Psalm 18:1-3, “I Love You, LORD” (Laurie Klein-1978)
My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Matthew 22. He engaged the spirit of my mind in verses 36-40:
Matthew 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Matthew 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Matthew 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Christ had said this before. Jesus is “the Word” Who was with God and was God (John 1:1). He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), GOD manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). The Word, through Moses wrote, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5), and “thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge” (Deuteronomy 11:1).
Along the still waters, I thought about the fact that GOD wants our love and has given us clear instructions on how we are to show it.
I love my Mom, and I miss her; she’s in heaven. I wanted to show my love to her, so I picked some lovely yellow-pedaled “flowers” and brought them to her. She received them with less enthusiasm than I anticipated, carried them across the kitchen, and dropped them into the trash. She led me into the backyard and asked me to show her where I picked the “flowers.” She looked at the field of yellow-pedaled weeds that covered a patch of ground on the other side of our backyard fence. She said, “Jerry, those are weeds. Never bring your mother weeds.” Then she took me to some of our flowers and said, “If you want to bring flowers to your mother, these are flowers. You can bring flowers to me, not weeds.” She went into the house. I gathered up about five flowers and presented them to her. She effused pleasure, gushed gratitude, beamed delight: placed them in a vase and displayed them on her table. A few days later, a neighbor was visiting, and I noticed Mom notice me coming into the kitchen where they sat together. Mom began talking about the flowers “Jerry brought me.” She said, “Jerry does not bring me weeds; he brings beautiful, fragrant flowers. Aren’t they lovely?”
God has told us how to show our love to Him. He wants us to put our heart, mind, and strength into what we do to show our love to Him (Deuteronomy 6:5; 30:6).
He wants us to listen to His instruction respectfully and with our full attention (Deuteronomy 11:1, 13, 22).
He wants us to turn our ears away from false teachers and lying prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).
He wants us to keep His instructions, commandments, and statutes (Deuteronomy 19:9).
He wants to find us walking in His ways, along the paths He has given to us to guide us in the good way (Deuteronomy 30:16).
He wants us to obey His voice, His Word, spoken to us by His Spirit through His words (Deuteronomy 30:20; Joshua 2:5; Isaiah 30:21; John 16:13).
Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:13-14). And “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). He is our friend; are we His?
In the valley, He called to me, as He does every morning of my life: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). This is the greatest act of love you can show to GOD every day (Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:24). Humble obedience.
At the table, my Shepherd reminded me that the word love in all the Scriptures we examined in the Old Testament is used as a noun (אַהֲבָ֞ה ) and a verb (אָ֣הַבְתָּ֔). Both refer to our affections. The Spirit calls on us to “set our affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). The word used here includes our feelings, but specifically those excited by things above, not those below. He wants His “flowers” from Heaven, not the weeds from this world.
He anointed my head with His oil, filled my cup with His grace, and called Goodness and mercy to follow us into the harvest.
Praying for revival! 🙏
Going live asap:
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