This document is a meditation on loving God with all one's heart, soul, and mind. It discusses the greatest commandment from both Matthew and Deuteronomy to love God with one's entire being. Loving God in this complete way means surrendering one's will to God's will and being lost in God with every part of oneself longing for more of Him. When one loves God with their entire spirit, soul, and physical strength as demanded, it becomes easy to live as a living sacrifice in obedience to God's word.
This document is a meditation on loving God with all one's heart, soul, and mind. It discusses the greatest commandment from both Matthew and Deuteronomy to love God with one's entire being. Loving God in this complete way means surrendering one's will to God's will and being lost in God with every part of oneself longing for more of Him. When one loves God with their entire spirit, soul, and physical strength as demanded, it becomes easy to live as a living sacrifice in obedience to God's word.
MEDITATIONS From the desk of O.T.O. Akinduro e-mail:[email protected] Tel: 08055016597; 08039557380; 08027899328; 08096512149; 07027964509; 012134272.
THE TRIUMPHANT CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, INC.
66A Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway, Abekoko, Ifo, Ogun State, Nigeria.
e are going to begin again today from
Matthew chapter 22, verse 36 we are going to try to look into what it means to love GOD. [Matthew 22:36-38 (NAB)] 36 "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" 37 He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. CHRIST in saying this was surely making reference to what was written in the law of Moses which is the following: [Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (KJV)] 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. All we have been talking about so far is just one aspect of the love commandment loving GOD! Remember that at the beginning of our discussion we said there are three parts or dimensions of the love commandment, namely: u Commandment to love GOD. v Commandment to love the Body of CHRIST. w Commandment to love the unsaved humanity. The commandment to love THE LIVING GOD is however the foundation for them all! A person who does not love the LIVING GOD will never be able to love the Body of CHRIST and will never be able to love the unsaved humanity! A person who does not love THE LIVING GOD will not even be able to love himself/herself in the true and biblical sense of loving oneself! Looking at the above Scripture verses we can see that GOD demands that we love HIM with all our hearts, all our souls and all our might! Understanding the power of these words will help us to really know how GOD wants us to love HIM! The heart here is not talking of the anatomical/physiological blood pump in the human body. It is referring to your innermost being, your real self which is your human spirit! This is the foundation and source of all that happens within you all that you are! The soul is next to the spirit in the order of superiority and it is the seat of the will of man, the emotions and the mind [thoughts, reasoning, intelligence]. The might is making allusions to the third part of man which is the body it is making allusions to all your physical being and all you have physically! Man is a tripartite being. See these three parts of man again referred
to in the epistle of Paul the apostle to the Thessalonians: [1
Thessalonians 5:23 (KJV)] 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole SPIRIT and SOUL and BODY be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In essence GOD demands that you love HIM with all your spirit being, with all your soul [i.e. with all your mind, reasoning, intelligence, wisdom, all your will and emotions] and with all your physical being and with all you have physically! Now stop to think of how powerful it can be to love GOD with all your spirit being, with all your soul [i.e. with all your mind, reasoning ability, intelligence, wisdom, with all your will and emotions] and with all your might [i.e. all your physical being, all you have physically (including your strength, your time, your money and all your possessions)]! If someone loves GOD in the way outlined above, without doubt he/she would automatically be living in obedience to the Word of GOD! For example, loving GOD with all your will would mean that your will is surrendered absolutely to HIS own will your will is lost in HIS own will! Loving GOD with all your mind, all your intelligence, all your reasoning ability, all your wisdom, all your emotions and with all your soul would mean that you are absolutely lost in GOD! When we love GOD in this way, to live for HIM as a LIVING SACRIFICE would be easy and spontaneous! You cannot love GOD in this way and be sinning against HIM! When you love GOD in this way, your soul is ravished, overwhelmed, overcome, overpowered, transported, entranced, enchanted, enraptured, conquered by THE LOVE OF THE LIVING GOD! GOD becomes your song all the day long and even all the night! GOD is not only in your thoughts but HE FILLS ALL YOUR THOUGHTS! Every iota of your being is crying out for more of GOD! Your feelings would be akin to that of the psalmist in Psalm 84 [Psalms 84:1-2 (KJV)] 1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: MY HEART AND MY FLESH CRIETH OUT FOR THE LIVING GOD. Also see Psalm 42, [Psalms 42:1-2 (KJV)] 1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2 MY SOUL THIRSTETH FOR GOD, FOR THE LIVING GOD: when shall I come and appear before God? When you are in love with THE LIVING GOD according to His demand or prescription as described above, you will be lost in GOD and every fibre and every iota of your being will be crying out for more of THE LIVING GOD! You cannot be in this state and continue to live in disobedience to the laws of GOD! It is absolutely impossible! LOVING GOD MEANS LIVING IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS COMMANDMENTS! Forever yours in CHRIST JESUS, Pastor O.T.O. Akinduro.