Who Do You Love – Nan Schut

Who Do you Love?

Like waves battering the shoreline from late fall gales, the enemy launched an assault, wave after wave, against the Church. Slowly eroding our confidence, and testimony to the point where only distant memories exist of the faithfulness of God and His miraculous works. Yes, faith is waning in many. The ability to trust and stand on the fact that all things work together for the good. Seeing even glimmers of good has been difficult.

Neither hot nor cold, lukewarm zeal is beginning to fill the lives of many Christians as they long for the day’s past, of His great power; yet fear, silenced prayers, and discouragement continues to blur their thoughts. Saints find themselves overwhelmed, exhausted, even miserable as a continual cycle of discouragement, regrets, and the weight of failure haunts their every waking moment. As Uncle Screwtape would write, “it is all going according to plan” (Rev. 3:14-22 TPT)

Psalms 137 Along the banks of Babylon’s rivers we sat as exiles, mourning our captivity, and wept with great love for Zion. Our music and mirth we no longer heard, only sadness. We hung our harps on the willow trees. Our captors tormented us, saying, “Make music for us and sing one of your happy Zion songs!” But how could we sing the song of the Lord in this foreign wilderness? 

It didn’t happen overnight or even through the course of a year, but over time a strong enemy moved in and overcame the voice of the church, and has all but silenced her. Sure, we are busy, the enemy keeps us that way, fighting battle after battle, in hopes of pushing back darkness in our land; but not being united with purpose and vision of who He is, and what He has done, we have become even more scattered, and distant from each other through weariness. 

The focus became a nation, a city, an appointed person we pressed on praying for the American Dream instead of a Kingdom one. I read a quote in 2015 from Francis Frangipane and he said, “If Satan can’t distract you with worldliness, he will seek to drain you with weariness.” 

“Fight it, stand strong, speak words of faith, and hope, push back the defeat filled days”, you tell yourself in a strangled cry of frustration, as each night gives way to another day, and another, and still another.  Slowly, steadily, the enemy batters the shores of your mind until nothing but numbness is left, and one small skirmish has the ability to shut down your entire day. 

Over the past week I reviewed prophetic words from well know personalities and year after year they proclaimed the same thing – a year of hope, of recovering all, of great prosperity and a church once again in control . Some of these words dated back to the 1990’s but all had the same theme as I read them. Prophesy smooth things, prophesy things I want to hear.

Now I would imagine at this point Troy is ready to stop this message and pray for me, but I beg you to hear me out. I am not depressed, despondent, or without hope, however I am seeing the church as a whole move in that direction.

Is it possible this is what happened to the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2? Desirable, that’s what the name Ephesus means. I love the word desirable. It is described as beautiful, fascinating, adorable, most loved. Jesus intentionally started His letters to the church with Ephesus for reason. You are DESIREABLE to me, you are loved, treasured.

I hold the 7 stars in my hand and am He who walks among the seven golden lampstands. I am right there with you. 7 lampstands, this is interesting, in the temple pattern of the Old Testament there was ONE lampstand with 7 oil lights.  In Revelation 7 lampstands, each with their own light and not just one. In the Old Testament the Priest would watch over the lampstand, keeping it full of oil, its fire always lit as the glow was pointed toward the Holy of Holies. The light was never to go out, that was the Priests duty.

Moses was to make the lampstand of the tabernacle according to a pattern shown him “in the mount” (Ex. 25:40).  There was a heavenly reality that this earthly lampstand was a representation of. Aaron himself who was to arrange the seven lamps on the lampstand and light them every evening so that they cast their light in front of the lampstand—that is, toward the Holy of holies (Ex. 25:37, Num. 8:2,3).

And every morning he was to replenish the oil and dress the lamps in readiness—that is, he was to trim the wicks so that when lit again they would burn clearly and brightly without a smoky, sooty flame (Ex. 30:7,8).

In Revelation Jesus seems to be telling us that He is keep watch over the oil and the fire in His churches and because of that He had to send out a warning that there were some things wrong in their lives that was severing the relationship, the flow of oil and causing the fire to go out.

The revelation of Revelation portrays our great High Priest walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, His seven church types, with loving care and attention as He tends them, replenishing their Oil, trimming their wicks, so they shine forth with a pure clear light. 

He has no word of reproof at all for two of these lampstands (one is characterized by love and the other by suffering).  For the rest of the churches, He has words of correction.  In fact, one of them (in spite of much that is commendable) is in danger of no longer being considered one of His lampstands.

The churches of our day, if their light has not totally gone out, they are dim and sooty at best in their burning. No longer focused forward toward the Holy of holies the way the lampstand was supposed to be.  I know I am not alone in my mourning; I hear others sharing this.  Where is the Oil?  Where is our light?  I am not pointing fingers and have prayerfully considered my own lamp, is it scarcely shining, focused in the wrong direction. Is it shining brightly toward the Holy of Holies casting a light for all to see the way?

When we are feeling like this, it is so comforting to remember that primarily it is not up to you and me to deal with all this.  I am not providing excuses for those who don’t care anyway; I am speaking to those who care, those who love the church, and are burdened.  It is the High Priest Himself who is responsible for the condition of His lampstands, His churches, and He will not be negligent in doing so.  It is the light of the glory of God that is at stake, and He will not rest till His lampstands are shining forth the pure light of the glory of the Lord.

What does this mean for us, then, for you and for me?  It means we can anticipate Jesus revealing Himself as “the faithful witness” (Rev. 1:5).  He is faithful.  He will not leave His lampstands in their present dismal state.  This is what my heart is set on seeking Him.  It’s easy enough to point out how poorly the lamps are shining these days, and some focus solely on this.  I don’t have much of a heart for criticizing churches.  What I long for and set my heart on is the appearing of my King who walks in the midst of the lampstands dealing effectively with things.

Are we stuck in this pattern and at risk of losing our first love like the church of Ephesus was? Being honest with ourselves is one of the hardest things to do. We can be so efficient at analyzing others, yet our own stumbling blocks remain hidden from view as the light slow turns from the Holy of Holies to the brazen altar. Proverbs 16 explains how denial can be one of our worst enemies in the path to freedom.

As I listen to the heartbeat of the church patterns revealed themselves. Pray points if you will, places the quagmire slowly crept over the hearts and minds of strong Kingdom saints.

Patterns of Backing slowly away or having continual negative mental dialogue with yourself. What is going on, why aren’t things changing, another battle to fight. We find ourselves speaking rapidly and not letting others “join” your dialog or get a word in. Questioning others’ opinions and insisting on facts, then not believing those facts. Pleading and sometimes crying over how close-minded we have become which leads to isolation.

Some have felt the need to escape refusing to argue or respond to an accusation and then explaining calmly “I am NOT in denial” to all who confront it. Emotions then can escalate into defensiveness, hurt, guilt, anger and constant conflict in your mind and soul. These emotional rollercoaster rides can lead to panic attacks and continual crying.

We need to be released into freedom. A freedom that only comes from the truth, from the Word. From our King and High Priest, the one who is pouring warm soothing oil into our lamps then allowing Holy Spirit to keep them brightly lit and shining toward the Son.

The trap Satan has set for us is not an easy one to pull out of. Over time we GAVE him access to our thoughts, will, and emotions. He has a foothold there and we are going to have to take a stand and close the door. Being prayed for is always good, however, in this case you are going to have to do the leg work. I can remember my mom saying many times, “you got yourself into this mess, and only you can get yourself out.” 

Psalms 56 says that , “You Lord, have kept track of all my wandering and my weeping. You stored my many tears in your bottle-not one will be lost. The very moment I call on you for a Father’s help the tide of the battle turns and my strong enemy flees. This one thing I know: God is on my side.  

Confess Right Now with Me.

Lord, I submit myself to you right now; I commit the tears I have shed to you, and know that you have seen each one, and cried with me over the place the enemy has me trapped. It was not your desire I ended up here, it was my strong enemies desire for me, and I allowed him to overtake me. I confess before you my sin in allowing my mind and emotions to give in to his promptings, his thoughts, and his suggestions. I resist the foothold of the enemy and know he is now on the run.

I am strong in you Lord and in the power of Your might. I put on the whole armor and will now be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. I know we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places so I give thanks that through Jesus Christ we have obtained victory over them. The victory that comes through the power of His blood and the word of my testimony.

In 2 Cor 4:6 it says, For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Outside the tent of meeting in the Old Testament all items were made of common bronze, but inside the tent, close to God, they were precious gold, Rev 3:18 says I advise you to buy me gold refined by fire. We are being refined. Being transformed through that refinement into the image of Jesus. From glory to glory to glory.

Malachi 3 says, Who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We are God’s partners, field and temple. I think it was Paul that said, according to the grace of God which was given to me as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one of us pay close attention to how we build on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

As our lamps are filled with oil and attended by Jesus Himself, Holy Spirt light those fires and they begin to burn bright, burn hot, burn Holy. If anyone’s work which he has built on it that flaming candlestick endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Revelation 3 Jesus said to the church of Laodicea, I know all that you do, and I know that you are neither frozen in apathy, nor fervent with passion. How I wish you were either one or the other. You are lukewarm. He demanded our hearts either be sold out – passionately on fire for Him – or freezing cold.

Oil in our Lamp or no oil, like the 10 virgins awaiting His arrival. Some abandoned the passionate love they had for Jesus from the beginning and let their hearts become lukewarm through trials, tribulations and works. The lukewarm heart is the devils Jesus is saying to the church of American today, don’t play church with me, you have an appearance of godliness, but are denying its power and passion.

Let me keep a steady flow oil flowing toward you, turn your heart toward me. I am standing over you with my hand in your heart. Will you open it and let me in. With great desire I want to fill you to My fullest – I said I would never leave you nor forsake you, let me in so you can live a life of passion with Me.

Remember, in Matthew 24 His first warning to us is don’t be deceived. Great deception will be everywhere at the end of the end of the end times. We need to not only be careful you are not deceived, but also led astray with missions which remove our main focus, HIM.  

In Acts 20 Paul warns the church of Ephesus of that very same thing, watch for deception. He said it would enter from both outside influences and from those in the church. Paul called them wolves who would exist in every culture and time this side of the millennium. Leaders who would twist the truth, seeker sensitive churches drawing people in by their deceptions. I could list 100 of them right now.

Jesus holding the 7 stars and walking among the 7 oil lights seems to tell us that the things he is addressing the church of Ephesus with exists in all churches and all generations. A warning message not to let deception creep in and hold you captive and turn the focus away from our first love to works.

Hopefully we can all see ourselves in His encouraging words to this church – I know your work and you work hard. I see how you patiently endure trials of faith that come to all of us and never grow weary of standing, of believing, of hoping, of holding the line and standing.  Jesus said you have been amazing at sorting out false doctrine and sticking to what is truth.

Here it comes…BUT

Have you ever been in an employee review? They always start off with man you have it going on. We love this and this and this about you …BUT (what school of management did they teach this at anyway? We all know it’s coming and most of the time just stare through the “you have it going on part” waiting for the BUT…just to find out where they think we are missing it.

You, Jesus said, have abandoned your first love – the love we had with each other when we first started this walk together. The passion, oh how I miss the passion we had. You couldn’t wait to read my book to discover more about me, you couldn’t wait to tell others around you about me – Jesus is saying I am just not seeing the romance we once had.

Guess we could turn this into a marriage message right here – the dating, the passion, the heart beating fast, is that him calling me moments. The first year of marriage discovering each other, like and dislikes, how to make each other fall in love more and more and more.

But then time sets in, and it becomes daily life. Jobs, housework, home repairs, children, and the passion slowly leaves – being replaced with critical thoughts and actions. Doesn’t he / she see me anymore they are never here for me – on and on and on.

Jesus is saying hey I love your volunteering, greeting the new people at the door, working in kids church, going to home group, listening to podcasts. You have it going on and are giving your all – but where am I in the midst of it. You no longer do all for me – connect with me – spend time with just me – it’s all about your message, or the word you have, or who you can meet up with, all in my Name but without Me present.

Have we left our first love? You see there is a difference between leaving our first love and losing our first love. Something can be lost by accident but leaving is a deliberate act – it might not happen suddenly, but it is deliberate.

Everything looked great in the church of Ephesus on the outside but when attending you would, or should, feel somewhat of a disconnect. Sometimes you can’t put your finger on it, but you know something is off.

Jesus is saying – Remember our first years together and let’s fix this. I will help you overcome it, just turn back to me. Let’s do the things we did together when this journey started, let’s hang out. I don’t want to remove your lamp, but if you don’t burn bright, with the passion for me you once had, I will have to. Search your heart and overcome. You can do this…

The promise of overcoming for the Church at Ephesus? To eat from the tree of life. The golden lampstand, made in the shape of a tree, stood for God’s life-giving power. It echoed the tree of life in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). God gave Adam and Eve the tree of life to show that he was their source of life.

So, knowing this, what is our plan of action? First and foremost, it is to check our own hearts. Have we left our first love? Pray for those around you that are being critical, a first sign of passion growing cold.

The golden lampstand stood as a permanent reminder that God is the giver of all life. Like all the other tabernacle furniture, the golden lampstand was a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ and it gave light. Jesus told the people: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

Then He said of us, you are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Charlie Shamp – I then saw angels with swords drawn released on assignments to different regions. Written on the swords were the words, spiritual warfare. In their other hand was a bottle of oil containing the warrior anointing mingled with the bridal revelation. I heard the Spirit of the Lord say, “These will be days of ‘blood and fire’ so my church must be prepared to war in prayer through intercession. I am sending my winds and ministers of fire to co-labor with the saints as they declare my word into the earth. For those that do not know me it will be a time of great turmoil, a time of blood and fire. For my Bride it will be at time of great triumph, a time of my blood and my fire.”