Read Mark 12:28-34
We live in an age where computers are vitally important for our work. Some businesses have many computers that need to speak to each other or use common printers and the likes. This happens through a network
We are people who need to be connected to our Creator. Without Him we are not able to function to our fullest purposes for which we were created. Blaise Pascal wrote: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
To love the Lord is the greatest thing that anyone can do. Every good covenantal child of Abraham was taught to say: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” It was something Jesus had learned as a child. But it was more than words to be said for Him. He also learned what it meant to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
In short, that means we’re to love the Lord our God with our whole being. That is more than just an academic acknowledgement of God’s existence. Faith might begin with such an acknowledgement but it only lives as we as we learn to do what the Lord our God commands. Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)”
And therefore we see that love for God puts into action what He wants us to do. We often confuse love for us getting what we want from someone. But love is actually focused on others—in this case love for God. We give out of ourselves to God with all of our being—not holding anything back from God or having divided loyalties.
That sounds like a lot. Does the Lord mean that I must work for Him? Well, yes! That may mean doing exactly what you’re doing now but doing it for His pleasure, not your own. He delights in a person being His servant in the workplace, at home, in the community, in fact, everywhere. Our work will be different when we’re doing it for the Lord, we will be contented and have the knowledge that we are where God wants us to be. It will be as we were learning in Jeremiah (17:7-8): “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to fruit.”
As we love the Lord our God with our whole being, rather than losing, we will gain the fullness of life and be doing what the Lord wants of us. We will see the world in a different light because we will then see others in a different light through the lenses of God’s love revealed to us in Christ Jesus. God’s love for us will never fail —He proved that when Jesus came and died for our sins. As often as we fail to love God wholeheartedly let us quickly turn back to God and learn to love Him in the things we do.
Prayer:
Using today’s passage and the reading notes spend time in prayer.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
· Pray that each and every person in your congregation would be willing to have a good hard and biblical look at how they seek to love God. Pray that God would be glorified in the way we obey His commands.
· Pray for the Queensland Assembly as it meets throughout this week in Brisbane. Pray that wise and God-loving decisions will be made to strengthen our church throughout Queensland.
1. How different would your life be if you wholeheartedly loved the Lord your God? How?
2. Name three things you could do to show your love for God.
3. What song could you sing to express your love for God?
P r e p a r a t i o n f o r C e l l
Read this week’s passage and jot
down any problems or issues that come to mind about the passage, it’s
application or meaning to you and/or your church.
O n Y o u r O w n
Key Words/Phrases John 13:34-35
Use this space to write down and define key words/phrases. Look for
repetition and biblical themes from other parts of the Bible.
P r e p a r a t i o n f o r C e l l
After your cell has met, jot down the solutions you found having
studied the passage together.
S o l u t i o n s
Prayer:
How does this passage lead you to pray in terms of
Adoration: Confession Thanks Supplication:
Non
Believers to be Praying for
C e l l G r o u p - D i g g i n g D e e p e r .
The Passage: Read John 13:34-35
Before
Cell, complete the ‘On Your Own’ section on the previous page. Describe the
context of this passage?
List the key words/phrases and what they mean?
Use your previous page notes
What does
“all men” mean in v35? How do we learn
to love?
Read Colossians 3:13 & Ephesians 4:32. What
is the Lord calling us to do as His people?
Read Galatians 5:13. How is serving one another guarding against
indulging the sinful
nature?
Read James 5:13-20. What does
praying for one another do for us? (Hint: How does that relate to the
Lord’s work in us?)
Read
Romans 15:1-7. What are we to do for
one another, and why?
Read
Romans `12:9-13. What is the purpose of being devoted to one another?
Read Romans 13:6-8. Why do we have
a continuing debt to love one another? What do
we learn here about being in debt?
Read 1 Peter 3:8 & 1 Peter 5:5-7. We are called to humility.
How does that fit with what the worldly community expects of us? Explain.
Read
Hebrews 10:23-25. What two things are we to
do for one another, and why?
Describe one practical thing you can take away from these passage
that give you stamina in terms of maintaining your ministry and
calling. Think of your head heart hands
No comments:
Post a Comment