Here is the daily verse from www.biblegateway.com:
“THEREFORE BE imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.” Ephesians 5:1-2 AMP (Actually, how about this for priorities? LOL)
Here is our prayer focus for our spouses but mercy, should it not be for ourselves, friends, family, etc? Priorities. And the verse is..
Matthew 22: 37And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). (Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy here. He loved to teach from this book and if you did a search through Jesus’ words you would find He references D very, very often.)
Now, yesterday we worked through the word love but this love in this verse..stunning..Here is the definition of this “love”
-to desire, to breathe after anything, to be inclined, this is human love for God..although I should mention this word also is used in God’s love for us.
An example of this love…Deuteronomy 7: 9Know, recognize, and understand therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps covenant and steadfast love and mercy with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations,
So this love that Jesus is calling out in us is a desire, You shall love (desire, to breathe after, be inclined to) the Lord your God…
Heart, another beautiful word, the “heart is the seat of the senses, affections,and emotions of the mind..to love with the WHOLE heart..)Gensenius’ Lexicon, blb.org
Another example of this word is, Deuteronomy 4: 29But if from there you will seek (inquire for and require as necessity) the Lord your God, you will find Him if you [truly] seek Him with all your heart [and mind] and soul and life.
So to repeat and add on, You shall love (desire, to breathe after) the Lord your God with all of your heart (which is the seat of the senses, affections and emotions)…
Soul, well, if heart didn’t help us understand how much Jesus wants of our senses, affections and emotions, then soul will maybe give you an idea. 😉
Soul: (again from http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5315&t=NASB)
1) soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion
a) that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man
b) living being
c) living being (with life in the blood)
d) the man himself, self, person or individual
e) seat of the appetites
f) seat of emotions and passions
🙂 See, I told ya! The heart, the soul all wrapped up! I put in bold in the following verses how the word is used in this verse as it varies a bit. Yet, still you see the idea of how much we should love our Father and the dedication and teaching to the next generation of the same principles.
Deuteronomy 11: 18Therefore you shall lay up these My words in your [minds and] hearts and in your [entire] being, and bind them for a sign upon your hands and as forehead bands between your eyes.
19And you shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you rise up.
Finally the word, mind, intellect, might..do they seem like different words to you? Mind? Might? Well, read on..! Here’s the def:
3) muchness, force, abundance, exceedingly
a) force, might
b) exceedingly, greatly, very (idioms showing magnitude or degree)
1) exceedingly
2) up to abundance, to a great degree, exceedingly
3) with muchness, muchness
Gesenius’ Lexicon spells out how this is used a little more..”strength, force..you shall LOVE Jehovah thy God..with all thy strength, i.e. to the highest degree.” http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H3966&t=NASB
So to put it all together!
Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love (desire, to breathe after) the Lord your God with all of your heart (which is the seat of the senses, affections and emotions), with all your soul ( that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man) and with all your mind ( muchness, force, abundance, exceedingly, to the highest degree.)
How about it, friends? Jesus asks everything us of to love Him, His Father, the Spirit. He gave it all I(with His life) and He wants His beloved to love Him passionately!
Philippians 2: 5Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]
6Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [[b]possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not [c]think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped [d]or retained, 7But stripped Himself [of all privileges and [e]rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. 8And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!
9Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has [f]freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name,
10That in (at) the name of Jesus every knee [g]should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11And every tongue [[h]frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Lord blesses those who love Him with everything they are..
Pray on, sisters! Pray on.
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