Monday, October 14, 2019

Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength


(credit Pathway Church)

In Mark 12:30, Jesus answers the question about which is the greatest command by saying that we should, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and all of your soul, and all of your mind, and all of your strength.”  In reading Ephesians 1:17-20, Paul offers a prayer for the believers in Ephesus that mirror these four aspects of loving God:
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms…”

Things to think about:
·      God made us multidimensional beings with each aspect contributing to the whole.  Each part needs to be nurtured in order to grow and perform its ordained role.
·      Let’s look at each of these individually and consider how they apply for both the present and the future.
Mind
·      I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so you may know Him better.
o   We need a teacher to help us understand the things that are beyond our ability to comprehend.  God is infinitely beyond our mortal grasp yet Paul’s prayer says He can be known with the help of the Spirit.
o   In what ways does the Spirit give us wisdom and revelation?
Heart
·      I pray that they eyes of your heart may be enlightened to know the hope to which He has called you
o   Hope resides in our hearts.  We need God’s light (love and truth) to shine into our hearts to give us hope in a hopeless world.
o   How have the eyes of your heart been enlightened to know this hope if you compared yourself to your pre-Christian self or even a younger version of yourself?
Soul
·      The riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people
o   Life isn’t over when we breathe our last earthly breath.  For those who have put their trust in Him, there is a glorious inheritance waiting for us.
o   How do you envision the riches of the glorious inheritance God has waiting for you?
Strength
·      His incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is the same as the mighty power He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead.
o   We can’t try hard enough to live up to His holy standard but the very god news is we don’t have to go it alone.  The same power He provided when he did the impossible, raising a dead man to eternal life is amazingly available to us now.
o   How have you experienced His power in your life that could only be attributed to Him?


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