Jesus told the inquiring religious leader that all of the Law could be summed up in this statement: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. While this is well-known among Christians, this simple statement is profound in its implications. Truly our Lord is reminding us that the true cry of our heart belies our treasures. What is it that your heart truly yearns for? Is your utmost desire to please and honor God? Do you long to glorify Him? Is the Lord God the all-compelling thought that courses through your mind and the passionate obsession that makes your heart race? No, then what is your heartry?
What is that all-compelling obsession that governs your day? Is it your job? Maybe its your pursuit of wealth? If you were to take inventory of that which drives you by taking note of your dayplanner, your checkbook, your internet activity, and your free time; what would they reveal about your heart? You see, that which occupies first place in your heart always manifests itself: in your thoughts, your actions, your pursuits, your expenditures, and your time. If God is, indeed, our heartcry then this will be obvious to us and made manifest to all those around us becuase our love for God will color all that we think and do. When the Lord God is our heartcry then we will have just begun to grasp what it means to love the Lord God with all our heart, mind, and strength. What is your heartcry?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Remember The One Who Died . . . And Arose Again
Memorial Day is looming on the horizon. It's a time to remember those who have given their lives in battle for our nation's freedom. Family members pay tribute to loved ones who have lost their lives in the various wars our nation has fought. Those of us who have not lost any loved ones in battle, remember those who have lost their lives and pay tribute to them. All across our nation, people will pause on Memorial Day to remember those whose blood was spilled to purchase our freedom as a nation. It is a moving sight to see our nation praying and joining together to honor those who paid the ultimate price to give us the opportunity to thrive as a nation.
While Memorial Day is a very special holiday and thousands of people cherish the opportunity to remember their loved ones, there is a memorial that is of even greater significance. As Christians, we can never forget the blood that was shed for us at Calvary to purchase our freedom. This was not merely a freedom of speech, or freedom to pursue happiness, or other temporal freedoms. The freedom that Jesus Chrsit purchased for us is the freedom from our sins. Over 2,000 years ago, the Greatest Warrior the world has ever known journeyed from heaven to earth to offer His life upon the Cross as the penalty for our sins. He fought a battle we could not win, and won for us a victory we cannot lose. This holiday weekend, do not fail to remember the One who died upon the Cross to purchase our freedom from sin, hell, and the grave; and then arose victoriously to give us life.
Jesus provided us with a way to remember His sacrifice. On the night he was betrayed, he gathered with the disciples in the Upper Room and he took the bread and the wine and shared them with them. He used these elements to represent his body that would be broken on the cross and his blood that would be shed. He told us that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup to do so in remembrance of him. May we never forget the price that was paid, the blood that was shed, and the life that was given.
While Memorial Day is a very special holiday and thousands of people cherish the opportunity to remember their loved ones, there is a memorial that is of even greater significance. As Christians, we can never forget the blood that was shed for us at Calvary to purchase our freedom. This was not merely a freedom of speech, or freedom to pursue happiness, or other temporal freedoms. The freedom that Jesus Chrsit purchased for us is the freedom from our sins. Over 2,000 years ago, the Greatest Warrior the world has ever known journeyed from heaven to earth to offer His life upon the Cross as the penalty for our sins. He fought a battle we could not win, and won for us a victory we cannot lose. This holiday weekend, do not fail to remember the One who died upon the Cross to purchase our freedom from sin, hell, and the grave; and then arose victoriously to give us life.
Jesus provided us with a way to remember His sacrifice. On the night he was betrayed, he gathered with the disciples in the Upper Room and he took the bread and the wine and shared them with them. He used these elements to represent his body that would be broken on the cross and his blood that would be shed. He told us that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup to do so in remembrance of him. May we never forget the price that was paid, the blood that was shed, and the life that was given.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Are You Really Thirsty?
When is the last time you've been really thirsty? I mean really thirsty! I'm talking about the thirst one experiences after running a mini-marathon. You've gone an extended time without water and you've been pushing your body to the limits. Your body is pouring out fluids and there have been no fluids taken in to replace it. When this happens, medical experts tell us the body becomes dehydrated and begins to shut down.
Could this be what is happening to Christianity today? We are teaching our Sunday School Classes on our left-overs instead of drinking from the pool of God's wisdom on a weekly basis. We attempt to raise our families and strengthen our marriages without continually coming into the presence of the Living God in prayer and drinking from His refreshing well. As a result we experience burn out in our ministries, tire of our relationships, go through the motions in our parenting, and find ourselves in a rut spiritually. What we really need is a deep and overwhelming thirst for God. The Psalmist expresses it like this: "I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land" (Psalm 143:6).
May the church once again thirst for the Living God and reach out to Him, drinking freely from His well that we might once again live powerfully victorious lives for the kingdom of God.
Could this be what is happening to Christianity today? We are teaching our Sunday School Classes on our left-overs instead of drinking from the pool of God's wisdom on a weekly basis. We attempt to raise our families and strengthen our marriages without continually coming into the presence of the Living God in prayer and drinking from His refreshing well. As a result we experience burn out in our ministries, tire of our relationships, go through the motions in our parenting, and find ourselves in a rut spiritually. What we really need is a deep and overwhelming thirst for God. The Psalmist expresses it like this: "I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land" (Psalm 143:6).
May the church once again thirst for the Living God and reach out to Him, drinking freely from His well that we might once again live powerfully victorious lives for the kingdom of God.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
