Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Revelation 2:4 (NKJV)  Many serve God only when they need something from Him. There’s nothing wrong with going to God for help. But will you continue to build your relationship with Him even when things are going well, and it seems like you don’t need His help?  That’s when you need to work the most to keep your heart right. Never allow your passion for God to wane or, as Revelation 2:4 puts it, lose your first love.  This is a common problem with second generation Christians. First generation Christians often come to Jesus out of real hurt. They’ve experienced the stark contrast of life without Him as compared to the incredible …

Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity. Hebrews 6:1 (AMPC)  Was there ever a moment in life when you had a realization that changed everything? Maybe you were struggling with a relationship and one day a light bulb turned on. Suddenly you realized how blessed you were to be in relationship with that person. Or maybe you had an “Ah ha” moment and decided that you’d never let anything come between you and a great relationship with your family.  Well, moments like this can happen when it comes to your relationship with God, too. Something goes on deep inside your …

You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Matthew 7:16 (NLT)  You can’t fake what’s in your heart.  Most behaviour comes from heart beliefs. The Bible says you’ll know someone’s heart by their fruits, their behaviour.  Now, you’re not supposed to be judging other people’s hearts; you’re supposed to use that test on yourself. So, how can you know what’s in your heart? Check your behaviour.  If the behaviour isn’t coming from something you believe deep down in your heart, it’ll be easy to change. But if you keep going back to the same old behaviour you’ve been trying to change, you’ll know that you need to work on your heart.  Changing heart beliefs can be difficult. I’m not …

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:14–15 (NLT)  When you were a baby, your parents looked after your needs and took responsibility for your actions. As you grew, you entered a different season and started taking more responsibility for your own actions.  In the Christian world, there are also different seasons of growth. The first season is when you get saved. At …

[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. Philippians 2:13 (AMPC)  Over the past few days, we’ve been talking about how we need to work out our own salvation. We are made right with God the moment we give our lives to Christ, and there’s nothing we need to do to add to that fact. We are instantaneously delivered from things like sickness and poverty, but we need to renew our minds and believe in order to experience those promises.  But it can’t come from our own strength, as today’s verse …