Golden Nugget - The Power of Love Part 2 & Worship with Terry MacAlmon

We are busy discussing the practicalities of love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. 

Although the following three attributes of love are not in sequence in this text, they are related.

Love does not boast, is not self-seeking, and is not proud.  The King James Version defines being proud so beautifully: Love does not parade itself.  By being proud you put yourself on a higher level than others.  You may appear humble and nice to others and even bluff yourself, but if you think higher of yourself than you ought to (Romans 12:3) you are proud.  In Christ, we are all on the same level (Galatians 3:27-28).

Love is about others.  The moment you catch yourself doing either of these, you don't love - you're putting the focus on yourself.  Boasting and parading yourself enhances you at the cost of others.  It may make them feel inferior.  Love doesn't do that.  Love makes others feel special, sometimes at your expense.  Therefore boasting and parading self are loveless acts born of being self-seeking. 

Love is not easily angered.  Love considers the effect of our behaviour on others.  If you act in anger, those near to you usually take the brunt.  Therefore, if you desire to act in love, you would want to spare others this and restrain your anger.  This supports the fact that love is an action.  You may tell me as much as you like that you love me, but if your actions show the contrary, I won't believe you.  It's possible to love intermittently as determined by your deeds.

Love keeps no record of the wrongs.  If we keep on digging up offences we are self-centred.  The source of the urge to remind others of their offences is probably pride, which is often instigated by Satan.  Pulling someone down by reminding them of their wrongdoing will make you feel superior.  Love, on the other hand, supports and helps others to overcome their weaknesses, even if you feel you are right and they are wrong. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  People tend to justify the sinful things they do.  Sometimes when we see people involved with something sinful, we don’t get involved to help them right, for we think it’s not too bad.  But, what will happen to that person?  Sometimes we Christians are even worse; we gossip about them.  Jesus, however, commands us in Matthew 18:15: If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  Love cares about others in spite of our own embarrassment and discomfort.  We also need to consider the honour of the Lord when we allow evil into our lives.  God’s enemies laugh at Him when His children get involved with wilful sin (2 Samuel 12:13-14).  If we allow that, can we say we love Him?  We need to work at erasing evil and rejoice when truth wins.

Then the big four: Love

1.   Always protects.  Other translations state it as ‘covers everything’.  When you love someone, inclusive of those you don’t like, you cover their weaknesses and mistakes, in fact, everything that could ruin a relationship. In other words, you don’t judge them, but choose to help them.

2.   Always trusts.   Other translations state it as ‘believes everything’.  Love believes the best about others, even if their behaviour proves the contrary.  We need to trust God that He is at work in people’s lives if we pray for them.  It’s not up to us to decide what people will turn out to be.  Our job is to help them.

3.   Always hopes.  Love hopes the best for people.  As long as God is in charge, there is always hope.  People can change.  Would you like hope to be there for you?  Then keep your hope for others alive.

4.   Always perseveres.  Other translations state it as ‘tolerates everything’.  Don’t give up on anybody.  Keep on believing in them, keep on praying for them, and keep on doing what you believe the Lord guides you to do for them.  Even if a person doesn’t seem to change, you keep on loving.  In Christ, you are bigger than your feelings and frustrations.

Father, help us to love like you do.  Help us realise how much you have to bear with us.


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60. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - God’s Greatest Enemy Part 2

We are discussing Matthew 6:24:  “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” [Mammon KJV] 

In the previous post, we started to see who Mammon is, and what his strategy is to compete with the Lord for our attention and love.

Satan uses our desires, subtle suggestions, and circumstances to lure us into disobedience to God and servitude to other gods. Mammon obtains power over us in the same way.

For example, ambition can lead to disobedience. Suppose a little girl decided to become a doctor. She had the ambition of meeting the health needs of the community and dreamed of helping people. She studied hard to become a good doctor. As she started her career, she submitted to her colleagues’ influence and began to focus on money. This could change her ambition from becoming a good doctor to becoming a wealthy one. She now must decide whether to care for the community’s needs or her own. Should she charge a fair price that the poor of the community can afford, or should she raise her fees and give care only to those who can afford it?

If she chooses to serve the needs of the whole community, she will live a comfortable, average life. If she cares for only the elite, she will become wealthy. Who will command her life: God, with principles based on love and giving, or Mammon, who emphasizes the material? The choice between God and Mammon is simple: serve God and obtain treasure in heaven, or serve Mammon and have treasure only on earth.

We can’t have both. We can’t please Mammon without following his rules. In the process, we bend or break God’s rules of love, giving, and righteousness. I often have to choose between recommending an expensive item or a cheaper one that is just as effective. I also have the option of pricing items from bulk or individual packaging. Whom do I want to love, the customer or myself? Which is the right choice in God’s eyes—and in Mammon’s? Whom do I love most, my neighbour or myself? Is it Mammon or God?

In contrast with Mammon’s strategies, we can see a perfect example of God’s methods when we observe Jesus working. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8).

Jesus became a servant. He was offered the option of serving Mammon, but He chose instead to live a simple life, totally dependent on and devoted to Father. He did nothing on His own behalf. He didn’t arrange for any gain or power, although He could have done so (Matthew 26:53). Every action He took was for the benefit of those He served and loved, that is, us and the Father. As His reward, God exalted Him above all else (Philippians 2:9-11).

Nobody should bow to Mammon. If you do, you have no part in Christ, for you will hate and despise Him (Matthew 6:24 above). We are to do nothing from rivalry (selfish ambition) or vain conceit, but instead consider others more significant than ourselves. We should look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3, 4).

This is contrary to Mammon’s demands. It tells you always to buy bigger, better, and faster than anyone else. It tells you to gather as much as you can, play the stock market, and watch your earnings carefully. This motivates us toward selfish ambition. It is as if a man crawls on his knees and scrapes together as many gold coins as possible. Next to him, another man does the same.  At their boundaries, a greedy, bloody battle ensues as they steal coins from each other. Only, in reality, it is much more subtle - those Christians serving Mammon don't even realise they have justified themselves in doing it.

This is the lust for money. If we let it control us, we bow the knee to Mammon. We may cover or justify our actions with the excuse that God blessed us with it, that we deserve it or worked for it, or that business is business. But with that, we tell Mammon that we’ll do whatever he wants as long as he gives us more of himself. He will gladly do so. He delights in seeing Christians reject God’s principles.  

God’s strategy is for us to become interdependent on one another through giving and serving. He wants us to stop competing with one another, trying to be the best and the greatest (as often occurs in the church). Instead, we should regard others as higher than ourselves. To be continued.

For children and adults who are prepared to learn in a childlike way. For more information see http://t-a-c.co.za.

Golden Nugget - The Power of Love Part 1 & Worship with Terry MacAlmon

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 lists all the qualities of love.  If you have difficulty to love or want to test your level of love, be sure to measure yourself against these standards: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

This passage is actually a description of God, for He is love this is His character.  He is patient and kind etc.  Evaluating yourself against these standards is therefore actually evaluating yourself against the character of God, i.e. how far have you progressed to becoming like Him, like Jesus.

Let’s take each of these characteristics and make them applicable to our lives, keeping in mind that love is not a feeling, but something you do.

Love is patient.  Impatience, therefore, is a loveless act.  How patient is the Lord with you.  I'm so glad He didn't give up on me, for it took me years to get rid of many things that grieved the Lord.  His amazing patience kept Him persevering in disciplining me while He waited patiently for me to get the idea and change my ways.  Do you have a similar experience with the Lord’s patience with you?  How about your patience with your spouse, friends, children, work colleagues, the government, and the like?  Patience with people shows your trust in the Lord that He can change people and mend relationships.  He can help you through situations that test your patience.

Love is kind.  "You don't know what people are like," you may say, "do you know how difficult it is to be kind to rude people?"  Yet, you expect the Lord and other people to understand your moods, don't you?  And the Lord does stay kind but firm to you in spite of your bad behaviour at times.  He did say in Matthew 7:12 to do to others as you want them to do to you and that you should love your enemies (Matthew 5:44).  Kindness demands getting rid of your pride at times, but the results and fruit of being kind is out of this world.  You reap so much kindness and favour from others.

Love does not envy.  We read in James 1:14-15: Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.   Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.   Sinful thoughts lead to sinful behaviour.  Envy is a thought.  Thoughts need to be taken captive and made obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).  This means that whenever a thought, that is not acceptable by Biblical standards, enters your mind; you should consciously take it captive and line it up to Biblical (Christ's) standards.  If you don't do it, that thought will steer your life in an ungodly direction causing you to grief the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and be disciplined by the Lord.

Say, for instance, you are envious of someone's skill.  If you don't apply Biblical truths regarding this and realise that you have received different gifts and talents, your envy will cause ill and loveless feelings towards the person.  This will lead to loveless and sinful behaviour towards the person which could shipwreck your relationship - cause it's death (James 1:15).  Envy is, therefore, a thought that could lead to hostile behaviour and the harming of relationships if not dealt with at its conception.

While you're on the blog, why don't you have a look at more of this kind of articles in our archive to your right, or on your mobile device, tap 'home' at the bottom and then the arrows next to the 'home' button to search for more articles? 

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59. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - God’s Greatest Enemy Part 1

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” [Mammon KJV] (Matthew 6:24)

This passage points out one of our Lord’s greatest enemies and one of our biggest hindrances in serving the Lord wholeheartedly.

A master makes decisions and creates the circumstances that influence his servant’s life. In New Testament times, a slave belonged to his master and obeyed his master’s every bidding. Today, those of us who work for someone else have some understanding of what a master is. We understand the principle of doing what the employer expects. We have little choice or input into the system outside the established policies.

Jesus specifically used the term “master” in this context. We belong to the master we choose to serve. The master makes demands and manipulates the circumstances that cause us to be dependent on or controlled by him. In New Testament days, the master controlled his slave’s circumstances to the point that the slave could not survive on his own. He depended on the master for both lodging and food.

According to our passage, the Christian can serve or belong to only one of two masters: God or Mammon. Mammon is the god of money. A god is a spiritual being with power. A god cannot be controlled by people but always controls and enslaves them.

There is only one living God, and all false gods or idols are dead, but we find power behind them. Only two spiritual powers inhabit the universe: the power of light and the power of darkness. Satan, God’s enemy, controls the power of darkness. In all his activities, he attempts to deceive people and draw them away from the Lord. Jesus described him to his children, the important people of the day (the Pharisees), as follows: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies,” (John 8:44).

Satan’s strategy of deception is the creation of rulers, authorities, and powers, (Ephesians 6:12) whose lies control people and keep them from the love and truth of God that could set them free. Examples of such gods are Mammon, lust, and power. Satan is the actual god of darkness who controls lives and the so-called gods are his demons—the fallen angels, including Mammon.

The motivation and methods of control that God and Mammon use are also somewhat different. Whenever the Lord emphasizes something in the Bible, the devil uses every opportunity within his power to influence people to oppose God in that area. For example, using the Lord’s name in vain in the movies opposes Exodus 20:7 and pornography opposes Jesus' command in Matthew 5:28.

God’s command prohibiting the serving of two masters is Mammon’s motivation behind his determination to make people materialistic. Mammon saw this as a challenge to compete with God for our love. He uses every opportunity to influence people to rely on money rather than the Lord. Satan even saw an opportunity to try to deceive Jesus to bow to Mammon and therefore to himself. “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me,’” (Matthew 4:8, 9).

Mammon uses subtle strategies. If the devil would approach someone and say, “I’m the devil, follow me,” how would that person react? She would run as fast as she could. Instead, he gradually turns up the heat so you will not notice you are being controlled by money. To be continued.

For children and adults who are prepared to learn in a childlike way. For more information see http://t-a-c.co.za.

Golden Nugget - How to Love the Lord with your Strength & Worship with Terry MacAlmon

We have been discussing this passage in Mark 12:30 in the last three articles: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

During our discussions, we have been going out from the viewpoint that loving the Lord involves sacrificing and giving.

The way you love the Lord with your strength is by doing things, by using your strength.  Don Francisco sang in one of his songs that love is not a feeling, but an act of your will.  You choose to do something in obedience to the Lord.  Jesus said in John 14:15: If you love me, you will keep my commandments, in John 14:21: Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them, in John 14:23: Jesus answered him, "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, and in John 15:10: If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

       

Four times in a matter of minutes He said that doing what He says proves that we love Him.  Can it be that He considers doing His will to be important?  Then, seconds later, he said something that we seriously should consider doing.  He said in John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.  Many of us may now have thought:  ‘I’m so glad I’m His friend, for He laid down His life for me.’  However, verse 14 comes next: You are my friends if you do what I command you. 

Ouch… If we do not do what he tells us to do, every moment of every day, we are not His friends. And maybe we do not count among those He has laid down His life for? 

This, however, can be played to both sides.  If you consider Jesus to be your friend, you should lay down your life for Him.  What does that mean?  It means sacrificing things you’d like to do, things you enjoy, things you indulge in to satisfy your desires, therefore everything that defines your life according to your will, in exchange for what He wants, what He expects of you.  This is what the apostles did.  They sacrificed their careers, their pleasures, and their carnal desires so the gospel can go out and it could get to you.  How about us doing it as well?

Jesus did the same.  As we saw earlier, He said in John 15:10: …just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.  How did He keep His father’s commandments? 

1.   He sacrificed His heavenly comforts and came to earth to identify with man.

2.   Every day, during His early-morning prayer time, He heard from His Father what He should do that day to serve the people whom His Father loves and He did it sacrificially.  He did not first buy everything He needed to live a comfortable life and from there did a few things to appear good.  No, He said: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20)

3.   He died a horrible death to set you free from the bondage of sin.  This, He did not really want to do.  He prayed in the garden regarding the death He was about to die: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)  He did not suffer and die as a hero, but as an obedient child who proved His love for His Father through His obedient actions, often against His will.

Jesus summarised the life He expects you and me to live in these words: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).

        We read in Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

        If God went to all the trouble to prepare good works for us to glorify His name, who are you and I to choose to live in comfort and disobedience?

        Let’s love the Lord our God with all our strength.

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58. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Seeing is Desiring

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22, 23)

Considering the context, we can conclude that in this verse, Jesus was talking about money. It follows the verse about our treasure. The verse about the masters, God and Mammon (money) follows it, and after that, we read about material goods for another eight verses. Therefore, the passage must be about money.

The eye introduces us to our surroundings, and the heart follows the eye. When a child notices a toy he likes in a toy store, he desires it, although he has never thought of buying that particular toy before. This applies to all people. The best way to keep a thief from stealing something is to hide it, and the best way to entice a customer to buy your product is to display it. What the eye does not see, the heart does not desire.

The passage above refers to the attitude of the eye. How are our eyes programmed?  What will our hearts follow? We can’t help but see what is before us, but how we see it is what counts. We have a choice. A man can see a beautiful woman and either ignore her or let his heart follow his eyes and desire her.

In the case of money, we expose our eyes and hearts to cars, houses, desirable lifestyles, and vacations. When we program our eyes to focus on material goods, status, and position, our hearts will desire and obtain them.

We also see ourselves in our mind’s eye, and that determines what we desire. Do we see ourselves as rich, powerful, and influential, living in a mansion? Do we envision ourselves in a political, managerial position, or in a position of influence in the church? If so, that is what the heart desires.

However, if we program our eyes to see the Lord, His works, and the needs of others, those eyes will ignore the material things they see and focus on what the Lord is doing. The heart will then follow, desiring to get involved with His activities. We see these with both the physical and the spiritual eye.

“God is light; in Him, there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth,” (1 John 1:5b, 6). The Lord and Mammon, the god of money, are enemies. If God is light, then anything outside God must be darkness. If God and money are enemies, then money must be darkness. I hear you say that the Bible says it's the love of money that is the root of all evil, but we're not referring to evil here. We're referring to things keeping us from walking in the light, from using our time to proclaim the light instead of managing things that are not of God, thus darkness.

A good eye, whether physical, spiritual, or the mind’s eye, focuses on the things of the Lord and will therefore bring light to the body. A bad eye focuses on things not of God, but of Mammon and other gods. They will darken the heart, since the God of light is absent. “If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness?” (Matthew 6:23b). If you use money or another dark entity as your guide, your life is destined for darkness.

What do your eyes cause your heart to desire? Do you set your eyes on temporary pleasures or on eternal rewards? We require no more than our daily needs. Anything more, in God’s mind, is darkness that will lead us to neglect His cause.

God is light. A body full of light is one that has absorbed God’s presence. In a body full of darkness, more attention has been given to ungodly activity; that is why we find less light.

What evidence can we find of God’s presence or His light in our lives? As when we switch on the light in a dark room, revealing its contents, the light of God reveals the contents of the heart. The evidence of the Lord’s light or presence in our lives is a revelation of His character, of His Word, and about our lives.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you,” (Matthew 7:7). The more you ask the Lord about Himself, His Word, and His Kingdom, the more He will reveal to you. He will reveal solutions to your problems as you seek them with all your heart.

Knocking at these doors might take time, though. The Lord might take His time to reveal, since He first wants to see a sincere and trustworthy heart. He wants to find out who will constantly seek Him and who reveals a genuine interest in that which is important to Him. Can He really trust a heart that is divided between His enemy, Mammon, and Himself?

If we are so concerned about meeting our material needs that we have little or no time to think about the Lord and His Kingdom, then money has replaced God’s presence. Then we might no longer get revelation. Even if someone gives a revelation, we might not grasp it, because the light of God is not there to reveal it.
The lockdown situation that most of us find ourselves in now is a good opportunity to learn to shift your focus. Personally, I had to deal with the desires of my heart. Am I going to occupy my mind with worries where the money would come from, or am I going to be busy with God's Kingdom (allowing Him to use me to affect other peoples' lives) and His righteousness (working at being holy and pure before Him), trusting Him to meet my needs (Matthew 6:33)? 

The body in this context can be either an individual or a body of believers. Remember the city on a hill with its lights? Imagine to what extent the Lord can use a body of believers with a corporate heart after God, living in revelation, constantly seeking more of it.

To get to this point, though, a body of believers has a major stumbling block to overcome: tradition. Although tradition provides security, it prevents people from receiving and acting on fresh revelation. Religion is dead and the body is in darkness when people follow set rules and procedures instead of the living God.

For children and adults who are prepared to learn in a childlike way. For more information see http://t-a-c.co.za.

Golden Nugget - How to Love the Lord with your Mind & Worship with Terry MacAlmon

Jesus said in Mark 12:30: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

So far we’ve been looking at loving the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul.  You may read it by clicking on the relevant links.

The mind is actually part of the soul, but because Jesus mentioned it separately in this passage, we’re discussing it separately.  Our mind is the main thing that determines our actions.  Everything we do begins with a thought and thoughts have a number of sources.

             1.   Thoughts could originate from us.  We get an idea.

             2.   Thoughts come through what we see and hear.

             3.   Thoughts could be an idea another person shared with us and we then

                 think about it.

             4.   Thoughts could be suggestions from Satan.

             5.   Thoughts could be a prompting from the Holy Spirit.

    What we do with our thoughts is what determines our love for the Lord.

 Our thoughts could be an idea that would result in something good or a temptation to sin.  Or it could be about yourself and what you want to accomplish.  Everything we think determines where we stand in our relationship with the Lord.  It’s no use we say we love the Lord, but what we think is actually disgusting to Him.

     James 1:14-15 tells us the following: Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  King David was a good example of the consequences of such thoughts.  He saw Bathsheba bathing and instead of resisting the thought right from the start, he cherished the thought until it gave birth to sin, the sin of committing adultery with her and murdering her husband.

     Where did this thought come from?  It came from what David saw, but also from what Satan suggested to him.  He was probably set up through a number of suggestions to be in the right place at the right time for Satan to accomplish his purpose.

     What could Satan’s purpose have been?  The Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David.  You can read the entire account in 2 Samuel 12:1-15, but Satan’s purpose became clear in verse fourteen.  After Nathan has conveyed to David the Lord’s punishment for what he had done, David immediately repented and then Nathan declared God’s forgiveness and the withdrawal of some of the punishment, but what Nathan said in verse fourteen was very profound, actually aimed at you and me as well.  He said: “However, because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the child who is born to you shall surely die.”  Another translation uses the words “because by this you have given the enemies of the Lord great occasion to ridicule Him”.

     Why are we tempted then?  Is it really about us?  In a way it is, yes, because sin does affect our peace, joy, and fruitfulness.  Satan wants to kill, steal and destroy these things.  But what Satan really aims for is having a go at God.  He seeks opportunities to ridicule God and show contempt for Him.  He wants to be able to say: “Do you see what Henry has done.  He claims to be a Christian and having everything you promised, but look how he behaves.  Is that what your children are like?”

     When we cause that to happen to God, as a result of what originates in our thoughts, do we love Him?  Shouldn’t we sacrifice in our thought life and the resulting actions to the honour and glory of the Lord?  These could be sinful thoughts leading to sin, but it could also be self-centred thoughts leading to self-centred behaviour, such as own ambitions, too much attention to hobbies and sports, occupying the mind with earthly and worldly interests instead of God-centred interests, etc.  A good Biblical example here is the story of Martha and Mary.  You may read it in Luke 10:38-42.  This world is not our home, and our life is not our own.  We are Kingdom citizens on a pilgrimage to represent the Lord on earth.  His interests should actually take all our time and energy.  Yes, we need to relax and a little entertainment and sport activity are necessary, but we really do need to love the Lord with ALL our (our entire) mind.

   

Sacrificing our appetites, our desires, our self-gratifying thoughts and behaviour for the sake of the Lord’s desires, and thinking about what He wants, is what loving Him with our entire mind is about.  Meditating on His Word and His will all the time is how we love Him with all our mind.

    But how do we do that?  Won’t we be too spiritual doing that?  In whatever you do, consult the Lord and think about how He would feel about what you’re about to do.  If you love your wife, your children, your parents, and your friends, you involve them in your life, don’t you?  Similarly, if you love the Lord, involve him in your thinking and your resulting actions.  Ask Him what He thinks and wants, tell Him of your joys and struggles, think about how He perceives things and the behaviours of people (including yours), and avoid having Him ridiculed by His spiritual and human enemies.

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