I believe all you have experienced this. One Indonesian song describes that Falling in Love has thousand feelings. Someone who fallen in Love is someone find himself/herself to be very attracted to someone and begin to love them.
But the love I want to talk about this morning is not the love between man and woman. It’s love between me and God. It’s about First Love. Yes, My first love.
I can’t remember it exactly when it happened at the first. I just remember, after I was baptized and moved out from hometown for studying at university in Yogya, I visited a charismatic church where my sister & brother served in youth ministry. My sister kept talking about Holyspirit and God’s works.
I came from a Christian family, but I only know Father God & Jesus. Holyspirit? I only know He is part of the Trinity. During the youth service of the church, I was astonished and wonder of the expression of the people there during praise and worship. They looks very happy & joyful. They sang as if they are in a music concert. They were dancing, rising their hand, and they jumped! I just clapped my hands and looked around.
During the worship session, they lifted their hands and cried loudly. This part I understood. I did crying when I was prayed at hours before I went for water baptism. At that time I made a big decision in my life to be Jesus follower. But these people were not going for water baptism. I was asking to myself, why I couldn’t praise & worship God like that, why I don’t have such felling. I knew it’s because of Holyspirit because my sister always talks about it.
When my sister back to hometown for a month. I told God I want to know Holyspirit. I open a book that she recommended me to read. The title is "Good Morning Holy Spirit" written by Ev. Benny Hinn. After read some chapters. I bowed down on my knees and prayed in my sister room. I asked Him to touch my heart. I sang a worship song and I felt my burden being lifted up, very light, and joyful. It was unspeakable and full of glory. It seemed that my sister room had been lifted into hemisphere of heaven. Holy spirit is very gentle, full of love, my comforter, and He is real.
There was a change in me. Holy spirit became alive in my life. He was no longer a distant “third person” of the trinity. He taught me & guided me. Every day I read bible, read some Christian books, I listened to Christian songs, prayed & worshiped God at my room, I loved to talk about Jesus, I went for cell group and prayer meeting, I attended minimum three services at church in a week! And I volunteered myself to serve in church by joining youth ministry.
I was so crazy, I was so curious about Him, curious about Jesus Christ. I pursued Him. Yes, I was in Love! Praise the Lord!
In bible, it is called First Love.
I believed every true believers have experienced this. But the question is do we still have this feeling right now? Do we still spend our time to have relationship with God every time? Do we read bible and meditate on His word? Do we still talk about Him everywhere? Do we put God at the first place?
In Revelation 2:4-5, Jesus said:
" Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent."
I still remember, in a special service at church. While I was singing and worshiping God, my heart was full of love. Holyspirit gently asked me to say “I love Jesus” with my lips. I was thinking whether to say it. I grew up in conservative & chinese family, “love” word was almost never been spoken in my family. It’s odd. But because my heart love Jesus, I lifted my left hand to Him and I open my mouth slowly and nervously, said, “Jesus, I love you.”
Jesus is my First Love and your first love. We love Him, because He first loved us.
Let’s back to our first love. ID
