The Greatest of All

Jesus tells us in Mark 12:30 that the greatest commandment we are to follow is to:

³⁰ "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength."

One of the biggest things I have learned so far in my walk with Christ is that in order to live a life fully committed to loving Him and putting God first you must align your heart, priorities, goals, and daily life with Him. I think each of us need to sit down and evaluate our daily lives very often to see where God falls in. Do your actions show that you truly love God with your heart, mind, soul, and strength? Could someone you don't even know tell that you have this underlying love coming from somewhere? I think a lot of us get caught up in daily life and start to put God first only half of the time. Many only truly seek Him when they feel like He is their last hope, when they should have made Him a part of the situation long before it came down to the rut they are in now. I've learned that if you put Him first in every decision, every situation, and every second of life, that life seems to be a lot easier knowing that I can trust God for anything and everything. What areas in your life are you struggling to put God first and to trust in the faith you have in Him? 


As you go about life this week set one or two goals that you can accomplish throughout the week that will help you move your relationship with Jesus forward, and start taking steps to reach them.

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, 
and He will give you everything you need."

Matthew 6:33

A Worldwide Church of Love

Pastor Steven Furtick preached a great sermon this weekend to kick off Love Week. It was out of Jeremiah 29:4-7:

  4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: ⁵ “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. ⁶ Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! ⁷ And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” (NLT)

The main point was that no matter where you are in life, God put you there for a reason. You might not understand why you are there or how you even ended up where you are, but you are there for definite purpose. God's Word tells us through this passage that no matter where God has put us, we shouldn't dwell on the past. We should start our lives again and make the best of it. We should strive to glorify His name and His righteousness even in the most hopeless of times. Verse 7 tied in perfectly for this week as we go out and serve in our city to make a HUGE impact to show Christ's love. No matter where you are, what you are going through, or what's in your past, always work for the peace and prosperity of those around you!

Pastor Steven also talked a lot on how the church as a whole has come to be known for what they are against instead of what they are for. That often many churches respond the totally opposite way they should. With so much wickedness, violence, and corruption in our world, many churches tend to condemn instead of responding with love. Here are a few key points I thought were important:

• The church should become more known for what they LOVE, instead of what they hate.
• The church is to infiltrate the world, not to be of it. 
• The church shouldn't be known for:
• condemnation
• isolation
• imitation
• The church should be such a profuse outpouring of love, that the city would mourn if something were to happen to it.

The church down the street shouldn't be your competition, they should be your partners in reaching the world for Christ! Could you imagine how much God would move if all the churches across the world came together and unified to show His love worldwide. Starvation could me demolished by Monday, poverty gone by Tuesday, the sick healed by Wednesday, and so on until Sunday the world would know the undying name of Jesus Christ and see His power and feel His love that no one could unknowingly deny Christ! Think about it... 

You can watch this past weekend's sermon here.