The Shift

Question to think about: How does loving God with all of your heart shift the way you live?

The circumstance seemed impossible.
His health seemed to be failing.
The doctors thought surgery might help.
He realized God had invited him to an ongoing-active-participating relationship.
He focused on his relationship with God.
He communicated with God . . . talking and listening . . . others prayed . . . peace began to overtake his fear as he focused on God.
Then something happened . . . there was a shift . . . . an unexplainable shift . . . a mystery beyond what medicine could do.
He will not have surgery . . . he is better . . . his universe shifted.

Life shifts when we focus on God . . . when love for God takes precedence. Study the shift recorded in Matthew 22.

Jesus, God with us, faced religious leaders. Their life revolved around the 613 plus rules, believing in the rules which defined their life with God. They asked Jesus:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart (Matthew 22:36-37a, NASB)

Jesus simplified the hundreds of laws into two basic principles . . . and explained the importance of a relationship . . . responding to the love of God through loving God with all of the heart. The heart was considered to be the core and identity of an individual. Thus, Jesus explained that our identity . . . our whole being . . . was to revolve around love for God. At the heart of it life, everything about our life, is to be centered on love for God.

The religious leaders must have stopped breathing for a moment . . . their time and effort was centered on obeying the rules . . . it was a major shift from how they lived.

Study Matthew 22. Underline words that speak to your heart.

Meditate on Matthew 22:36-37.

Focus on your relationship with God and what it means to love God with all of your life.


Learning with you to love God with all of the heart,

Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)