Clare reached out to me with this text. It started a week of fasting and repenting and turning back to the LORD. We are getting back to our first love.
And listen to what he says about First Love with Jesus. ♥️ Both you and Jen. I’ve been on a fast and my flesh has been dying quite a bit in this time. I didn’t realize how many distractions had gotten in the way of my First Love, how many things I had held onto, how many burdens and heavy yokes I carried that Jesus had been longing to exchange for his easy yoke so that I could walk in freedom. I didn’t know how he longed for me to receive his love at the magnitude he did, the grief in his heart when I came to him because I felt like I had to but not necessarily because I wanted to. My fire and passion and zeal for him was being lost to even obedience and I fell into self condemnation again. In that time, I forgot the love of the Father, and condemned myself for not knowing how to love Jesus more. When really what God was doing was emptying me of myself to show me that he deeply desires my dependence on him. I was becoming prideful in my own pursuit of what he has called me to, and trying to love people out of my flesh when Jesus showed me that if I’m not in First Love with him, I can tell people every day “Jesus loves you” but it won’t carry a weight if I haven’t been with him. He is our bridegroom and he wants to marry us. He wants to mark us by His Spirit with zeal for his face and for his presence. It is First Love with Jesus that allows us to face anything that comes against us with joy and power of the Spirit because it is Him living inside of us that flows out of us into our circumstances causing them to turn for His glory and our good