The love of Jesus is a model of endurance. Here's Nancy DeMoss Walgamuth.

If the test of endurance was my love for Christ, it would not hold up. But his love holds up. It never fails.

There's never any response on my part that can diminish his love for me.

This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wallguth, author of Holiness, The Heart

God Purifies.

For August 16, 2023, I'm Dana Gresh.

Jesus wrote a message to the church in Ephesus, telling them to return to their first love.

Nancy's been teaching through this letter, and we'll hear from her in a few minutes.

But first, some of our listeners are describing some of their reactions to this teaching from the book of revelation.

I'd like to share a personal testimony that actually becomes over and over in my life about leaving my first love. And I'm in full-time ministry, and I've realized that I can look back

through the past year, and I could see last year how God had accomplished many things

in the ministry. He had touched many lives. He just very kindly, like that wounded lover that

Nancy had shared, just informed me and just graciously said, you have left your first love.

And since then, I have found that probably I have experienced

that probably two more times. So that's probably been about three times in a year and a half that

God keeps taking me back to leaving your first love. I think I've come to realize today that as God

has placed many people in my path, I believe he's caused me this

past year to pray for many that are in full-time ministry, whether it's ministry outside of your

home or inside of your home, that I believe God's showing me that sometimes we can do the things of the

Lord as it's a job and it's not a devotion. It's like an eight to five

job, and it's really not out of the love, even though in our heart and our mind we say, I love you.

And today, listening to Nancy's share about the Church of Ephesus, I realize I get irritated

...