“ALL YOUR HEART”

 “And you shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, with ALL your mind, and with ALL your strength.’ This is the first commandment. Mark 12:30

Jesus answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, with ALL your strength, and with ALL your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

What does that look like?

 All is a big word but it is a Key decision that opens up the heart for God to pour out His Divine Love in our lives. It takes a lifetime of faithfully keeping the heart on that journey. Scripture says to Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it flow all the issues of life.

The spiritual heart is a deep place, a large intricate place with many avenues and rooms, unique to each person. It lies deep in the inner man. I actually believe it joins the soul and spirit together. Just maybe half rests in the subconscious mind and the other half in the spirit of man. Every heart enters this world with a fallen nature and must be born a second time; made new by the Holy Spirit. Christ is the great caretaker of the hearts of mankind. He is the heart mender, the heart healer. He is always standing at the door of hearts knocking longing to make Himself known. He alone can soften a hard heart and make it sensitive to His voice and able to receive His undying love. Therefore, we are to keep a watch over our heart asking Holy Spirit to alarm us of anything in our heart that does not please Him or is not the way of righteousness.

Many times I pray, “Holy Ghost to do an MRI on the motives of my heart so they can be pure in Your eyes, show me where they are not. Now I give You, Holy Spirit, permission to go into every room, every avenue of my heart with Your light and shine so bright that it shows up any thing that is harmful, evil, or unpleasing to you. Sweep every area clean, remove the dust of worldliness, take out all trash, remove any broken things, throw out all lies that have rooted, examine any un-forgiveness I’ve swept under the rugs, even take fearful pictures or painful experiences off the walls of every room in my heart. Shine your glory into ALL of my heart and fill my whole heart with Your love. Hang your pictures, (Your visions and dreams) in every room of my heart so my focus will always be first on You. Give me that big “amazing grace chair” of trust and rest You have shown me. Place one in every room. Your word to me is that Your grace is so much greater than our comfort zone and it will supersede any uncomfortable challenge I face in this life. Decorate every room in my heart with heavens colors so I will be able to know and see Your beauty and goodness deep in my inner man. There is a throne in the center of my heart and I am asking You Lord to please rest firmly on that throne completely and constantly. I relinquish control to You and surrender all my rights to You. You are life, You suffered and died to give me life, you rose again to give me the power of Your own Spirit. You only, You alone, deserve to be absolute King and Lord of my heart. This lifetime is a fast moving train taking us to an eternal immortal life. It is a journey of learning to Love you with ALL my heart and then myself and others.”

Question: And now how do we know this great love the Father has given us?

Answers:

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. I John 4:9-10

 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. I John 3:16 Jesus said there was no greater love than to lay down ones life for his friends. John 15:9-14

The love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5

Question: And how can we love God with the love He has given us?

 Answers:

Jesus said if anyone loves Me he will keep My word, and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make Our home with him. John 14:23

 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.  He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word; truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.  He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” I John 2: 3-6

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” Deuteronomy 10:12

Next we will discuss learning to Love the Lord with Part 2, ALL OUR SOUL …     Janeehawks.com

Jesus speaks to us in Revelation Chapter two addressing the Ephesian church that they had fallen from or left their “first love’. Therefore we know in these days prior to His coming it will be temptation to fall from your first love for Him and for each other. Also in Matthew 24:13 Jesus says that because lawlessness will abound in these days the love of many will grow cold. The Holy Spirit admonishes us to always ask Him to show us what we do not see.

What is a fist love relationship like? Think about it. Let me attempt to describe “first Love”.  That person who has just fallen in love with the one of their dreams is shining with joy and excitement. They are energized and ready to go to any extremes just to be with the one they love for another moment. They can’t wait to spend time together. The way that time is spent does not matter as long as they are together. How long it takes to get to where the other one is  or how hard  the journey may be it never seems like any trouble at all. The thoughts of being with that one is stronger than any difficulty it takes to make  it happen. The thoughts of sharing each others company makes all the other things in life seem less important. The hearts of a first love  just want to share  life together and live in love  forever. I believe I am describing a “first love relationship”.  Now of course that relationship grows and becomes much deeper and able to endure many things, but still the thoughts of being together brings a peace and genuine fulfillment  that nothing else can do. Nothing can compare to this relationship. The thrill and excitement of each other remains because of valuable time spend together, talking freely and often with each other and touching each others lives with goodness through the good times and the difficult times. You cry together feeling each others pain, you laugh together  feeling each others joy. Your hearts desire to please the one you love,  lifting them up and blessing them. The ” first love heart” lives and will die for the one they love, the greatest  of all friends.

Let me close with this, I believe I have come close in describing the “first love heart” that Jesus was talking about. His love is perfect and endless toward us. He wants us to love Him back in our “first love” and love one another. We can do this only through the love Holy Spirit so freely plants in us. Holy Spirit is the sweetheart of heaven. It is the same love  Father God has for Jesus and for us. We can fall in love with Jesus over and over again as we come to know Him more and more.  Just repent of your lack, receive the power of His blood that erases sin and return to Him again and again, seeking His presence in your life.  We must Just live with Jesus, close and committed to Him. Talk to Him; spend time seeking just Him. Know He is always with you. He never leaves you and never fails to be faithful and true. To know Him is to Love Him. He always welcomes you into His love. Just to see Him smile at me makes my life worthwhile.                                                                           Janee Hawks             Reading: Matthew 24; Revelation 2&3; I John.