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O How I Love Thy Law – First And Great Commandment

Admin — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:07:49 +0000

The great and first commandment

Matthew 22.37, 38

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

John 21.17

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

So, do you?

Loving someone involves some very obvious practices. Seeking to be with him, enjoying every moment together, paying keen attention to his every word, enjoying his friends, talking with him about others and with others about him. These are some of the ways we can determine how much we love God. The great and first commandment instructs us to grow in love for God until we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This week we have explored some of the avenues along which we might travel in an effort to improve love for God. Which will you follow? What’s your plan for growing in love for God? All the Law and the prophets are all about this. Shouldn’t we be, too?

Pray

Help me to love You more, O Lord! Give me a strategy, a plan, and a willing heart to grow in love for You and to encourage others to love You more as well.

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.

On The Tip of Your Tongue? First and Great Commandment

Admin — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:02:43 +0000

On the Tip of Your Tongue?

The great and first commandment

Matthew 22.37, 38

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

Acts 8.4

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

What you love, you talk about with others.

Persecution could not keep those first believers from talking about Jesus. Forced out of their homes and driven off to unfamiliar places, they had a common conversation with everyone they met: “Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ?” Conversation can be hard work, except when we’re excited or talking about something – or someone – we really love. Then the words seem to come more easily. We get excited. Our faces light up. We become very animated talking about that person we love so much. This is what made the first believers such effective witnesses. Head over heels in love with Jesus, they didn’t care that they’d lost everything for Him. It seems only to have made them love Him more, because they just kept talking about Him everywhere they went. That’s what people do who are in love.

With whom will you have an opportunity to talk about Jesus today?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.

Making Amends – First and Great Commandment

Admin — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:00:17 +0000

The great and first commandment

Matthew 22.37, 38

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

1 John 4.7

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Love those whom God loves.

If we love God we will show that love by loving those He loves. He loves His own, those for whom He died. He loves them so much that He laid down His life for them, poured out His Spirit upon them, speaks His Word daily to them, upholds them and all their concerns by His Word of power, and is even now preparing a place for them to dwell with Him forever. And for us, too, of course. But the point is, since this is how much Jesus loves our fellow believers, ought we not to nurture such aggressive love for them as well, just to show how much we love the Lord? John says Yes. We cannot be a sourpuss, a backbiter, a gossip, or a Grinch to our fellow believers without throwing away some of the love we have for God. It grieves Him to see His children at odds. As far as in us lies, let us take away every obstacle to loving our fellow believers. Thus we will prove our love for God.

Is there anyone right now with whom you need to make some amends or clear up a matter? What does love for God require of you?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.

Delight Pure & Simple, The First and Great Commandment

Admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:47:50 +0000

Delight, Pure and Simple

The great and first commandment

Matthew 22.37, 38

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

Psalm 37.4

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

How’s your time with God?

What affections do you associate with “delight”? For me, delight involves such things as joy, peace, contentment, keen interest, and a certain reluctance to get on with something else. Sad, but for many people today, the order of our Scripture might well be reversed: delight in all the things you want, and you’ll find God. But that’s idolatry. If we delight in the Lord – find joy and peace with Him, know contentment in His present, are keenly interested in Him and reluctant to move away from Him – then what do you suppose we’ll desire? More of Him, of course! And He’s more than willing to give us more of Himself, as long as we delight in Him as we should. Delight is yet another indication of love for the Lord. Do you simply enjoy being with Him? Is that just your favorite time of the day? Do you have lots of fond memories from the time you spend with the Lord? Do you go to bed at night looking forward to getting up to be with Him again? Seeking the Lord flows out of delighting in Him, which is the fruit of seeking Him, and a sure way of knowing just how much we love Him.

Do you see any attention-getting practices in your own behavior? Why do we do this? How really important can it possibly be that everyone is looking at us all the time?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.

What are you seeking? The First and Great Commandment

Admin — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 11:45:11 +0000

What are you seeking?

The great and first commandment

Matthew 22.37, 38

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

John 1.38

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?”

How do you seek the Lord?

One of the sure ways of knowing that we love God is by the amount of time and effort we invest seeking Him. After all, He has commanded us to seek Him, and He suggests there’s some kind of urgency about this, since He will not always be available to be found (Is. 55.6). The righteous men of old had seeking the Lord as their top priority, first thing in the morning (Ps. 63.1). When you love someone, you want to be with Him, to spend time together enjoying one another’s company. We’re all very busy, with plenty to do each day, and the things to which we give our best time and energy will surely be the things we regard most highly or value most. Is there any space for God in there in your life? I’m not suggesting that if you just force yourself to spend an hour with the Lord first thing in the morning that will prove that you love Him. Indeed, I’m saying quite the reverse: If you truly love the Lord, not only will you seek out time with Him first thing in the day, but you won’t let yourself drift very far from Him throughout the day, and you’ll try to snatch every available moment you can to relax in His presence. If you love the Lord, you will seek Him.

In what ways would you say that you seek the Lord? Are you finding Him by those ways? As much as you could?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.