The love of Jesus is a beautiful thing. His love is not just words spoken but is tangible and real. His love transforms and we won’t leave the same. Jesus is calling us to return to our first love to Him.

I’m not a morning person, so when I found myself awake early in the morning after going to bed at 2 am the night before, I knew something was off.

I tried forcing myself to sleep however I just couldn’t.

It was at that moment when I realized God was waking me up to be with Him. He revealed to me how just as my soon to be husband longs for me, He too longs for my attention. I got into prayer and was then led to Joshua 24:19 where Joshua tells the Israelites, “…He is a jealous God.”

God revealed to me that He misses me because I am His. He is jealous after my love because I am His bride and I belong to Him. Just as a bridegroom longs for his bride, so does Jesus long for us.

I couldn’t help but wonder how the God of the universe would be so jealous after us? What other gods would pursue us with such a jealous love like our father in Heaven? What other God would go out of His way to die for us so that ultimately we could be with Him?

God sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we would be redeemed and spotless before Him. Jesus calls us into marriage with Him and says He is our husband (Hosea 2:16). In marriage, we become one with our spouse and what is theirs becomes ours. The same is true with our marriage covenant with Jesus. When we choose to confess and believe in Jesus, we gain eternal life with Him and inherit all the blessings and promises God had intended for us.

Hebrews 9:15 says, “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance–now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”

Jesus loves you so much and is calling you to return to your first love to Him. The only way to return to your love to Jesus is to put aside all other things and yield your heart to Him alone. Joshua 24:13 says, “…throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

The foreign gods were idols of the Israelites. Today idols can look like anything. Idols can be our relationships, career, hobbies, entertainment, and even our own God-given calling. 

What desires have pulled you away from total surrender to Jesus?

Nothing should supersede Jesus in our lives.

Jesus died for us because He wants all of us. He is so jealous for our love and attention. How many times have we allowed the things of this world to captivate our eyes instead of Jesus? 

God is calling us into a season of laying our desires down to Him so that we can behold Him alone. Laying down our desires does not mean we will never see them come to pass, it just means trusting that God’s got it. He wants us to lay it down so that we can grow in our love for Him. The fruit of our intimate relationship and love for Jesus will be our desires coming to pass.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

God is asking for your attention, will you give it to Him? Will you turn your heart to Jesus and return to your first love? 

Jesus is stripping things away from you so that you can see that He is all you need. His love for you burns in the season of waiting. It’s in this season that Jesus is calling for your whole heart to experience the power of His love.

We can never be “too mature” Christians to be wrecked by Jesus’s love. His love is beyond comprehension and understanding. Our journey should always be one that is growing in His love. Ephesians 3:19 says, “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Jesus has so much in store for you but is asking you to lay down your desires for Him. Spend that alone time with Jesus and you will find His love so real and intimate. He will speak the very words your heart so longs for and fill every emptiness within you. You will find that you have everything when Jesus becomes your everything. So remember, return to your first love Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, I choose to lay down my desires so that I can behold you alone.

Check out our new Podcast and subscribe! Listen as Gabrielle Triyono expounds on the topic of returning to your first love Jesus. She shares her own experience in hopes you would encounter Jesus’s love too.
https://apple.co/2DvQPo1 (for iphone users)
http://bit.ly/2N4yP3w (for android users)