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Transcript

Love God: It’s All about Relationship · First15 Devotional

• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: This week, we're going to focus on the simplicity the Christian life is meant to be marked by.
• 0:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus summed up our purpose with two statements, love God and love people.
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: But in our humanity, we have made complex what God designed to be peaceful, purposeful, and simple.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: May we discover the peace and joy that come from pursuing a simple Christianity this week.
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the first 15 podcast.
• 1:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our Scripture for today comes from Matthew 22, verses 37 and 38, Scripture says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
• 1:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: The world is an exhausted place.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: We search constantly for what should be most important, or what deserves our attention from moment to moment.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: as the tides of societal values, ebb, and flow, so do our affections.
• 1:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: We invest value and love into that which offers us nothing in return.
• 2:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And unfortunately, the cares of this world have crept into the people of God.
• 2:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our gatherings are often marked by complexity and exhaustion.
• 2:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: with program goals and achievements.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: We make complex what God intended to be so blessedly simple.
• 2:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: We give our attention, energy and love to that which isn't always rooted in simply loving God.
• 2:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: When asked to highlight the most important commandment in all of Scripture, Jesus responded, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
• 2:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is the great and first commandment.
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: all of Christianity boils down to this one pursuit and because we are to pursue loving God and all we do, all of life boils down to this single pursuit.
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Every single thing we do, whether it involves work, family, friends, church, entertainment, school, or solitude, is meant to be marked
• 3:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of our days, the way we loved our heavenly Father will matter most.
• 3:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our love for God matters more than any achievement, success, or program.
• 3:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: It matters more than any possession, status, or relationship.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when we align our perspective with the first and greatest commandment, everything else
• 3:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: When we pursue loving God above all else, all other pursuits fall into their proper places.
• 4:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: We were not created to offer our affections to anyone or anything but God first and foremost.
• 4:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: To do otherwise is simply idolatry, and it will ruin the heavenly peace and simplicity God intends for his children.
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: We create our own golden calves and ask them to satisfy us in ways only God can.
• 4:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: We look to the world to offer us love it never had to begin with.
• 4:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: But your Heavenly Father is a wellspring of love and affection for you.
• 4:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: The commonly quoted verse John 316 says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: You will never be satisfied until you rest in the powerfully simple truth of Scripture that God has loved you and will always love you.
• 5:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you will never experience the fullness of what Christ died to give you until you respond to His ceaseless love by crowning Him Lord and loving Him with every fiber of your being.
• 5:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: May you come to realize the beauty and fulfillment of a life lived in pursuit of God above all else as you spend time in prayer.
• 6:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: As we begin, meditate on the first and greatest commandment.
• 6:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: allow scripture to be your foundation for truth in life.
• 6:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Matthew 22 verses 37 and 38 reads, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
• 6:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is the great and first commandment.
• 6:51
  [UNKNOWN]: Thank you very much.
• 7:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: and next, reflect on your own life.
• 7:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: What pursuits have become more important than loving God?
• 7:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: What are you giving energy and affection to, above relationship with your heavenly father?
• 7:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: What areas of your life are not being done as worship?
• 7:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am.
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: To see my glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
• 8:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: All right, just Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I made known to them your name and I will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.
• 9:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And last, confess your pursuits, and receive God's loving forgiveness.
• 9:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Crown him as Lord of your heart in life, and ask him to help you respond to his love with your own.
• 9:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ask the Spirit to help you do all that is set before you as worship to your king.
• 9:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Take time to give him your affections now, worship him, thank him, love him, offer him the deepest places of your heart.
• 9:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: 1st John 416 says, so we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
• 9:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: God is love and whoever abides in love, abides in God and God abides in Him.
• 10:16
  [UNKNOWN]: Thank you for watching.
• 10:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: you are created for worship, and until all that you do is done as a worship to God, you will not experience the fullness of peace, joy, and purpose available to you through Christ.
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Rest, fun, work, friends, family, and church are all to be filled with the joy of loving God and being loved by Him.
• 11:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: He is the God of fun, parties, rest, and love.
• 11:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: He has the absolute most abundant and joyful life in store for you.
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you will simply love Him first and foremost,
• 11:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: May you experience deeper relationship with your heavenly father today, and love him as he has loved you.
• 11:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's podcast.
• 11:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Josh Miller with verse 15.
• 12:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so excited to focus this week on seven simple and life-giving principles of our faith.
• 12:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to encourage you to try and make your primary focus loving God just for the rest of your day today.
• 12:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever the cares of the world overtake this focus, to try and gently just reorient your heart toward loving God first.
• 12:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for going on this journey of experiencing God together.
• 12:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have a wonderful rest of your day and may God bless you as you see him.