Loving God With All Your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength - Frank Brancato

I'm so thankful for practical passages of scripture that we

can read and study and apply in our life because things that are

not practical cannot be applied. It's like giving an Old

Testament story if you just tell the narrative and just tell the

story, it's just a nice historical story but there needs

to be an application. We need to make an application

for it so we can learn and glean from it.

The same is true with the New Testament.

Same is true with the verse that is before us today.

But this verse that's before us today is a very pivotal command.

If this does not, if this is not ingrained in our life, then from

a spiritual perspective, Spect, if we are not going to be all

that, we ought to be, you know, I would imagine that if you want

to people and you asked him, do you love God?

I would imagine. The majority of people would

say, certainly I love God. I mean, who doesn't love God.

But the question is, what does it really mean to love God?

And just because we say, we love God.

Does that mean what we do love God?

What I've also found though, out in the world is the same people

that do a lot of praising of God with their lips and saying,

praise God. Or saying that they love God or

speaking about God, in that way are also often times the same

people that blame God, when something bad happens in their

life. What does that mean?

Does that mean that you love God?

Let's look at this passage more deeply now and try to understand

what Jesus was talking about. He begins by saying in Mark 12

and verse 30. The very first sentence there

and you shall love the Lord, your God now, And this is not a

request. This is not advice.

This is a hard-and-fast command and Jesus said, You shall love

the Lord, your God. Something about that word love

though. What love are we talking about?

Well, obviously, we are talking about agape, love it is

commanded love. It is love.

That is always demonstrated in action.

It's the love. That is always attributed to

God. We know a John 3:16 for God.

John 3:16

So loved the Of the world. Meaning he loved the world to

such a degree that he demonstrated that love by

sending his son. That is agape love.

So when Jesus commands us to love God, the first thing by

just the definition of the word love it means by service and

sacrifice. It is agape love.

And by the way, it is the highest.

Form of love that we can have. May I ask you a question though.

If you love God, he say you love God.

If something bad happens in your life.

I mean something really bad happens in your life.

Will you still love him? What if you pray to God?

What if you pray that a loved one would get better, maybe

they're sick and you by faith pray according to God's will.

And you ask God, if that person would get better.

And that person does not get better that person dies.

Will you still love it? That's the point.

Will you still love God regardless of circumstances?

And by the way, what we're talking about today, we're

talking about the kind of love that exists.

Regardless of the circumstances in your life, even if God says,

no me, give you a passage of a great character in the Old

Testament that did just that. I love this because really, this

is Faith in proper Focus. Now the prophet habakkuk wasn't

perfect at the beginning, and when he spoke on behalf of the

people that God he was frustrated, he didn't know why

God was not answering his prayer.

But by the third chapter, I want to read you something.

This is Faith in proper Focus. This is loving and trusting God,

regardless of the circumstances in your life, habakkuk chapter 3

Habakkuk 3 · chapter mention

and verses 17 and 18. Listen to this.

Though, the Fig Tree, may not blossom.

Nor fruit on the vine though. The labor of the olive May Fail

and the fields yield no food, though.

The flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no herd of

the Stalls. Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord.

I will joy in the god of my salvation.

You know what that means? That means that this was a man

that says, I don't care what happens to me, with the

circumstances in my life, it doesn't matter.

I'm gonna join Hi, I'm going to rejoice in the god of my

salvation. I'm going to love God.

And trust God, no matter what so agape.

Love is the highest form of love.

That's true. And it's intellectual love and

it's all of that and it's intellectual love.

That always does the proper thing and the best thing and

maybe you're sitting there, you're saying to wait a minute.

It's impossible to always do the proper thing and the best thing.

Okay. I'm not talking about being

perfect. I'm talking about love here.

When we demonstrate agape love, while we're doing that.

We are always manifesting the proper investing.

We are behaving properly when we stop doing that.

What are we not doing? We're not.

Loving was agape. Love.

Okay, so that's what the word agape.

Love memes. And and it is the kind of love

that we're talking about. What about when it comes to God,

though, with this kind of love? We don't love God with the

proper kind of love when our priorities are out of whack.

And that simply means this. That means that God has to be

number one in your life. I'll tell you this life is about

prioritizing. Everything's about prioritizing.

We make choices and decisions in our life based on priorities.

We think, for example, that there might be one thing that's

really important. So we're going to put all of our

faith in that we're going to put all of our effort in that.

Okay, that's fine. But God has to be number one.

You do not love God properly when God is not first in your

life. Now what does that mean?

Does that mean you don't like your family?

Does that mean you don't love your spouse?

Absolutely not what it means. Is we're going to love our

family with a all of our heart and all of that to we're just

going to love God. More God has to be number one,

in your life. You have to love God with your

all without holding back, giving our best effort and not giving

him second best. All right.

What about the word heart? That's the first thing Jesus

says. You got to love God with all of

your heart. I don't know how many times

you've heard me say this maybe hundreds of times over the years

that when we talk about the heart, that's in the Bible, we

are not talking about a better felt than told process.

Like, sometimes people say, well, I know what that's what

the Bible says, but I just feel it in my heart and I have gone

to Great pains to tell you that, that's not what the Bible means.

And that's not the heart. When the Bible says that as a

man thinketh in his heart. So is he it's talking about the

mind. So, when we talk about the heart

in the Bible and changing your heart, we are talking about the

mind. And again, it is not a better

felt than told process the heart of the Bible, which is the mind.

Thanks believes reasons and obeys.

Okay, so we get all that. That's not this word.

It's a whole nother word. This word heart here.

That Jesus says you have to love God with all of your heart it's

something totally different. It is by definition, get this.

It is loving God with emotion and affection.

You know, there's another passage where this word is used

and it's found in the book of Philemon.

You remember that? Paul wrote to Philemon and he

was asking Philemon to forgive onesimus.

The runaway slave, right? That's the story.

That's the book of Philemon, that's one chapter.

That's the book of Philemon. Do you remember what Paul said?

Paul said, as I paraphrase, I could have come to you by

authority, meaning Apostolic Authority.

And I could have told you in commanded you to forgive give

onesimus and take him back but I'm not doing it that way.

I'm appealing to you from as Paul the agent and I'm appealing

to you as one who is a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

Then he says this, but I want you to forgive him and then Paul

said, this is my whole heart. That'd be like, saying this.

Maybe like me saying, brother, Reuben, I'm asking you from the

bottom of my heart. That'd be like saying this to,

by the way. I love my family with all my

heart. That's the kind of heart we're

talking about now, this word heart does not mean the mind.

Oh, we're going to get to the mind in a minute, but this word

heart does not mean the mind. This word heart means, loving

emotion and affection, but let me tell you what we've done.

Sometimes we become afraid to show emotion.

You know why? Because of the charismatic

movement from a historical standpoint that had a tremendous

influence and impact on Christian professing religions

in the 1950s and the 1960s. And when charismatic movement

came in the idea was is don't just follow the word of God.

Truth doesn't come from the word of God.

Truth comes from experience or truth.

Comes from emotion. So basically this

experientialism came in and people were looking for some

kind of religious experience and emotionalism came in and people

were Guided by their emotions. So basically here was the deal,

this guy thought it was this way.

This guy thought it was that way and everybody's right there is

no problem because it's based on experience and emotion and

because of that because of that we become a little Robotic

sometimes in mechanical and don't show any emotion at all,

afraid to show any kind of emotion.

Now I'll tell you this, a religious practice that is based

upon emotion is not adequate. But also, at the same time, a

religious practice, that is robotic.

And mechanical with no feeling at all.

Is also inadequate. And you know what, I get to name

drop Jesus, I didn't say that. Jesus did in John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

He said he said that God is a spirit and they that worship Him

must worship Him in both spirit. And in truth, it's both.

It can't be based on emotion, but you have to All of your

emotion in it. You know how you love, God, you

got to pour your guts out. You got to pour your heart out

to God. That's every fiber of your

emotion. Every fiber of your affection.

That's what it means to love God, with all of your heart

emotions are important. Let me give you some passages

that speak about emotions, Luke chapter, 10, and verse 20,

nevertheless, do not rejoice in this.

That the spirits are subject to To you, but rather Rejoice

because your names are written in heaven.

That's emotion. Here's another one.

Romans 12 and 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with

those who weep. That's emotion, Philippians 4,

and 4, rejoice in the lord. Always, again, I say rejoice,

Matthew 9:36, but when they saw the multitudes, he went and

Matthew 9:36

moved with compassion for them because they were weary and

Scattered like sheep, having no Shepherd.

That's a motion one more though and we're going to make a we're

going to make a practical application of this passage in

Psalm 122 and 1. The Bible says I was glad when

they said to me let us go to the house of the Lord.

I'm going to tell you, we don't want to have a chaotic.

Distraction, when we come into the assembly and it is true that

we don't want to have some sort of irreverent, chaos going on.

But I like what my good buddy? Don King says I love this.

He said I don't think the Lord wants us to come into the

assembly looking like we're going to a funeral I mean, we

just wanted this to be so solemn.

Like, we're going into a funeral.

You know, even when during our worship, even when we gather

around this table and we do. So in the communion to

commemorate, the death burial and resurrection of Jesus, that

is a solemn time. I'll obviously it is.

And when we reflect back and the communion is about reflection

when we reflect back on, what Jesus did.

We are sometimes moved. Sometimes we sadness because of

what the Lord went through. But make no mistake about it, we

Rejoice because he's the only hope and because he did those

things and died on the cross for our sins.

We rejoiced because now we have hope of everlasting life.

It's a wonderful time. It's not a chaotic time.

It's not an irreverent. Time, it is not a disrespectful

time, but worship is the fat is a happy time.

Let it be that we would say that I was glad or we were glad.

When they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord.

I'll tell you this to folks in life as we take the gospel, to

those that are lost. We have to reach people's

hearts. You can't just have cold

formality and expect people to be moved.

I know that, for example, from Acts chapter 2, when the very

Acts 2 · chapter mention

first gospel sermon was being preached for the first time

where it gave man, an opportunity to respond first

time in x 2. And in verse 36, the Bible says,

let all the house of Israel, know, assuredly that God hath

made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and

Christ. The next verse says, when they

heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said to Peter

and the rest of the Apostles men and Brethren.

What shall we do? What happened?

The word of God reached their heart.

Got to reach people's hearts. That's why people don't change

things in their life either also like Christians.

Sometimes it have things going on in their life and they can't

seem to put God first. It's because they can't change

their heart. We have to change the heart.

All of the other things, take care of itself.

If we change the heart, how do we love God?

We love God with all of our heart.

But number two, Jesus says, we have to love him with all of our

soul. Now, the word soul is very

interesting word. Soul, your soul is your Eternal

being. It is something that you have,

it is you, by the way, it's your identity.

Because when you die, the body's going to go back to the Earth,

the life force or the spirit will go back to God, who gave

it, but what will continue to live on is your soul?

Have you ever stopped to consider that your soul?

Your Eternal being will exist Always Forever somewhere.

In fact, we think of all those that have passed away in the

last several years think about all those wonderful friends and

family members and Brothers and Sisters in Christ that have died

and are no longer here with us. We could start from Phil Kelly

where he sat in the front Wing, go down each row, we can find

members that were once here that have passed away.

But we Rejoice because they still exist somewhere and

they're waiting for the resurrection to have their

resurrected body to go to heaven.

The soul lives on forever. So we understand that the soul

is your identity. That's who you really are that

your Eternal being. But what's it actually mean,

though, specifically in this context to love God, with all of

your soul, the word soul is translated as life.

In other words, it is life. And the actual Greek word means

life and breath. That's an amazing passage.

In other words, if I'm going to love God properly, I have to

love him with all of my emotion and affection.

That's number one. Then that's going to be

demonstrated and what my life, my very life.

And you know what also is here, what's implied here?

Also, if I'm going to love God with all of my life, that also

means this I'm going to love God.

Even if it cost me my life. Remember in the Book of

Revelation. Remember the church at Smyrna,

the persecuted Church. remember that Jesus says, you're going to

have tribulation 10 days But be thou faithful unto death and I

will give you a Crown of Life. Remember that?

When we studied that unto death obviously would mean if you want

to apply it this way until you die obviously.

But specifically in the context hear what he was saying is love

God serve God be faithful to God even if it cost you your life.

Even if it's under death, even if you lose your life, that's

also what it means to love God, with all of your soul.

This is sacrificial living in Romans, chapter 12 and verses 1

Romans 12 · chapter mention

and 2. I beseech, you, therefore

Brethren by the mercies of God, that you present, your bodies, a

Living Sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your

reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world but be

transformed by the renewing of your mind.

That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect

will of God. Let us talk about being

transformed to things. He says don't be conformed to

the world. Now he's talking to Christians

so he's talking about a growth process here.

He says, don't be conformed to the world but then he says be

transformed. And then he says how by the

renewing of your mind. So in other words, the word of

God is the source and I have to be transformed you know the word

transformed actually means it comes from the Greek word

metamorpho and it's Where we get the word metamorphosis, and I'm

not talking about him, sex bugs, and amphibians and all that.

I'm going to give you a second definition of metamorphosis and

I'll tell you, it fits, listen to this.

It is the changing of a person to a completely different

person. That's what it means to be

transformed. I'm going to change myself into

a whole nother self. I'm going to be different,

that's what it is, by the renewing of my mind.

Listen, if you are not changing in your life and you're not

changing your life. It's because you are not

following the word of God being transformed by the renewing of

your mind, got to do it. Got to renew the mind.

Here's another passage Matthew 16:25 for whoever desires to

Matthew 16:25

save his life, will lose it. But whoever loses his life for

my sake, will find it. First Corinthians, 10 and 24?

Let no one seek his own but each one, the others well-being.

In other words, if I'm going to love God with all of my soul, I

must be willing to give everything that I have in my

life devoted to his service. Even if If it cost me my life,

all right? Now I'm going to say this, I

thought of this yesterday just kind of hit me.

I was looking over this passage Yeah, sometimes people say that

all that really matters, all that really matters.

Really is kind of your opinion and how you feel.

And we understand that he says you got to love God with all

your heart. Got all that got that, all your

soul got that. But if that was the only thing

that mattered, then why did Jesus list the mine?

Next It has to have a basis. It has to have a standard.

That's the third thing. I have to love God, with all of

my mind that has to do with intellect or knowledge to love

God as we should. It must be done through

knowledge. If we are biblically ignorant,

we have some work to do. Now, I'm going to tell you,

there is a difference between being ignorant because you just

don't know. And when I say that word in that

capacity that is not a criticism that is not a put-down.

There are things in my life that I am.

Ignorant of why? I just don't know them.

Nothing wrong with that. And there's times also in a

Christians life, when they are ignorant because they just don't

know. When a babe in Christ comes from

the Waters of baptism and Rises to walk in newness of life.

There's going to be a period of time when they're going to be

ignorant of some things. But there's a difference between

being ignorant, meaning you just don't know yet and being

willfully. Ignorant because of willful

rejection, big difference. Now, the only way that I can

love God, with all of my mind has to be when I gained

knowledge of his word, that's the only way.

That's the only way. Romans 10 and 3, for they being

ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their

own righteousness. Have not submitted to the

righteousness of God. Listen to this also fees ins for

and 18. This is an example of willfully

ignorant, having their understanding darkened, being

alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is

in them because of the blindness of their heart.

Remember a few years ago, I preached a sermon I talked

about. The word agnostic.

Okay. Hurt.

Somebody use that the other day again, And the word agnostic,

it's not an atheist because an atheist boldly says there is no

God. And the Bible says that a man

that says there is no, God is a fool.

So there are other people that don't want to be that Brazen in

bold. So what they do is they say you

know what, I just going to say I don't know.

I'm going to say, I don't know. I'm an agnostic.

In other words, it is a willful choice, and I'm going to say

that I'm in the category of a not.

Knowing I'm going to ride the fence.

That's what I'm going to do. Remember when I told you, what

the Latin equivalent was for the word agnostic, the Latin

equivalent is the word ignoramus.

Yeah, you see there's a difference between being

ignorant because you just don't know yet and being an ignoramus

because you've made a choice. Why is willful ignorance wrong?

Why is willful ignorance? A sin?

Willful ignorance is a sin because willful ignorance is

always attached to willful rejection.

Oh, but if I'm going to love God, as I should, with all of my

mind. It's going to take knowledge,

it's going to take knowledge. In other words, the more

knowledge that we get, the more we'll be able to love him with

our mind in Hosea 4:6, my people are destroyed for lack of

Hosea 4:6

knowledge because you have rejected knowledge.

I also will reject you from being priest for me.

So, to love God, with all of our minds, we have to study acts, 17

and 11, These were more fair-minded than those in

thessalonica, in that, they received the word with all

Readiness and searched the Scriptures Daily to find out

that these things were. So one more passage along this

line. Second Timothy 2:15 from the

2 Timothy 2:15

King James Study to show thyself approved by God a worker that

needeth not to be ashamed. Rightly dividing, the word of

Truth, our minds have to be filled with truth.

Now, I had this on a screen. I had this on a slide, we're

just going to emphasize the point.

I just got a with the point is it's going to emphasize the

point. Don't ever let somebody tell

you, there's no such thing as truth. don't ever let anybody

convince you or talk you into the fact that there is no such

thing as absolute truth because there is And if two people

disagree on a non biblical subject, a foundational biblical

subject, it means one of them is wrong or they're both wrong.

I don't understand it. We understand that, you know

what? I was in school.

You take an exam and you get an answer.

There. Is it?

True? False true.

Nope. Got it wrong.

You was false. I never had a teacher.

Say to me. Oh, Frank, what's okay?

Cuz you see it that way, maybe you felt it that way.

That's okay. So everybody's right false or

true, everybody's right. Doesn't make any sense and in no

other aspect of life, do we ever find that?

But when we come to religion, sometimes, that's where we find

that. It's okay.

You can believe that and I can believe this.

It's okay. We're both right?

No, here's the point. If two people disagree on a

foundational biblical principle, It could only mean that one of

them are wrong or they both are wrong but they can't both be,

right? Least give you me give you some

Bible. Now, have how we are commanded.

To be filled with truth, second, John verse 4.

I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children

Walking In Truth as we have received commandment from the

father. 3rd, John verse 34. I rejoiced greatly when Brethren

are and testified of the truth that is in you just as you walk

in the truth. So we can't love God.

With all of our mind without understanding and knowing.

Truth number four, With all of our strength.

Now, you can read Scholars and they will pretty much all agree

that we're not talking about physical strength.

When it talks about strength, we are talking about spiritual

strength, okay? So you're going to love God with

all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your

strength. What kind of strength is it?

Well, like, I just said spiritual strength, but it's

spiritual strength. That is manifested and

demonstrated in action. It has to be, it's demonstrated

in action. And the action.

Is this your abilities? It's your talents.

That's number one, you demonstrate that with your

talents, I don't have time to go into Matthew chapter 25 and you

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

all know about the story when Jesus gave the parable of the

talents, we understand that we touched on talents a little bit

last week. But let me just say this, the

people that were there, the, the characters in the story.

This is what Jesus said. One, got 51.

Got to one got one. Okay, so whatever you had What

was required? What was required was their

best? The guy that had five, he got

ten big guy that too. He got four.

The guy that had one, he got nothing. you know, the little

more than happy if that man would have got to Even though

it's only two. In other words, it's everything

you have remember, remember our goals here, it begins with

behavioral goals. That's personal goals.

That's when you take an introspective view of yourself

and you work to get better, then what happens, you understand

here are my talents and abilities and then you go fill a

function. And when we have members of the

body of Christ, fulfilling behavioral goals and functional

goals, guess what we're doing collectively together.

Now as the body of Christ, we are achieving our congregational

goals. Everybody has a part.

Every part in all of that everybody has that our

abilities. Our talents must be used for the

Lord. I want to make one other little

point about talents. I have seen people, I've seen

young men, That really got up there.

One of the speak so bad. Someone had to be preacher

someone to be congregational teachers.

And they had the courage to do it and they got up and they

struggled. A little bit, they didn't have a

whole lot of what you would call, maybe natural ability.

But what do they do? They kept working at it and

working at it, and working at it, and working at it, and

working at it, you know, what happens?

Ten Years Later. Hey, hey, the same guy, Hey,

it's same guy at all. 20 years later.

Not the same guy. There are some abilities that

you may have that are not readily apparent and you will

only know if you try, you will only know if you go to work.

So, the first way we have to demonstrate our strength, with

all of our strength is in our abilities.

Secondly, in our giving and that does include money.

Second Corinthians 8 beginning in verse 2.

And then also verse 5, that in a great trial of Affliction, the

abundance Hundreds of their joy and the Deep poverty abounded in

the riches of their liberality and not only as we hoped but as

they first gave to them self to the Lord and then To Us by the

will of God another passing second Corinthians 9 verse 7 and

2 Corinthians 9:7

verse 12. So let each one give as he

purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity for

God, loves a cheerful Giver verse 12 for the administration

of this service. Not only He supplies the needs

of the Saints, but also is a bounding through many

thanksgivings to God. We have to give of our self.

We have to give of our abilities.

We have to give of our money, all that stuff, it's every part

of us. And finally number three, this

is the hard one. We have to give our self Gotta

Give ourself. You ever have somebody that you

love like a one of your children or grandchildren and it's your

birthday and they give you a gift.

What would you rather have? Would you rather have them buy

something and give it to you? Or would you rather have them

make it and give it to you? I think everybody would rather

have them make it. Or what about this?

What if I gave Taylor, when she was little some money to buy

something for Tina. That's wonderful.

Thank you, thank you. But what if it was her own

money, what if she got that money?

Was she earned that money. Spend her own money.

She gave of herself. The gift just became better.

Sometimes giving of our self is difficult, but that's the

greatest way you can give to God.

That's the greatest way that you can demonstrate your love for

God by way of all your strength is to give of yourself in

Ephesians 5:15. And 16 see them that you walk

Ephesians 5:15

circumspectly, not as fool's but as wise get this Redeeming the

time because the days are evil Colossians 4 and verse 5 walk in

wisdom toward those that are outside Redeeming, the time What

does God want? What's your time?

He wants your time. There's 168 hours in a week. we

give him so little There's 168 hours in a week.

I saw a preacher when time get on a board and you 168, they

said well, you know, broke down, what we have to do, okay?

And in all of that, and that week, he put that eight hours of

work and what you got to sleep, you got eight hours sleep and

you got, there were still a ton of hours left.

And sometimes we say we just don't have time.

Loving God, with all of your strength is to love him with

your time. So in conclusion, We need to

understand that we cannot love God as we should unless we love

him. With all of our heart and

remember, loving him, with all of our heart memes, with all of

our emotion, and all of our affection, what kind of love is

agape love. It's comanded love.

So I need to have commanded love for God, with all my heart.

Number two, with all my soul. If I feel that in my heart and

with all my emotions and all my affections for God, you know

what's going to happen? It will demonstrate that love

through my very life. That's the soul.

It's going to be based on something to not just my own

wishes. It's going to be based on the

word of God and I'm going to be transformed and I'm going to be

changed and I'm going to be willing to submit myself to God

and love him with all of my mind and all of that leads to the

next part, with my abilities, with my money, with my time,

with my efforts, that's the strength part.

And I will love God with all of my strength.

With. We thank you for listening to

our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.

Road in Bakersfield, if you would like any additional

information, or you would like to receive a free Bible

correspondence, course by mail. Please email us at info at her

Church of Christ Bakersfield.com.

Our service times are on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and

Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. Please make plans to join us.

We would love for you to be our honored guest.