Greatest Commandment

Good Monday morning all. As I reflect on my weekend, it was one of peace, and relaxation. We were unable to attend church yesterday, because my car(which is the family vehicle) was not in working order. We are not unfamiliar with home churching, so we took the opportunity to invite another family who was not able to go to church, to come to our home and fellowship.

Like any other service we opened in prayer and song. Boy are we out of practice in this. My family use to sing, ALOT. Since attending that small Pentecostal church, we have not sung in a long time. After  song, Samuel (my beloved) begun his message and what a powerful message it was. It was on the greatest commandments of Christ.

I figured I would share my notes with you:

What is the Greatest Commandments given to us by Christ?

Matthew 22:34-40

But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.Then one of them, [which was] a lawyer, asked [him a question], tempting him, and saying,

Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law?

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.This is the first and great commandment.And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Mark 12:28-31

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.

And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

 

So we are to love the Lord our God, and love our neighbors as ourselves, sounds easy enough- or is it?

How are these commandments manifested in our lives today?

- By our devotion and faithfulness to God

When I do a self examination- what is in my life that takes away from loving God and being devoted to Him?

What do we allow in our lives that prevent us from loving the Lord?

Take some time to ponder these two questions.. what is in our lives that keep us from loving our God, and being devoted?

Do we have idols in our life? Do we have things that steal our time?

What is the first thing we think of when we wake in the morning? Is it giving the Lord praise for another day to serve Him?

Food for your thoughts!!!

Second part of those Scriptures state to love our neighbors as ourselves.

How do we manifest love for others?

-charity

-love

Who is our neighbor?

Everyone

God’s  Ten Commandments covers everything in life on how to love our neighbors.

Coveting is a sin that leads to all the other sins, that are mentioned in the Ten Commandments.If we did not covet- we could love our neighbors.  If we did not covet we would not steal or commit adultery. If we did not covet we would not murder or bare false witness.

This fact amazed me.. I totally gave me a new way of viewing the commandments and realizing through covetousness a lot evil manifests itself.

What defiles a man?

Matthew 15:17-20

 

And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:These are [the things] which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

 

James 3:6-10

And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

 

What is the biggest hindrance in our lives for us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind?

Our tongues and which then reveals our hearts.

 

Are we carful what we say to others and how we say it?

A man that speakes blessing cursing can be called a double minded man.( who is unstable in all his ways)

What happens when we can’t get this right?

 

1 John 2:1-6

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world.

¶
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

 

We have an advocate, Jesus Christ. We must be careful not to take advantage of the grace bestowed upon by Christ, but know that He is our strength, and our guide when we are unable to get things right.

My beloved you gave us so much meat to chew on.

Thank you Lord for using him to speak so clearly to all of us. May these words, and your message, not leave any of our thoughts. May we bring you Glory this week in all we do and all we say!! Help us Lord NOT to defile ourselves! Help us to love our neighbors. Help us to love you more, and to live and serve you!

In Jesus Name!

Amen