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Has my love grown cold?

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Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands: I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. - Revelation 2:1-5 (NLT) But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me]. - Revelation 2:4 (Amplified Bible) How would you feel if your spouse told you that they did not love you anymore...
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Am I sharing the honest Gospel?

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Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. “And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you.” - Matthew 11:20-24 (NLT) The ultimate verdict on the gospel is not made by its rejecters. The ultimate verdict on the gospel is made by those who receive it and demonstrate its truthfulness in their repentance, in their faith, and in the fruit of ...
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What is the mystery of God?

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Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered. When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.” Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven. He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the pro...
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Who is in control?

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But without faith, it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified Bible) There are only two paths in this life.  Mine and God's. The two paths are as distinctly different as east and west. To illustrate this point, we can look at two individuals in the lineage of Adam.  Enoch, who was seventh in line from Adam through Seth, walked with God and never experienced death as he was taken directly to heaven.  Lamech, who was seventh in line from Adam through Cain (who murdered his brother Able and was sentenced by God to be a "restless wanderer on the earth"), was the first recorded polygamist in history.  Clearly, two distinctively different paths. One controlled by God, and one controlled by self. To walk with God requires death to self. I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him, I have share...
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What is my response?

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Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”   Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and...
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Is God's Word your guide?

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Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how  you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater  than these he will do because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, this will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do . - John 14:8-14 (LSB) In this life, we live by faith.  I have never seen Jesus, never like those disciples.  I’ve never had a vision of Jesus.  I’ve never met a...
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What is the way?

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“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am,  you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. - John 14:1-6 (LSB) If you were to die tonight, meet God at the gates of heaven, and He asked you, why should I let you into my heaven, what would you say? We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ...
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