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I have been a Christian for over 45 years. These years have been filled with times of joy, celebration, tears and sometimes trying, difficult days. Some seasons in my life I have been on fire for the Lord with praying consistently, doing my devotions, serving for the kingdom and listening to the voice of God. Some seasons have been a little dry where I haven’t studied my word, prayed as often or served the Lord to the fullest extent. Now, I am in a place where the fire continues to kindle with my prayer life filled with so many opportunities to pray with various people at least five days a week and sometimes two or three times a day. But, even in the midst of my prayer life feeling like a blaze, I still have areas where I need to grow and study his word. No matter how long we have been a Christian, sometimes we can be on fire in some areas in our walk with God and in other areas barely be a spark. What I have learned in my short time as a Christian we must always take time to be with God on a daily basis. The scripture this morning comes from Mark 12:29-30, One of the teachers of the law?came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”29?“The most important one,”?answered Jesus,?“is this: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a]?30?Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”What does it mean to love? Love means an intense feeling of deep affection. What does it mean that God loves us? God woos us with His unconditional love for us, by creating, blessing, filling us with His breathe of life and extending his eternal grace and mercy upon us. His unconditional love demonstrates and teaches us about who God is and how much he loves us. God’s love enables us to get to know God and to begin to develop a lifelong relationship with Him. What does it mean to love God? We learn to love God by getting to know Him through establishing a relationship with Him. Once we cultivate the relationship with God we learn to praise and worship God. One way we express our love for him is through our ability to honor and glorify His holy name. All of this requires us spending time with God. If we are to love God with all of our heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, taking time to be with God is a must.Sometimes it is hard to love God by spending a lot of time with him because the world and the things of the world can take away from our time with our Lord. Television, podcasts, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other forms of social media can vie for our attention. The distractions of life that ranges from playing games, phone time and you fill in the blank can prevent us from seeking first the kingdom of God with all of our hearts. Video games have been entertaining people for well over 35 years, and though there have been countless titles, there are only a handful that have left a lasting impression on the world. Some games, like Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros., have had great influence on several generations, but there is one game that stands out as a fun and immersive experience, and that is Tetris.The way the?game works is simple, the player is fed variants of four blocks, which must be arranged in rows. ?When enough of them are lined up, they disappear. This opens up more space for more blocks to be stacked. As the game progresses, the blocks start dropping faster, making the game more challenging.?A young man said, Tetris is fun, but there is more to this game that just stacking pixels and trying not to allow them to stack up too high on the board. This game is a lesson on life he says, because life is full of stacking. In fact, a huge part of life is learning how to stack responsibilities and priorities, knowing that once you eliminate one set, a new set will take its place shortly.? Being a young man juggling work, a mortgage, two kids, a spouse, school, housework, and daily tasks, learning the art of stacking has never been more important in my life.?God is no stranger to the fact that life is a stacking game. In fact, He gives His children a set of priorities to follow. First, He lets His children know what is most important in the stack. When questioned by the Pharisees about which is the greatest commandment, Jesus simply replied:?“To love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind”?(Matthew 22:37). Right here, Jesus tells us how?to stack our priorities. He doesn’t end there. He also adds that the second greatest command is to?“Love your neighbor as yourself”?(Matthew 22:39). The main priority of this game we call life is a fervent love for God, followed by a fervent love for others.If you find yourself playing a game of?Tetris, take a few moments to look at how you are stacking things in your own life. As the blocks of responsibility and opportunity fall into your lap, how are you placing them in your life? As easy as it is, we have to stay away from making life all about entertainment, because the truth is that life is not all about entertainment; if that were the case God would have sent us an entertainer and not a Savior. Place God as your foundation, others as the next immediate priority, and your life will be stacked for real success. ?"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).?God still encourages and urges us to seek the Lord while He may be found; call on him while he is near according to Isaiah 55:6. Our determination and pursuit of the Lord should enable us to lay aside the things of the world and place our focus on Jesus Christ. Learning to love God requires a great commitment, faithfulness, dedication and relinquishing of our wills. God invites us to pursue Him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. Joyce Meyers in her devotional, Closer to God Each Day writes about the significance of pursuing the Lord. Our desire to draw near to God isn’t based on good works or following ritualistic practices, but because we crave a deeper relationship with Him. One way to crave a relationship with God is to carve out more time to spend with the Lord. First ponder his word; the psalmist says in 119:11 that “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin?against you.” Some times as Christians we can neglect the Word of God. We can read a few verses hurriedly but fail to take the time to ponder them, as we should. I have sometimes had seasons in my life were, I have hurriedly read the passages just to check off the list that I did my devotions for the day. This rushed way of doing devotions and reading the scripture passage can lead us feeling empty and void. Pondering the word means we will think about and mull it over to gain a deeper comprehension and appreciation for the revelation of God. God seeks fellowship with His children and gives them direction through His Word. We must respond by taking time to meditate on word. In Psalm 119:47-48 states, for “I delight?in your commands because I love them.?I reach out for your commands, which I love,?that I may meditate?on your decrees.”The second way to spend time and be with the Lord is to practice His ways. I.R. IIIingworth says, Christianity refuses to be proved first and practiced afterwards; its practice and its proof go hand in hand. Isaiah 2:3 says, “And he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” In today’s world many practice the ways of Satan more than the ways of God. They are self-centered, inconsiderate of others, unforgiving, and filled with hostility and hate. Unlike those followers of evil, we have been filled and anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, we must be careful to acknowledge the power of God. Charles Spurgeon says, “Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without the wind, branches without sap, and like coals without fire, we are useless.” I John 2:20 says, “but you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.” The anointing enables us to practice the ways of Jesus Christ. We realize our giftedness, our ability to serve God, and to be pleasing in His sight. We should be kind, helpful, understanding, forgiving and filled with God’s love. In giving God first place in our lives, we will be practicing His ways. The third way to take time to be with God is to possess His will. Colossians 4:12b “…?that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature?and fully assured.” We as Christians sometimes have difficulty following God’s will in certain areas of our lives, stubbornly clinging to our own desires. God wants first place in our lives when we surrender everything to Him, committing our will totally to His will. The Psalmist reminds us in 37:5 to “trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Finally, learn to participate in His work as a way to take time to be with the Lord. “I must work…while it is day; the night comes, when no man can work.” (John 9:4) Failure to participate in God’s work is evidence of luke warmness and lack of concern. We must take time for God by becoming involved in His kingdom, being faithful in church attendance when we can again and participating in the work of the church. A story is told about a man who once stood before God, his heart was breaking from the pain and injustice in the world. Dear God, he cried out, look at all the suffering, the anguish and distress in your world. Why don’t you send help? God responded, I did send help, I sent you. When we tell our children that story or when we are reminded of this story, remember that each one of us was sent to help repair the broken world---and that is not the task of an instant or of a year, but of a lifetime. We should share Christ with the unsaved, urging them to repent of their sins and confess Christ as Savior and Lord. (Matthew 9:37-38) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. I pray that we will take time to be with God by pondering His word, practice His ways, possess His will and participate in His work. Learn to fall in love with God by walking in the ways that lead to eternal life. In I John 1:24-25 states “See that you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us---even eternal life.” AmenGod bless you and take care. ................
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