All in Part 4

And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.'

The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."

INTRODUCTION

Well Good evening Southpointe!!

This is our last sermon on this series All In. We have talked about Loving God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind.

So tonight as we look at the greatest commandment given by Jesus it tells us to love God with all our strength.

With every opportunity, capacity and ability.

What does it mean to have strength?

Show the video( what is strength)

The Greek words strength is ischys meaning ability, force and dynamis which is power.

The contemporary thinking definition for strength can be located mainly in our physical abilities and mental capacity to overcome obstacles.

The image that and the Shema prayer,

And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Here in these two scriptures it is not one of power.

The Hebrew word for strength is Me’od meaning very or much.

The word me’od is an adverb and comes alongside another word to augment or enhance the meaning.

So when God says that His creation is very good. Let’s look at it:

Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

Look at the verse there: And He saw that it was me’od good.

The Bible Project explains that loving God with your me’od means devoting every possibility, opportunity, and capacity that you have to honoring God and loving your neighbor as yourself.

Show the video (Me’od)

Use the a electric guitar example

Understand that this electric guitar can make a sound without the amplifier, but when plugged into an amplifier, the sound is enhanced and magnified.

And that amplifier can also provide effects that augment and boost the sound of the guitar.

So when we look at this strength that Jesus is talking about what does it look like?

And How can we enhance and amplify every opportunity, capacity, and ability for God?

Me’od means devoting every possibility, opportunity, and capacity that you have to honoring God and loving your neighbor as yourself.

Devoting, What does devoting mean.

Devote - give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause;

When the Holy Spirit controls our lives He will produce fruit in our lives that will add much more, very much more.

If you look at , you will find that it is dealing with relationships.

The weakness of man seem to grow out of three areas and they all deal with relationship.

The Upward look: Man relationship with God

You see, man may seek to act differently but unless his character is changed, his conduct will be the same.

But when we allow the Holy Spirit to come along side us, then the Holy Spirit begins to produces in the inner man this fruit and his conduct will change.

There are three very important qualities that person must have to look Godward.

a. Faith (or faithfulness)

Faithfulness is a virtue much in demand in our age today. Who can find a faithful person?

The Word of God declares this about God!

But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

God is faithful!

One who’s God-like will be faithful! Our becoming faithful is a miracle of the Holy Spirit. He alone can perform that miracle.

Faithful --Full of faith, or having faith; disposed to believe, especially in the declarations and promises of God.

Everyone today want to have faith. We go to workshop and teaching seminary to learn about having faith.

Everyone today want to have faith. We go to workshop and teaching seminary to learn about having faith.

And it is the most simple thing to have faith, be faithful.

Faithful is being full of faith. Faith-ful

To the faithful You show Yourself faithful; to those with integrity You show integrity.

This is another verse that always remind me of God’s faithful love.

If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.

b. Meekness or (Humility)

We generally walk away from the thought that we should be humble.

Humility--The state or quality of being humble; freedom from pride and arrogance; lowliness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth; a sense of one's own unworthiness through imperfection and sinfulness.

I want you to think about if it have not been for the lowliness of Jesus then our salvation would never have been bought.

He was will to be lowered from heaven’s glory to earth’s humiliation for the suffering to death.

Understand here Freedom from pride and arrogance: lowlinesss of mind, a modest estimate of one’s own worth.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We must have this quality in our life, being God-like.

We must willing to die out for God and His Kingdom.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

To have a relationship with God then you must be willing to die out to this world.

c. Temperance or (Self-control)

This word has to do with mastery. It is the picture of a long-distance runner who will forego any pleasure to keep in good condition.

c. Temperance or (Self-control)

Or a picture of a soldier who will deny their self from anything that would hurt their ability in battle.

It is the picture of the Holy Spirit bringing the wild horses of the human spirit within His control.

I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.

I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

These three qualities faith, meekness and temperance are facets of man’s character that look Godward.

No person can find fellowship with a Holy God without these. And this is what character a person need to be strong.

2. The Outward look ( Man in relation to his fellowman)

We live in a crazy world. The world conditions is get worst all the time.

Our nerves are so tighten, everyone is on edge. A wrong word, a honking horn, a voice of criticism, or just a simply error and our lives are often throw upset down and the war is on.

I am sorry, I just couldn’t help myself, seems helpful but somehow, but that just does seem to be enough.

The Holy Spirit can produce qualities in our life that will change and transform our lives, our community, our world.

a. Longsuffering (or Patience)

How lacking is this quality in our world today!

God’s love for us is showed not only in what He does but in what He puts up with!

(talk about patience)

Thank God that He is longsuffering. Because without that attribute there would have been no Calvary, and no redemption.

And without that in our lives then there will be no redemptive power in our world.

In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.

We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food.

We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.

b. Gentleness (or Kindness)

b. Gentleness (or Kindness)

We are living in a time where we have so much mouthing going on. People have become filled with bitterness and just waiting for someone to open their mouth so they can strike at them.

Oh how we need people with a kind word, a gentle smile, a soft touch these are priceless commodities in our world today.

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.

A gentle person is the person of power and strength.

c. Goodness (or active rightness)

Here is a rare concept which combines a right spirit with an active life.

This is not the kind of goodness which just merely talk a good game.

But it is a goodness which sets out to find the hurt and bring healing to that heal, to seek out the need and meet the need.

The greatest honor given to a human being is this woman:

She has done what she could and has anointed My body for burial ahead of time.

This was the woman in Simon’s house who broke that expensive bottle of perfume and pour it on Jesus’ head.

Goodness is doing what you can by given your best. By doing your best, to be used by God regardless of the personal cost.

These are some quality of strength. How strong are you?