Summary & Key points
Do you realize this is four months gone, 2024? If Seow Huei didn’t remind me this morning, I would have been in trouble with my wife because today is 34 years I’ve been married. Wow, she survived! But the issue is this, God gives us a covenant, so we’re talking about bearing fruit, moving the needle, and today, next week, the whole trajectory is towards Christmas. We want to end the year well, but not just after these few goals. You will understand this a bit more, and on the 6th till the 21st, I’ve put together 21 days of reflection from Psalms. I’ll be posting that to all of you on the Mature and Multiply chat.
This morning, I want to continue the second part of embracing a heart of genuine faith, not just faith. I explained it in depth last week, so I won’t do that again. It’s beyond rituals, embracing a relationship. We’re going to read one scripture in two versions, and I’m going to invite you to read with me. Those of you online as well, please read with me. Read it out loud. Are we ready, everyone? Let me apologize ahead of time. I’ve got a bit of a sore throat, so I’ll be taking a lozenge soon.
Are we ready to read this? This is the first, Mark 12:30, in The Message. Love the Lord with your passion, your prayer, intelligence, and energy. And here is the second: Love others as well as you love yourself. There is no other commandment that ranks with this. I want to read in the J.B. Phillips translation, so I invite you again to read with me. Let’s read it together: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than this.
Now if you look at that last sentence there, “No other commandment is greater than this.” No other commandment is greater than this. Now, if this is Jesus speaking, then it warrants my attention. It warrants my response, it warrants an action from me. So here Jesus gives this profound commandment. If we want to use that term, it captures the heart of Christian discipleship. It captures the heart of how you and I are to live daily.
Schaeffer long ago wrote this amazing volume, “How Then Should We Live?” Chuck Colson, who was involved in the whole Watergate scandal, when he came out from prison, he wrote this brilliant book. He just twisted it a bit; he said, “Now, how then should we live?” The whole issue is this: We know the truth, so how do we live the truth? We know what is right, so now how do we do what is right? Jesus says, “Hey, look, this one that I’m speaking to you about captures the essence of everything. So don’t worry about anything else, I want you to zero into this.”
This is the very core, the heart of Christian discipleship. It really speaks or encapsulates the totality of our devotion to God. Let’s break it down in a few phases. The first phase I’ll break it down is the word heart. When you say heart, what comes to mind? You will love the Lord your God with all your heart. The Message says passion. We know the heart is the center of our emotions, our desires, our will. Loving God with all my heart means loving God with every affection, passion, and longing within me. Everything is directed to God.
Pause and think. That almost makes it impossible, doesn’t it? Almost. Love the Lord your God with all your heart. Was Jesus just filling up space in a page, or did he just have nothing to preach that morning? What was he after here? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, affection, passion, longing. You realize my worship can be so dull and ho-hum, can’t it? The thing is, my whole heart, everything that’s in me, and all that is within me, praise His name, isn’t it? Scripture says that. That means I leave no room for divided allegiance, no room for divided loyalty, no room for commitment.
I was thinking, those of us who are married, those who want to get married, if married, can you flirt with another person? What will that look like to that relationship? Can you flirt? Will your spouse say, “Hey, choose another one, flirt with a few more, I want to watch”? It doesn’t work,
does it? So are there secret thrones and secret idols and gods in my heart? Love the Lord my God with all my heart. I leave no room for any competing affections.
Then love the Lord my God with all my soul. This is literally our entire life, our thoughts, our emotions, our will, which means I surrender every aspect of my existence to Him. It involves my desires, my appetites, my intentions, my choices. That means I allow God to dictate my life. Love the Lord my God with all my mind, my intellect, my understanding, my reasoning. We can park on Romans 12; it says, “Be renewed in your mind.” But the issue is, I will never be renewed in my mind if I’ve never surrendered my mind.
I will never renew my mind if I’ve not surrendered my mind to what is true, to what is just. Mind is where I lean on His wisdom, not my understanding in all things. I want to say, “God, what is it that you are directing me?” Then the fourth thing, it says, “With all your strength, my physical abilities.” Sometimes I can be so excited about my abilities, but I forget to realize that it’s His ability; it’s given to me. So, physical abilities, resources, capacities. That means I utilize all that I have: my energy, my resources. I invest my time, my talent in advancing God’s Kingdom.
This commandment literally covers every facet of our being, doesn’t it? It covers every moment of our day, our thoughts, our energies, everything. What does this commandment actually do? It challenges us to examine our hearts. It challenges us to ensure that our commitment and faithfulness to God is undivided. I want to leave that there for a few seconds. It challenges us to examine. An examined life is a dangerous life. You should let me correct myself. An unexamined life is a dangerous life.
God puts this into communion, doesn’t He? When we take communion, it’s to reflect upon our lives and see, “Hey, is everything going okay here? How’s my heart doing? How’s my mind doing? How are my relationships doing? How’s my attitude? How are these things? How am I doing?” It compels us to live lives of wholehearted devotion, that our thoughts, our deeds are directed towards God, directed towards serving Him.
Ultimately, loving God with all my being is not only to honor Him in the highest way we can, but it’s actually a pathway to fulfillment and joy in life. You say, “How, man? It doesn’t look very joyful.” Would you agree with me? Why is it so difficult to obey Mark 12:30? This is where you respond. Is it difficult to obey Mark 12:30? Oh yeah, please, not exam, you know, like, “I don’t answer.” So, come on, church, do you think it’s difficult to obey Mark 12:30? It is, isn’t it? We can’t run away from it. It’s God’s word, we can’t run away. The truth is very clear. He says, “These two are the greatest commandments. Love me with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” And the second, He said, “Is this. Love others just like this.” He covers our entire life. He frames it for us and says, “This is what you do.”
So now, why is Mark 12:30 challenging? Let me give you a few reasons, not all the reasons. Number one is human weakness. Romans 7:18-19 says, “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good.” Yeah, that sounds like me, like most of us. “But I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing.” The issue is this: don’t get stuck with the
word “evil.” It comes down to this one thing: it’s the battle between good intentions and actual actions. It’s the battle between good intentions and actual actions. Weigh the two out. Evil here speaks of things that, morally, we compromise, harmful to others. “I don’t bother others.” Yeah, but morally, I’m compromising. Things that are wicked, things that are not right. We are prone to weakness and fallibility, wouldn’t you agree with me, church? We are prone to it. Our hearts are easily swayed by distractions, temptations, the cares of this world, the things that we need. Despite our best intentions, we often find ourselves struggling to maintain a steady devotion to God in the midst of all the demands and challenges of life.
The issue is, there are temptations around us all the time. Anybody free from temptation here? Are you getting me worried, man? Anybody free from temptation here? No, we all face some sort. We think temptation is the issue of lust. Let me tell you, greed is a very, very deceptive temptation, and we can hide behind it. God says I’m supposed to be a millionaire; watch it, it’s your greed that’s chasing after that.
The second problem that makes this difficult is divided faithfulness. Scripture says, “No one can
serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” We say, “God, I love you, give me money. God, bless my bank account. God, bless my job. God, bless my life.” Tell me what’s wrong with that. On the surface, it looks all right, doesn’t it? You will love the Lord your God with all your heart. I seem to say, “God, if you love me, give me,” rather than saying, “God, because I love you, because you love me, I surrender.” You’re too quiet. At least clear your throat or come on. Come on.
I said this last week, the Lord is returning. I want to be ready for His return. I was speaking a bit to the young people yesterday. I said, “You know, if your parents leave you at home for a few weeks before they come, you know you’re going to be very busy cleaning the house up. Right? You got to get everything ready. If you know some fancy person is coming to your house, you are going to clean your house up. Why? You’re getting ready. Now, this is the house of the Lord, we got to get ready, church. Amen? We got to get ourselves ready. It’s not my opinion, what I think. No, I have to be ready, and my part is here, not only to make myself ready, but to prepare you and say, “Come on, let’s do this together.” Amen? Thank you. All right. Come on.
Yeah, again, it’s easy to preach the happy, clappy messages, but the truth is, am I being
prepared? Divided faithfulness. The world is filled with competing allegiances, competing commitments and priorities constantly. Our hearts are often divided between God and other things or other people, whether material possessions, personal ambition, or relationships. The moment something goes wrong, some devil is chasing after me. But maybe God is saying, “Hey, I want to prune you because you seem to come after me only when you need something.”
In my marriage, in anybody’s marriage, if I only respond to my spouse when I need something, you tell me, what is the view of my spouse of me? We got to think of this. You would, and if you were here last week, this will make more sense, isn’t it? So what does it look like when I say I love God? What does it look like when I tell my wife, “I love you”? She’s sure to ask, “What do you want?” Nothing. So if I say, “I love you, my brother,” you’re looking, “Okay, what does Pastor want me to do now?” Well, you agree, Ch. Useless.
But can I sincerely say, “Hey, I love you, bro, and you know what my vested interest is? To see that you become the best version of yourself, that you follow hard after God, you be successful in life.” No strings attached. I love you, Lord. Strings attached. So this distractions, what they hinder our ability to love and to serve God wholeheartedly. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Trust in the Lord in all your ways. Submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” I can trust Him because I know of His love, and I love Him.
This verse speaks of this wholehearted trust and submission to God. Psalms 86:11 says, “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness.” Today, the song we sang, “All my life you have been faithful,” that I may rely on your faithfulness. “Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.” An undivided heart. Then, so this few speak of the flesh that we battle with, then we got to deal with the devil. Spiritual warfare, Ephesians 6:12 says this: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world, and against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms.” The Christian life is a battleground, not a playground. Not Legoland. We want it to be Legoland, but God says, “I want to train you to be strong.” So we face spiritual opposition, forces of darkness. Why? The devil wants to derail our faith, to hinder our relationship with God and others. So the enemy will use any tactic: doubt, fear, discouragement, pride, all kinds of things. Why? He wants to challenge our commitment.
Then the other issue is surrendering control. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ.” And that’s why we are a bit more diligent in doing this. When you say, “I believe in the Lord Jesus,” whether we have the class that we have or the various things, because when I respond to Jesus, it’s not just a cheap prayer and says, “Oh good, everything is hunky-dory now.” The issue is, “I’ve been crucified with Christ.” We don’t like that part. You see, we have had this, you know, Christianity light, L-I-T-E, you know, everything is good, everything is beautiful. You can believe for money, prosperity, goodness, everything. What are we doing? We are creating people with crutches. We make fun of politics, we make fun of groups of people and say everything is spoon-fed, don’t know how to work on their own. Church, are we becoming Christians like this? Are we doing the same thing? Pause, think about it, please. Pause. We all know, most of us know what hard work is, isn’t it? Developing our faith is not a walk in the park.
God will search our hearts. He will prune because He wants to see fruit. So this whole thing of, He says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” So loving God with all my being requires what? Relinquishing control of my life, submitting to His will. Now, like I said it last week, I’m preaching this to myself because I’m strong-headed, I’m hard-headed, and sometimes my work gets the better of me, my own decisions. I think I’m very clever when I make decisions and I deal with issues, and then halfway through God says, “You sure that was me?”
I want to be in the driver’s seat. I want to be in the driver’s seat. So in these few weeks, this keeps popping to me. It says, “What does your love to me look like?” So can I submit to God? I said, “Oh dear God, is that why your grace, your mercies are new every morning? Great is your faithfulness.” Every day I got to work at it. Now, this can be daunting, isn’t it? Why? Especially in a culture that promotes self-reliance, independence. So surrendering my desires, my plans, my ambitions to God, to His authority requires what? I would say it requires three things. Number one, it requires humility. My goodness, we are proud people, actually. It requires humility. Number two, it requires trust. We’ve seen it in our scriptures today. Three, it requires obedience.
The other problem we have is sinful nature. Romans 7:21-23, “So I find this law at work.” Paul is saying, “I find this at work.” He said, “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” And evil is not murderers and all that. The whole issue is this competing value. “For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” Now, I would love to park here, but I can’t because we’ve got the shape class after this engagement. So the issue is this: our sinful nature rebels against the commandments of God. Despite my desire to love God wholeheartedly, I’m often ensnared by sin and selfishness. Romans 7:15 says this: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.”
Despite these challenges, I want to say this: the good news is this: obeying Mark 12:30 is not impossible. It’s not impossible. And I want to unpack that for you here in this next 20 minutes or so. I want to unpack this for you. With God’s grace, with God’s empowerment and the Holy Spirit, we can experience and should experience transformation and develop this deeper place in loving God. But what does it require? It requires daily surrender. Daily we take steps. Daily, if we are not intentional, then we’re going to struggle. It requires daily surrender of our will to Him, intentional cultivation of spiritual disciplines, and reliance on His strength to overcome our weakness. We can’t do it if we don’t have this. Moreover, God understands our humanity. He extends His mercy; He extends His grace in this journey we call the journey of faith. He’s patient, He’s compassionate, and He walks with us to draw us into His presence, for us to love Him, that we will love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. How can we work this out practically every day? It involves actions and spiritual disciplines.
Daily prayer. Paul says that which I should do, I know, but I don’t. How many of us know we should pray? How many of us know we should read our Bible? How many of us, we know all that, isn’t it? Now, the battle is this: do I do it? I know what I am supposed to do. The question is, do I do it? Daily prayer. Of course, we have daily prayer. We’ve got all kinds of devices, isn’t it? Daily prayer, everything is prepared. What do you call that Bible app? This Bible app, everything is there, everything is done. The thing is this: will I now take the trouble to do it? Start each day with prayer, church. I encourage you, start each day with prayer. Be thankful. Let God’s word examine you, examine your motives. Pray, do it through the day. Take moments, study scripture, read, meditate on God’s word. We know we’re supposed to read God’s word, right? But I’m too busy to read. I’m too tired to read. I’m too distracted to read it. Each day, can I allow scripture to penetrate me? Can I allow scripture to shape my heart, my mind, shape my thoughts and my attitudes and my actions? Can I reflect on God’s word to be applied in my life and all that I need to do so that I grow in obedience?
Since last year November, I’ve been saying, “Hey, come on, we need to move the needle, we need to bear fruit.” I talk about that 1-1-5-5, baby steps. I’m saying, “Come on, let’s do it.” We know what we should do, but do we do it? That’s the other thing. Yesterday at the youth culture, I said, “Look, let’s move the needle, come on, we all have the time.” So instead of 1-1-5-5, one chapter, one verse a day, or one passage, 15 minutes, I said, “Let’s change the 15 to 20 minutes and the five areas we pray for.” Do you think it’s doable, church? Church, do you think it’s doable? But you see, if I don’t think it matters, then I’m not going to do it. I won’t do it. So it’s important. Worship, regular times of coming together, corporate prayer, personal worship. Hey, it’s okay, I’m a prison singer, behind the bars, missing the key, doesn’t make sense. But you know what? God’s not bothered.
This morning, in the worship ending, I said it’s not about the music, it’s really about the heart of worship, isn’t it? Every morning when we wake up, don’t murder your neighbors. You don’t have to sing like an alarm clock to everyone, but can we have a simple chorus and worship God in the morning? These are part and parcel of things that we do. These are spiritual disciplines. But after being a Christian this long, if I am still struggling with that, the issue is not God, the issue is not my job, my family, my children, my neighbor. The issue is me.
Elisha said, “Wer, you have an issue, you have an issue.” What is prayer done? You don’t do it. So worship, corporate worship. Sometimes I catch myself, and this is a confession. I catch myself, I’m thinking of something else, and I’m saying, “What am I doing? Oh dear Lord, let me come back to worship.” Don’t be on your handphone while the worship is on. Come on, we want to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. So for 20 minutes, you think corporately we can come together and say, “Throw everything aside, I’m going to worship God.”
Every day, can I pick up a chorus and say, “God, I come into your presence, I want to sing. I want to sing to you, I want to tell you I love you, I want to bless you.” The story of a Chinese political prisoner, in those days, the persecution was worse. They put him in a concentration camp, but then they put him into the place where all the sewage comes in. Sewage, and he has to take this big fat stick, long stick, and he has to go into poop of don’t know how many million people, and he has to walk through it to break it so that it doesn’t cake up, a different kind of cake. You know what they caught him doing? He said in the song, he was singing, “Just me and my Lord and no one else, just me and you, Lord, and no one else.” We were like, “What the heck am I doing here? Where is God, man? Who does God think he is? I don’t even believe in God anymore.” But think of it. Is that why the underground church in China can thrive? Because persecution either breaks you or it shapes you to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And he’s doing that, he’s just breaking it, and he’s saying, “Nobody here to bother me, Lord, I’m going to worship you.”
Is worship the most difficult, especially when I’m going through a valley? I want a quick fix, call somebody, bomo, pastor, pray for me. Those of you who don’t understand bomo, a Malay word for shaman. But if I’m consistent, I grow in spiritual courage and boldness and maturity. I no longer behave like an infant Christian. I can now pick others up. “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength,” and others, it’s to pull others up and say, “Come
on, let’s do it, church.” Am I making some sense here? They sound rudimentary, but it’s needed. Why? Because we want to move the needle, we want to bear fruit, we want to see people get to encounter Jesus, His amazing love, His amazing grace. We want to build an amazing church, not for the sake of numbers. We want to build it so we can rejoice together, we can say, “God, another one coming to know your amazing grace.” Come on, church. Thank you, thank you for that underwhelming response. Come on, church, I think we can do it. We know what it is to be done, but then I don’t do it.
Worship, can I praise God? Can I lift up my hands and say, “God, I give you thanks, I give you praise. Lord, I am delighted in you.” Serve others, look for opportunities. Sometimes we don’t know how we serve, or what convenience, be a blessing to those around you, be a generous giver. Fellowship, participate in connect groups, Bible studies, share life together. Nobody needs to chase each other, nobody needs to chase each other. Hold each other accountable in love. Practice gratitude, cultivate a spirit of gratitude, intentionally acknowledging God’s blessings and provision in your life. No matter what you’re going through, can you wake up in the morning and the moment your feet hit the ground, no matter how groggy, you say, “Lord, thank you for this day, I commit it to you. Make me somebody who loves you and worships you.” It sounds so simple, almost ridiculous.
Renew your mind, guard your thoughts, renew your mind according to God’s truth. Be intentional about what you allow into your mind through social media, through entertainment, through conversations. I don’t even have to go there. We know how much social media absorbs our time. We know that. Philippians 4:8 says this: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”
Surrender daily. Ah, that is the challenge. Can I continue to say, “Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done”? That is the place of surrender. That means I’m saying not my kingdom, not my will, but yours, Lord. So I invite God to take charge of my life, every area of my life. I want to trust His goodness, His wisdom, His sovereignty, even in the circumstances and the challenges that I face. When I incorporate this into my daily life, these few things that I’ve mentioned, what am I doing? I’m actively pursuing a deeper relationship with God, and I’m fulfilling this commandment that says, “You will love the Lord your God with all your mind, heart, soul, and strength.” Is it challenging? Yes. Let me try the question again. Is it challenging? Is it impossible? No, no, it’s not.
Prioritizing God above work, money, family, studies, and other commitments can be challenging. Some of us immediately got lost in that first sentence, already said, “Come on, that’s ridiculous.” Let me finish this, let me finish the other thought as well. Especially in a culture that often prioritizes material success and personal achievements. However, my dear friends, it is essential for us to recognize that loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. I wrote this down, and I’m sorry I don’t have it on a slide. It’s not about neglecting our responsibilities, it’s not about neglecting our work and our families and our studies, it’s not about abandoning our pursuits. Please hear that. It’s not about abandoning, it’s not about neglecting, but instead, it’s about integrating my faith into every aspect of my life and allowing God to be the center of it. As
He becomes the center of it, then let every good grace, mercy, blessing come out from it that will touch every part of my life. But I’m stuck because I see other things as a priority first, and when it’s not there, God can come and get it done. Can I feel some love?
How do we navigate this challenge? Well, remember one thing, loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is a journey rather than a destination. Just stay there. What do I mean? You’ve heard this term before, right? It’s a journey rather than a destination, meaning the process and the experience of achieving a goal is more significant and more valuable than to reach the goal. If I want to build a house, the goal is to build a house, right? But in building the house, I go through different challenges, different issues, and I’m working, and I’m learning. I’m learning about material, I’m learning about the weather, I’m learning about so many things, and finally, when the house arrives, my experience is so much more richer. Why? Because I have been in the process working through to achieve that goal, but it was a journey that I took, and I learned a lot. It makes me a better person. It makes me a much better person. My paper flew out. At least I recognize that, isn’t it? Oh dear. So the issue is this, the process or the experience of achieving a goal is more significant and valuable than reaching the goal itself. We focus on growing, we focus on maturing, and we focus on loving God. As I focus on that, I will get to the destination. If I want to achieve a certain degree, and I hate it, I hate going to school, I just want to go and buy the degree, it’s the end goal, but I have no experience, nothing I have learned, nothing out of it, nothing out of it.
Loving God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength is a journey rather than a destination. It requires an ongoing commitment, intentionality, and reliance on God’s strength and guidance by continually coming back to the center. We always talk about reset buttons, isn’t it? Coming back to God’s will, coming back to God’s purpose. Friends, the guarantee from God’s word, you will encounter abundant life. I want the abundant life minus abundant love. Let me give you some scriptures and thoughts, and we will pray together. How do we work deeper into this alignment of our priorities? The scripture goes, “But seek first the kingdom and His righteousness.” We know this scripture, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I know it, but I got no patience, I want all things first.
So the practical action is what? I’ve said it before: begin each day with dedicating your first moments to seeking God’s presence through prayer, meditating on His word. Make intentional choices through the day. Hey, lunchtime, whatever it is, take time, block out different times, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, do it. We will all be better at the end of it. Time management. Oh dear, look at the scriptures here. Psalms 119:147-148, “I will rise before dawn and cry for help. I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night that I may
meditate on your promises.” Psalms 5:3 says, “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning, I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” What’s a practical action? Schedule specific times in your daily routine.
Yesterday, I was talking with the young people. Church, some of us have it, some of us don’t. Will you do that? All of us are busy. We, some of us, wear many hats. I have too many hats in all sincerity. Whether it’s the church, whether it’s dignity, whether it’s this, that, all these different things, all demanding time, demanding work. But at the end of the day, can I love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength? I cannot show up on Sunday if I have not spent time with the Lord myself and acknowledged His grace and His mercy and His love. Man, it will be a travesty, it’ll be a con job here, it’ll be a con job for my wife, for my family, for the people that I serve.
So as much as I’m preaching to you, I preach to myself. Schedule time, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, we can all afford it, amen? We all can, we can. There’s prayer, Bible reading, reflection. Use technology, set alarms, reminders, stay consistent, do the habit tracker. We have technology at our hands to help us. We do, do the buddy system, be part of the connect group, work that out through the connect group. Internal choices, scripture, Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Practical action, simple: let our actions and our attitudes reflect His love, His character in all situations.
Balance perspective. I want to end this quickly. Scripture, Ecclesiastes, oh Lord, have mercy. Ecclesiastes 5:19, “Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil, this is a gift of God.” Have the right perspective, it’s a gift of God. So what is the practical action? Cultivate gratitude for God’s blessings in your life, including your work, including your family, including your resources. However, guard against making them idols. My work can be an idol, my family can be an idol, my sports can be an idol, my relationships, my education, they all can become idols. And then I am struggling to surrender my heart to God. Ultimately, it’s God who is the source of fulfillment and provision. Strive for contentment and balance in your pursuit, remembering that true joy comes from serving God wholeheartedly.
Our ability, accountability, and support. “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls, one can help the other up, but pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” Can we build accountabilities with one another through our connect groups, through friendships? Do it. You got issues, hey, call up. Can you pray with me? Come support me. Hey, you know what? I’m struggling with this. Can you hold me accountable? And lastly, but not least, grace and forgiveness. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” So we look at our needs, we look at our own frailty, we look at our own failings. Does that just mean we beat ourselves over the head? No, that’s not the desire, that’s not the objective. The objective of the sermon is not that either. It is to say it is challenging to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, but it’s not impossible because I know what I need to do. I just need to end up doing it now. I just need to work at it, and I need to work at my schedule, I need to work at my accountability, I need to let God shape my heart, amen? I need to do that.
One last thought there. Embrace God’s forgiveness and grace. Don’t be afraid to say, “God, I miss it here.” And I think that’s the place of keeping my sanity, honestly. That’s how I keep my sanity, to realize I falter, but His grace is there. He picks me up, and I say, “Okay, let me take the next step again, Lord, because I don’t want to remain where I am. I want to grow.” Prioritize God in my daily life, leading to spiritual growth, leading to fulfillment. God’s truth, love, presence, and
grace are here to draw us closer. I want you to look at it. God’s truth, God’s love, God’s presence, His grace are here to draw us closer to Him. Christ will not say, “You will love me with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength,” if it was impossible. Why? He would be teasing us if it was impossible. He would be setting a standard that He knew we were going to fail at. But because we have His grace, His mercy, His love, His presence, we know that the Lord is our shepherd. I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters. Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall not fear, for He is with me. He prepares a table for me in the midst of my enemies. I will delight in the presence of the Lord. It’s a different version. All the days of my life, I will delight in the Lord, I will be in His presence. The Lord is your shepherd. God’s truth, His love, His presence, His grace are here to draw us closer to Him and to mature us. The devil and our flesh will war against us, but be of good cheer, Jesus said, isn’t it? Be of good cheer. I’ve overcome. I’ve overcome. Be of good cheer. I’m going, but I leave one with you, just like me. I’m leaving you the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit with us. Trust Him, seek Him. He’s returning. Let us be prepared each day.
Can we stand together and read this scripture again? And then I want to read you one portion of scripture. Does this make sense, church? Okay, doesn’t it? Does it make sense right here? Yes, we know what to do, but now we must do it. Let’s read this out loud together. “So love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy. And here is the second: Love others as well as you love yourself. There is no other commandment that ranks with this.” Next version: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”
In closing, I want to read you 1 Thessalonians 5, written to a people who are going through challenges but also preparing them for the Lord’s return. He says, “Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates, we do not need to write to you. People are going to say Jesus is returning in 2024. If the Bible is not saying it, I don’t know why these jokers are predicting. For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying peace and safety, destruction will come on them suddenly as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. Since we know God is said, it shouldn’t surprise you. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord, and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test them all. Hold on to what is good. Reject every kind of evil. May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.”
There are a few more verses there. I think we get the idea, right? So at this juncture, the first quarter of the year, I’m saying, “Guys, let’s have a clear focus. It’s a journey, not a destination. Daily, take that step to love our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Daily, deal with those things that will come and steal our affections away. Daily, let’s work towards it.” Can we take these next few moments and just ourselves say, “Lord, I surrender my life to you. I surrender. I know it’s a challenge, but it’s not impossible. Come pray. I know it’s a challenge, but God, I thank you, it is not impossible. You are here with me.”