The words above are some of my favorites. Moses speaks them to Israel. Jesus speaks them to a questioning scribe. My friend keeps them on her doorpost. They are from the book of Deuteronomy, part of the Shema—recited daily in Jewish morning prayers. Not only are these words our heritage, they are God’s antidote for avoiding idols—even now.
When I prep for Confession, examining my conscience with the First Commandment, today’s Scripture challenges me. Do I truly love God above all things? With all my heart, soul, mind and strength? I want to. I mean to.
But how do I prevent life’s pulls from becoming idols? Only with God’s help—and my perseverance to commit these words to memory that I might fully love our Lord.
Thank you, Katherine for this beautiful reflection. Vicky G, I was up at 2am and so prayed for your son, you and your family, lifting them up to God. I pray you have help so that you too can rest. I wish I could fly to Georgia to help you, (retired nurse too). Sending you the best help though in the form of prayers. God be with you, my friend.
You are most welcome, Rita. Thank you for your prayers for all the Living Faith family as we strive to give Him our all. Blessings on you.
"We love you, O our God; and we desire to love you more and more. Grant to us that we may love you as much as we desire, and as much as we ought. O dearest friend, who has so loved and saved us, the thought of whom is so sweet and always growing sweeter, come with Christ and dwell in our hearts; that you keep a watch over our lips, our steps, our deeds, and we shall not need to be anxious either for our souls or our bodies. Give us love, sweetest of all gifts, which knows no enemy. Give us in our hearts pure love, born of your love to us, that we may love others as you love us. O most loving Father of Jesus Christ, from whom flows all love, let our hearts, frozen in sin, cold to you and cold to others, be warmed by this divine fire. So help and bless us in your Son. JESUS l TRUST IN YOU JESUS I LOVE YOU
Yes, Miguel, May the fire of His love melt our hearts first for him, then for others.
VickyG I am planning on praying for you and your son and Today may the peace of the Lord be with you and humans may his care givers work miracles. Ken
VickyG Sorry that's supposed to read. May your son's caregivers feel the strength of the Lord. Ken
Irene. Wow that's today's saying from the "Wisdom of the saints Tomorrow's is" The Lord has loved me so much: we must love everyone. We must be compassionate " Saint Josephine Bakhita Ken
Isn't Saint Josephine Bakhita amazing, Ken. Great words shared in great love.
What a great devotion, Kathleen!!! Loved, "Gracious Lord, plant Your Words in every part of me that I may truly love You with my all!" *** Deuteronomy 6:4-5, "The Lord is our God. The Lord is the one and only God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love Him with all your strength!" Mark 12:29-31, "Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love Him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.” *** You see...idols come when we reverse the order of these two commandments: Loving others first (idolatry) to show the world that you love God (the cart before the horse) above Loving God first (worship the one True God) to result by the power of the Holy Spirit in loving others (the horse before the cart)!!! *** Think of any continued sinful adult children...Do you love them in their sins first before loving God - tolerate and do/say nothing about their sins and call it love and explain that God understands 'love the person and hate the sin'? Do you love God first and ask how God confronts sin and love the person - He kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and let them die physically and suffer sin's consequences? ******* Loving God first and then loving others as a result looks like this in John 3:16-18, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. Anyone who believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world. He sent His Son to save the world through Him. Anyone Who believes in Him is not judged. But anyone who does not believe is judged already. They have not believed in the Name of God’s one and only Son!" *** Focus on knowing and loving God first and then from the overflow telling them about the Good News of Jesus Christ and when they believe, they will be convicted of their sins by the power of the Holy Spirit! That's what happened to me after going to church for many years thinking I was a pretty good person not perfect but pretty good...By the power of the Holy Spirit and His Word, I believe in Jesus Christ and the first thing He did was to convict me of all my sins (past present and future)❤️✝️❤️ *** Listen to Paul's testimony (He was a perfect Jewish Pharisee) in Philippians 3:5-9, "I was circumcised on the eighth day. I am part of the people of Israel. I am from the tribe of Benjamin. I am a pure Hebrew. As far as the law is concerned, I am a Pharisee. As far as being committed is concerned, I opposed and attacked the church (The Way -Jesus Christ). As far as keeping the law is concerned, I kept it perfectly. I thought things like that were really something great. But now I consider them to be nothing because of Christ. Even more, I consider everything to be nothing compared to knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. To know Him is worth much more than anything else. Because of Him I have lost everything. But I consider all of it to be garbage so I can know Christ better. I want to be joined to Him. Being right with God does not come from my obeying the law. It comes because I believe in Christ. It comes from God because of faith!" *** "The most loving thing we can do for others is love God more than we love them. For if we love God most, we will love others best!" Do you see the reasoning behind that? ******* Sometimes loving God means I have to give up my idols...people I love the most ✝️
Yes, Salina, that's our goal to love Him with our all--every part of us. And, It is that love which spurs me to also honor Him also through my action--living out His commandments--however imperfect my attempts may be. His blessings on you.
"He did not say: You will not be tempted- You will not be distressed. But He said: You will not be overcome." St. Julian of Norwich. Prayers for all LFF.
Great quote, Irene.
Vicky~ As I say my morning prayers before Mass, please know I am lifting your son, you, and your family for all your needs. May God bless you all with a peaceful Sunday.
Jesus taught that loving God with all our being and loving others as much as ourselves are the two greatest commandments and as we hear later in the gospels, they really do fulfill all the other commandments. So often it seems that the focus is placed more on the “shalt nots” than on the “you shalls”. Lord help me to grow in loving you and others as you love me.
Amen, Anne. How much more we can do by honoring Him and each other with those two greatest commandments, which when put first, encapsulate the others.
Kathleen, one step forward and the idols can pull us two steps back! So many distractions for the way. Thank you for reminding us. Continuing to lift Vicky’s family and her gladiator son. Lord be with them and their medical team. Amen.
Yes, Jane. Prayers and God's grace for us all.
To Vicky- unending prayers! After bringing up our beloved children and releasing them to the world, we can control nothing! Prayer is all we have.
We are in this world, but not OF this world. The pulls and stresses we encounter seem to grow stronger each day, and it becomes harder to focus on His love. God, help to rely only on You, as we navigate the challenges ahead. Amen.
So true, Terry. With His grace, let's strive together in
So true, Kathleen. It seems very easy saying those words...until we get to the 'all' part.
Amen, Bill.
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Vicky G. ~ I'm stormin' Heaven for God's mercy and steady recovery for your son. God Bless Your Son And ALL Who Love Him.