"Loving God by keeping our Hearts with all Diligence"

We are commanded over and over again in scripture to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. I have been meditating on what these commands really mean and how I can Love God by keeping my heart with all diligence.

Matthew 22:37--"Jesus said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."

We are to love God wholeheartedly. We are to be faithfully committed to obeying this command. When we are committed to God in this way we are expressing our love to Him. Our love for God is demonstrated in our obedience to Him.

We are to love God with all of our......

"Heart"--"In the greek is kardia, it's meaning is a prolonged form, a primary Kar, (Latin Cor,"heart"); the heart that is (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind); also (by analogy) the middle."--SC

God has called us to surrender our will to his will and to obey, trust, and worship Him with all that is within us.

"Soul"--"In the greek is psuche, it means, breath, that is, (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely."--SC

We are to love God with all of our life. This means we must be willing to give up our lives for Him and His kingdom. We must devote our lives to serve Him. I believe this means we must be willing to die to fulfill this command.

"Mind"--"In the greek is dianoia, it means deep thought, properly the faculty (mind or its dispostion) by implication its exercise: imagination, mind, understanding."--Strongs Concordance

Psalm 119:11--"Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You."

We must submit our minds to God by loving His laws and his word more than the decisions of our own minds. We must be willing to submit all we are to God's teaching and guidance so that we do not sin against Him. We need to make God the object of all of our affections and efforts. Glorifying God should be our objective, it should be our aim, our mark. We glorify God by remembering, reflecting, and meditating upon His word, His commands and His divine salvation. Our minds need to be filled daily with the grace, mercy, and knowledge of God so that we will through the Holy Spirit have the power to bring our every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5--"casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"

"Sin, its effects: How does a worm get inside an apple? Perhaps you think the worm burrows in from the outside. No, scientists have discovered that the worm comes from inside. But how does he get in there? Simple! An insect lays an egg in the apple blossom. Sometime later, the worm hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats his way out. Sin, like the worn, begins in the heart and works out through a person's thoughts, words, and actions."--Heaven and Home Hour Radio Bulletin.

Everything we say, do, and think flow out of our heart. Therefore, we must seek to be watchful and abstain from all appearances of evil and not meditate upon those things. We must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:2--"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." If our hearts are not right our lives cannot be lived in a manner that pleases God. If our hearts are right our lives will be lived in righteousness and will be well pleasing to the Lord. If our heart is well kept, which out of it comes the issues of life, the outside will be clean as well. The outside appearance of our lives may seem clean to others but only through the renewing sactifying grace of God can the inside of our hearts be pure and clean. When our heart--the inside--is clean, it will influence--the outside--our life.

Matthew 23:26--"Blind pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

I believe our hearts make up three distinct parts. The mind, emotions, and the intellect. The word for heart in hebrew is leb. It is figuratively and widely used for the feelings, the will, and the intellect. The mind, emotions, and intellect have different meanings but form an intregated whole. They are intimately related. For example, The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are seperate yet they are whole--they are one--and are intimately related to one another. They cannot be seperated from one another neither can our minds from our emotions or intellect. I believe Matthew records all three, the heart, soul, and mind to draw our attention to the complete kind of love that we are to have for God. This is the kind of Love that God requires from us, Complete surrender. He wants a surrendered heart that is controlled only by Him.

"Mind"--"that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings; the seat of the facuilty of the reason."--word web

"Emotions"--"Any strong feeling"--word web

"Intellect"--"Knowledge and intellectual ability; The capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination."--word web

I believe that our hearts make up our whole body. The soul, mind, emotions, spirit, will, and our actions. We must love God with all that is within us.

Psalms 103:1--"Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!"

We are to love God with all our feelings, desires, passions, thoughts, understanding and our will. This seems over whelming. Yet, not impossible. There is no way that we will ever be able to love God in this way apart from Christ. Only through Christ can we come to Love God the way He has commanded us to love Him.

In order to love God the way he has commanded us our hearts must first be broken. Our hearts have to be completely broken by the power of God before we can obey this command. We have to be brought to brokenness over our sin and believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Once our hearts have been broken the Holy Spirit through His power and presence reconstructs them and gives us a new heart.

Ezekiel 36:[24-28]--"For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God."

Once we are given a new heart God tells us to guard it because, "The heart is decietful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it."--Jeremiah 17:9. Jesus also says, in Matt.15:19, that every evil thing that is in the earth proceeds out of the heart. Therefore, we must keep our hearts with all diligence.

Proverbs 4:[20-23]--" My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life."

There are many ways that we can keep our hearts. We can keep our hearts by prayer, resisting temptation, reading, hearing and meditating on God's word, living by faith, and most importantly cultivating an intimate relationship with God through Christ.

Phillippians 4:7--"and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Its only through Christ that we can live at peace with God. God's peace guards our hearts and minds through Christ. I believe our hearts are guarded by God's peace through Christ and by us filling our hearts with Gods word. God replaces our will with His will, so in essence Go gives us a new will. He gives us a will that hungers and thirsts after Christ's righteousness. Through Christ God has replaced our pride with humility. He has replaced our desperation with hope. Where there once was death, there now is new life in Christ!!!! God created us to think. He created our minds and renews it in Christ. May we consistly mediate on things--in Phil. 4:8--that are just, pure, lovely, are of a good report, virtuous, and praise worthy so that we may keep our hearts with all diligence.

If we love God we will be willing to be His surrendered servants forever. "As Christ's surrender took Him to the Cross, so our surrender will always take us to the cross. Every time your flesh or mine crosses the will of God and we choose to bow the head in surrender to the Spirit of God, our will is crucified and Christ is exalted as Lord."--Nancy Leigh Demoss

Lord, My prayer is Psalms 51:10--"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me." Lord, thank You, for giving me a new heart. Help me to express my love for you by obeying your commandments. Help me to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Help me to discipline my mind so that I may draw closer to you and your word.

Serving Our Lord Together,

Michelle harrison

God Helps Those that Seek Him (Part1)

Psalm 121:[1-8]--"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore."

There are four things in this passage that express God's help for those that seek Him. 1. God is our Helper. 2. God is our Keeper. 3. God is our Protector. 4. God is our Preserver.

This Psalm is a song of Ascents. I believe this Psalm was sung by Jewish Pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem to worship God by participating in three yearly feasts. God commanded all males in Exodus 23:[14-17] to be present and keep three specific feasts each year. These feasts include: The feast of Unleavened Bread, The feast of Harvests, and The feast of Ingathering. I believe they sang this song in view of Jerusalem because all the males of Israel were required to travel to the temple in Jerusalem for these three feasts. In verse one, this Psalmist says,"I will lift up my eyes to the hills", I believe "the hills" are refering to the "mountains" of Israel. When these people made this pilgrimage to Jerusalem God promised them that no one would covet their land while they were traveling to worship Him. Which meant that God would protect their land and their homes from thieves. I believe these pilgrims sang this song to the Lord in light of this promise.

Exodus 23:20--"For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year."

1. God is our Helper.

I see this in veses [1-2]--"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth." When we worship God with our lives and seek to serve Him we are promised His present Help. God will not allow us to fall and stumble.

Psalm 46:1--"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble."

In the first part of the verse it says,"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help?" They lifted their eyes to the hills and saw God's glory in His creation. They worshipped God, "The Creator" and looked to Him for their help. They worshipped the Creator not the creation. I see this in the answer to the question, "From whence comes my help?" The answer--vs.2 "My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth."

In praise and worship we must lift our eyes and hearts to God and cry out for His help because only He can Help and keep us.

2. God is our Keeper.

I see this in verses [2-3]--"He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep." If we strive to live righteously God promises to direct our steps. It is comforting to know that God doesn't need to rest but always upholds us with His hand.

Psalm 37:[23-24]--"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand."

In this song, the pilgrims were expressing the assurance of God's help and protection. They believed that God would keep both Israel and themselves safe from harm. The Israel they were refering to here was Jacob. By singing,"Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.", the pilgrims were reflecting on God's divine providence and protection. They were singing to the keeper of Jacob. When Jacob left his fathers house he slept on the ground with a rock as his pillow and the sky as his canopy. He had a dream of a ladder that reached from heaven to the earth. On this ladder he saw angels ascending and desending from heaven. This dream was a picture of God's involvement in the world and how He cares for His people. This dream served to encourage Jacob but also served to encourage these travelers as well. They drew strength from reflecting on God's promise to Jacob bcecause they were his descendants. God promised Jacob in Genesis 28:14-15, that He would keep, protect, and bless him and his descendants would be as the dust of the ground and would spread abroud to the west, east, south and north.

Genesis 28:15--"Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you."

They relyed on God's faithfulness to sustain them. After reading these verses again it seems that they may have sung this song in the night watches. When a camp is traveling from place to place, after pitching their tents someone must be appointed to watch over the camp while everyone sleeps. Once the night watch men were in place the people within the camp could sleep knowing that they were being protected. I am sure after having stayed up all night keeping watch the watchmen would fall asleep. Even if this happened they were still confident that God was watching over them.

No matter what is going on around us, we too can sleep because God doesn't need sleep and is always watching over us and keeping us safe. Since God never sleeps we should not be afraid of anything harming us while we are sleeping. I have often stayed up all night with a sick child and out of exhuaustion I fell asleep. I thank and praise the Lord that He never gets exhausted, weary or inattentive. God never closes His eyes to our condition, needs, and or wants.

Every word in this Psalm has encouraged and strengthened my faith and hope in God. I pray that we will always seek to spend time with the Lord so that we will have a fresh glimpse of His glory.

Lord, Thank you for helping and keeping me. Help me to walk in your ways so that I can claim these promises as my own. Thank you for how you supply all my needs. Thank You for being active in my life, not passive. Help me to always cry out to you as my present help. Thank you for ordering my steps. I pray that you may be glorified through my life. Thank you for encouraging and strengthing my faith and hope in You.

Serving Our Lord Together,

Michelle Harrison