{"id":1994,"date":"2020-01-02T09:37:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T17:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1994"},"modified":"2020-01-02T09:37:34","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T17:37:34","slug":"devotion-deuteronomy-64-7-taking-the-high-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1994","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Deuteronomy 6:4-7 Taking The High Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deuteronomy 6:4-7\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0\u201cHear, O Israel:\u00a0The\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Lord<\/i><\/span>\u00a0our God, the\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Lord<\/i><\/span>\u00a0is\u00a0one!\u00a05\u00a0You shall love the\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Lord<\/i><\/span>\u00a0your God with all your heart,\u00a0with all your soul, and with all your strength.\u00a0 6\u00a0\u201cAnd\u00a0these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.\u00a07\u00a0You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when<\/i><\/span>\u00a0you rise up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew 22:37-40<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0<\/span>Jesus said to him,\u00a0\u201c\u2018You shall love the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.\u2019\u00a038\u00a0This is\u00a0the\u00a0first and great commandment.\u00a039\u00a0And\u00a0the\u00a0second\u00a0is\u00a0like it:\u00a0\u2018You shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u2019\u00a040\u00a0On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.<\/i><\/p>\n

One of the stories my favorite non-biblical, but traditional stories passed down from early Christian historians is one about the Apostle John in his old age.\u00a0\u00a0In his later years the aged Apostle was weak and no longer had the endurance to stand and preach to the congregation.\u00a0\u00a0Of course the congregation still yearned to hear a word from the last surviving apostle of the Lord Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0So the Elders helped him to stand before the congregation and he told them \u201cLove one another\u201d and then he sat down.\u00a0\u00a0The congregation knew from Deuteronomy in the Old Testament and from the Gospels in the New Testament that Jesus had plainly taught that to love God with all that we are, and to love each other as one loves oneself, were the highest commands (Mark 12:31<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0In fact all of scripture hangs on these two commandments (Matthew 22:40<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0The congregation exploded with hearty agreement and were very blessed.\u00a0\u00a0Again the next week the elders helped the Apostle John to stand before them and again he said \u201cLove one another.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The congregation was again blessed.\u00a0\u00a0However, in the following weeks, as the Apostle John was brought forward and kept repeating the same message, some in the congregation began to wonder if the Apostle\u2019s mind had slipped.\u00a0\u00a0So some from the congregation approached the elders and asked if they might encourage the Apostle to tell them something different.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So the Apostles came to John and told him that they agreed with the high calling of love, but would he now tell them another important message.\u00a0\u00a0Apostle John responded \u201cWhen they have learned the lesson to love, I will say something else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wow!\u00a0\u00a0The above story always reminds me, of course first considering scripture, that we are to first love God and then to love one another.\u00a0\u00a0This is the high command from God.\u00a0\u00a0Family this has become, in the thought of too many, to be almost a trite saying.\u00a0\u00a0Some tire of hearing the important message of love.\u00a0\u00a0Too many lead churches by following or creating new programs and systems.\u00a0\u00a0They err in thinking that is how a church will grow.\u00a0\u00a0Some forget that all things are based on the love of God and our love for one another.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They forget that Jesus said that the world will know us by our love for one another (John 13:35<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Responding to the love of God is our high calling.\u00a0\u00a0Serving Him is our high calling.\u00a0\u00a0Filled with love we love each other and that is our high calling.\u00a0\u00a0Some may think there is a more powerful word, or deeper sermons or teachings but God has clearly told us that love is the high calling.\u00a0\u00a0It is the love of God that saves us (John 3:16<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Running churches with good business principles is fine, but love is the high calling.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Learning from what other churches do and being led by God to do likewise, may be fine, but love is the high calling.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Following rules is for babies and neophytes.\u00a0\u00a0Living from a God changed heart overflowing with His love is our high calling.\u00a0\u00a0A Holy Spirit heart begins with love an does not any of God\u2019s laws (Galatians 5:22-23<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Family and Friends love God more than life itself and love ourselves no more than we love each other.\u00a0\u00a0That is the high calling from God!\u00a0\u00a0Is that simple?\u00a0\u00a0Yes.\u00a0\u00a0God kept it simple in hopes that we would understand and live by it.\u00a0\u00a0However, still we struggle to remember and live fully in it.\u00a0\u00a0Beloved Family and Friends let us love God and love one another and let us teach our children that there is no higher calling.\u00a0\u00a0That it is the most important thing in life.\u00a0\u00a0In that way we most highly love and praise our God!\u00a0\u00a0Indeed, in love, praise God!<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deuteronomy 6:4-7\u00a0–\u00a0\u201cHear, O Israel:\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0our God, the\u00a0Lord\u00a0is\u00a0one!\u00a05\u00a0You shall love the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your God with all your heart,\u00a0with all your soul, and with all your strength.\u00a0 6\u00a0\u201cAnd\u00a0these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.\u00a07\u00a0You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[1872,1969,100,93,101,94,1874,17],"class_list":["post-1994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-deuteronomy","tag-galatians","tag-john","tag-mark","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1994"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1995,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994\/revisions\/1995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}