As
we talk about loving God Jesus sets a pretty high standard - "Love the
Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence." Our
passion comes from our heart, our prayers come from our soul, and our
intelligence comes from our mind. Jesus says that we need to love God with our
whole being. As we serve others we are showing our love for God. As we spend time
in prayer and listing to God we grow our relationship with and strengthen our
love for God. As we read and study God's word we get a better understanding of
who God is and again our love deepens. Loving God with our passion, prayers and
intelligence leads us to a stronger, deeper relationship with and love for God.
In
my life this is how I live these principles out - two things I want to be clear
about 1) I don't always succeed in doing these things but I do the best I can
and 2) It is up to each of you to determine for yourselves how this will look
in your life. The passion God is stirring in my heart to the desire to come
along side people in their journey through life and help them in their
struggles. I show my love of God by doing my best to put this passion into
action. I have been serving the last four years at Lino Lake state prison
working with offenders in the IFI program to better understand their beliefs
and values and make sure that they are Biblically grounded. At work I help
faculty better understand the use of technology are they prepare our future
Christian leaders. I am being trained as a Hopelink minister to come along side
a person who is in a rough patch of their life and listen to them for a while.
I try and model a Christ-like life for my kids. All these acts of service come
out of my God given passion of serving others.
I
have come to a deeper understanding of prayer and how vital it is in ones life.
To be honest I haven't really taken a lot of time to develop this spiritual
discipline in my life. God is working on me to change this. True prayer, not
the wish list prayer, is what God desires so that He and I can have
conversations together. Remember in prayer it is a two way street, don't only
talk to God but be sure and take the time to listen for God's still small
voice. I take time away from life to go on spiritual retreats where God and I
can spend time together alone. Finally, I do my best to spend an hour or so
every morning quietly waiting upon the Lord. I read, pray, ponder, and write.
These things all add to and show my love for God by simply spending time with
Him.
I
confess that I am an educational junky or as I am referred to in higher
education, a life long learner. I have four post-secondary degrees, a graduate
certificate, and I am working on my DMin (Doctor of Ministry). I enjoy digging
into Biblical text to understand what the author is saying and then convey that
information to other. It is through these intellectual endeavors that my
understanding of God has grown and by default my love of God has grown. This
educational experience is not so I can get a bunch of letters after my name,
rather it is about the transformation that God is causing in me. It is about me
trusting God, being obedient to His word, and allowing Him to complete a good
work in me. It doesn't matter if you are pursuing God through a degree or not,
rather the question is Are you pursuing God at all? Are you allowing God to
transform you into the new creatiom you already are through Christ?
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