Now
let us consider how we might move closer
to the kingdom of God. Don’t be
mistaken: the Bible makes it clear that keeping the law is a recipe for failure
in terms of entering the kingdom of
God. One must be born again, converted,
made a new creation through faith in Christ (John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5). But in Christ we are daily being changed into
His likeness, and He is the one who fulfilled the law for each of us. To consider the command to love the LORD your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength is well
worth our time. Let us particularly pay
attention to the four aspects of life that must be fully loving God.
·
The Heart.
As is true physically, so it is spiritually: the heart is the center of
life. For that reason consider the
following from Scripture.
o
Prov. 4:23: We must guard our hearts for it is
the life-source of everything else about us, what we long for, what we feel,
what fills us.
o
Matt. 12:34-35: Out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaks. James says the
tongue is the hardest thing to control; this passage would tell us that control
of the tongue begins with formation of the heart.
o
Matt. 6:21: Jesus said your heart is where your
treasure is, and he meant your money.
How you use your money tells everyone what is in your heart.
o
Col. 3:15-16 give us significant help in how the
heart is formed.
§
Let God’s peace rule in your heart (by prayer,
Phil. 4:6-7).
§
Let the word of Christ dwell in your hearts
(Heb. 4:12, the word of God (the Scriptures) is the discerner of what is in
your heart).
o James
4:8 indicates we purify our hearts through communion with (drawing near to)
God.
o Meditate
on the following from the Psalms:
§ 19:8:
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
§ 27:14:
Wait on the Lord and He will strengthen your heart.
§ 37:31:
The law of God was in his heart; he didn’t slip in his steps.
§ 51:10:
Create in me a clean heart, oh God.
§ 66:18:
If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not heart me.
§ 119:11:
Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God.
The
fundamental issue of the heart is that me must come to God as lost people and,
by faith in Christ, be found in Him! If you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will
be saved. For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation (Rom. 10:9-10).
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