To Know Jesus is to Love Him, Part 3

If you leave loving Jesus to your emotions or to your feelings. You got to be in a whole world of hurt. Trust me, but for love to be a lasting and everlasting. It has to begin and ends in the mind because emotions at low emotions of mercurial emotions can go up and down and that is why Jean love can only begin and can only be as assigned by the power of commitment and commitment takes place in the mind. Thank you for joining Dr. Michael is as he is teaching through a life-changing series called to know Jesus is to love him, offering keys to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with this is leading the way you look at loving him with your mind leading the way is listener supported ministry you can stand with Dr. you set in prayer and too generous. Getting when you call us 866-626-4356, and online. LTW.org now though. Taking a few years Dr. Michael you set back in the 90s Christians begun to wear a bracelet written on it. WW JD the stands for what would Jesus do often become popular among Christians. All of a sudden, some enterprising marketers turn a well-intentioned concept into a fascia and a big business. Some celebrities began to wear these bracelets. WW JD one of those celebrities like the three of them together wearing the sling and the cameraman just comes in is no what is this me. What was that thing you were all yeah W the what is a stand for that absolutely have no clue what it means. That is not strange to human nature because back in the Old Testament the something was happening.

God has pointed out to Israel again and again special love the Lord your God with all your heart, real soul. You want some so strength and your neighbor as yourself.

Years later, some enterprising rabbis put it together and they called it Schama can you say Schama and another group later on, Kim, and I know said that Schama is so important.

We must insist that everybody would recited twice a day once a week plus of that and they did that one-sided. But like those who wearing the bracelet WW JD hello, what's good for they did not understand the depths of the Schama is all about that recited it twice a day, but their lives where is far from loving God and their neighbor as it can get so much so that when God appeared in the flesh, the one is been promised and all of the pages of the Old Testament Scripture to becoming God in human flesh, the Messiah.

Not only that they did not recognize him, but they crucified him what they were saying with their lips. There were denying by their lives what they were declaring publicly. They were not practicing it personally sounds familiar sounds familiar. There is no difference between the Jews and the time of Jesus in our day.

How come think about think with me these professing Christians who see the Christian songs and they spend millions on Christian CDs, yet they don't live the very words that they say they know exactly what the Jews were doing the thumb of Jesus now to bring this closer to home, because I don't point fingers up one finger at me.

I have to confess to you, there are many times, particularly in the past when we would begin to sing a song and then I stop singing and I start trying Lord, do I really believe this coming, do I really intend to keep these promises.

Do I really practice these words do I really live up to the song I really mean this song and not begin to realize that what I'm singing is a lie song that we often mold me, make me really do you want Jesus to mold you. I remember several times I'll stop as a load. I'm not going to sailing on this. I really mean this husbands do you know what you're saying when you say mold me and make me you are saying that I am going to put my wives best interest ahead of mind every time wives do you know what you're saying when you say mold me you say I'll never submit the my husband spiritual authority every time young people. Students listen to when you say mold me and make me you are saying about my parents unconditionally, not only when I agree with him workers when using mold me. Are you willing to submit to your authority earthly authority and the list goes on and on and on. Really draw me this I want you to turn with me to Matthew 22. The Sadducees is a Jewish sect that did not believe in the resurrection that if you miss that word resurrection you missed the whole point. They did not believe in the what resurrection they like the secular humanist of our days are the only value.and that is why we going to see this very hypothetical case that they're bringing to Jesus is a very cynical and evil attempt to trick Jesus coming up with this hypothetical case. Jewish law said when a man dies without leaving children than the brother marries him this little guy going down for seven times in the resurrection. What what resurrection you don't believe the resurrection it's a trick and they can put it over Jesus they're trying but they couldn't, then the resident whose wife is in Jesus. Silence here really literally the word mean he shut them up and then it tells of our God is the God of the living, not the God of the dead. And if you don't believe the resurrection then your padded boys, rough translation, but you get what I mean and so look at verse 34. The Pharisees bless their hearts there watching Jesus's every move. I'm in the try to manipulate him so many times you can't miss it. If you read the Gospels because the thought manipulated because of try to trick him because the product get a mental charge of her summoner constantly under watching from around the very clever guys there watching for what they said and then my getting. But when they saw that he shut the Sadducees up said well let's see if we can try.

There were sworn enemies, the Sadducees, and the five of the two main sects. The Sadducees were much smaller group than the Pharisees.

The Pharisees were a larger group and they figured out a way not much for Jesus. We keep everything try to trick him. He beat us by our own day customer questions and will let me ask you this, and so they fail and they said the theologians and the preachers have failed what to do or what to do or what to do when everything else fail get a lawyer liberal lawyer in this lawyer tend to trick Jesus because at least they felt.

He's a much and so the lawyer comes to him and he says Rabbi which is the greatest commandment. The idea is for the purpose of this is to pin Jesus down on the heretical charge if he said the first of the seven silver mines you don't treat them all equally Hennessey charge and he thought he was going to come up with one of the 10 commands but instead Jesus told him the very words of the Schama that they recited twice a day. In particular, these folks that recited it twice a day you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind or your strength and some translation in your neighbor as yourself. Now in this series of messages to know Jesus is to love him and in the last message I showed you three obstacles loving Jesus more deeply every day to loving Jesus more intimately every day. Today I want to talk with you about loving Jesus with your mind loving him with your mind why the mind is so important, why listen to me because the mind is the seat of the intellect. The mind is the seat of determination. The mind is the seat of willful vigor.

The mind is the seat of commitment. So what well if you leave loving Jesus to your emotions, what your feelings.

You gotta be in a whole world of hurt. Trust me, and that is why we have some messed up marriages because some people get into marriage with their emotions and I'm not with her mind, but for love to be a lasting and everlasting. It has to begin and ends in the mind. It has to begin and ends with commitment begins and ends with the termination. Why, because emotions and blood flow emotions of mercurial emotions can go up and down and that is why I truly love can only begin and can only be sustained by the pound of commitment and commitment takes place in the mind. If you want to grow in intimacy with Jesus want to grow in love with Jesus every day, it has to be a continuous active, continuous act of the will. It has to be a continuous active determination has to be a continuous act of mental and willful decision you cannot believe it to your feelings. You cannot leave it to your moods.

They cannot believe it to your circumstances. You cannot leave it to when you can get around to it.

It has to be the priority of your times. It has to be the priority of your energy. It has to be the priority of your money. It has to be the produce of your thinking it has to be the priority of your decision-making. It has to be the priority of all of your dreams and your longing, new books were written about ordering your priorities reorder your priorities and seminars and conferences. I'm sure some of you have gone to these like I did you go to the seminars and you read this books and always tell you that priorities in life must be call no never say God call family work in church on the more domino this soon as I was the pastor and I was really messed up with my partner struggling that issue and I saw this and that's all you gotta do that. I gotta follow this.

I'm telling you is God, my witness, I have failed miserably in trying to keep up with this list.

He said why because God is invisible but everything else around me is visible and when the crimes came. Guess who gets shafted invisible one.

How well what got my attention. What took my time was occupied. My passion is what I could see with my physical eyes is what I could experience existential is what is urgent. Every time trumped out the important share with you from the painful experience of failure to love Jesus try to keep this list of priority because what happened, at least to me. You have succeeded in on the God bless you, that's fine. But to me the reason I failed is because Carl got crowded out and with it my desire to love him deeply and intimately.

Here's how the Lord began to teach me back those many years ago of changing the concept from a list. 1232. A bicycle wheel seat when Jesus is the actual around whom all the spokes of my priorities revolves when Jesus is the hub from whom all of my priorities emanate and go back to when Jesus is the very center of my life and all the although priorities form in place when you get the center right when you get the hub right when you get the axle right everything else will revolve around let me tell you something else while I'm at it when I used to sit my priorities is God's family, work, church used to lie often. Why because as I said I can go for days when God gets the short end of the stick when God gets a leftover when God got the crumbs.

God got shoved into a corner while I'm focusing on the urgent, urgent always get your attention in the important gets shoved in the background like the faces of all I restart the Schama twice a day marchesa singing songs, but I didn't live up to. So what does that mean to me what this is mean to me for Jesus to be the axle of all my priorities. How fun trying to love Jesus more deeply every day more intimately every day.

How do I love him with my mind. I want to tell you it meant for me to make a willful decision to give him the first fruit of the day, not the rotten fruit when I'm exhausted at night. You see, loving Jesus with my mind. It meant a willful decision to give him the first fruit of my money by systematically organizing it in a way so to avoid forgetfulness, loving Jesus was.

My mind means make a willful decision to stop and consult him before making any decision and I promise you, once you get on that habit you will develop a bill become a great habit for your life. Loving Jesus with.

My mind causes me to constantly make decisions with his reputation in mind, not mine. Wherever the start of house is going to impact me Hauser don't affect me.

I don't care about my reputation his reputation. All that matters.

Loving Jesus with.

My mind causes me to reorder my priority all my priorities of how I use the leftover money after my giving the first fruit that why I'm not wasteful, loving Jesus with my mind mean saying no to every and any opportunity that keeps me from worshiping with God's people on the regular basis and the list goes on and on and on. The last message I told you that to love Jesus deeply and to love him intimately, is to love what he loves to love what he loves. When you place what Jesus loves at the forefront of your mind, you will make the right decision. Every time I tell you when I don't do that. I blow it every time and I know it and that's what it means to love Jesus with your mind and soul and strength. In the next message rather show you how to love Jesus with your imagination because this is not a topic. Preachers preach on but it is vitally important, how to love Jesus with your imagination, but suffice it to say to love Jesus with all your mind. You have let the past be the past. Past failures past successes. I don't care what they are. Let the past be the past. You will not be able to move forward in loving Jesus deeply and intimately. You will not be able to grow in your love for Jesus, as long as these chains holding you back. As long as the tape recorder is playing in your head of all that happened in the past. You have to let the past be the past God can set you free from the past pain so that you begin to continue loving Jesus with your mind. Your mind has to be set free and only Jesus can set your mind free and not long ago I was reading about a man who went to see his doctor because he was concerned about some memory loss. The doctor did some tests and some examination and finally he given the results and he said them.

We cannot help you memory without the possibility of impairing your eyesight. The choice is yours and the man really struggled with the decision, and finally said to the doctor said Doc I would rather see where I'm going. Then remember what I have been a man what a wise man beloved, you can do that in loving Jesus with your mind, you cannot control what happened in the past, but you can place the past under the blood of Jesus then intentionally definitively decidedly that you love Jesus with your mind so we pray together wherever you are on the spiritual spectrum whether you know Jesus.

We don't know Jesus, the Holy Spirit have spoken to your convicted you would you act on that conviction or if you don't act on that conviction you going to remain hostage for the past. Past sin, past pain, whatever they may be. You don't know Jesus say Lord Jesus come into my life set me free you know Jesus theoretically and intellectually.

You understand everything in the Bible, but you still held back by the past. So Lord Jesus set me free soccer.

Love you all my father, we thank you are the God of grace and the grace is just unexplainable and I'm so grateful that it is full of it is explainable. I would be the recipient of the thank you that it is amazing, is astonishing. It is surprising in this wonderful that you grace flow among your people right here and around the world is people watching online. Thank you father that you are the God of power and might, you can accomplish far more than we can even make with rail this in Jesus name, Dr. Michael, you sat on today's leading the way, encouraging you to intentionally get intently and decidedly love Jesus with your mind and ensure that your spiritual journey. We have pastors who would love to speak with you. You can start the conversation at LTW.Ord/Jesus and before we completely ran out of time today that BSF is trying to steer the studio to talk just a little bit about his newest book. It's called never give up, and Dr. you set this book offers questions practical content about persevering in the face of trial. So what would you say are the greatest hurdles there keeping 21st century believers from persevering in their base of fate if you would take just a moment and speak to those challenges. I think the temptations that are facing the 21st century believers is the same temptation that Adam and Eve faced in the garden were all want to be like God, you want to be like God, do you want to be in control of your life. You want to be in charge or you going to surrender to the sovereign God and obey him because that's what surrender is obedience. God said don't do it. Adam and Eve said all but when they heard the devil tempting them as they were. You can be like him and they want to be in control one or obey God. And that's the same temptation from the days of the garden. Now it's accelerating now because of all the stimuli and all of the technologies in all of the things that visual things that we are experiencing, but it's the same temptation was visual program. This is the garden.

This is a tree.

This is what you really should be going for you got all the other trees, but this is a wonder God said don't do it. And so today people are doing the same thing for going for the tree but God says don't go there and so temptation is always the same temptation people of Israel. God said obey me alone worship me alone in this.

Well, you know, the rebel worshipers over there seem to be happy.

We want some of that happiness. So they went tempted to go that way so we are seeing it today. Lots of bails lots of extra off lots of foreign cards on the Internet everywhere you turn. So the temptation is the same and we need to be able to say regardless of what happens in regardless of who does what we like Joshua said as for me and my family. We shall worship the Lord. Get more details about matter That when you visit LTW.Ord LTW.org and you can also call and speak to a ministry representative and number is 8666264357866626357. This program is furnished by leading the way with Dr. Michael