Love the Lord your God Pt 4

Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul

and with all your mind

and with all your strength.

Mark 12:30

I have already posted about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, loving the Lord your God with all your soul and loving the Lord your God with all your mind. So far we have talked about obeying with a whole, loving heart, seeking only God's wisdom when it comes to spiritual matters and loving God so much that our every thought is centered on Him (similar to how we act when we first fall in love).

I wanted to add a little note about loving God with our minds.

Do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed

by the renewal of your mind,

that by testing you may discern

what is the will of God,

what is good and

acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2

I am not sure how much time you have spent reading and studying Romans, but chapter 12 is an especially convicting and difficult chapter (especially if you are attending a mamby pamby church that says you can live the same as others and Jesus just wants you to have your best life now).

In Romans 12:2, we read that we are not to be conformed to this world, but renew our minds so that we can determine the will of God and know what is good, acceptable and perfect. In order to do this, we must be in God's word daily. We must know what He has to say that is so very different than the culture that is screaming at us from all directions (TV, radio, songs, politicians, magazines, newspapers, and even children's cartoons).

So I encourage you brothers and sisters (and myself) to read the Scriptures daily. It is even better for your heart than Cheerios or Oatmeal.

4. Love the Lord your God with all your strength.

Do you consider yourself to be a strong woman (or man)? There was a time when I was at the gym a lot (obviously before I had children) and I truly felt *strong*. But when I was blessed with children (and entered a new decade of life) my body seemed to fall apart. I say that my warranty must have expired. I had several surgeries in just a couple of years and was battling ulcers, GERD, and IBS. I was weak.

I had worked so hard to become a strong woman (because I didn't want to have to ask for help for anything - especially to lift heavy objects or open a jar of pickles) and now I had to have help with so many every day tasks. I lost my ability to be self-sufficient.

But that is just where God wanted me. He showed me that in my weakness, He is my strength. I grew closer to Him when I realized how much I truly needed Him.


Self-sufficient. That word is so deceiving. None of us can even take a breath on our own. Every single breath is a gift from God.

So we need to love the Lord our God with all our strength. So now I realize that every ounce of energy I have is a gift from God and I want to use every ounce of energy I have to glorify Him (not myself). I want to love Him with all my strength. I want to work for Him. I want to raise my children in a fear and admonition of the Lord. I want to clean my house as if working for the Lord. I want to love my husband as a gift from the Lord. I want to serve others

We need to use our strength to be courageous. We should never be fearful. We should be bold to stand up for the things that the Lord loves and quick to share Jesus with anyone who may listen. 


I recently heard the testimony of Darlene Deibler Rose and my heart was touched by how strong (because of her faith and love of God) she was during her incarceration at a prison camp in Indonesia during WWII. Her body was weak and frail as she suffered from several different diseases and such horrible torture from her captors, but her faith was strong and she never stopped loving God. I pray that if you take time (which you should) to read or listen to her story, that you are equally blessed.