When I was a little girl, I used to say to my parents, “I love you with all my heart”. Now I say it to my own child.
Where in the bible does it say ‘with all your heart’? It struck me that when God speaks about our heart, He speaks about all of our heart. It’s 100%. Not a watered down 50-50.
It’s all or nothing at all.
I’ve done a little study on where and how the bible talks about the whole heart. It talks about it in terms of loving God, acknowledging God, following God, trusting God, obeying God, revering God, working for and serving God, seeking God, praising God and worshiping God.
In every way, in every thing, we do it with all that we've got. When something is to do with the heart, it is to do with conviction and love, not conviction and duty.
Let these verses soak into your heart:
Proverbs 3:5-6 (New Kings James Version)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
(The Message)
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Mark 12:30 (New Life Version)
You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ This is the first Law.
Thought: This is the first spiritual law. Spiritual laws trump man-made law because that's where everything began. God does everything for our good. His commands are for our good and following them begins, for the believer, from a place of worship.
Deuteronomy 10:12 (Amplified Bible)
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear [and worship] the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul [your choices, your thoughts, your whole being],
(Living Bible)
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to listen carefully to all he says to you, and to obey for your own good the commandments I am giving you today, and to love him, and to worship him with all your hearts and souls?
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (The Message)
So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.
Psalm 9:1 (Easy-To-Read Version)
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart. I will tell about the wonderful things you have done.
(English Standard Version)
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 103:1 (The Voice)
O my soul, come, praise the Eternal with all that is in me—body, emotions, mind, and will—every part of who I am—praise His holy name.
Thought: Don’t hold back. Praise Him with every part of you. Extravagantly. There is not one part of me that shouldn’t praise God.
(New King James Version)
Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Jeremiah 29:13-14 (New King James Version)
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity;
Thought: Can you sense, and receive, His extravagant, earnest love for you? It changes our destiny!
Colossians 3:23-24 (New International Version)
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Thought: When we work for someone else it's usually for a reward; but with God, we serve Him because of who He is. The reward itself comes because of who He is not what we’ve done. We can’t understand that without a revelation of who He is. If you don't know it, pray for it. The desire to serve the Lord is a privilege every true follower relishes. Because it comes from a grasping of what He’s done for us and the love that is His foundation, no matter what.
(The Voice)
So no matter what your task is, work hard. Always do your best as the Lord’s servant, not as man’s, because you know your reward is the Lord’s inheritance. You serve the Lord, the Anointed One,
Joel 2:12 (New Life Version)
“Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to Me with all your heart, crying in sorrow and eating no food.
(Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)
Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored].
Thought: This is all about becoming complete. We can’t do that without being restored to Him. Gratitude comes deeply and profoundly once we’ve surrendered to the knowledge that He is all and in all.
What are we talking about here? Life is all about the heart. When our heart stops, our life stops. Our heart is where our life flows from. Essentially, the bible is saying, do everything as though our life depends on it! Everything depends on the state of our heart.
Look at what Proverbs says:
Proverbs 4:23 (New American Standard Bible)
Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.
Our heart dictates our thoughts and our thoughts require a sense of hope in life to be healthy. What if we lose hope?
Proverbs 13:12 (World English Bible)
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
Faith, hope, and love = life.
Let Christ dwell in your hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:16).
Ephesians 3:14-20 (New Life Version)
For this reason, I bow my knees and pray to the Father. It is from Him that every family in heaven and on earth has its name. I pray that because of the riches of His shining-greatness, He will make you strong with power in your hearts through the Holy Spirit. I pray that Christ may live in your hearts by faith. I pray that you will be filled with love. I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is. I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself.
God is able to do much more than we ask or think through His power working in us.
Read: Love With Your Heart
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