But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  Rev. 2:4.
 
    The Ephesus church seems to have been replaying the experience of Israel before the exile to Babylon.  In the words of Jeremiah to the people of Jerusalem: "I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert" (Jer. 2:2, NIV).  The early years of Israel's experience in the wilderness were a time of relative devotion and faithfulness.  But now things have changed: "I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock.  How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?" (verse 21, NIV).
 
    If you had to emphasize either strong doctrinal soundness or love in a situation, which would you choose?  When we don't know what to do, the safest course of action is to love.  First Corinthians 13 tells us that we could have doctrinal soundness and all kinds of helpful works but if we don't have love, those works are of no value.  Ellen White concludes, "In reforms we would better come one step short of he mark than to go one step beyond it.  And if there is error at all, let it be on the side to the people."
 
    I remember a time I went to visit a man who was committing adultery.  My mind swirled the whole way over, wrestling with just how to approach the issue.  I determined to confront him boldly, because I knew that if he didn't make a change in his life, Satan would use the situation to draw him completely away from Christ.
 
    When I arrived at the home, somehow it just seem appropriate to start with that situation.  We talked about other things instead.  Repeatedly I considered bringing up my purpose for the visit, but it never seemed quite right.  Instead I was kind of supportive.  Finally I left, kicking myself mentally.  What a wimp, I told myself.  He was right there, and you didn't have to guts to tell the truth.  For the next two days I berated my own cowardice.
 
    Then I received a phone call from him.  "Pastor, ever since you left the other day the Holy Spirit has been hammering me about my situation.  You knew exactly what I was doing yet you didn't try to humiliate me and make me feel bad.  Instead you treated me with love and respect.  I was ready for a fight, but your kindness was harder on me than anything you could have said.  I have to get my life in order.  Will you come back and teach me how?"
 
    By nature we tend to be severe with others and merciful toward ourselves.  Any church that loses touch with the centrality of the gospel will begin to wound people even in its faithfulness and sound doctrine.  So whenever we are not sure how to handle a specific situation, it is the safest course to err on the side of love and mercy.
 
Lord, help me never to criticize another until I see them through Your eyes and love them as You love them.

 I know your works, even your labor and your patience, and that you are not able to endure evil people.  You have also tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be liars.  You also have patience and have endured hardship because of My name and have not grown weary.  Rev. 2:2, 3.
 
    Here Jesus uses two different Greek words to express the idea of "patient endurance" and "enduring hardship or difficulty."  In a sense the words express two different ways of saying the same thing.  But put the two concepts together, and we have the combined sense of moving on when you cannot advance anymore, or of continuing to carry a burden when the weight is pressing you down.  It is a combination of the English word "patience" with the English word "endurance."
 
    I remember a time when my family was visiting relatives in the Denver area.  We decided to drive up the road to the top of Mount Evans, a 14,000-foot peak in plain sight outside the Mile-High City, Denver.  The drive was beautiful, even though the weather at the top was blustery and cold.  On the way down people expressed an interest in hiking a bit to get in closer touch with the scenery.  Looking at a map I noticed a trail that left the road at the 12,500-foot mark, wandered for a mile or so, and returned to the road at the 11,500-foot mark.
 
    I had a "brilliant" idea.  We could park the car by the trailhead and hike down together to the next turnout in the road.  Then I'd walk back up to the car and pick everyone up!  I was in good physical shape, and it sounded like fun to me.
 
    The hike down was great, the weather had warmed up a bit, and the wildflowers were spectacular.  As we got in sight of the road I bade my family farewell and headed back up toward the place where I had parked the car.  It was only 1,000 feet farther up, and I hurried so as not to keep the family waiting below.  But the air was so thin and the trail was so steep that it was difficult to take 10 or 20 steps without stopping to gasp for air.  My heart was pumping at 180 beats per minute even though I was walking at a snail's pace!  Every step was a struggle, every inch gained by slow and arduous effort.
 
    The easiest thing would have been a short siesta.  But I patiently endured, knowing that my family was waiting below.  The Christian life is sometimes like that.  In the valleys we skip along and seem to make wonderful progress.  But if we choose to come up to God's vision for us we must eventually ascend to the upper mists of the high mountains.  We must go into the thin air of high places.  And in the process, we learn what patient endurance is all about.
 
Lord, when things get tough today, help me keep my mind on You.  Strengthen me to keep on keeping on.  And help me endure the feelings of the moment and continue to do the right thing.

  I know your works, even your labor and your patience, and that you are not able to endure evil people.  You have also tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be liars.  You also have patience and endure hardship because of My name and have not grown weary.  But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  .Rev. 2:2-4.
 
    In this passage we see Jesus' analysis of the church at Ephesus.  He has a number of positive things to say about it.  An energetic church that knows how to work (verse 2), it is also a patient one that endures without getting weary (verse 2).  It has discernment and is doctrinally sound (verses 2 and 6).  Interested in truth, it does not want to see falsehood gain entry among the believers.  At first glance it would be easy to get excited about this very effective church, but it has one small problem: the church is backsliding in love (verse 4).
 
    Christian life contains many paradoxes, and they can be hard to maintain.  On one hand, we have the call to be faithful, energetic, discerning, and doctrinally sound.  On the other hand, God summons us to be masterful in love.  Keeping them in balance can be a difficult tension.  Checking someone out to see if they are doctrinally sound at the same time we are trying to love them can be hard to do.  The desire for sound doctrine and decisive action often leads to the loss of mutual love, which is the badge of discipleship.  "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35, NIV).
 
    It reminds me of a story that Martin Luther told about drunken peasants.  He would ask people, "Do you know what happens when you put a drunken peasant on a horse?  The one thing you know for sure is that he is going to fall off the horse!  What you don't know is whether he will fall off the horse to the right or the left!"  Luther felt that Christians often resemble drunken peasants on a horse.  We have a hard time maintaining our balance between the gospel of free acceptance, on the one hand, and keeping the commandments, on the other.  Luther felt that every time he proclaimed the gospel, the people forgot to obey.  And every time he preached obedience, they forgot the gospel.
 
    I find that true in my own experience.  When I emphasize love and the gospel, obedience seems a little less important.  But I find encouragement in the experience of Ephesus.  While the early Christians had the memory of walking with Jesus and even had living apostles among them, they still had to deal with some of the same issues we struggle with today.  If the early Christians had this same problem, we should not expect to have an easy time of it today.  We need the Holy Spirit's presence at all times if we want to keep our balance.
 
Lord, I need Your Spirit to keep my balance today.

  To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, "These things are spoken by the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks in the middle of the seven golden lampstands."  Rev. 2:1.
 
    That Ephesus is the first church the angel addresses makes sense.  If one were traveling from Patmos to Asia Minor, Ephesus would be the first of the seven cities that one would encounter.  Also the most prominent of them, it was politically more powerful than Pergamos and more favored than Smyrna with regard to the cult of emperor worship.
 
    Symbols of the civil religion filled the city.  Augustus (27 B.C.-A.D. 14) had allowed Ephesus to build temples in his honor, although he himself did not care for emperor worship.  Domitian (A.D. 81-96) proclaimed the city the foremost center of the imperial cult in Roman Asia.  Also it became renowned for the worship of Artemis (Acts 19:23-40), the practice of magic (verses 13-19), and its large Jewish community (verses 8, 9).  All of these elements would have made the book of Revelation relevant to the church in Ephesus.
 
    Shortly After the time of Revelation the church received another letter, this time from Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch in Syria.  Ten Roman soldiers had taken him into custody and were transporting him through Asia Minor to Rome, where he would die in the arena.  Along the way the soldiers allowed him to meet with other Christians.  One memorable encounter was the warm welcome in Smyrna from Polycarp, the leader of the local church there (we will meet him again in a later devotional).
 
    While Ignatius was in Smyrna, four representatives also came from Ephesus to encourage him.  They included the bishop of Ephesus, Onesimus, possibly the former runaway slave mentioned in Paul's letter to Philemon.  Ignatius responded to their visit by sending a letter to the church at Ephesus.  Later on he also dispatched letters to Philadelphia and Smyrna.
 
    In his letter to the Ephesians Ignatius thanks the church for its kindness, praises its unity, and warns them to be subject to their bishop and not allow divisions in the church.   As did John in the three New Testament Epistles, Ignatius considered Docetism, a theory that rejected the full humanity of Jesus, as the greatest threat facing the church at that time.
 
    Ignatius also sent a letter to the Christians in Rome, asking them not to intercede with the emperor in his behalf.  He seems to have been almost eager for martyrdom, in order that he might sooner be with Christ.  In fact, he declared that if the wild beasts were not hungry he would urge them on!  While his eagerness for martyrdom may strike us as odd, his love for Jesus would have been a great model for a church that was lacking in love.
 
Lord, I too want to be faithful to You, no matter what the cost.        

   I know your works.  Rev. 2:2.  I know your affliction and your poverty.  Verse 9.  I know where you live.  Verse 13.  I know your works.  Verse 19.  I know your works.  Rev. 3:1.  I know your works.  Verse 8. I know your works.  Verse 15.
 
    We saw yesterday how God had a unique intent for John's life and for each of the seven churches.  The Lord clearly spelled out that design for them in everyday Greek.  But most of us do not get that kind of direct word from Him.  While some have a strong sense of "calling" in their lives, most do not.  So how do the rest of us discover God's purpose for us?  My wife, Pamella, offers the following practical suggestions.
 
    1. Submit to God's purpose for your life.  Why should He reveal His plans to you if you have no intention of following it?  To paraphrase something Jesus said, "If you are willing to do His will, you will know" (John 7:17).  Seek His purpose through prayer and study, and as it becomes clearer to you, put it immediately into practice.  Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life blessed Pamella in this process.
 
    2. Learn all you can about your childhood.  Children are often more faithful to God's design than grown-ups are (Mark 10:14, 15).  So talk to older relatives and friends about your interests and personality as a child.  Read things your parents may have written down about your sayings and actions.  One of my wife's sweetest memories as a child was making little dresses for her dolls, working late into the night, so happy and focused that she had lost all track of time.
 
    3. Take advantage of tests and inventories.  Today we have many resources that can help us better understand our temperament, spiritual gifts, brain tendencies, and personality.  A brain tendency inventory recently revealed that my wife and I are almost identical in all areas of innate personality.  It greatly surprised us, as we had always thought we were opposites.  This has made her more open to teaching and writing as part of God's design for her.
 
    4. Invite honest feedback about your life today.  Others often see us more clearly than we do ourselves.  Several women have recently told my wife that her life story had profoundly blessed them.  She is now sharing it with a variety of audiences.
 
    5. Experiment.  Try out the ideas that emerge from the above processes.  Ask yourself three questions as you experiment: [a] do I enjoy this (would God design you to do something you hate)? [b] am I good at it? and [c] do other people (particularly fellow Christians) think I'm good at it?  If the answer to all three is a resounding yes, you have probably grasped another piece of God's purpose for your life.
 
Lord, I want my life to be centered on Your design and purpose for me.  Teach me all I need to know as soon as I can handle it (John 16:12).

     I know your works.  Rev. 2:2.  I know your affliction and poverty.  Verse 9.  I know where you live. Verse 13.  I know your works.  Verse 19.  I know your works.  Rev. 3:1.  I know your works.  Verse 8.  I know your works.  Verse 15.
 
    A common message to each of the seven churches is the clear assertion that Jesus knows everything about each of them.  Early in each letter is a statement along the lines of "I know your works."  Jesus knows not only everything we do but also what we can become.  He wants each church to become all that it can be and desires that each church live according to His design.
 
    Christ knew all about John as well.  He had a plan and a purpose for his life.  Jesus recognized that the prophet could handle the powerful visions that form the core of the message of Revelation (Rev. 1:1).  In writing out the book, John was acting out Jesus' purpose for his life (verses 11, 19).
 
    God has a design and a purpose for every person's life.  He told Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart" (Jer. 1:5, NIV).  If God had a unique plan for Jeremiah and for John as well as each of the seven churches, we can have little doubt that He has a plan for each of us.  But God's design for our temperament and spiritual  purpose is not always immediately obvious.
 
    My wife, Pamella, once believed that God's design for her was to be a pastor's wife, to simply be and do whatever that required.  But over time she came to realize that it was a secondary purpose.  Although supportive of mine and important in itself, it was not by itself her own unique mission for God.
 
    She then plunged for more than a decade into the full-time role of mother and home school teacher.  Such responsibilities were and are extremely important, and many, such as Mary, the mother of Jesus, have found fullness of purpose in them.  But my wife often felt frustrated and empty, sensing that somehow that was not all there was to God's design for her.
 
    More recently she has plunged into a college education, preparing to assist God in the beautification of our planet through the skills of horticulture and landscape design.  These activities have been intensely satisfying at times, and yet the question for her has lingered: Is that all God wants me to do?
 
    Her uncertainty has actually been a great blessing.  It has plunged my wife into an intense study of the process by which people can come to know God's design and purpose for them (see tomorrow's devotional).  How is it with you?  Do you understand God's plan for you?  If so, are you living by it, or have you let the cares of this life distract you from it?
 
Lord, I submit myself entirely to Your design and purpose for me.  I am willing to be and do according to Your will.

  To the angel fo the church of Ephesus write, "These things are spoken by the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks in the middle of the seven golden lampstands."  Rev. 2:1.
 
    To many people, golf is the dumbest sport ever invented.  People wander all over the face of the earth, chasing a ball, only to drive it away from themselves again as soon as they find it.  Yet something about the strange game seems to draw many people back again and again.  One big reason, I suspect, is the fact that no matter how many times a golfer plays the same course, it is never truly the same.
 
    Every time you play a hole, the tee is in a different place, and you approach the green from a different direction.  When the ground is dry, the ball will bounce farther than when it is wet.  In dry air the ball will fly farther than when it is humid.  Because the grass is a quarter-inch longer than it was the day before, the ball will behave in new ways. And if the wind is in your face, a particular hole will play very differently than it would if the wind were at your back.
 
    But that is far from the sum total of complications one can face in golf.  Every golfer knows that the ball seems to have a mind of its own and goes where it wants to.  The place where it lands is called the "lie."  A lot of the skill involved in the game is learning how to handle the different lies, which can include soft, hard, uphill, downhill, sidehill, rough, smooth, wet, dry, or any comination of the above.  Success requires adjusting one's swing to the requirements of the specific lie.
 
    What does all this have to do with the book of Revelation?  Not much, I supose, but it does illustrate a point that we noticed in one of the earlier devotionals.  Jesus "adjusts His swing" to deal with the realities of each of the seven churches.  He meets each of them where they are and shares with each a unique picture of Himself fitted to the exact circumstances in which they live.
 
    If we want to make a difference in our world, we will want to become more like Jesus in the way we treat people.  In the words of Paul: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some"  (1 Cor. 9:22, NIV).  Just like the variety of conditions in golf, no two human beings are alike.  Even more than that, no person we meet is exactly like he or she was the day before!  To be a blessing to everyone we meet, we need to meet them where they are.  We need to "adjust our swing" to the unique context of each encounter with others.  This makes life not only a lot more complicated, but also a lot more interesting!
 
   
Lord, help me to see each person I meet today through Your eyes.  Enable me to adjust my approach to each person to reflect their unique needs.