November 2020 Archives
Studying the Greatest Commandment
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” ~Matthew 22:37
It’s amazing how one can walk with the Lord for close to 30 years and yet still have Scripture verses gain new meaning from time to time. The above verse is a familiar one, being referenced several times throughout the Bible and yet have you ever thought about what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and (some passages include) strength? I would like to break this verse down and give us all some food for thought.
Heart
When a person falls in love, they talk about giving their heart to a person. They feel as though their heart would break if this person were no longer in their life. Sometimes their heart may skip a beat at the very thought of their beloved.
The older I get, the more I realize why Scripture calls us the Bride of Christ. When you first became saved, you no doubt were in love with Jesus. You wanted to learn everything you could about Him. You wanted to tell people about Him. He became the greatest thing that ever happened to you. As in marriage, though, time goes on and feelings can wane. All of a sudden, you are not as zealous. You are tired of reading the Word, and you may have allowed other people and things to take priority in your life. Just as in marriage, you must work to not let those feelings die. You should love the Father more deeply with every day that passes. This comes through continually studying about and conversing with this God who loves you so much that He gave His Son to die a horrendous death for you!
Soul
Dictionary.com defines “soul” as “emotional or intellectual energy or intensity.” Whereas the heart tends to be the center of feelings, the soul seems to be a deeper, more grounded part of you. This is where you not only feel love for the Lord, but you commit to serve and obey Him even when your feelings wane or aren’t as strong as they once were. I believe it is the soul that keeps resurrecting the desire to stay close to the Lord. After your heart has long stopped beating, your soul will live on. How important it is to love God from the depths of your being. Near as I can tell, that would be the soul.
Mind
Many people fight spiritual battles for their minds, and I am no exception. This week has been rough in this area but that is probably what caused this verse to jump out at me last night. God wants to be at the center of our thoughts. He wants us to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and to think about those things which are pure, lovely, true, and of good report (Philippians 4:8). He wants our focus to be on Him, His Word, and His ways. With everything going on in the world right now, this is hard to do, but we must keep fighting the good fight, and that begins with redirecting our thoughts. It is hard to be depressed when you are thinking about God and how good He is.
Strength
Certain passages also tell us to love God with all of our strength. I deal with adrenal fatigue and fibromyalgia so there are days that I do not feel very strong. But even when I don’t have energy, I can love God with whatever amount of strength I have. Some days, that might be mentally praising Him and thanking Him for His goodness. When I am having a better day, it could be using that strength to serve in some way. No matter how I feel, I can almost always send a text or an email to share God’s love with others and put a smile on someone’s face. If you are God’s child, His love should protrude from you to everyone around you.
The bottom line is that it’s not enough to say you love God. Do you love Him in reality? Does His love permeate the depths of your being? Is your love anchored in who He is or merely what He does? I believe the answer to these questions are part of making our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10).
A Death and a Recovery
By now, you may have heard that Henry Slaughter passed away Friday morning from pneumonia which was a result of COVID. I can’t help but think of Henry and Hazel without thinking of my grandparents. My grandparents recorded some records years ago and had the opportunity to meet Henry and Hazel during one of their recording sessions. I never had that chance, but I always felt like Henry was one of the faithful. He will be missed.
In other news, Steve Weatherford is finally home after being in the hospital since early October. He had quite a fight with COVID, and I wasn’t sure if he was going to pull through, but God … I’m rejoicing with his family while praying that God will continue to restore his health 100%.
I know that God answers prayer, and I can tell of instances where He has done miracles in my life, but I find it easy to become like the Israelites who would see God do amazing things and then the next day, they would forget all about it. God, help me to be faithful, to praise You for answered prayers, to trust You when You do not answer the way I want you to, and may I always be ready to give an answer for the Hope that lies within me.
CD Report: Dear Yesterday (Michael Booth)
This CD was released last year, but I figure it’s better to do a late report than none at all. Through every song on this recording, you will be encouraged. Whether directly praising God or being reminded that God is able and that He never gives up on His children, you will especially want to listen when you are having a rough time. Michael Booth has a smooth tenor voice that is easy to listen to.
Songs include: What Only God Can Do, Dear Yesterday, He Never Gives Up, Everyday (It Starts All Over Again), We Trust in the Name, This Side of Heaven, Glorious Unfolding, and Thy Will Be Done.
Suffering Is Necessary
who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. ~Hebrews 5:7-9
“Well-meaning” Christians are quick to say that our trials cause us to grow. It never occurred to me until today that Jesus learned obedience the same way that we do: through hardship.
Although I know that Jesus was a man when He walked on earth, I think of Him as being God. In reality, He was both, but I expect that His human side could have rebelled against God’s authority just like Lucifer did many years before. Instead, He understood the reason for His existence and “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross” (Philippians 2:8).
First Peter 4:12 tells us:
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.
So what do we do? We think it strange. Why is this happening to me? What have I done wrong? It may have nothing to do with what you’re doing wrong. You may be about to do something right.
The Hoppers sang a song which said:
Now if I had no mountains
Lord, I might forget to pray
And if there were no trials
Well, I might even stray
We like to think we would be even stronger Christians without hardship, but I bet you go to your knees a lot more when you are being tried. It is during those trying times that we can unequivocally declare that God’s Word is true. Early in life, we live by faith, but experience is the best testimony.
I find it comforting that Jesus knows what our life on earth is like. He understands heartache and temptation and probably fear, but He tells us to cast all our cares onto Him and rest in the assurance that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).
When you find yourself going through a difficult time, read the Gospels. Think about everything Jesus gave up to come to earth and be one of us. But notice how He responded to each situation. Most of the time, He was filled with love and compassion, knowing that people are like sheep without a shepherd. They needed someone to lead them. Thank God that today we have the Holy Spirit. May we follow His leading and respond to hardships the way that Jesus did.
