Most believers would answer "No" to this question. I would have to disagree by considering my own experience. In the spring of 1984, I was a very busy young executive helping manage a large wholesale distribution business. Fifty-hour weeks were the norm and sixty hour weeks were sometimes required. I constantly read my Bible, read Christian books and listened to teaching tapes of all types. Two weeks after a trip to New York I became sick to the point of making an appointment with my wife’s doctor. I didn’t have one since I had believed FATHER for Divine health for several years. In the five years, I had been employed at the company, I was the only one who never took off for sickness. FATHER told me earlier to slow down and rest, but I pressed on due to the demands of the job.
I went to the doctor, and his nurse took a sample of blood. The result indicated that I had the hepatitis A virus contracted from undercooked shellfish. I remembered the shrimp cocktail I ate at the Hilton Hotel across from the airport two weeks before my symptoms. The doctor demanded that I be checked into the hospital because of the severity indicated by the test. I begged him to let me stay home and do nothing but rest. He reluctantly agreed. He told me that I would be unable to work for a minimum of six weeks, but eight weeks was more realistic in my case.
I was upset at FATHER for letting me get sick, possibly unto death. HE responded, "You are void of MY Word." What? I studied my Bible, read books, listened to tapes, watch Christian TV yet I was void of HIS Word? HE explained with a question- "When was the last time you studied MY Word on healing?" I admitted that it had been a long time and then repented. I then asked, "What do YOU want me to do?". HE instructed me to immerse myself in healing Scriptures, teaching, and listen to an audio cassette tape on healing every time I laid down. I did exactly as instructed. The result was that my symptoms were gone in 11 days and I was able to return to work for half days per the doctor’s instructions. My doctor had no explanation for the miraculous recover but was unwilling to discuss Spiritual matters.
I shared the details of this story to let you know that even though you have studied Love, faith, hope, healing, and other such topics, you can lose the "life" or reality of those Truths to the point where they become on none effect in your walk. As we increase in our sensitivity to hearing HIS Voice we should ask HIM what we ought to study for HE knows what"levels" are in each area of our life.
During Jesus’ ministry, He dealt with people who had a long history with FATHER, yet they could not recognize HIS Son when He stood in front of Him. In Matthew chapter 13 Jesus spoke:
14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’
Your heart can grow dull to the point where it becomes hard for you to hear and see. You were once on fire to do FATHER’S Will, but now your heart has grown cold. The Word was once alive in you, but now it has been reduced to knowledge without the life and power once associated with it. The cares of the world have entered in a plucked the life-giving word out of the soil.
The phrase "use or lose it" is appropriate on many levels. When a marathon runner finishes the race, there is a short time to recover and relax. However, he knows that he must continue to run "maintenance" runs or he will lose his edge. Too much time off would require him to make up with tougher training later. It is better to stay in shape than to start over and this is true for those who seek to walk in full Spiritual maturity.
In the Revelation of Jesus Christ chapter 2 we read:
2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;
3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.
4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
"First Love" is the exclusive Love which is first place in our hearts above all other things. It isn’t our initial, immature love we experience at an earlier point in our walk. My attention had shifted away from HIS Life-giving Word on healing and other things changed by focus and frame of mind. I allowed the cares of the world to enter in and take over my focus. Before long the life and revelation of healing had become inactive. I had to repent and then return my focus ON HIM. The Divine Intent of OUR HEAVENLY FATHER should be our first Love. If it isn’t then, we should repent else our light will grow dim.
When FATHER is our highest priority, our focus, time, and resources become available to HIM for HIS use. As a Loving Father, HE will give more to us more than we can possibly give into HIS work. HE simply wants to see good fruit come forth in HIS Sons.
Repentance means "a change of mind." We must redirect our mind’s attention to the deeper things of FATHER if we want to be chosen as HIS vessels of honor. As we respond to HIS relevant Word for the state we are in, our weaknesses are replaced by the power of HIS Word. We must focus on those areas which are the highest Spiritual priority.
A candlestick is intended to shine and illuminate the room. As an act of correction and discipline, FATHER allowed the glory to be removed when men lost the "first" love. They lost their anointing in the area of their calling. When I was diagnosed with hepatitis, it was a wake-up call for me. Past assumptions were removed from my thinking, and I learned a valuable lesson while recovering from this serious disease.
Now you must ask yourself the question- Do I walk in the revelation of Love and do I have good fruit as a result of this walk? Are you void of Love? I don’t mean the love that you show for your spouse, kids, or close relatives. Do you Love all of mankind? Do you truly Love your enemies? Is your faith energized by Love or are you like so many who wonder why their prayers go unanswered?
If you cannot answer the above questions with full assurance that you have fully aligned with FATHER, then you are void of HIS Word in this area. It is time to correct this before the repercussions due to this void impact you further. It is time to repent.
In Revelation chapter 2 John the Beloved disciple wrote what he heard and saw:
3 "and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.
4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent."
FATHER’S Word does not change and is consistent through the Bible. This final book was written to HIS servants as written in Revelation 1:1. Do you see yourself as a servant of GOD? If so, then this final book was written to you and for your instruction. Patience and labor are good fruit, but without being motivated by Love, you must repent. The Greek word metanoia means "a change of mind."
This book is intended to change your mind concerning the importance of the revelation of Love. It is intended to move you to full repentance and refocus your attention on what is crucial to walking in the fullness of your calling. Yes, each of us has a very specific calling given to us before FATHER formed us in the womb. My calling is unique to me, and FATHER gave me specific gifts and resources reserved for my particular calling. As I embrace my calling, then Heaven pours out blessings that cannot be contained. If I fail to embrace my calling, then I move toward a life of scarcity and drudgery. The fruit doesn’t lie.
When you repent, your frame of mind changes and what was once impossible can now be seen on the horizon, and each day you get closer to its manifestation. You finally experience what the Scripture terms "Then suddenly" means. You now know firsthand the power of FATHER working on your behalf.
When Jesus showed up, lives changed. He was the manifestation of Love to be an example for us to follow. Consider those who lived with chronic disease for years without hope of returning to a normal life. But then Love showed and energized faith. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
"Faith working through Love" is faith energized, made effectual, made operational by Love. This is exactly what happened when the woman with the issue of blood came into the presence of Jesus in Luke chapter 8:
42 …But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.
43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any,
44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
45 And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”
When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
46 But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.”
47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.
48 And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
Does this woman sound familiar? People today are spending thousands to find a cure for their chronic disease. There is a full infrastructure created to focus on cancer and other chronic diseases. This woman lived for twelve long years with her condition, and there was no hope for a cure until Jesus showed up. When the fullness of Love came into her presence, it activated her faith. It energized her faith, and now she knew that if she could just connect to HIS Love, she would be healed.
Power flowed out of Jesus into the woman, and it healed her. It was her faith that made her willing to step out and touch Him. Jesus responded, "Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” Are you willing to exercise your faith and embrace Love? If so, your faith will be energized, and you will no longer look at any mountain in your life as being an insurmountable issue. You will simply speak to it, and it will be removed.
The woman had a void that prevented her from receiving her healing. The physicians could not fill the void, and she had lost her livelihood attempting to find the missing ingredient to her healing. The Word manifested in the flesh, and she finally came into His presence. Thus the void was filled, and her healing came forth.
Let each of us fill our void with HIS Love. We will then see fruit come forth like never before and will walk out the fullness of our calling with unending gratitude that HE filled our void.