21 May 2019
Today, You are Purple...
Deuteronomy 6:5
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
The same words are found in the New Testament too (See Luke 10:27 or Matthew 22:37.)
But what exactly does this look like?
Fortunately, it doesn’t mean to love everyone else less. Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 22 when he goes on to say that the second greatest commandment is just like the first. A second (command) is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. (v.39) That means we all automatically love ourselves. It is obvious. We shower, sleep, prepare food, eat food, relieve ourselves, have a job to buy a little somethin’ nice, etc. That is love. He doesn’t say to stop loving, that is caring for, ourselves but to love others like that - not instead of that.
So this ginormous charge to Love God with all my everything doesn’t mean others take a back seat; it means to love the people I love as much as I possibly can, then, on to of that, love God more. The interesting part is that I’m typically used to loving others with my own limited amount of patience, will-power, or personal preference. The reality is that I need God to actually help me love in my relationships and also to help me love him more than those.
Love the Lord with all your heart...
But my heart gets weary. (Proverbs 4:23)
Love the Lord with all your soul...
But my soul is often under attack. (Ephesians 6:12)
Love the Lord with all your strength...
But my strength is unreliable. (Isaiah 40:31)
Love the Lord with all your mind...
But my mind sometimes gets confused by my feelings. (Romans 7:23)
Thankfully, the answer is simple. Tell God what you need. (Philippians 4:6) Tell God I need to love him more today. Tell him I want help to think about him more than my worries (the bills), my desires (shoe shopping), and my relationships (pray over & not control). If I need more of him today, I can just tell him, I need more of you today. It is actually that simple.
One lady shared at a Mom’s Meeting I went to many years ago that she chose a color one day to represent thinking about God. Sure enough, that color showed up all day. She chose red and for the whole day saw the color red in the most unexpected places. Her story culminated with her husband bringing her a box of McDonald’s fries by surprise. And that box is RED! So, I tried this myself, and chose a different color every day. Jesus, today you are purple. Guess what? Purple everywhere. I thought about God and his goodness all day because I kept seeing purple all day. It’s silly, but it was no accident and it never is. If you ask God to give you more of him, he will. If you ask God to help you love him more, he does. If you ask God, you’ll be amazed!
Dear God,
I love you. I can make you biggest in my heart with just these words over and over directed to you. I can thank you for all you’ve done and all you’ve promised to do. You are great and greatly to be praised, may you be the greatest thing in my heart, mind & soul today. And I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Today, You are Purple...
Deuteronomy 6:5
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
The same words are found in the New Testament too (See Luke 10:27 or Matthew 22:37.)
But what exactly does this look like?
Fortunately, it doesn’t mean to love everyone else less. Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 22 when he goes on to say that the second greatest commandment is just like the first. A second (command) is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. (v.39) That means we all automatically love ourselves. It is obvious. We shower, sleep, prepare food, eat food, relieve ourselves, have a job to buy a little somethin’ nice, etc. That is love. He doesn’t say to stop loving, that is caring for, ourselves but to love others like that - not instead of that.
So this ginormous charge to Love God with all my everything doesn’t mean others take a back seat; it means to love the people I love as much as I possibly can, then, on to of that, love God more. The interesting part is that I’m typically used to loving others with my own limited amount of patience, will-power, or personal preference. The reality is that I need God to actually help me love in my relationships and also to help me love him more than those.
Love the Lord with all your heart...
But my heart gets weary. (Proverbs 4:23)
Love the Lord with all your soul...
But my soul is often under attack. (Ephesians 6:12)
Love the Lord with all your strength...
But my strength is unreliable. (Isaiah 40:31)
Love the Lord with all your mind...
But my mind sometimes gets confused by my feelings. (Romans 7:23)
Thankfully, the answer is simple. Tell God what you need. (Philippians 4:6) Tell God I need to love him more today. Tell him I want help to think about him more than my worries (the bills), my desires (shoe shopping), and my relationships (pray over & not control). If I need more of him today, I can just tell him, I need more of you today. It is actually that simple.
One lady shared at a Mom’s Meeting I went to many years ago that she chose a color one day to represent thinking about God. Sure enough, that color showed up all day. She chose red and for the whole day saw the color red in the most unexpected places. Her story culminated with her husband bringing her a box of McDonald’s fries by surprise. And that box is RED! So, I tried this myself, and chose a different color every day. Jesus, today you are purple. Guess what? Purple everywhere. I thought about God and his goodness all day because I kept seeing purple all day. It’s silly, but it was no accident and it never is. If you ask God to give you more of him, he will. If you ask God to help you love him more, he does. If you ask God, you’ll be amazed!
Dear God,
I love you. I can make you biggest in my heart with just these words over and over directed to you. I can thank you for all you’ve done and all you’ve promised to do. You are great and greatly to be praised, may you be the greatest thing in my heart, mind & soul today. And I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
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