Real strength changes the world
The first week we talked about loving God with all of your heart the seat of our affections, passions, and desires.
Two weeks ago week it was about the soul, to love the Lord with all your soul means to love Him in the way we live, in the choices we make and in the behavior and lifestyle we adopt reflected by those choices.
Last week the mind is the seat of reason, knowledge, imagination, it is the place of thinking and judgment it is where feelings are interpreted, it enables us to comprehend and apply perception. We are to love him with all of that as well
Placing Him first know that as we do that all of those things are fulfilled in a greater manner than we could ever imagine.
So many things demanding our attention but Hebrews says this…
Hebrews 12:1,2
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God
Jesus challenged all people including each of us with this
Mark 12:28- 30
One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”
Loving the Lord with all of our strength what does that mean? It is loving God with all of our ability, all of our possessions, all of our skills. Loving Him with all our strength is to love with our resources, our abilities and our time.
To love the Lord with all our strength means to love him “exceedingly” “richly”, “lavishly”, with reckless abandon out of simple devotion.
In more practical terms it means we are to love Him 110%. To go all-out. To give it your best shot. If we fall down, to pick ourselves back up and keep going forward. To love Him with all our might.
1 John 3:18,19
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God
To fully love Him with what we find our hands to do, our eyes to see, our ears to hear, our feet to go and our mouths to speak.
- Love Him with what we find our hands to do.
We are to serve the Lord diligently being His hands extended in our world.
We love Him by giving a cup of cold water to those in need.
Matthew 10:42
And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward
Feeding the poor. Laying hands on the sick. Lifting our hands in worship. Loving your children, loving your spouse fighting to engage them to grow in Christ.
Playing an instrument. Working with excellence. Whatever it is that you do for a living or as your daily life to produce something, do it as you are for the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going
The list can go on and on. Our hands serve a major purpose in loving God with all our strength.
Practically, it is simply believing that you are a child of God and as you dedicate your work to the Lord you honor Him and thus are loving Him with the work of your hands. Loving God with our skills, our work, our play, all that we have.
2) Love Him with our eyes and what they see.
The eyes are the gateway to the heart/soul.
“We are to set our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”, Hebrews 12:2
Our eyes come in contact with so much during the day yet we love Him well when we see what pleases Him. We become what we behold.
It takes nothing to make quick negative judgments over all that we see but we must see the way that God sees…not simply sinners, addicts, jerks but people that God loves
It takes nothing to see things as problems but God calls us to see things through His eyes as Christians we never have any problems but through His eyes, “opportunities”. We see the way He sees there is only hope, love in the way He sees
3) Love Him with ears to hear.
Jesus said many times, “if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Kind of a funny statement but a powerful one.
What He is saying is listen to be transformed. Listen to be changed. Listen for more than information but to gain revelation.
When we gain access to His voice we are loving Him well. He is always speaking to us we are His children.
John 10:27
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me
When we listen to others share their story, listen to their thoughts and hear their pain, we are using our strength to love
We need to not listen to gossip, slander, backbiting and negative discussions. These are all part of loving Him with all our strength.
4) Love Him with feet to go.
Where our feet take us on the journey in life says a lot about how we love the Lord.
Jesus laid it out when he said to “go and make disciples” Matthew 28:19. The great commission is all about going.
When we go and serve, go to church, go to a friend in need, go the extra mile, we are loving Him with all our strength. Be led by the Spirit and let Him lead you into amazing places and divine opportunities.
Where ever we go we are to bring with us Jesus.
Matthew 10 :12,13
When you enter the home, give it your peace (blessing). 13 If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your peace (blessing) stand; if it is not, take back the blessing
Acts 3: 3-8
When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” 7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them
Wherever we go we are to bring Jesus, both the power and the fruit of the Holy Spirit changing the environment wherever we are.
5 Love Him with our mouth to speak.
May the words we say bring glory to the Lord. When we edify, encourage, comfort, honor, support and bring life.
Proverbs 18:21
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences
To others we create access for them to discover God’s kindness. We get to love Him by declaring praise and worship to the Lord. Also, when we boldly share our faith with others.
Ephesians 6:19
And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike
We bring them into a relationship with God and when we instruct, coach and counsel others, it all counts in loving the Lord with all our strength.
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
What a privilege we have to love the Lord with all our might, with a reckless abandon expressed in a sold out life.
I think of Psalm 84:2 where the writer lays out his hearts cry…”my heart and flesh out for the living God”.
My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God
The New Testament equivalent is found here in Mark 12:30 to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.
How do we do it?
- Pray and ask the Lord to use your strength by surrendering it all to Him. “Father, I give to you all that I am and all that I do and I ask that you use me as a blessing to you and others”
- Remind yourself daily that all that you have and all that you are came from the Lord. You destiny will only be fulfilled as you trust the Lord with all.
- Determine to surrender more of your self everyday and watch how the Lord uses your strength and makes you even stronger every day
We have learned a lot in this series. You will change the world and your world if you practically apply all of this. Today there is an altar call and it is simply this. I want you to consider coming to this altar and simply saying “Father, I surrender myself completely to you heart, soul, mind, and strength again. Guide me, use me, fulfill your purpose and my destiny completely. Allow me to be a world changer and I will change my world!”