be and should be

God says these people say they draw near me and there lips are saying that they honor me

But they have removed their heart far away from me

and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

There worship towards me are merely traditions, rules that are created by humans rather than from God’s word

How is your worship today?

It is easy to be taught how to worship by man - Now listen

If you hang around church long enough, you will learn how to pray, you will learn how to worship, you will learn to use your lips to praise

Are you hearing what I am saying

B/C we can get caught up in being taught my man and not even realize we are doing it

Have we learned enough on what to say or have we actually gotten alone with God and just rejoiced, thanked him, praised him, just be with him - not a crowd - just you and him

How do we praise him - we come to church to praise him

Unfortunately, we come asking - when does it become his time

While at church, we develop routines oh but we do

If you come to our church for 2 weeks, you will figure out our pattern and can tell us what is fixing to happen next

Let me tell you my friend, God is tired of the half hearted, the Luke warm, the hypocritical, the routine that man has implemented

Praise him, be yourself - praise God b/c he is God, what he has done, what he brought you from

Our hearts are far from him -

Why? B/C We have lost our first love - we are distracted

He loved us before we was even born

He loved you before your own momma did

When everyone else turned there back on you or left you out to dry, God was there

When nobody else cared, God did

When you was hurting so bad and you was by yourself crying, God was there holding you

Have you ever felt your spouse being distant from you?

Like the spark is not like it was in the beginning.

Don’t get yourself in trouble, some are thinking I haven’t seen a flicker in years & you know what - your are right - unfortunately it may be the same relationship that we have with God