LOVE GOD WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT - Daily Devotional: 3/25/2018
“Jesus: replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38.
I usually use YouVerison’s Verse of the Day, for these devotionals but I was moved to talk about this for today’s devotional. Love is a powerful thing. It can be used for so much good, but it can be also used for so much evil. Love for worldly things is what you have to be on the watch for. This kind of love can and will skew your mind and your heart in the wrong direction. It can pull you away from God. Worldly things include but are not limited to, money, attention, success, and even people. Confession time, I fell in love with a worldly thing and it pulled me away from God. None of us are perfect in any shape or form, but if we do not protect our heart or our mind we can fall more often than we should. For me one of my weaknesses is that I fall for people easily and I like being around and with people (even though I am not a very extroverted person, riddle me that), but both God and the devil will use our weaknesses for their advantage. Obviously God’s is better than the devil, using it to show his glory in the end and uses it to mold us; while the devil uses it to pull us away from God. If we are not careful the devil can blind us and we will get pulled into the devil’s schemes. Let me get this off my chest, it is one of the Church’s notions that we (godly people) cannot date or marry worldly people, that is not true. It is easier to date and marry a godly person, for sure. But there are so many powerful mixed couples out there, so if you are one do not get discouraged; if you are glorying God’s name you are doing his will and you are awesome. We just have to continue to be the light for our significant other, we still have to be able to put God first we have to continue to be the best follower and disciple of Jesus we can be. I tried my best to make what I had with the significant other work, but I was just beating a dead horse. I was walking further and further away from God. I left my brothers and my sisters behind, did not study the Bible with them (even though I continued to read and study on my own) I was not there for them when they needed me. I spent all my time with her. There was one day and this should have been the first and biggest; there was one day my brother asked one to help him with a study with someone we were trying to teach about Jesus, and I was suppose to hang out with her. But God first, so I told her she was going to have to wait and I will be with her literally right as soon as I was done with the study. You are probably asking what is the big deal with that, well it ended up leading to a big fight. She was upset that I broke off our plans and that I was not putting her first and if I wanted something with her I was going to have to put her first. Well that’s what I did. I put her first, even though I constantly tried tricking myself that I was not putting her first and God was still first, I was wrong. I put her first in all I did. Luke 14: 25-27, states that we have to love God so much it looks like we hate everyone else. And that’s something she did not understand and that it ended up making me compromise, not one I should have made. Long story short we had our ups and downs, and now we are no longer a thing (thank God she broke it off, literally - because now I am able to see all these things). As you read this do not think or picture her as a terrible person, because she is not. She is truly an amazing person and has a good heart and good intentions. She is great person and will always be one of my good friends. It just was not meant to be, I will never bad mouth her because that is not what Jesus would do and all the things that happened between us was not her fault. She did not know Jesus and the devil used her and is still using her. This is all recent (literally this past week time - the study thing was last semester, but the full unfolding started literally 1/1/18 but what I am about to say is yesterday) so it is still fresh in my life and I still loved her, so when I found out she was over me and talking to someone else already I was devastated because I felt she was the one. The past few days have been rough, so rough, but God has helped me through it. Yesterday she texted me wanting to vent about something that happened at home, and when she did and then it turned to talking about us. And I am a visual person, I have notes for almost everything, so what I could no wrap my head around was “why him and not me,” it took some convincing to get her to explain it, but the one thing that took all the weight off my shoulders and allowed me to relax is when she told me I loved Jesus too much. That’s a problem we should all have, loving Jesus too much. And that is something that has encouraged me and is going to help me continue to grow. God is funny and uses certain situations for our benefit continually. Let me wrap this essay up with a closing statement. So, all in all protect your hearts and your minds. If you are struggling you are not alone in anyway shape or form. Embrace the good times you had with them, and embrace the bad times. But remember God is first no matter what. If they are pulling you away from God step away, but do not blame them. They are living their life the way they know. It is your fault if you allow them to pull you away, because you know Jesus. So continually give yourself a heart check and grow in Jesus. Love him with all your mind, heart, soul and all your strength. Pray for
This verse we talked about at our campus Bible Talk. Instead of going to in-depth in what I think this verse means and what we talked about I am going to leave you with questions for you to think (maybe write down) and pray about.
1. What does it mean to love Jesus with all your mind?
2. What does it mean to love Jesus with all your soul?
3. What does it mean to love Jesus with all your heart?
4. What does it mean to love Jesus with all your strength? (Mark 12:30)
And if you’re are in a relationship with someone who does not know Jesus, continue to be the light for them. Be there Bible. Protect your mind and your soul, and make sure they are not pulling you away. Ask yourself these two questions:
1. Where do you think/see it is going?
2. Are they bringing you closer to God?
Lord, I pray I am sorry. I am sorry that I fell and was down for a little bit. I pray that you allow me to grow from this experience. I pray for everyone. I pray for the people that are struggling with the same thing, guide and protect their heart and mind. Bring them close to you and open their eyes. Allow them not to be blinded. I pray for the people that are in “worldly” relationships, guide them to be the men and women you want to them to be. Continue to grow them to be the light, allow them to be the light in their significant other’s life. Lastly, I pray for her, guide her to be the woman you want her to be, I pray you open her eyes to the light. Break every chain that is holding her back from fully knowing you. Allow all the things that I did for her and all the times I preached and read the word around her to be the stepping stones to her journey. I pray all this in your son’s glorious awesome name.
#LetsBeAMovement
I usually use YouVerison’s Verse of the Day, for these devotionals but I was moved to talk about this for today’s devotional. Love is a powerful thing. It can be used for so much good, but it can be also used for so much evil. Love for worldly things is what you have to be on the watch for. This kind of love can and will skew your mind and your heart in the wrong direction. It can pull you away from God. Worldly things include but are not limited to, money, attention, success, and even people. Confession time, I fell in love with a worldly thing and it pulled me away from God. None of us are perfect in any shape or form, but if we do not protect our heart or our mind we can fall more often than we should. For me one of my weaknesses is that I fall for people easily and I like being around and with people (even though I am not a very extroverted person, riddle me that), but both God and the devil will use our weaknesses for their advantage. Obviously God’s is better than the devil, using it to show his glory in the end and uses it to mold us; while the devil uses it to pull us away from God. If we are not careful the devil can blind us and we will get pulled into the devil’s schemes. Let me get this off my chest, it is one of the Church’s notions that we (godly people) cannot date or marry worldly people, that is not true. It is easier to date and marry a godly person, for sure. But there are so many powerful mixed couples out there, so if you are one do not get discouraged; if you are glorying God’s name you are doing his will and you are awesome. We just have to continue to be the light for our significant other, we still have to be able to put God first we have to continue to be the best follower and disciple of Jesus we can be. I tried my best to make what I had with the significant other work, but I was just beating a dead horse. I was walking further and further away from God. I left my brothers and my sisters behind, did not study the Bible with them (even though I continued to read and study on my own) I was not there for them when they needed me. I spent all my time with her. There was one day and this should have been the first and biggest; there was one day my brother asked one to help him with a study with someone we were trying to teach about Jesus, and I was suppose to hang out with her. But God first, so I told her she was going to have to wait and I will be with her literally right as soon as I was done with the study. You are probably asking what is the big deal with that, well it ended up leading to a big fight. She was upset that I broke off our plans and that I was not putting her first and if I wanted something with her I was going to have to put her first. Well that’s what I did. I put her first, even though I constantly tried tricking myself that I was not putting her first and God was still first, I was wrong. I put her first in all I did. Luke 14: 25-27, states that we have to love God so much it looks like we hate everyone else. And that’s something she did not understand and that it ended up making me compromise, not one I should have made. Long story short we had our ups and downs, and now we are no longer a thing (thank God she broke it off, literally - because now I am able to see all these things). As you read this do not think or picture her as a terrible person, because she is not. She is truly an amazing person and has a good heart and good intentions. She is great person and will always be one of my good friends. It just was not meant to be, I will never bad mouth her because that is not what Jesus would do and all the things that happened between us was not her fault. She did not know Jesus and the devil used her and is still using her. This is all recent (literally this past week time - the study thing was last semester, but the full unfolding started literally 1/1/18 but what I am about to say is yesterday) so it is still fresh in my life and I still loved her, so when I found out she was over me and talking to someone else already I was devastated because I felt she was the one. The past few days have been rough, so rough, but God has helped me through it. Yesterday she texted me wanting to vent about something that happened at home, and when she did and then it turned to talking about us. And I am a visual person, I have notes for almost everything, so what I could no wrap my head around was “why him and not me,” it took some convincing to get her to explain it, but the one thing that took all the weight off my shoulders and allowed me to relax is when she told me I loved Jesus too much. That’s a problem we should all have, loving Jesus too much. And that is something that has encouraged me and is going to help me continue to grow. God is funny and uses certain situations for our benefit continually. Let me wrap this essay up with a closing statement. So, all in all protect your hearts and your minds. If you are struggling you are not alone in anyway shape or form. Embrace the good times you had with them, and embrace the bad times. But remember God is first no matter what. If they are pulling you away from God step away, but do not blame them. They are living their life the way they know. It is your fault if you allow them to pull you away, because you know Jesus. So continually give yourself a heart check and grow in Jesus. Love him with all your mind, heart, soul and all your strength. Pray for
This verse we talked about at our campus Bible Talk. Instead of going to in-depth in what I think this verse means and what we talked about I am going to leave you with questions for you to think (maybe write down) and pray about.
1. What does it mean to love Jesus with all your mind?
2. What does it mean to love Jesus with all your soul?
3. What does it mean to love Jesus with all your heart?
4. What does it mean to love Jesus with all your strength? (Mark 12:30)
And if you’re are in a relationship with someone who does not know Jesus, continue to be the light for them. Be there Bible. Protect your mind and your soul, and make sure they are not pulling you away. Ask yourself these two questions:
1. Where do you think/see it is going?
2. Are they bringing you closer to God?
Lord, I pray I am sorry. I am sorry that I fell and was down for a little bit. I pray that you allow me to grow from this experience. I pray for everyone. I pray for the people that are struggling with the same thing, guide and protect their heart and mind. Bring them close to you and open their eyes. Allow them not to be blinded. I pray for the people that are in “worldly” relationships, guide them to be the men and women you want to them to be. Continue to grow them to be the light, allow them to be the light in their significant other’s life. Lastly, I pray for her, guide her to be the woman you want her to be, I pray you open her eyes to the light. Break every chain that is holding her back from fully knowing you. Allow all the things that I did for her and all the times I preached and read the word around her to be the stepping stones to her journey. I pray all this in your son’s glorious awesome name.
#LetsBeAMovement
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