Love the Lord Your God with ALL Your Heart, Soul, and Mind

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 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 22:34-38

Sometimes, when we read scriptures like the one above, our physical MIND reads the words, our HEARTS are stirred and we feel a sense of awe and worship in our SOUL when we consider the power of the message from scriptures such as Jesus words in the gospels, or the words of Paul, or the Psalms or the prophets. When you worship, do you sense a disconnect from the physical and realize that you are standing in the presence of God’s holiness and power? Do you feel tears running down your cheeks when you sing? Perhaps we should pause and consider that God has created us in His image, with three parts to us, just like God has a Triune Nature: Father/Son/Holy Spirit, and that you and I have an eternal part of us that longs to be united in relationship to the eternalness of God. This does not mean that we are “God-like” (as some cults and new age movements may falsely teach), but instead understand that we are created with a triune nature as well:

BODY-SPIRIT-SOUL

HUMAN BODY: That’s the easy part, that’s the part we see and touch and feel here on earth, it is our “tent” that we live in while on earth. Our Body will decay and die, and return to the dust. It is NOT eternal. However, it is the vessel that God has given us to walk this earth until we pass from temporary to eternity.

HUMAN SPIRIT: this is the middle part of our being. It is ETERNAL. It is the place where we have conscious, personality, uniqueness, determination, spiritual gifts, passion, our WILL and our BELIEF.

HUMAN SOUL: is the center of our being. It is the ETERNAL core of us that will live FOREVER, depending on the decisions we make here on earth. It cannot be seen, but it the part of us that is the deepest part. When we die, our souls and our spirits will spend eternity based on whether or not we received God’s free gift of salvation through accepting His One and Only Son as our Savior. Not based on our good works, or our nice personalities, but on our relationship with Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of our souls.

When we are “born” the first time (John 3),we may try to experience “God” with only the BODY, but it becomes superficial, limited, and difficult to comprehend/feel/believe. There is a sense that something is missing, but we don’t know what it is if we merely stay in the physical part of our existence. Sadly, many people try to go through the motions at this level and never really connect with God. They “try” religion, they attend church, they try to read the bible, but they sooner or later tire and give up. I have heard it said that God created us with a “God-shaped” hole in our hearts, and I agree: HE is the only One that can fill that void, that emptiness. Many people turn to other sources, and never find peace and happiness until they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

When we are “BORN AGAIN”, our spirit connects and accepts Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, and He comes IN to dwell within the eternal part of us. The HOLY SPIRIT unites with OUR SPIRIT, and there is an opportunity to touch and feel and experience GOD in a personal and intimate way. It is here that we surrender, that we conform to the likeness of Christ, that we are victorious over our flesh and its desires, it is here that we CHOOSE to turn from sin. Once this has happened, it is up to us to strive to commune with God in this part of our being, and train our BODY to join in. If we revert back to only the surface relationship, we will exhaust ourselves, dry up and wonder why God is not real to us… we must connect with GOD at the SPIRIT and SOUL level. When we worship, we worship with our SOUL and SPIRIT first, and our BODY catches up to us. Some people sit through worship and can’t wait for it to be over so they can finish texting their friends…. Others can’t wait to start worship and never want it to end when the last note of the last song fades… it is in that lingering that you have touched ETERNAL things… the literal FACE of God, so to speak. And it is beautiful, it is what helps us here on earth, trapped in the trials and “mud” of life, that we can earnestly lean into and long for. It should be where you want to be all the time, and only pull away when you have to deal with physical things. If you aren’t experiencing that connection when you sing, pray, read your word, it may be time for you to SELAH and ask the HOLY SPIRIT to help you WAKE your Spirit to HIM in a way that only HE can! Find a trusted Christian friend or pastor and sit with them, pray with them, fill your heart with God’s Word.

Experience God in the eternal part of your being, and learn to wait upon Him, long for Him, lean into Him. Let the Word of God revive you and remind you that He is with you, He loves you, and He will never let you go…. As Jesus said, this IS the first and greatest commandment from our Heavenly Father.

Selah!
Sister, Lahoma

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