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Backsliders return back to thy first love, a warning from God. Who is this first love you may be asking. Everybody’s first love is Jesus according to Revelation 2:4 and Jeremiah 1:5. Jesus was everyone's first love. Everyone includes the Atheists, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Sinners, “Righteous”, Blasphemers, etc. Believe it or not there was a time when everyone was in one accord with God. Everyone loved him. That was before we came to this earth. It was the time before you were even formed in your mother’s womb.

 

The main verse is Hosea 14:1-4, “O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.”

 

What is repentance? Repentance in my opinion is a change of heart, which leads to a change of mind, that leads to a change in actions. This starts when we learn to hate the sin, turn away from it and turn to God. So in this scripture Hosea is trying to tell the people to turn away from their iniquity  of idolizing Asshur and return back to God. Tell him to take all your iniquity away, forgive you, and take you back graciously because you are a merciful, gracious, loving, kind, righteous God. It’s the realization that it's not worth it to be in iniquity. It will not save you from anxiety, stress, or your problems. And it definitely won’t save you from the wrath of God.

 

They promised that they would not say “Ye our are gods” to idols they made with their hands. And God will say, “I will heal thee from their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from thee.” God is not mad at you after you repent from your sins. That is a lie from the devil. Then, “God won’t love me after what I did” or “He’s probably so mad and disappointed in me I don’t think I should go back home.” Lies from the devil. God wants you to go back home. Matter of fact, he gets so happy when backsliders come back based on “The Prodigal’s Son.” We need to return back to our first love.

 

In Revelation 2:4-5 Jesus says, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art 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.”

 

When Jesus said you left your first love he is talking about the backsliders. You can even become or be a backslider if you are a Christian. Every time you sin, you slide a little back away from God. When you get angry, you slide back. When you idolize your job or sport, you slide back. When you gossip, you slide back. When you drink alcohol, you slide back. When you do anything that does not line up with what Jesus would do, you are slowly backsliding out of your Christian walk. This is a huge problem.

 

This is slowing down your walk with Christ. This is making everything harder than it has to be. Make sure you are not a part of that group of backsliders or Jesus will take thy candlestick from you. It does not matter how “holy” or “righteous” you are. Repent.

 

In Ecclesiastes 3:14 it says, “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” Come home. Jesus rejoices when a lost sheep finally comes home. He loves you so much.

God Bless. Amen 

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