Restore To Me The Joy Of Your Salvation: You Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’

Restore to Me the Joy of Your Salvation:

You Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’

In Restore to Me the Joy of Your Salvation we are discussing the waning, if not an occasional loss, of our Christian joy. How tragic it is when we can no longer find peace or celebrate what once was the greatest joy of our lives!

We’ve discussed Psalm 51 and David’s loss of joy due to unrepented sin (Well, There’s Your Problem) and the solution: repentance, ministry, and worship.

We’ve examined Elijah’s Mount Carmel Blues and distilled three principles from his story that can help us when we hit lows following spiritual highs: (1) self care; (2) spiritual grounding in the character and work of God; and (3) a refocused vision of the future.

Galatians 5:1-6 gave us insight into an ancient problem that has a modern analog, i.e., Christian freedom vs. religious legalism, perfectionism, and traditionalism. These three form a deadly trifecta that threaten a Return to Slavery of law (the Torah and Stoichea) and thus threaten our joy. Galatians encourages us to 1) stand firm in our freedom; 2) trust Jesus alone for our righteousness, and 3) keep in step with the Holy Spirit to avoid the sinful nature.

Sunday, we will be studying the letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7,

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Immediately, in the text we are confronted with Jesus’ knowledge of his church and followers, “I know your deeds, hard work and perseverance.” It is both scary and comforting to know that Jesus is intimately aware of the details of our life and ministry. Ephesus is a working church; he knows their hard work and sacrifice.

Jesus knows their intolerance for wicked, false teachers and prophets and that they have tested them. They have been faithful to contend earnestly for the true faith.

Jesus knows how they suffered and endured hardships for his name and not grown weary.

With all of those praises, you would think the report would be all positive, but it is not. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. In all their hard work, religious polemic, and righteous endurance, they had lost the one thing that really mattered, love.

At the beginning of our faith we possessed an incredible joy tied to our wholehearted love for God, but like Israel something happened. Our joy waned and our love began to grow cold.

Jeremiah 2:2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. “

How can we bring back that lovin’ feelin’?

I’ll say more in my lesson, Joey