HE told me once.
HE told me twice.
And HE won't stop telling me~
"I want ALL of you".
BUT I respond with a
"BUT GOD,
what do you mean by my ALL?
"JESUS replied: ’Love the LORD your GOD with ALL your heart
and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind'"(Matthew22:37).
Oh how I question the word ALL
as GOD is asking me to put HIM
first,
second,
third....
JESUS wants my ALL~
"constituting the full quantity or extent; complete" (logos).
Oh how I live on the fence
when I crave
LOVE from others who are unable to LOVE me like I want to be LOVED
&
PEACE from doing the something to alleviate anxiety
&
HOPE from things that I want to happen when I want them to happen.
And then JESUS reaches out HIS hand and says
"Follow ME" (Matthew 16:24).
Oh how I get easily distracted
when I feel HIS gentle tap on my shoulder,
yet I feel the tap of my own expectations on my other shoulder.
"But JESUS told him, 'Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him
is not fit for the Kingdom of GOD'" (Luke 9:62).
And all it takes is for me to answer
HIS call
by
FIXING my eyes on the ONE whose eyes are FIXED on me,
from the moment I gave my life to HIM because HE gave HIS life for me.
Oh how easily it is to get distracted to want more than
JESUS in this life
when we take our eyes off of
HIM.
When ALL HE is asking
is for us to
LOVE with our ALL
so then we become
distracted by HIM
that we LOVE others with HIS LOVE
&
we experience PEACE that transcends all understanding
because HE becomes our HOPE
so that there is no room for
anyone or anything to steer us from the TRUTH~
“If you abide in MY word [continually obeying MY teachings and living in accordance with them, then] you are truly MY disciples. And you will know the truth [regarding salvation], and the truth will set you free [from the penalty of sin]"
(John 8:31-32).
It sounds so silly when you think about it,
as JESUS is just asking us to
"Love the LORD your GOD with ALL your heart and with
ALL your soul and with ALL your mind'" (Matthew 2:27).
Why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't you?
Why wouldn't everyone?
For
LOVE GIVEN. LOVE RECEIVED. CHANGES YOU.
GOD isn't stealing LIFE from us.
HE is giving us our LIFE back.
I will never look at the word
ALL
the same
because it is all about the
"GOODNESS OF GOD" (listen to the song below)