Mail Call

Rise and Shine for Jesus! \O/

By Pam Iannello (my late mother)

Who likes to get mail?  I do, I do!  I like going to the mailbox and finding something personal in there, just for me. :-) I'm sure our missionary ladies know exactly what I am talking about…  By the way, I hope we are all faithful to write to our missionary wives and families, as I'm sure it can get pretty lonely on the field.  E-mail is nice, but a hand written letter in the mail is nicer, amen?  It's almost as if the person themselves arrived on your doorstep!

Suppose that today, when you went out to your mailbox to get the mail, there was a letter addressed to you from Jesus Christ.  Would you be excited?  Would you drop all the other mail just to read it?  Imagine each one of us standing at our mailboxes and in quiet anticipation, opening our letters from Jesus…  What would they read?  For what would

Christ commend you, and in what ways would He correct you?

Dear, __________

"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst

not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are

apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.  And hast borne, and

hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not

fainted.

Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy

first love.

Remember therefore from whence thou are fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."  (Rev. 2:1-5)

Signed,

Jesus Christ

"...... he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in

the midst of the seven golden candlesticks." (Rev.2:1)

After receiving a letter such as this, what a long walk back from the mailbox it would seem, amen, ladies?  What a thought provoking letter, hitting right at the center of our hearts and causing us to stop and take inventory of our busy lives… 

How gracious the Lord is to open His letter with words of commendation! He pointed out and identified the fact that this church at Ehpesus was definitely one that was active in serving the Lord.  Perhaps that is a description of you today as well.  I hope it is!  There is no greater privilege than to be involved in the Lord's work. 

Jesus Christ both recognized and approved of their labor, their toil to the point of exhaustion on His behalf.  These believers despised sin, had developed intolerance for it. They knew their doctrine well and were able to spot false prophets easily; neither did they run from conflicts.  As individuals, they remained steadfast for the truth while enduring

suffering and kept going when times got tough, never once compromising or fainting.  They were soul-winners and disciplers of those they personally led to the Lord.  Maybe that also is a description of you today and even the character of your church family as a whole. Praise the Lord if it is a fitting portrayal.

It makes us feel good to know that we are doing right and that our activities please the Lord.  You know, at this point in reading my letter from Jesus, I would be feeling pretty good about myself!  This is a near perfect sketch of a servant of the Lord, and one that we would all be proud to hold in reputation. But, is that all we need - only to KNOW all the right answers and DO all the right activities?

"NEVERTHELESS" Christ said - "in spite of all of the above activities". You see how our Lord follows His commendation with correction.  He was correcting these believers in an area that only Christ would know they needed correcting in.  With human eyes, all appeared to be perfect and in order.  But in the eyes of the One who walked in the midst of them, there was something amiss.  They were guilty of abandoning their adoration of

Jesus Himself!  They had lost the fervency of their first love… Things had become routine, mechanical.  Isn't it scary when you think about how we can be capable of performing near perfectly as a Christian, and yet not really LOVE Jesus Christ?!  When a husband and wife in their marriage begin to take each other for granted and simply go through the motions, having lost their passion, you know their relationship is in danger, amen?  We can love our husbands just as a virtuous woman should, and yet be indifferent, having no feelings, while carrying out those dutiful daily activities in our homes.  What’s more, it can be so in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Ladies, the Lord states that He considered this a "fallen" condition in verse 5 of Rev. 2.  Our indifference and decline in love toward Him is sinful! However, it is a condition that can be repaired and our Savior gives us the instructions, coupled with a warning, on how to do so in the remainder of His letter to us…

We must endeavor to recover our first zeal, our first tenderness, our first seriousness, and we must pray as earnestly, and watch as diligently, as when we first set out in the ways of God.  First of all, Jesus tells us to "remember" from whence thou art fallen.  Remember your spiritual honeymoon, how it was when you first came to know Christ as your Savior?  Your heart was involved more than your body was at that time, amen?  Has that changed for you over the course of time, dear lady?  Have you left your heart back a few years and moved on ahead with just your body in serving Jesus?  Remember - and keep on remembering – until your desire to have close fellowship and communion with your Lord has returned!  Did you use to talk to God about the least little things before?  Now, perhaps you only talk to Him in great distress or trial. True love matures and grows deeper over the course of time and should not lessen.  If you have been closer to the Lord at any other time in your life than you are today, then you have "fallen" from your first love and it brings God much displeasure!

Next, the Lord admonishes us to "repent".  We must turn away from this downhill progression and climb our way back to the place we used to be at with the Lord, "do the first works" - Bible reading, prayer, meditation, obedience etc.  We must confess our sins and change our mind about the sinful direction we have been taking.  That means we might have to give up a few things we are physically involved in!  While man places emphasis on activity, the Lord places emphasis on restoring our relationship with Him to a closeness that has been broken by our sin and neglect.  

What happens if we continue on in such desolate manner, with our hearts nowhere to be found anywhere in our activities?  Jesus says in His letter to us, “.... or else I will come unto thee QUICKLY, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place...” Ladies, when we lose our love, it puts us in danger of losing our light!  How do you think your light is doing

these days?  How do you think your LOVE for Christ is really faring?

You see, no matter how perfect our testimony may be, we are not indispensable!  The Lord can and will remove us from our places of service, where our light is supposed to be, and He says He wouldn't waste any time in doing so either!  It's that serious…  Many churches today have lost their light and have become dead because they grew so busy they let their hearts grow cold toward the very Lord they are serving!  Such is the condition of many individual believers today as well.  Busy as a bee, but without the buzz! 

Be honest…  How would you assess the health of your relationship with Christ right now?  How can you keep your commitment to Him from waning over time?  At what time in your life did you feel closest to the Lord?  Has that condition changed?  Perhaps you have been very busy with all the right activities but very far away from the Lord in your heart. You

might not be guilty of fainting, but you ARE guilty of falling away and slighting the Holy Spirit! God says things need to change immediately if this is so.  Better remember, repent, and return to your first love this very moment, that being Jesus Christ! He is your staying power. Labor is no substitute for love; we must have both! 

Now, aren't you glad you checked the mail?

God Bless,

Pam

Isaiah 60:1&2

Copyright 2000  Pamela A. Iannello

Revised 2003