First Love

Announcer: Welcome to First Love with Dr. Robin Cassis and Dr. Nathan Cassis, where faith meets real life. In this weekly broadcast, you'll discover practical and spiritual keys to reclaim God's story in your life, deep in your relationship with Jesus, and encounter him as your first love, whether for the first time or all over again. No topic is off limits as we make Jesus real, relevant, and relational. Stay with us. Your journey back to first love starts now.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Well, welcome back everybody to First Love. My name is Pastor Nathan Cassis, soon to be Dr. Nathan Cassis, and I have with me Dr. Robin Cassis. Hi, Dr. Robin.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Hi, how are you?

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Very, very good. We are picking up our conversation from our last episode on the mercies of God being new every morning. And in our last episode, we actually got to dive into some of the really, really powerful science around this scripture in Lamentations 3 verse 22. And Dr. Robin, when we were off mic, you were sharing with me something that the Lord had really, really just put a burning inside of you to let our listeners know about the power of how these mercies come alive and some really, really important things to understand about that. So, why don't we jump straight in and you begin to let the listeners just come into that what you were sharing with me?

Dr. Robyn Kassas: I think it was just the amount. That was the thing that really just kept on ringing in me. And it was about it wasn't just 30, it was 30,000 new mercies.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Mm.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And when I thought about that, I thought wow, there's not 30,000 hours in a day.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow. Wow.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: So, with with that, I thought it's impossible not to receive a mercy to see you through something you think you're failing in.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Mm.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And you know, that brought that back to me and and I thought about it. And I started to have the conversation with God on this very thing, talking to him saying Lord, you allow 30,000 new mercies to wash over my brain and I can choose to attain that for me.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow. Wow.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And with that, I thought about there's no way I can't be free in that day by making the choice

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Mm. Mm.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: to receive all that God wants to give me by that activity of the washing of my brain.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow. That is so powerful. You're basically saying that we can't fail 30,000 times in one day.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: You can't.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: It's physically impossible.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: It's you know it is. It's physically impossible.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: It is. Yeah. You'd have to be failing every breath that you're taking.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Hello. That's exactly right.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Every breath would have to be a failure.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Yes. And I don't know if you could actually even uh you know finish it off with that.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And That's right. You wouldn't be able to actually have that many failures in one day.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: No.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And so if you're listening and you're saying well, what's this you know scientific thing they're talking about? Well, in our episode last week, we shared on the process of neurogenesis and how our neurogenesis takes place over our brain when we go to sleep at night. The cerebral spinal fluid from the base of the spine washes up over the brain basically to bring our brain into a new genesis, so a new beginning. So, it gives us the ability to get rid of toxic thoughts, neurons that haven't fully synapsed, any kind of uh it's like a cycling out of the things that have not done anything or produced life.

And so God gives us this opportunity when we go to sleep at night have to have up to 30 thousand new neurons that birth upon our waking. And that ties in with the scientific fact that we think up to 35,000 thoughts per day.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: You know, I think about what you're saying there and I can only use the example you know in my Christian walk like being baptised.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Mm.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Going down into the waters and coming up every fresh.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: That's exactly it. And uh our job on First Love and our mandate and our mission is to bring the scripture alive and not to just make it you know which is powerful enough for the word of God to stand by itself. But we're bringing it alive in the sense that science confirms everything that God has already declared in his word as truth.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: I I like the word confirms uh Pastor Nathan. I like that word very, very much cuz I like the fact that something gets confirmed cuz God is in the business of confirming you know. That's more important to to a Christian to have something confirmed rather than something of a great revelation sometimes.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Mm.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And so it doesn't witness in that sense, but it confirms your witness.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And exactly the scripture that says he washes us with his word. This is the confirmation in the scientific fact that we are being washed a fresh every time we go to sleep.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Like yeah. Like a baptism.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Like a baptism like you've just said. And every time we wake, we have a chance to activate those mercies and choose new. But I love the fact that you've just brought out a deeper revelation that even if I can't get my head around the mercies

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Now I've got to get my head around. I couldn't even fail 30 times

Dr. Robyn Kassas: 30 Yes.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: 30 yeah sorry 30,000 times in one day.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: That's it. That's it.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: I wouldn't be able to handle it. I can't handle it when I fail once.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: That's right.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: But yet God has given me that ample grace, that ample opportunity to be able to say right, even if you were to fail up to 30,000 times in one day, I've given you 30,000 new chances for every failure that could be a potential failure. I've given you my mercy to cover you.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And I think it's like the Lord to talk in these big numbers like this because when he tells us to forgive how many times? 70 times 70 times 70 times 70 times and keep on continuing because you don't stop

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yes. Yeah.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: forgiving.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Exactly right. We have to have a number for our Greek way of thinking.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Yes.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And God caters to that. And Dr. Robin, you know we've had some events recently that have taken place where it's been a little bit of a shock for our nation as the world has just watched Charlie Kirk and his life be taken in such a horrific way. And I believe that this message is right on time for the believer, for whoever's listening to know that they can have these mercies that when anxiety and depression and when fear and even fear of what's going on right now come against them and try to steal their peace, they can trust Jesus Christ and trust that his mercies are new every morning.

And that is something that Charlie Kirk was very, very known for promoting the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Announcer: You're listening to First Love with Dr. Robin and Dr. Nathan Cassis. The story isn't finished yet, and neither is what Jesus wants to reveal to your heart today. Let's jump back in and pick up right where we left off.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And I think we could uh in probably investigate choices as well which we would then bring in the value of oneself

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yeah.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: that would need to be explored because we we just make these choices. We make them. But there are keys to making better choices.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yes.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Those choices that we make involve knowing our value.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: So, you you're the man with the the process of working it through. I'm the one of how it works. You're the one of why it works.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yeah. And something that you said that's really important is that when we know our value it causes us to not make choices to seek value.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: There we go.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And a lot of our choices are as the result of not knowing our value. And we do things and we decide things and we get involved in things in life because we're looking intrinsically underneath all of the you know false confidence or boldness. We're looking to understand what we're worth. And so something that I always say in my counseling is Jesus said all the commandments are fulfilled in this one. Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: As yourself.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Now when I say love yourself, I'm not talking about the world's um understanding of love yourself. Like you know that seven steps to loving yourself, the better you. I 'm talking about loving yourself from the perspective that God loved you enough to send his son for you. If he loved you that much, there is no one, nothing that can value you more than that. And so when you live life from that position and you understand your value you're not looking for value in work. You're not looking for value in relationships. You're not looking for value in family or in fame.

You're not looking for value or validation in people you know always telling you you're enough. You're actually getting that value from the Lord and it affects every choice that you make because now you're living from love, not for love.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: For love.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And a lot of us in our Christian walk are still living for love

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Yes.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: and not from love which brings in something that you teach on as an expertise, the abiding reality of faith, hope, and love. When we abide in Christ, it is his life in us his story in us. And we're just the vessels. So, you know you always say don't be a human doing

Dr. Robyn Kassas: be a human being.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And why don't you explain what the difference is?

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Well, one is working

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yep.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: and the other is being as Christ in you is the hope of glory.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: So, it's Christ in you that is doing the work. We don't just work together. He works through us. We have availability

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Mm.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: but we don't have the ability. We have the availability. We become available for his ability.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: That's a course that I run called abiding in Christ.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And it changed my life. I've done it seven times and I'll do it another seven cuz it really changed how I really believed my relationship with God was you know from servant to son.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: There are many keys that we can bring and and step by one processes

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yeah.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: to help people to understand that are listening just like we learned to understand these. And these have enhanced our faith and brought more reality to our faith. So, it's not blind faith.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Mm.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: It's And then of course, as we've said, this is going to open you up to seeking back your first love.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yeah. And not looking for love

Dr. Robyn Kassas: That's right.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: but living from love.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: From love.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Cuz when we look for love, unfortunately we find it in all the wrong places.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Yes.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: You know? And that ends up becoming something again that influences our choices. And our choices are our choices, but unfortunately we can't determine the consequences. Only God can determine the consequences of our choices. And so when we live from love rather than looking for love, we're living from a place of already knowing our value already knowing our worth. It was worth the blood of Jesus. Again here I'll go. In studying the Hebrew, we we look at that word um in the Greek, you know to reconcile that God sent his son to reconcile us back to the father.

And so reconcile in that day was tied to money changing right? And it means that I have to exchange something of equal value

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: for that item. So, if I have you know a um coin, I have to exchange it for the value of that coin with somebody else. That's what to reconcile means in that context of that scripture. So, God is saying that he sent his son

Dr. Robyn Kassas: to reconcile.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: to reconcile us back to the father. So, what's he saying? In essence, he's saying you were worth the value of Jesus to me.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Wow. That is big.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: You're the same value as my son because again the scripture says we are co-heirs with Christ. We're not servants, we're not slaves, we're co-heirs. So, when I understand wow, I'm the value of Jesus to the father I'm not an added on extra. I've been in this story from the beginning and we might go there soon. So, that's an important thing. And then when you understand that, you begin to live life from a different position, not looking for value, but living from value. And then those abiding realities of faith, hope, and love, they don't become works.

They become flows that radiate out from you. And Dr. Robin, you've always taught us that in the school. We're not human doings, we're human beings.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And I think that when we start to see the key of value the key is to value ourselves. How can we value ourselves by knowing that God values us?

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And then from that point we then can value others. But we sometimes turn it around Pastor and we want people to value us so we can value ourselves. It doesn't work that way. That's why he said that scripture that you just repeated love yourself.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yeah. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Mm.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And then love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: But first, as you love yourself.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yep.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: So, that implies value yourself. Then you can value others because you've realised that God values you.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And so Dr. Robin, we're unlocking something here that we could talk about for hours because if we go to the heart of most confrontations between the husband and a wife, a child and their parent, a co-worker that's the interpersonal relationships. It's because the person is subconsciously or subversively saying I don't feel valued. And then what we do is we create a culture, a language system where we try to assert value. So, we get louder, we talk, we make comments, we try to get attention. But underneath it all, our heart is really saying please value me.

Please see my worth. And I'm excited because on this program, you know we get to share certain keys to do with interpersonal relationships and the family dynamics of how we fall into those traps of not living out our value. And if we don't realise that we're his first love, we can never find our first love.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: We need to see that. That is so important. It's all about

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yeah.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: God loving first.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yeah.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: God taking the initiative to send his son.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Jesus dying the initiative was taken. You see? And it was God grabbed a hold of us before we grabbed a hold of him. This is all part of realising first the God side of things. That will bring us back to our first love.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: You think you see we think we've got to do the work. But we've got to understand and I don't say got to. We should understand his love first was for us.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Wow.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Then after that, we can allow that love to permeate us. And then we can then release it to others.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: So, Dr. Robin, in bringing this episode to a close tonight what would you say is the final thought for how we are introducing this to the listener and the audience about the importance of the the first love and how God values us and understanding that we're his first love. Before we can go anywhere in life, we've got to understand that we're his first love. Could you just give us a couple of last profound statements that we can meditate on during this week?

Dr. Robyn Kassas: We have to come back to what you just said. And that is the realisation first God then us then others. You see? We have to come back first to the relationship between God and us. Then we can go from us to others. We have to see love that way. Because if we see that we have to keep attaining it all the time, it becomes a work. See, it was already paid that price when God sent his son.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Yeah. And he reconciled he exchanged his son for something of equal value.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And when we value ourselves knowing that God values us brings a revelation to value ourselves that we're worth that then we automatically can value others who then in response can value us.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: That's the way it works.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Wow. And next time we should continue this conversation and I'd like to talk about the value and how I mean we can talk about the two beams of the cross and how they reflect the process.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Oh, I was hoping we would do that today.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And we're going to keep bringing out also about the importance of God's story and that we're not just extras in this story. We're main players. Just like Jesus, we are co-heirs. And so we're helping the listener to get back to the understanding that yes, we need to come back to our first love. But we also need to come back to remembering where his first love.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: That's the key. That is the key because it was his idea dear in the first place to create man for a family, to be his family. So, you create it because you love.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: So, if you're listening and you've been joining us on this broadcast tonight hearing what we've been saying, we just want to leave you with an encouraging word. We do this every week. And a final thought from Dr. Robin, an encouraging word from myself. Go into this week knowing that you're valued and that you are worth the same value as the son of God because the scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed us to the message of reconciliation.

The father was reconciling us back to himself through Jesus. And then also remember you've got a chance tomorrow to grab that value all over again and to let it really go down deep into your life. And maybe once you start living from that value and not for value, you'll start having different choices and your life will be changed. So, we want to say good night for this broadcast. And now I'm going to kick it over to Dr. Robin to have the final word.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Remember if you fail 30,000 more chances tomorrow because not in one day is there 30,000 hours to make 30,000 mistakes and feel the the effects of failing.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Uh Dr. Robin, oh my God.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: You can receive the new mercies. And you can walk in those new mercies every day. It is a choice. And I pray that you choose to receive what we're sharing with you tonight. So if you are someone that's driving tonight and you need to hear this I really feel the Lord wants you to know that he is there for you and will bring you through it.

Announcer: Thanks for spending time with us today on First Love. If today's message spoke to you, share it with someone. And if you're looking for more teachings, visit www.firstlove.org. For more. We'll be back next week, same time, same truth. And as you go, don't forget the one who loved you first is still loving you best.