The Simplicity of Jesus | Are you losing your first love?

In this episode, I share how the Lord spoke to me through Revelation 2:1-4 with a powerful reminder: “Do not lose your first love.”

We’ll talk about what it really means to lose your first love for Jesus, how even good things (ministry, family, self-improvement) can distract us from pure devotion, and practical steps to return to the simplicity of loving Him first.

If you’ve been feeling dry in your walk with God or struggling to keep your heart centered on Christ, this episode will encourage you to come back to Jesus with a renewed love and passion.

📖 Scriptures mentioned: Revelation 2:1-4; Psalms 95:6-7; Psalms 139; Matthew 10:37-38; Psalms 51:17

If this episode encouraged you, subscribe, share, and leave a review—it helps more people find the truth of God’s Word!

If you want to stay connected click this link: https://beacons.ai/thesecretplaceministry

Transcript

Speaker 00: 0:06

Hello, my dear brothers and sisters. My name is Rachel and I'm the host of the Secret Place podcast. My heart is so excited to be able to share with you the Word of God and what He has been teaching me. So go ahead and pause this episode and go before the Lord in prayer as we prepare our hearts to spend time with Jesus in the Secret Place. Hello everybody and welcome to the Secret Place Ministry. I'm your host, Rachel, and today we are going to be talking about the simplicity of Jesus. And with this, I'm going to first share a story with you, and then we're going to be diving in to Revelation chapter 2. So we find ourselves in the month of November. It's November 11th, 2023, and around two weeks or so after my head injury. And I was in the shower, and as I was in the shower, I felt like the Spirit of the Lord had asked me this question. This is what he said to me. Do not lose your first love. And the moment I heard that in my mind, I remember just like stopping what I was doing and being very taken aback and being like, God, like, what do you mean? What do you mean, do not lose your first love? And then he reminded me of the story in Revelation chapter two. And in that story, which we're going to read in a minute, um, the letter was written to the Church of Ephesus, and it's to this church saying that you're losing your first love, come back to the things that you did at first. And when the Lord had said that to me and then brought up Revelation, I was very taken aback because why would God even ask me that question? Why would He say, Do not lose your first love when I love Him, when I was pursuing Him, when I was reading His scriptures, when I was, you know, spending time with Him in intentional time of prayer. Why would God ask me that question? And so I spent that whole day kind of dwelling on that and really taking in that question that the Lord had asked me. And the next day, because I wasn't able to drive, I wasn't able to drive for quite some time, but because I wasn't able to drive the next day, my parents dropped me off at a coffee shop and I pulled out my Bible, I pulled out my journal, and I started talking to the Lord. And I wrote in that journal the very question that God had said to me, or I guess the very statement that God has made to me, do not lose your first love. And so I opened up my Bible to Revelation chapter two, and that is what we're going to be reading today. Revelation chapter two, verse one through four says this to the angel of the church in Ephesus, write these things. These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary, yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken the love that you had at first. You have forsaken the love that you had at first. In this scripture, the first love that it is talking about here is Jesus. And so the Lord was asking me, do not lose your first love, which is Jesus. And these are the scripture sections that were highlighted to me while I was reading this that day. You have persevered and have endured hardships. You have persevered and you have endured hardships. Yet you have lost your first love. And upon reading this, I was very taken aback because how could that even apply to me? Because I loved the Lord, I was following him, and yet, and yet the Lord was speaking this very thing to me. And when I asked the Lord, I said, God, how does this apply to me? Why would you even bring this up to me? This is what he said. He said, Come back to your pure devotion to me. Not devotion to ministry, not devotion to people, not devotion to a job, but pure devotion to me. And so I want to say this to you before we dive any further into scripture about what pure devotion is and what that looks like. Before we get any further, I want to read you Psalms 139. And I don't have that written on my iPad for my notes, but it is, I have my Bible with me, so praise the Lord for that. Psalms 139. If you have your Bibles, please open them and turn to this section. Okay. Psalms 139, starting in verse 23 through 24. Search me, God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Lead me in the way everlasting. God, test us, search us and know our anxious thoughts. Reveal them to us. And when the Lord had asked me that question or had made that statement saying, Do not lose your first love, he was calling me out. He was revealing to me where my heart was going. He was revealing to me where my heart was going. And I was very offended and shocked. And maybe offended isn't the right word, but maybe it is because I couldn't believe that he was saying that to me when I've done nothing but worship him and pursue him and read his scriptures and make intentional time with prayer. And if you listen to my first episode of this season, Hidden Away with the Lord, you would know that for months I was creating this whole schedule of just diving into the word of God and making intentional time for him. And so from going from that and working on those things to having a head injury and pursuing the Lord and His help and his presence, to then the Lord saying that to me, it was very shocking and I was very surprised. But let's continue on with what the Lord was saying. So going back to what the Lord said, come back to your pure devotion to me. Not a devotion to ministry or people or anything else, but pure devotion to me. And so when I was at the coffee shop, these were the scriptures that the Lord directed me to and pointed me to. And it's Psalms 95, 6 through 7. So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open up to read Psalms 95, 6 through 7. It says this Come, let us bow down and worship. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. Today, if only you could hear His voice. Matthew 10, 37 through 38. Matthew 10, 37 through 38. If you have your Bible, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open it up to that. It says this Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy, is not worthy of me. Those are some heavy words. But God wants us to be in this place of pure devotion to Him with no distractions. With no distraction distractions. So the question is, what are you loving more than Jesus? What are you pursuing more than him? And be honest with yourself. Be very honest with yourself. Read Psalms 139 and ask God, search me and know me, test me and know my anxious thoughts and reveal to me the things within my heart. Ask the Lord. Ask him, because he will reveal it to you. And when he reveals it, be honest and accept his correction, accept what he has to say, because it will be something that will prune you and bring about purity. And so for me, when the Lord had asked me that question, and I read more about what devotion to the Lord looks like and how it's being in full pursuit of him, because if we're not, we're not worthy of him. We're not worthy for what he did for us. But it is by his blood, by his blood and his love. Praise God. Praise God. And so when I asked the Spirit, I said, Okay, Holy Spirit, you asked me the question, what am I loving more than you? And so I asked him, I asked it back, God, what am I loving more than you? Like, show me, tell me, because I don't know. I truly did not know what I was putting above him and how I could be on the verge of losing my first love. I didn't know. And this is what the Lord has said to me. He told me to stop putting myself above him. And I asked him, God, how am I doing this? How am I putting myself above you? And he spoke again. He had said, I had left, I was beginning to leave my first love. And then he revealed to me how I was doing this. He said I was losing the things that I did before. Losing the things that I did before. That is how I was beginning to lose my first love, which is which is Jesus. And so when I asked him again, and I want to say something really quickly, is that asking questions to the Lord is so beautiful because that's part of a relationship, is being able to commune back and forth in conversation. And so when you're speaking to the Lord and you ask him questions, sit and listen and wait for his response. Wait for what he has to say. And if it aligns with God's word, praise him. Because if you're hearing something that doesn't align with God's word, that is not the Lord. I just want to say that right now. Um, but when I ask the Lord, okay, God, you're telling me that I've lost the things I did before, but how is that possible considering that I'm still reading my Bible, I'm still having intentional time of prayer, I'm still sitting with you, and I'm still worshiping you. So how am I losing the things I did at first if I'm still doing these very things? And this is what he had said. Be devoted to me, with the only reason being because you want me. Whoa. I'm gonna read that again, but in a different way. Be devoted to God, be devoted to God, seek God with a pure devotion to him, with the only reason being that you want him. You know, I've heard sermons before where it says, make sure that you're not going to God and only spending time with him for the things that you can gain from him. I've heard that many times, and for myself, I've always said, no, that's not me. And I didn't picture it for myself because that didn't sound like me in my head. But this is what the Lord has shown me. He had shown me that I was beginning to spend time with him for the things that I could get from him. And it wasn't in the way that I, when I had heard sermons like things like that, let me rephrase that. When I had heard sermons talk about spending time with the Lord for the things that you can gain, I had always pictured, you know, uh spending time with God so you can get more blessings, spending time with God for you so you can get this thing. And that's one, not how God works, um, but that's what I had always pictured. Okay. But for me, and what the Lord was saying is that you have been spending time with me in prayer, in worship, and readings of scripture, so that you could have more peace, so that you could find healing, so that you could have more knowledge of me. When all of those things should flow from being in the presence of God, that should not be the reason, that should not be the reason why we go to God to have peace. So that's my question to you is are you going to God because you want peace? Are you going to God because you want healing? Are you going to God to tell him about, you know, all the hard things that you're facing? Are you going to God and reading scriptures because you want more knowledge? Or are you going to God because you just want Jesus, because you love Jesus? The simplicity of loving Jesus is such a beautiful thing. And so are you going to God for the things that you can get from him, or because you just love him? And that is where I was beginning to find myself. And the Lord, as always, was so right because I was, I was spending time with him because I was really struggling. I was going through hard things and I needed peace from the Lord. I needed his help. And he was helping me, praise God. But I was losing my first love in that because I was going to him for the things that I could gain. When we are in a relationship with the Lord, when we go before the Lord in his presence, when we spend time with him in the secret place, when we learn to abide and dwell with him and are with the Lord, not for the things that we can gain, but because of just our love for him. From being with him, those things come. From being with the Lord, the fruit of that, there's peace, there is patience, right? When we are with the Lord, there is fruit. We are with the Lord, there is healing. When we are with the Lord, there is pruning, there is purification, there is wisdom, there is knowledge. And all those things come from being in his presence, but those should never be the reason why we are in the presence of the Lord. We should be with him because we love him, because we want to be in pure devotion to him, because he is worthy of our devotion, he is worthy of our love. I need to open up my notes. And so I want to say to you right now, if this is resonating with you, if the Lord is tugging on your heart, if the Lord is tugging on your thoughts and he's bringing things to mind, if this resonates with you, continue to ask the Lord to search you, to test you, to reveal your anxious thoughts to you, because he will do so. And be honest with yourself and where you are at. Be so, so incredibly honest. The Lord sees you and he knows you and he wants to bring about purification in your life. And so I want to give you these four steps, and they're kind of more of a condensed version of everything that we've talked about in this podcast episode, but I want to give you four steps on what you can do if you feel like this is where you're at. Step one is to ask the Lord. Ask the Lord. Ask him, God, what am I loving more than you? Matthew 10, 37, 38. Anyone who loves their father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. How can you take up your cross? How can you follow him with pure devotion? How can we do this? Ask the Lord. Ask him. Quiet your mind. Quiet your heart. God, I pray that you would quiet the person's mind and heart who is listening or watching this podcast episode, God. And bring to mind the very thing, Father, that they are loving more than you. Bring to mind the very thing, God, that they are putting before you. Amen. The second thing is, have you lost your pure devotion? It may not be a specific thing where you're like, you know, maybe you are putting social media above the Lord, maybe you are putting a family member above the calling that God has put on your life. Maybe you're in a place like that where you're loving something more than you are loving the Lord, and so you aren't pursuing him fully. Or maybe you've lost your pure devotion and the sense that you are only seeking the Lord for peace. You are only seeking the Lord for healing. You are only seeking the Lord for knowledge. You're only being in his presence because you need something from him, because you you want something from him. Maybe you're getting to that place, or maybe that's where you are right now. And so I want to say to you that if that is where you are, be honest with God. Be honest with God. Why are you seeking peace? Why are you seeking healing? Tell him. Tell him he wants to know, he wants to be in conversation with you. So have a conversation. Because that type of chains, those type of um, I don't know if I would say bondages, and maybe not chains, but those type of things that you have not been expressing to the Lord, you could be just one conversation away from freedom, one conversation with the Lord away from freedom. So have that conversation. Speak to the Lord and then be silent. That is something that we so often do, is we are constantly speaking and we're not being silent. Be still and listen for the voice of the Lord. And then the third thing is to repent. Tell the Lord you're sorry. It says in Psalms 51:17, My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. You, God, will not despise. God will not despise you. God will not despise where you are at when you bring with him and say, God, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me. Forgive me, Lord. Because he will. He will. And what an amazing and beautiful thing that is. And so ask God to give you the strength and the courage to walk in his forgiveness, to walk in the way that he is calling you to. Because he will do it. And the last step, step four, is to come back to the simplicity of Jesus. The simplicity of Jesus. When everything in your life revolved around him, remind yourself of the gospel. Speak the gospel and the resurrection of Jesus over yourself. Remind yourself who he is. Remember your testimony. Remember the things that you did at first when you were in pure devotion and love to the Lord, when you were following him. Go back to the things that you did at first. And for me, I was already reading my Bible. I was, you know, already having an intentional time of prayer. But the reason behind I was doing it, the reason behind why I was doing it was not pure. And so go back to the things that you did at first with pure devotion to Christ. And don't let life's distractions force you to fit Jesus into your time, but rather Jesus should be your everything, and everything else should be fitting into that time. And I know that that for me is a really convicting thing for me to say right now, because that is something that I have been having to work on a lot since getting back to normal-ish life. Because for a year, maybe or so, almost two years now, which is crazy to say, I have been trying to learn how to relive life with the type of health issues that I have. And the Lord has healed me a lot, praise God. But there are still things that I struggle with on a daily basis. And I have been trying to figure out how can I live life with the busyness of the things that I am doing now with still being in pure devotion to him. And so it's convicting for me to say that myself. And the Lord is going to continue to work on my heart. Praise Him. But I want to ask you that same thing that I've been saying, I guess, this whole episode. What is it in your life? And I think you know what it is. Because I know the Lord will reveal it. If there is something, what in your life do you need to sacrifice? What in your life do you need to say, okay, God? And here's the thing. If that thing for you is really hard for you to sacrifice, then you know for sure that that is the thing that needs to go. That is the thing that needs to go. If you are having a hard time laying that down, then that is the thing that needs to die. And so once you've asked the Lord, once you've repented, go back to the simplicity of Him, of spending time with the Lord in the secret place. What a beautiful thing the secret place is. And this might be me going off on a tangent, but personally, I am getting very tired of seeing movement after movement after movement, another revival, another revival, another revival when people, and you know, here's the thing: praise God for the people who give their lives to Him at those revivals. I'm not saying they're bad things, it's a beautiful thing. What I'm saying is that we have too many people, too many people who are only drinking milk, who have only have the foundations of the gospel and never go past that, who are not making and abiding, who are not spending the time with the Lord in the secret place, who are not learning to abide and dwell with the Lord. Too many people. And so what I'm saying is, is when we go back to the simplicity of Jesus, it is being in that place of abiding, of dwelling, of being aware of his presence, of praying without ceasing, and doing that as children of God. Thank you guys for taking the time to listen to this episode. I'm gonna pray us out. Dear God, thank you so much for just this episode. Thank you, God, for your scripture. God, thank you for your truth and your word and everything that you say. Thank you, God, for your Holy Spirit. God, we love you so much. I just pray that you would comfort your children, that you would grow us, that you would take us to new and deeper places with you, God, that we would no longer just be having milk, but that we would be feasting on your word and eating solid food. God, I pray this over everyone who's listening. And may you lavish your love on them, God, and may they seek you with devotion of just wanting to love you, of just wanting to be in your presence because you are Jesus and we love you. Thank you, God, in your holy name. Amen. If this podcast episode encouraged you, I want to say, please, if you're listening to it, please rate it. If you are watching it on YouTube, like it, share it, comment, subscribe, do all the things because it really helps push this episode and this whole podcast and ministry out there for other people to see. I pray that you guys know you're so loved, you're so valued, you are so cherished. Seek the Lord. Seek first the kingdom of God, and all else will be added. Much love. Bye. Thank you guys so much for taking the time to listen to this podcast episode. It really means a lot to me. I pray that it impacted you in some way, and just that this week you'd go before the Lord in his presence and spend time with him in the secret place.