What does it mean to LOVE GOD?
What would it look like to LOVE GOD with all of the entirety of who we are?
To live a life of full devotion to God.
This is what we were made for.
Life with Jesus
This is the life we were created to live.
Walking with God in the garden.
Worshiping God.
Enjoying God.
Life with Jesus.
Last Sunday: BURN THE BOATS.
We can seek Jesus as our greatest treasure.
Full devotion.
“I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.”
This is Life with Jesus
This is the Christian life.
“The Christian life is the life of repentance, faith, and good works lived through the power of the Spirit and with the help of the means of grace as the Christian is conformed to the image of Christ to the glory of God.” – Christopher Ash
Mark 12:28-31 ESV
The Great Commandment
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he [Jesus] answered them well, asked him [Jesus], “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.
New Year.
New you.
New goals.
Good habits.
Bad habits.
Trying to be better.
As Christians, we have the power & the greatest motivation to be better.
Colossians 3:17 ESV
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
All that we do is for Jesus.
Why do we exist?
For Jesus.
“Jesus holds the spiritual WHY to the WHAT that we are seeking.”
Why do we work?
Why am I going to school?
Why do I wanna be better with my money?
Why should we want to be better?
Jesus!
I want to honor Him.
Why should we want to take better care of our bodies?
Jesus!
I want to honor Him with my physical body in this life.
My Life with Jesus.
He is the spiritual WHY to all of our WHATS.
We pursue Jesus because He is the greatest treasure.
Matthew 6:33 ESV
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
This is Life with Jesus
Just remember the great commandment:
30 …you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART
Heart & Soul
Heart + Soul = HEART
So…how can I love the Lord my God with all of my HEART?
HEART →
What is it?
What does that mean?
The heart is the seat & center of our EMOTIONS.
It is where we ‘feel’
Psalm 13:2 ESV
How long must I…have sorrow in my heart all the day?
Fear
Doubt
Distress
Depression
‘Heavy heart’
Weighed down
Burdened
ALSO, positive emotions:
Happiness
Goodness
Joy
Gladness
Psalm 16:9 ESV
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices…
Psalm 4:7 ESVYou have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
We can have a thankful heart
Psalm 9:1 ESV
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
So how can we LOVE THE LORD OUR GOD with our emotions this year?
Do we need to have a change of heart?
More thanksgiving?
More worship?
Are we choosing to focus on the negative?
Are you allowing the negative emotions to win?
Do you have an anger problem?
Be careful.
Be attentive.
Be diligent.
Be on guard.
Proverbs 4:23 CSB
23 Guard your heart above all else, [with all diligence]
for it is the source [from it flow the springs] of life.
God can do this!
Emotional health.
Emotional maturity.
Don’t do this alone.
The HEART is also the source of our affections.
Longings.
Desires.
Passions.
Dreams.
Psalm 37:3 ESV
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
When we delight in God, Jesus becomes our greatest treasure.
We can LOVE THE LORD with all our heart by doing those things that lead us to an increase in our delighting in God.
LOVING GOD with all of our hearts means growing in our delighting in God.
Bible reading
Worship
Nature
Exercise
Rest
Good food
Family
Books
The HEART is a place of decision.
The will.
Where we make choices…motivated by our desires.
Resolve.
Psalm 86:11 ESV
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
Proverbs 3:5 ESV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Trust
Confidence
Faith
These are the most valuable things to God.
To LOVE GOD with all of our heart means to trust Him.
Jeremiah 17:7-9 ESV
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
We must first acknowledge that our hearts need help
Change of heart
Renovation of the heart
New heart
David writes:
Psalm 51:10 ESV
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right[b] spirit within me.
Ezekiel prophesied:
Ezekiel 36:25 ESV
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Jeremiah hoped for the day:
Jeremiah 31:33-34 ESV
33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Do you know God?
Do you want to know Him more?
Do you know that He knows you?
LOVE THE LORD OUR GOD with all your heart.
Pay attention to your emotions.
Pay attention to your desires.
Pay attention to your words.
Jesus says:
Luke 6:45 ESV
45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Jesus says:
Matthew 15:11 ESV
11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person…
Matthew 15:18-20 ESV
18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person.
Pay attention to your words
God wants us to be better.
God want us to honor Him with our lives.
Life with Jesus
God wants us to love Him more & more with all of our HEART.