LOVING GOD WITH
EVERYTHING
By
JIM GERRISH
Bible versions used:
ASV American Standard Version
NAS New American Standard
NET New English Translation
NIV New International Version
NKJ New King James Version
Light of Israel Publications
Colorado Springs, CO
wordofgodtoday.com
Published 2024
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deut. 6:4-5 NIV)
Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matt. 22:37-40 NIV)
The most important one, “answered Jesus,” is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. (Mk. 12:29-31 NIV)
He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lk. 10:27 NIV)
These verses are a beautiful summary of true religion. It is incredible that God could condense the Old Testament into just two commands. This certainly makes them two of the most important commands and verses in the Bible. These verses ought to be our lifetime companions. We should meditate on them until they become a part of our lives.
The passage in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 has always been considered of great importance for Israel. It is called the Sh’ma, the Hebrew word for “Hear” (“Hear O Israel”). This prayer is still prayed at least twice daily by all devout Jewish people. It usually begins every synagogue service. It is contained in the phylacteries, the small leather boxes that the devout Jew wears on his forehead and wrist when at prayer. It is also found in the mezuzah which is attached to the outer and inner doors of the Jewish home.1
We observe that the Sh’ma introduces us to four very important subjects. They are love, heart, soul, and strength. Jesus in the New Testament later adds the fifth, which is “mind.” He then introduces the love of our neighbors. It is very important that we take some time and explore these subjects. Once we start, we will realize that we can never stop exploring and learning more about the great depth of these critically important biblical themes.
THE LOVE OF GOD
In our modern and postmodern churches today, we seem to be largely missing a vast and wonderful area of devotion to God. We are mostly missing Earth’s greatest love affair – our love affair with Jesus. All of us need to stop and remember that we are loved by God: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!…” (1 Jn. 3:1 NIV). In Psalm 103:17 we are assured: “But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him…” (NIV). We are loved to the point that God gave his only Son Jesus as proof and source of the great love he has for each of us (Jn. 3:16). Yes, we are all loved with a divine and everlasting love.
Too often, we tend to get caught up in our religion with a lot of religious activity, and we simply forget to stop and just bask in the warm and soothing love of God. Maybe we could treat it like a hot tub where we can just relax, lean back, close our eyes and enjoy its luxury.
Our Christian faith is not about striving but about loving. It is about trying to understand and enjoy the great love Jesus has for us. All other things in the Christian faith should flow from this relationship. Indeed, a loving relationship is the key to Christianity.
Paul challenges us: “…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:17-19 NIV). Are we praying that way for ourselves and for our Christian brothers and sisters today?
When the Charismatic Movement began, a lovely hymn by Samuel Trevor Francis (1834–1925) was sung and became popular. Here is the first verse:
O the deep, deep love of Jesus
Vast unmeasured, boundless, free
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to
Thy glorious rest above. 2
Many scriptures speak of God’s great love (Psa. 23:6; 33:5; 36:5; Jer. 31:3; Jn. 3:16;1 Jn. 3:1). Frederick Martin Lehman, (1868-1953) described the love of God in his beautiful poem. This wonderful third verse is thought to have been written in Hebrew much earlier in 1050 by Rabbi Meir of Worms, Germany:
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.3
Our Love For God
The second aspect of this love is the affection that we are to return to God. God is asking us to return a tiny portion of the great love he has poured out on us (Rom. 5:5). In 1 John 4:19 it is stated: “We love Him because He first loved us” (NKJ). The Greek scholar William Barclay says: “Love is the greatest of all virtues, the characteristic virtue of the Christian faith.” 4
When we finally glimpse this great love of God it should cause us to worship and return affection to him. It should bring tears of joy to our eyes. Back in the 12th century, Bernard of Clairvaux, that great lover of God, penned these lines in his blessed hymn, “Jesus The Very Thought Of Thee.” These words lead us into worship even today.
Jesus, the very thought of Thee
with sweetness fills the breast;
but sweeter far thy face to see,
and in Thy presence rest.O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek,
to those who fall, how kind thou art!
How good to those who seek!But what to those who find? Ah, this,
nor tongue nor pen can show;
the love of Jesus, what it is,
none but his loved ones know.Jesus, our only joy be thou,
as thou our prize wilt be;
Jesus, be thou our glory now,
and through eternity. 5
His third verse so aptly expresses the feeling of one who is overcome by the great and magnificent love of Jesus. To hear this precious old worship hymn, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv7pHp4mmRY. Hear another great worship hymn of Bernard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Xhrxw4Cis.
We might wonder just how much worship is taking place in our Western churches today. According to Barna surveys, the biweekly attendance at worship services is, by believers’ own admission, the only time they worship God. Yet, Barna discloses that eight out of ten believers feel they do not enter into God’s presence during these church worship times. Half of the Christians surveyed admitted that they have not truly entered into the presence of God through worship during the past year. 6
William Temple, the great Archbishop of Canterbury said: “For to worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open up the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” 7
The international Bible teacher Derek Prince reminds us of heaven’s worship: “[Seraphim] Covering the face and covering the feet were acts of worship. The remaining two wings were used for flying, which was service. In heaven there is twice as much emphasis on worship as on service.” 8
It would probably help us to look at the words for love in their original languages. In the Hebrew, the word for love is ahava while in the Greek, it is agape. In the English language, we are handicapped in that we have only one word for love. The Greeks had four words, agape (which came to mean the God-type love), phileo (brotherly love), eros (erotic love), and storge (family affection). Unfortunately, our one English word for love must speak of the highest love of God as well as the lowest form of erotic love. In our devotion, we need to recapture the agape or the Godkind of love. Barclay says that the reason why Christian thought fastened on agape is that agape demands the exercise of the whole person. 9
Love Of God’s Word
To really love Jesus is to love his word, for Jesus is the word (Jn. 1:1). I heard someone remark that the Bible is Jesus in print. That might be carrying it a little too far, but we get the idea. Commentator Warren Wiersbe states: “The way we treat the Bible is the way we treat the Lord, so it isn’t difficult to determine if we are rightly related to God.” 10 It was reported in a CBN interview that “Today only 30 percent of Christians read the Bible and less than 10 percent have read it from cover to cover. And it shows.” 11
An unknown writer penned these words: “I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like our cell phone? We would carry it everywhere we go, and flip through it throughout the day. We would go home to get it if we forgot it. We would receive messages from the text. We couldn’t live without it. Parents would give it to their kids as gifts. It would be available for all emergencies and any and all conversations. One more thing, it would never be disconnected as Jesus has already paid the bill in full.” (unknown)
To Know The Lord
There is an important truth that we must understand. We need to know people to really love them. American theologian, R. C. Sproul says, “If we want to love God more, we have to know Him more deeply.” 12 God created humankind in order that they might know him – that they would have a wonderful and continuing fellowship: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (Jn. 17:3 NIV; cf. Eph. 1:17). Author Thomas Tarrants says: “The English word ‘know’ in this verse is a translation of the Greek word ginosko, which, in this context, means an experiential knowing, not simply an intellectual understanding of facts about God or Jesus or the Bible.” 13
Although we were created to know God, we now have a very serious problem. Because of Adam’s sin and our own resulting sin, our relationship with the Holy God has been broken. The wonderful Gospel Message is that Jesus came to earth to reestablish that critical relationship.
For those who accept Christ and believe in him, the relationship is restored. They are spiritually born again. John says: “But as many as receive Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (Jn. 1:12, NKJ).
Now that our family relationship is restored, we can call our Father “Abba” or “Daddy” (cf. Gal. 4:6). I think of the times back in the 1960s when John Kennedy sat in the White House as President of the US. At the time he was probably the most powerful man in the whole world. Occasionally there were pictures of little John Jr. playing under his desk while the president was working. What a position we have now gained through Jesus! We are now children of the Living God – the King of the Universe. We can snuggle up beside his great throne and call him “Daddy.”
LOVE WITH ALL THE HEART
First of all, we must love God with all our hearts. The word “heart” is lev in Hebrew and kardia in Greek. We probably are aware that kardia appears often in our language in words like “cardiologist.” The word “heart” appears over 500 times in the New International Version and over 760 times in the King James Version. It is called “the most common anthropological term in the Scripture.” 14 It speaks of life’s root systems. It speaks of things like inner man, will, mind, character, inner self, and intention. Bible scholars Barker and Kohlenberger describe it as “…the spiritual, intellectual, and volitional center of a person’s being, i.e., the whole person.” 15 While we look at a person’s outward appearance God looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
When we consider the heart, we are probing into something extremely complex and mysterious. The physical heart is the center of our natural lives. Its weakness affects our natural activity, and its failure ends our natural lives. The heart is also the center of our spiritual lives. We might refer to it as the spiritual heart as some Bible teachers do. Hence, the salvation of an individual must begin in the heart (Rom. 10:9-10). When the heart is used in scripture it generally has reference to this spiritual aspect.
We see that many things go on in our spiritual heart. It is the seat of our affections. The spiritual heart thinks, reflects, meditates, understands, desires, endeavors, wishes, decides, fears, loves, hates, is happy, is sorrowful, and is proud. We might say that the whole range of human feelings is displayed in the spiritual heart. However, the expression “spiritual heart” is not found in the Bible. New Agers seem to use this expression a lot, so we probably need to avoid it. Perhaps we can just call it the “new heart” as the Bible does (Eze. 11:19; 18:31; 36:26). We should note that the heart is also the seat of the conscience (Rom. 2:15).
When the heart is evil the whole person is evil. That is precisely the problem that the human family has today. Because of the sin of Adam, as we have mentioned, the whole of humanity is naturally rebellious and wicked (Gen. 8:21). Because of this original sin and continuing sin in every life, all humanity has fallen short of God’s salvation and his glory (Rom. 3:23). The whole of Adam’s seed is condemned to death spiritually and eternally (Rom. 6:23).
The gospel message is that humankind is now offered a new heart, as we noted above in Ezekiel 11, 18 and 36. Because of Jesus’ redemptive death and resurrection, the offer of salvation is now open to all. Paul gives this great invitation: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Rom. 10:9-10 NIV). We realize by this that a willing and open heart makes salvation of the soul possible.
The Sh’ma urges us to love the Lord with all our hearts. That presents an immediate problem as we have just said. After God created humankind and after the fall, we read: “The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5 NIV). Jeremiah the prophet says: “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9 NKJ).
We know that after we accept Jesus and are born again, we receive a new heart. We may still at times have problems with our hearts though. If we allow it, there can again be evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft and such things (Mark 7:21-22). Our hearts can even become hardened (Matt. 13:15). As Christians we must guard our hearts with diligence for out of the heart come all the issues of life (Prov. 4:23). We need to repent and become heartbroken when these sins creep back in. Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav once said: “There is none more whole than one with a broken heart.” 16 In Psalm 51:17, we read “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise” (NIV). There is nothing quite like a broken heart that will draw us near to God and draw God near to us.
Hebrews 10:22 challenges us to draw near to God with sincere hearts. Now that we have a new heart that is possible. Revival preacher Vance Havner once spoke of his childhood and his home church saying, “Though I didn’t have much theology in my head I had a lot of doxology in my heart.” 17
Functions Of The Heart
The heart thinks, plans and desires. So often, hearts are set on worldly things like earthly success, jobs, money, and fame. We can often tell what people worship by looking at where they spend their time, where they spend their money and what they talk about most. I remember once visiting the home of a younger couple and being amazed at the massive amounts of sports paraphernalia of all types that took up a whole room of their house. It was their shrine and it represented thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of their lives. When we consider that a US Super Bowl ticket can now cost almost ten thousand dollars, we can realize how much the heart can spend on its worship.
Long ago Israel had similar problems. Officially, the people worshipped Yahweh, but unofficially they spent much of their desire, time and money at the pagan mountain shrines (Ezek. 8:12). There they could adulterate and prostitute themselves in the worship of the false god Baal. Also, the best meats and banquets were always served at the idol temples. This is what their hearts desired and it brought about their ruin and the ruin of their nation.
God insists that we have a whole-hearted religion and that all our desires, thoughts, affections, hopes and dreams be centered on him and on him alone. Jesus promised, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8 NIV). A new heart makes it possible to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength.
It is amazing how thoroughly God wishes to control our hearts. Jeremiah says we will find God when we seek him with the whole heart. (Jer. 29:13 NIV). The New Testament says: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3:1-2 NIV).
When we consider all this, we might want to pray: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa. 139:23-24 ASV).
LOVE WITH ALL THE SOUL
Next, we are to love God with all our souls. When we consider the soul, it is important for us to go to the Hebrew and derive the original meanings of the word nephesh. It means soul, life, person or living being. It is that which breathes, whether human or animal. 18
We read in the Book of Genesis: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7 KJV). Many of the modern translations substitute “being” here for the soul. In the Evangelical Dictionary, Carl Schultz remarks on the soul: “The King James Version uses 42 different English terms to translate it [nephesh]. The two most common renderings are ‘soul’ (428 times) and ‘life’ (117 times).” 19 It is obvious by this that the word has some very broad meanings. Nelson’s Bible Dictionary adds: “The word soul also refers to the inner life of a person, the seat of emotions, and the center of human personality…a living being (soul) (Gen. 2:7).” 20
Schultz adds: “Clearly, then, in the Old Testament a mortal is a living soul rather than having a soul. Instead of splitting a person into two or three parts, Hebrew thought sees a unified being, but one that is profoundly complex, a psychophysical being.” He says, “…in the Old Testament it is never the ‘immortal soul’ but simply the life principle or living being.” 21
In the New Testament, the word for soul is the Greek psyche. Of course, from this we get a lot of our modern English words like psychology and psychic. The word means: “Breath of life, life-principle…earthly life…soul as seat and center of inner life of man in its many and varied aspects…the soul as seat and center of life that transcends the earthly…” 22
Obviously, there is a lot of overlap between the meanings of heart, soul and mind. It is not possible for us to make a division since human beings are seen in the Bible as a whole and not as parts, as we have mentioned. Only God can make such a division: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12 NIV).
As time goes on, our scientific world has had to deal with the soul. Physicist Gerald Schroeder says, “The soul, the neshama, [breath] is our link to the transcendent.” 23
Researcher Lee Strobel has talked with many scientists, and here are some of his results. Stephen Meyer says, “Amazingly, many scientists and philosophers are now concluding that the laws of physics and chemistry cannot explain the experience of consciousness in human beings.” 24 “Similarly, Oxford University professor of physiology Sir Charles Sherrington, a Nobel Prize winner, who is described as ‘a genius who laid the foundations of our knowledge of the functioning of the brain and spinal cord,’ spoke on the subject. He declared five days before his death, ‘For me now, the only reality is the human soul.’” 25
Strobel continues: “John C. Eccles – eminent neurophysiologist and Nobel laureate: ‘I am constrained…to believe that there is what we might call a supernatural origin of my unique self-conscious mind or my unique selfhood or soul.’” 26 “When Roger Sperry and his team studied the differences between the brain’s right and left hemispheres, they discovered the mind has a causal power independent of the brain’s activities. This led Sperry to conclude materialism was false.” 27 Lawrence C. Wood said, “Many brain scientists have been compelled to postulate the existence of an immaterial mind, even though they may not embrace a belief in an after-life.” 28. Physicist Steven Weinberg said, “scientists may have to bypass the problem of human consciousness altogether, because ‘it may just be too hard for us.’” 29
God wants us to use this mysterious part of our lives to praise him and to love him. Let us say with the Psalmist “Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name” (Psa. 103:1 NAS). Our souls should long and faint for the Lord’s courts and our hearts and flesh should cry out for the living God (Psa. 84:2). It is God then who restores the soul and guides us in the paths of righteousness (Psa. 23:3). Paul says, “And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23 ASV).
Thank God, that through Jesus we can fully worship God with our mysterious souls. We can love God with our inmost being, with our everything.
LOVE WITH ALL THE MIND
Then, we are to love God with all our minds. The mind is also an exceedingly difficult subject. The mind is critically important for our relationship with God and with others. We need to understand that there was really no word for mind in the ancient Hebrew language. No doubt, that is why Jesus added “mind” to his commands. In Hebrew, there was yetser (imagination) as in Isaiah 26:3; there was leb or lebab (heart) as in Jeremiah 51:50; and there was ruach (spirit) as in Proverbs 29:11. Often, things were believed, decisions were made, and things were felt in the body parts so to speak. Even today we still grab our hearts upon hearing some tragic news.
In the Greek language of the New Testament, there was dianoia (intellect, mind) as in Hebrews 8:10; there was noema (thought) as in 2 Corinthians 4:4; and there was nous (mind, will) as in 1 Corinthians 2:16. It is good that Jesus introduced mind because that is where much of the battle for our faith is going on in our modern and postmodern worlds.
The Fall Of Humanity And The Mind
When we look back at the Genesis account of human creation, we glimpse the magnitude of the problem as related to the mind. There were two special trees in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:9, 17; 3:1-24). God instructed Adam that he should not eat of the Tree of Knowledge and if he did, he would surely die. Because of the temptation of Satan, Adam’s wife Eve ate of the tree and then gave some to her husband and he also ate. That act caused the physical and spiritual fall of humanity.
Simply, they ate from the wrong tree, the tree of inferior human knowledge and wisdom. Not only did they eat from the wrong tree, but most of humanity is now still munching on the fruit of this tree and telling us how good it is. They tell us that, even though their mouths are puckered with the bitterness of the fruit. All around us today we see the tragic results of fallen human wisdom. We see people making their own decisions about what is true and what is right and wrong. Our society is beginning to look very scary as this human knowledge is implemented.
When we Christians look around us it is difficult to believe that people cannot acknowledge God as Creator and Ruler of the world. Paul tells us the reason why they cannot see and understand: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4 NIV).
Just because people are blind to God and his revelation does not mean that their minds no longer work. R. C. Sproul says, “The human mind is one of the most incredible aspects of creation. It is more powerful than the largest supercomputer and can solve great problems and make great discoveries. That makes the noetic effects of sin especially tragic.” 30 Sproul continues: “Our minds have been corrupted by sin, but that does not mean our ability to think has been annihilated. The best pagan thinkers can still spot errors of logic without being born again. You don’t have to be regenerate in order to get a Ph.D. in mathematics.” 31 I am always amazed that humans are creators like God. They can design jet planes and travel in space. However, when it comes to the knowledge of God, they are often senseless.
The Folly Of Fallen Earthly Knowledge
When human beings preferred human knowledge to God’s knowledge, major problems began.
Paul describes it: “Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done (Rom. 1:28 NIV). He says in Philippians 3:19: “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”
Caring For Our Natural Minds
Even though our minds are weak and fallen, we are still obligated to take care of them. We should not spurn education as some do. There is the idea in modern Christianity that all we need in life is the Bible and the church. That has caused us to become isolated from the intellectual world. We should try to improve our minds, but not at certain woke and depraved universities. It is our responsibility to choose institutions where truth is respected. If we cannot do that, we can visit the libraries or study on the Internet. Again, it is our responsibility to study at respected sites.
I graduated from a Christian college and then from four years at the seminary. However, there were a lot of technical fields that I knew nothing about. After several years in the US ministry and sixteen years ministering in Israel, the Lord began to talk to me in my spirit. One day he said, “Now we are going to study philosophy.” So, I trotted off to the city library and checked out a number of books on beginner philosophy. It was interesting and I found many points that I could use in writing and sermons.
Sometime later the Lord said, “Now we are going to study quantum physics.” Had the Lord forgotten that I almost failed math? He insisted, so I went to the library again and checked out beginner books on the subject. Once more, I found much material that was useful for teaching and writing. Later, the Lord did the same thing with psychology. He has led me to keep on reading in these fields and to look into other areas as well. In fact, my wife and I spent a lot of time at the library, checking out many books in various areas of study. Fortunately, my wife was a voracious reader.
All this study was critically important, particularly to my writing ministry. From all these books, I took many notes and added that information to my electronic filing system. Thank God, I was a fast typist. After several years, my wife and I published our reference book, Quotes and Illustrations For the 21st Century. That book is available on Amazon, and it is also free on our website wordofgodtoday.com.
The sad truth is that Christians are not reading and preparing themselves to interact intelligently with unbelievers. The early church had many intelligent people who could act as apologists and were able to explain and defend their faith before their fallen world. Even in early America, it was the Christians who founded most of our great universities. There were plenty of highly educated pastors and others who could explain and defend Christianity to those outside the faith. 32 Today our apologists are few and far between. For this reason, the world mocks us and treats us as ignorant folks who are not worthy of their time. In 2 Peter 1:5 we are instructed: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;” (NIV).
Getting A Heavenly Mind Transplant
As Christians, we have a great and wonderful blessing. We now have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). The Greek “have” is present active, so it is something we have now. Our computer world helps us understand this a little better. We can download a wonderful computer program and it now belongs to us. That is great! However, if we never open and use the program it will do us no good. The mind of Christ is now downloaded into our minds. It was a part of the salvation package. Paul challenges us to use this download. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom. 12:2 NIV). We cannot continue to depend only upon our own understanding (Prov. 3:5). We must always ask for the Lord’s wisdom before making decisions.
Having A House Cleaning In Our Minds
We cannot love God with our minds if our minds are filled with lust, suspicion, hatred, deceitfulness, slander, and other trash from this present evil age. I remember as a young person growing up that I had many bad ideas and lots of bad habits. On several occasions, and with the help of God, I said, “I am not going there! I am not doing this anymore!” In each instance, the Lord gave me strength to keep my word and to get the garbage out of my mind and life.
Once we get the garbage out, we can begin to install the good things. We can take a cue from Philippians 4:8 and replace lies with thoughts that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and virtuous. In Colossians 3:2 we read: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (NIV).
Meditation In The Word
One great tool that can strengthen our minds and our faith is biblical meditation. In recent decades the church has shied away from this, probably because of the emergence of eastern transcendental meditation. Israel’s great military leader Joshua had this good advice for all his troops: “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Josh. 1:8 NIV). Psalm 119 talks much about biblical meditation (cf. verses 15, 23, 27, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148). In looking back over my long life, I will have to say that biblical meditation has helped me to know and understand many things from God’s word.
However, there is an emerging problem with meditation today. In the book The Digital Invasion we read: “Researchers are warning that the ability to ‘contemplate’ or ‘meditate’ declines in those who over-engage the digital world.” 33 The book goes on: “There are researchers who also believe that life in the digital world is causing us to lose our ‘depth’ – our depth of thinking, contemplation, feeling, and emotions, as well as depth in our relationships and work.” 34
The Helmet Of Salvation
In Ephesians, Paul advises us: “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17 NIV). Not only are we quite clumsy with our sword, but we are going out to battle without our helmet of salvation. This is our mind protector in today’s great battle for truth. This has cost the church dearly. It has particularly cost us in the area of internet pornography. In this area, one look and you are often hooked.
Even shortly after the turn of this century, there were already some 260 million pornographic web pages. Michael Reagan and Jim Denney reported at that time: “The most recent studies available suggest that one out of every two people – that’s fifty percent of the people sitting in our pews – are looking at and/or could be addicted to Internet pornography.” 35 The really sad news is that already by the year 2000, some 40 percent of clergy were acknowledging that they had visited sexually explicit websites. 36 How can we fight the war of all the ages without our mind protector, the helmet of salvation? When we open the door of our mind in this area, Satan and all his lackeys will rush in.
Being Of One Mind
The New Testament tells us that one of the important secrets of the early church was their unity of mind and purpose. We read in Acts: “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had” (Acts 4:32 NIV). Paul says to the Philippians, “then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (Phil. 2:2 NIV).
Somehow in many of our churches we have the idea that being obstinate is a virtue. Often church business meetings are spent in arguments. I can remember how one church business meeting really discouraged me in the ministry. The former pastor had left a small hand-operated duplicating machine with the church, and he simply asked that it be returned. There was a great argument and almost a fight over this simple request. We wonder why so many churches never increase or progress. Neither do they take the gospel to the world as the early church did.
Now, with the mind of Christ and with our minds being totally transformed, we are at last able to love God with all our minds. Praise Jesus for the new mind!
LOVE WITH ALL THE STRENGTH
Finally, we should love the Lord with all our strength. The first thing we should know about this command is that we have very little strength in ourselves. All our strength must come from God. There are many scriptures that make this clear. We read in Psalm 46:1: “…God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (NIV). Paul says, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13 NIV). We are thus advised to always seek the Lord and his strength (Psa. 105:4).
Let us look at the Hebrew and Greek words that are used for strength. In Hebrew the word is Me’od. It means muchness, force, might, or abundance.37 The word is still commonly used in Israel. If you want a lot of something you would say, Ani rot-se me’od! (I want much). In the Greek language, the word is Ischus, and it means strength, power, and might. 38
Obviously, when we love God with all our strength we are moving into the active and practical service area of Christianity. It is important that this matter is placed after loving God with all our heart, soul and mind. Otherwise, our strength might be spent foolishly, even with some “religious” project that may be out of the will of God.
Let us look at some areas where we can love God with all our strength:
First, we need to worship and praise the Lord with all our might. Many churches of the 20th century were rather staid and dull experiences. People sat quietly in rows while the preacher lectured or preached. That was quite different from the worship we see in the New Testament where everyone participated (1 Cor. 14:26).
When the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements came along, a lot of that changed. Now in many churches, we see people participating in worship by singing, shouting, clapping their hands or lifting their hands in praise. They may also give a word in tongues or prophecy. Occasionally, we see people jumping for joy or dancing. David danced with all his might when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:14). When his wife Michal saw him, she rebuked him severely for his conduct. For that, God dealt sternly with her and deprived her of children (2 Sam. 6:20-23).
Second, we need to use all our strength to meet with the Lord’s body, the church. Hebrews warns us not to forsake the regular church meetings (Heb. 10:25). Today we have multitudes of Christians who listlessly drag into church late if they come at all. As Christians, we are a flock. We need the eyes and ears of other sheep to alert us to the wolves and lions. Also, we can learn a lot from other Christians. We are a temple made of blocks. That gives us the choice of whether we want to be a building block or a stumbling block. The “Lone Ranger” Christianity of today is not biblical. Even the Lone Ranger of last century had his Indian sidekick, Tonto.
Third, is visiting, praying for, or working with the sick and needy. I am sure that Covid stopped a lot of hospital visits, but we need to persevere. In my own case, I dearly loved my wife with all my heart, mind, and soul. However, in the last couple of years before she departed to heaven, I loved her with all my strength. She was hardly able to do anything for herself and I stood by to help her with everything. I had often prayed that the Lord would give me strength to do such a thing if necessary. What an answered prayer and heavenly blessing it was!
Jennifer Heeren writes: “Yes, loving God with all my strength means stepping out in faith. It means stepping out of my comfort zone. It means stepping out to help someone. Faith without works isn’t worth much. But faith with works can change a piece of the world for the better.” 39
Fourth, we need to find strength to do our calling. Peter says: “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Pet. 4:11 NIV). Isaiah says: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Isa. 40:29 NIV). The Psalmist says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psa. 73:26 NIV).
I don’t know if I qualify as a writer, but God called me to write. For the next ten-plus years after we retired from Israel ministry, there were many days when I worked hard at writing. My little wife worked at reading, proofing and searching sources for me. I spoke of this earlier. Many days we labored eight hours or so. In the end, we produced a complete set of New Testament commentaries plus several other works. These were published at Amazon and are also free on our websites, wordofgodtoday.com and churchisraelforum.com. God gave us the time and the strength to do this work as Isaiah 40 says above. For much of this time we were both in our 70s.
There are several other areas where we need to love the Lord with all our strength. These would include things like praying, giving, and fasting. Surely, when we do our secular work, we should do that with our heart, soul, mind and strength. One of the big problems in the business world today is that employers are unable to find people who are willing to work. I have heard reports of employers who say that young people come to work for them and when they go for lunch on their first day at work they simply never come back. We can love God and glorify his name by doing a good job at work. In Colossians 3:23 it is written: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
I think there was one period in my life when I surely came close to loving God with all my strength. I was a young pastor in the seminary, while actively leading a small church that was about an hour’s drive from the school.
In order to pay our bills, I also worked as night manager of a large service station. On Saturday, I would work all night, rush home on Sunday morning, clean up, and then drive my wife and small son to the little church. There I would preach at the morning service, do visitation in the afternoon, and then preach at the evening service.
After all that, we would drive back to the seminary, where I would change clothes and head out for another night’s work. All this without a wink of sleep. There were a few times when I was so tired that I almost lost consciousness while preaching. Fortunately, there were no seminary classes on Mondays, so I could catch up on my much-needed sleep.
God does want us to exert ourselves in his cause. We cannot lie around on flowery beds of ease and just dream about all the service we could give to the Lord. God is not pleased with theoretical service or only good intentions. Romans 12:11 does say, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (NIV). We should be reminded here that we do not work for our salvation but when we are saved, we work because of our salvation. God has all these works already prepared for us (Eph. 2:10).
LOVE OF NEIGHBOR
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matt. 22:39-40 NIV)
It is interesting that this command is also found in Leviticus 19:18. Commentators are divided as to whether or not these two verses were ever joined together in Judaism. British and Irish scholars Donald Guthrie and Alec Motyer say they were joined, 40 and American New Testament professor, Craig Blomberg, says they were not, and that Jesus was the first to fuse them together. 41 We can safely say that the binding of the two verses was not a familiar thing with the Jews.
So, we have two dimensions and relationships of love. We have the vertical, between us and God, and we have the horizontal, between us and other people. It is impossible to love God without loving our neighbor. Also, it is impossible to really love our neighbor without loving God. John says, “…for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 Jn. 4:20 NAS). If we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, we can do them no harm, for they are made in God’s image. We cannot lie to them, cheat them, or steal from them if we love them as we love ourselves. The Recognition that all human beings are made in God’s image is now almost lost in our society. If people believe that humans somehow evolved from pond slime it is easy to start treating people in slimy ways.
A Healthy Love For Ourselves
This command postulates a normal and reasonable love of self. Today we are still living in the “Me Generation” where people have an abnormal, unreasonable and sometimes unhealthy view of themselves. So many are proud and self-seeking. These have little thought for their neighbors or anyone else. Some today are depressed and have an unhealthy view of themselves. This often leads to suicide. We must remember that if we are Christians, we are sons and daughters of the Living and Holy God. Also, we are made in the image of God. That makes all the difference in how we should see ourselves. When we view ourselves in God’s light and love ourselves with a pure godly love, we are then in a position to love others the same way.
Now, we need to meditate on what is included in a healthy love of self. With God’s help we need to love others in just the way we love ourselves. We cannot feed our own faces while knowing that our neighbor is without food. We cannot buy fancy clothes for ourselves while knowing that our neighbor is nearly naked. There are a thousand things to think about here. It is important for us to ask that the Lord make us aware of how we can fulfil this command.
Who Is A Neighbor?
When we think of a neighbor, we are likely to think of the person living next door to us. That is not what Jesus had in mind. It certainly includes our next-door neighbor, but it is much broader. In Luke 10:29-37, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. The poor traveler in the story was robbed, beaten half to death and left on the road to Jericho. A priest and Levite saw him and passed him by on the other side of the road, while a hated Samaritan had compassion on him and helped him. From this story we can be assured that a neighbor is anyone in need.
Interestingly, the Hebrew for neighbor (re-a-kah) can also mean companion, or even wife. In modern Hebrew one word for wife is based on this Hebrew root. That sure helps us see a neighbor in an entirely new light.
Love Is Costly
We cannot love others without it being costly in time, money, labor and sometimes even in frustration. After all, it cost Jesus plenty to stoop down from heaven and help us all. Sometimes it goes like this. We stop to help a woman who is on the highway with a flat tire. Then we discover that her spare tire is also flat. When we kindly take her to the station to get her flat fixed, we discover that she left home without taking any money with her. Love is costly, time consuming and frustrating isn’t it?
C.S. Lewis says: “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.
But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” 42
Sharing The Gospel
We cannot truly love our neighbor without sharing our most precious possession and that is Jesus and the Gospel – the good news about him. In order to do that, we need to do some tall praying about the neighbor and his or her household. The only true witness is that which has the power of God with it. Obviously, we are not all evangelists, so this may not be easy for some shy and hesitant Christians. Still, God will help us if we ask.
Practical Ways Of Helping Neighbors
There are hundreds and perhaps thousands of ways we can help needy neighbors. Author Jim Brangenberg tells about a Florida hurricane where he lived. In his area there were about 30 townhomes and many of them sustained damage beyond what their insurance would cover. He got together a group of residents to help repair the houses, and in the process, he made many friends. Close relationships developed and there were later dinners and other meetings with some of the residents. These were great opportunities to share the Lord. The relationships became so precious that when he and his wife moved from that area to another location, they both wept all the way. 43
We might ask, “What if people come back for more help?” We cannot gruffly say, “Hey, you were already helped, so go away.” The English poet John Oxenham answers this with a poem:
Love ever gives.
Forgives, outlives,
And ever stands
With open hands.
And while it lives, It gives,
For this is love’s prerogative –
To give, and give, and give. 44
Jesus says in Matthew: “Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12 NAS).
The Bible asks and answers, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (Jas. 3:13 NIV). It is made clear in scripture that sometimes when we help others, we are actually helping an angel from heaven (Heb. 13:1-2). More importantly, sometimes we are helping the Lord himself (Matt. 25:40, 43, 45). We must see all the help we give to others, and indeed all of our work, as labor to the Lord. Colossians 3:17 says: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (NET).
We need to add that God has given us a brain. It is important for us to give in a way that does not demean the receiver. Neither should we give in a way that destroys the receiver’s own self-reliance. We should watch out for scammers and ask for the Lord’s wisdom. Once in Israel, a man came to our office asking for money to buy groceries. Fortunately, we had a supply of nicely filled grocery baskets on hand. I happily placed one at his feet. However, he kicked it and walked away in disgust. It was plain to see that he was a phony and only after money.
Love Is Kind, Cheerful And Friendly
1 Peter 4:8-10 tells us: “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8 NAS). Peter continues: “Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:9-10 NAS). Barclay mentions that the word “grace” has two main ideas attached to it. The first idea has to do with sheer beauty. He focuses on this first idea saying that the Christian life should be a beautiful and attractive one, and we surely do not give enough attention to this aspect of grace. 45
Today, too many Christians are grumpy in public. I know a doctor who dreads to have Christians come to see him. They are prone to complain, demand and criticize a lot. Years ago, when I worked in real estate, I was surprised that the other salesperson working with me came and asked if I would take all the Christians. She said that they were hard to get along with and did not keep their word. They would sign a contract and the next day try to break it because they had prayed about it and no longer thought it was God’s will. They should have prayed before they signed the contract.
I remember in college, someone told of a “holier than thou” type who was witnessing to another student in the cafeteria. He finally asked him if he was going to heaven when he died. The student then asked, “Are you going to be there?” The holy one answered, “I certainly am!” With that, the student paused a moment and replied, “Then I think I would rather not go.”
Real Christian grace has a smile and a gentle loving attitude (Prov. 17:17). Grace compliments others who are doing a good job. Grace encourages others. Paul says, “Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11 NAS).
Barclay says, “One of the highest of human duties is the duty of encouragement… It is easy to laugh at men’s ideals; it is easy to pour cold water on their enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise, thanks, appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word.” 46
By the way, we all need to use the “Please” and “Thank you” expressions a lot more. Paul says, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself;” (Phil. 2:3 NAS).
What About Neighbors Who Are Enemies?
We are to love neighbors even if they turn out to be our enemies (Matt. 5:43-44). Corrie ten Boom lost her whole family in the Nazi concentration camps. Their only crime was hiding Jewish people in their home. After the war ended and the camps were liberated, Corrie went about speaking to various churches telling of her experience. In her book The Hiding Place she relates this story:
It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, a former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, [my sister] Betsie’s pain-blanched face. He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein.” He said. “To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!” His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I prayed, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness. As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so, I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself. 47
The love of God must always be first and primary. If it is not, all other love will be like sounding brass or clanging symbols. If we do not love God we will be powerless to really love our neighbors.
Loving Members Of The Church
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus said to his disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn. 13:34-35 NIV). He went on to clarify the implications of this love: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn. 15:13 NIV). Peter also says, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Pet. 1:22 NIV).
On one occasion when David and his men were hiding from Saul, he became very thirsty and longed for a cool drink of water from the well at Bethlehem, his hometown. Some of his brave men overheard his longing and at the risk of their lives, they went into Bethlehem and secured water from the well (2 Sam. 23:15-17).
Unfortunately, the church is often in the nitty-gritty area where we sometimes love the least. To make love work here we may have to get rid of sins like slander, gossip, envy, judgment, grudges and hurt feelings. It would marvelously help most churches if people would just reach out to those members and visitors that we do not know. As we have said, it is necessary to know someone before we can really love them.
I remember an instance in our home fellowship group that occurred many years ago. One brother needed a new roof on his house. The other brothers were touched by his need and one day when he returned home, the brothers in the group were on top of his house happily installing a new roof and doing it as a free gift. That stands out in my memory as Christian love in action. Loving our brothers and sisters is surely a form of loving God. Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (NKJ).”
In the mid-1800s, the beautiful hymn, “My Jesus, I love thee,” was left to us. It seems to sum up our article. Here are the words: 48
My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;
for thee all the follies of sin I resign;
my gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.
I love thee because thou hast first loved me
and purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.
I’ll love thee in life, I will love thee in death,
and praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath,
and say when the deathdew lies cold on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.
In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.
– Jim Gerrish
Publication 2024
Picture credit Wikimedia: Praising God in the sunset.
Date, 31 May 2012, 20:51:43
Source Flickr: O Praise Him
Author JFXie
ENDNOTES
1 William Barclay, (https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/william-barclay/love-for-god-and-love-for-men-mark-1228-34).
2 Hymnary Organization. https://hymnary.org/text/o_the_deep_deep_love_of_jesus
3 Hymnal Net. https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/28
4 William Barclay, More New Testament Words (London: SCM Press LTD, 1958). p. 11.
5 Hymnal Net. https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/209
6 George Barna, Revolution (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005), pp. 31-32.
7 Quoted in Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, NT (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 729.
8 Derek Prince, War in Heaven (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 2003), p. 123.
9 William Barclay, More New Testament Words, p. 14.
10 Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 897.
11 CBN 700 Club, July 7, 2015, Paul Strand interview with George Barna and historian David Barton in their book U-Turn: Restoring America to the Strength of Its Roots.
12 Ligonier Organization. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/conferences/the-christian-mind-2012-national-conference/love-the-lord-your-god-with-all-your-mind.
13 C. S. Lewis Organization. https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/knowing-god-personally/
14 Bakers Evangelical Dictionary. https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/heart.html
15 Kenneth L. Barker & John R. Kohlenberger III, Zondervan Bible Commentary, Volume 2: New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), p. 238.
16 Quoted in Jerusalem Post Hanukkah Section p. 6, Dec 6, 1996.
17 Dallas Willard. https://dwillard.org/articles/personal-soul-care.
18 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1957), p. 659.
19 Bakers Evangelical Dictionary. https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/soul.html.
Carl Schultz expands: “The adjectival form ‘soulish’ indicates a person governed by the sensuous nature with subjection to appetite and passion. Such a person is “natural/unspiritual” and cannot receive the gifts of God’s Spirit because they make no sense to him (1 Cor. 2:14-15 ). As in the Old Testament, the soul relates humans to the animal world (1 Cor. 15:42-50) while it is the spirit of people that allows a dynamic relationship with God.
20 Ronald F. Youngblood, g. ed., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, Atlanta: Nelson Publishers, 1995), p. 1196.
21 Bakers Evangelical Dictionary. https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/soul.html.
22 William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press), pp. 201-202.
23 Gerald Schroeder, The Hidden Face of God, How Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth (New York: The Free Press, 2001), p. 183.
24 Lee Strobel, The Case For A Creator (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), p. 249.
25 Strobel, p. 250.
26 Ibid.
27 Strobel, p. 258.
28 Ibid. p. 258.
29 Strobel, p. 269.
30 Ligonier Organization.
31 Ibid.
32 J. P. Moreland: “Loving God with All Your Mind.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3pTZgiqcwM.
33 Archibald D. Hart & Sylvia Hart Frejd, The Digital Invasion (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2013), p. 29.
34 Ibid., p. 43.
35 Michael Reagan with Jim Denney, Twice Adopted (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), p. 210.
36 A 2000 survey conducted by Christianity Today and Leadership magazines. Newsweek, Apr 12, 2004, p. 52.
37 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, p. 548.
38 William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 384.
39 https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-does-love-the-lord-with-all-your-heart-mean-in-the-bible.html.
40 Donald Guthrie, & Alec Motyer, Eds., The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970), p. 844.
41 Craig L. Blomberg, The New American Commentary, Vol. 22, Matthew (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), p. 335.
42 https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Reflections_2012_02-Risk-of-Love-1093.pdf
43 https://www.iwork4him.com/blog/2021/6/ministering-in-the-community-of-neighbors?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiArLyuBhA7EiwA-qo80HR11QTAkbye-4t2ogZ-MWV70dpb5OHNEcMKpncbE0zmicFMMmBODhoCtyAQAvD_BwE
44 https://www.inspirationalstories.com/quotes/john-oxenham-love-ever-gives-forgives-outlives-and-ever/
45 William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville – London: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, 2002), p.5.
46 https://gracequotes.org/author-quote/william-barclay/
47 Corrie ten Boom. https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/100144/love-by-kerry-haynes)
48 Hymnary Organization. https://hymnary.org/text/my_jesus_i_love_thee_i_know_thou_art_mi Author (attributed to): James H. Duffell (1862); Author (attributed to): William R. Featherston (1862).