November 5, 2013 - "Are We There Yet?"

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday. I have been traveling so much that I was really tired and decided to sleep in. Then, on a whim, my hair dresser had a cancellation and I was able to jump on my clothes and head out. My precious boss gave us the day off following a long, hard month. YEA! So, I am rested and ready to go. Sunday night was a great life group - only one more this year. We will NOT MEET on December 1st as that follows Thanksgiving weekend with so much family in, but we will meet on Sunday, December 8th for our final group this year. We will all share a Christmas dish and recipe. Love to have you! Speaking of love, as you know we are working through the Experiencing God series on Wednesday evenings. Our homework this week is centered around the scripture from Matthew 22:37-38, "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." The word all contains three letters, but has a large inclusion factor doesn't it? I like to say it this way, "all is inclusive of everything and exclusive of nothing." BIG WORD! This verse is such so powerful. Yes? Have you ever REALLY contemplated your response to it? Of course I would imagine that many of us would emphatically say, "I absolutely love God as this commands." But obedience to this command requires more than a simple answer. My daily response to life is a great indicator of how I find myself tethered to this verse. How about you? My response in a time of difficulty often makes a bold statement. If you had to honestly answer this question, what would you say..."what is the first thing you turn to in a difficult situation?" You...your spouse...your resources...the church? Loving God with my heart (the Greek word cardia meaning mind, will, and emotions) is often proved in my actions...or at least I see it as such. Can we agree that loving God with everything within means that we are going to love God when everything is drawing us from the truth that God loved us first AND more than we can imagine? Trusting and loving God when everything is great in one's life can be a lot easier than when bad circumstances happen, especially without provocation. But if we can stand firm and not waiver in our confidence throughout our journey that God is our center, our number one, our stabilizer and that no matter what thoughts or circumstances come our way that serve as an enticement to draw us from this stance, we LOVE God period. That's the first step - then moving toward loving him with ALL of our being is the maturity within the command. Sometimes we need to pre-determine our response and practice it. I do. I know how my flesh responds sometimes, and I will practice ahead of time so that I can remind myself that all of me LOVES God and TRUSTS him and WILL OBEY when the enemy of our soul is making his stand. Let's ask the Holy Spirit today if there is any portion of our mind, will, or emotions that is emphatically not committed to Matthew 22:37-38. Could it be that God didn't answer your prayer as you felt he would and there's a sliver of disappointment? Maybe we could all answer "yes." I know I need the Holy Spirit to show me my heart. How about you? Ask and listen today. If this is the first and greatest commandment, we need to start here. Have a great Tuesday! PK