FIRST LOVE #2: FALLING BACK IN LOVE by Rabbi Brian Bileci - 2-11-24

4 “But you walked away from your FIRST LOVE…” - Revelation ‭2‬:‭4,5b‬ ‭(MSG)

Maybe you have lost sight of what made you FALL IN LOVE, or you have reached a cozy stage of relationship that lacks fire. But is it unrealistic to expect to be IN LOVE with the same person for decades? If you feel your relationship is drifting, don’t bank on it being only temporary. “It won’t change unless it is actively being changed by those involved,” … ~ Betsy Reed 

HOW TO FALL BACK IN LOVE AGAIN:
1. DON’T LET YOUR FIRST LOVE BECOME LUKEWARM

…4 “…you have left your FIRST LOVE…” - Revelation 2:1-7 (NKJV)

SEVEN CONGREGATIONS:
1. EPHESUS: Overzealous believers who forsook their first love – Rev. 2:1-7
2. SMYRNA: Persecuted believers – Rev. 2:8-11
3. PERGAMOS: Compromising believers – Rev. 2:12-17
4. THYATIRA: Morally corrupt believers  – Rev. 2:18-29
5. SARDIS: Dead believers spiritually asleep – Rev. 3:1-6
6. PHILADELPHIA: Overcoming believers with brotherly love – Rev. 3:7-13
7. LAODICEA: Materialistic believers with lukewarm faith – Rev. 3:14-22

Laodicea …  6 or 8 miles distant, - HIERAPOLIS & COLOSSAE (Col. 4:13, 16).

•  HIERAPOLIS: Hot Springs - 6 miles away
•  COLOSSAE: Cold Springs - 9 miles away
•  LAODICEA: Kara Huseyin Pinari spring 2.8 miles away,… Baspinar 5 miles away

14 “… the church of the Laodiceans write…15 “I know your works, that you are neither COLD nor HOT. I could wish you were COLD or HOT…. - Revelation 3:14-22 (NKJV)

"A LUKEWARM heart becomes self-absorbed in lazy living and it stifles the fire of love. The LUKEWARM person lives to satisfy his or her own convenience, which is …never satisfied…” ~ Pope Francis 

2. BE INTENTIONAL TO EXPRESS GENUINE LOVE 
7 … be INTENTIONAL, purposeful, and self-controlled so that you can be given to prayer. 8 …echo God’s intense LOVE for one another, for LOVE will be a canopy over [KJV: “covers”] a multitude of sins. - 1 Peter 4:7-8 (TPT) 

Now that you have purified your souls by your OBEDIENCE to the truth so that you have GENUINE mutual affection, LOVE one another DEEPLY from the HEART. - 1 Peter 1:22 (NRSVUE)

5 You must teach people to have GENUINE LOVE… - 1 Timothy 1:5-6 (CEV)

A person who has a PURE and LOVING HEART and speaks kindly will be a FRIEND of the king. - Proverbs 22:11 (NIVR)

4 LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind, it is not jealous…8 LOVE never fails… - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NASB) 

3. FALL BACK IN LOVE WITH THE LORD AS HIS BELOVED
7 You are so beautiful, my LOVE, without blemish…9 My heart is your captive, my sister, my bride…- Song of Solomon 4:7,9-10 (VOICE)

I am my BELOVED’S and my BELOVED is mine - Song of Solomon 6:3a (NIV)

I belong to my BELOVED, and his DESIRE is for me. - Song of Solomon 7:10 (NIV)

6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for LOVE is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very FLAME OF THE LORD. 7 Many waters cannot quench LOVE … - Song of Solomon 8:6-6 (ESV)

4 He chose us in Him .. in LOVE. …6 so that the glory of His grace… He poured on us in His BELOVED one, might receive its due praise. - Ephesians 1:4-6 (NTFE)