Devotion - With all Your Strength

Luke 10:27

New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”

     Have you ever had one of those days with your kids where you feel like EVERYTHING you have struggled to teach them went out the window?  You know, when you feel exhausted because you have repeated yourself so many times that you wonder if the problem is that your children really don't understand the English language?  To me this is what loving with all your strength is supposed to feel like.  I mean, your not going to give up on your kids or stop trying to help them be their very best. 

    

     If you are a teacher of any kind, or have every tried homeschooling in any capacity you can probably understand this even better.  You talk about a topic, you repeat the topic, you recite the topic, the child recites it back, they repeat it after you, and then when you ask them what the topic is and they look at you like you have a large purple dot on the end of your nose.  So you do it ALL again....a couple of times... and still the same outcome.  It's exhausting!

The truth is, God does the same thing with us.  Jesus's story is told 4 times by 4 different people with 4 different perspectives (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John).  Yet we forget "what Jesus would do" CONSTANTLY!

The Good News, God doesn't give up on us either!

He expected us to need a little extra help, all he asks is that we return his love. We can do this, buy loving God EVEN MORE than we love our kids.  But think about it, if you want to raise respectful, honest, God loving children, you need to be a respectful, honest, God lover yourself. 

So get exhausted doing what is right by God.

Use all your strength to know God.  Do what is right at ALL TIMES.  FIGHT YOUR SELF and let God WIN in you!

Devoted - Heart and Soul

Luke 10:27

New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”

     When my husband and I were dating he used to tell me that he loved me "heart and soul".  To me this meant that his care for me extended beyond any physical concern and that he genuinely cared about my spiritual well being.  When I consider what loving someone "heart and soul" feels like I think about the first day back to work after each of my children were born.  I think about the trips that I have taken without my husband and how I longed just to be able to look at his face.  For me, it is that pit in my stomach that reminds me there is something wrong when I am not where that person needs me to be.   

     I honestly and truly believe that Shane is DEVOTED to me.  This doesn't mean that he always agrees with me, or even always likes me.  It also doesn't mean that he ALWAYS wants to be around me.  However, he is ALWAYS concerned  for me and if it came down to my needs or his I would win without fighting.  We have been a couple for well over 10 years now and he still writes "I love you Heart & Soul" on any card and has engraved it on several pieces of jewelery. And to be honest, I believe it!

It is a great feeling to know that someone is devoted to you. 

I don't fear rejection from him, even if he doesn't agree with my plans.  I don't worry about harsh penalties, even if I make him mad.  So who in your life are you devoted to?  Who ALWAYS wins? 

God wants us to have that same heart towards him!

God wants more than just to be on your heart.  He wants to be in your soul too. In order for him to be in your soul, you have to be open to the fact that he will ALWAYS win.  Even if you don't like what he says.  Even if you don't like what he is doing.  You never turn away, you never rethink your feelings, you never consider being without him.... This is Devotion to God. 

I'm still Devoted

So, due to technical difficulties with my modem I haven't posted in a few days, but I haven't stopped my personal journey on devotion and I am excited to share with you the things on my mind.  My next post with be on what this scripture mean to me in my understanding of DEVOTION and how I can relate it to relationships in my life.

Please read the scripture and post an example of how you can show this type of love to someone in your life!

Luke 10:27

New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”

Devotion ≠ Commitment

Yesterday's post was on Devotion equalling Love.  Today, I'm going to look a little bit about what Devotion isn't. 

Devotion is not a Commitment!

When we consider our commitment to something we weigh it's value to us. We are committed to something if we have a responsibility or an obligation to it.  For example, we are committed to our jobs.  This doesn't mean we like our jobs, but we have a responsibility to do the work that we are paid to do and we are obligated by our bills to work.  However if we no longer have an obligation or responsibility to something we are no longer committed to it.  So if we win the lottery we may quite our jobs if our only obligation and responsibility was the commitment to producing an income.  Or we may change our jobs if something "better" comes our way and our commitment is not with the company we are working for.  Anyway, you get the point. 

However, a devotion to something means that we have a passion for it.  It means that we are dedicated with both excitement and enthusiasm to it. It is not something that we will be torn away from. When I consider this (dictionary) view  of Devotion, I think of my husband, children, and family.  My responsibilities to these people do not change how I feel about them.  If I am obligated to them, I am less aware of those obligations than I am for my own desires to be near them. 

However, I must confess that when I look at my relationship with God, I see more obligation and responsibility than passion and enthusiasm.  Not that I am not passionate about God or that I am not dedicated to my faith , but I have more of a commitment to reading my Bible then an excitement about it.  I feel more responsible than enthusiastic about sharing my faith. 

But it hasn't always been this way! 

I remember a time in the not so distant past when my excitement and passion was not so out weighed by obligation and responsibility.  And this is what I want to feel again! So for the next few days I'm going to look at ways to be Devoted and show my Devotion to the People that I know I am Devoted to and use the practices as an example for my Devotion to God.  I hope you will continue to join me on this path of self discovery.







Devotion = Love, Passion, Intensity

So, in my last post I looked at the word Devotion and its' definitions, but focused more on the fact that Devotion is a Noun and not a verb and is therefore a state of being and not a state of action. 

So how can we "show" devotion if it is not an action? 

Well according to Thesaurus.com Devotion is synonymous with Love.  Well, it's actually synonymous with a lot of things, including:

adherence, adoration, affection, allegiance, ardor, attachment, consecration, constancy, dedication, deference, devotedness, devotement, devoutness, earnestness, enthusiasm, faithfulness, fealty, fervor, fidelity, fondness, intensity, love, observance, passion, piety, reverence, sanctity, service, sincerity, spirituality, worship, zeal (http://thesaurus.com/browse/devotion?s=t) So I'm thinking these "ACTION" words are how we "show" our Devotion!  When considering my level of devotion to someone or something, are these the expressions that others would used to describe me?  If not, maybe I'm not "Devoted"?  I'm not saying that I'm not "committed", but commitment isn't  synonymous with "Devotion"!  Luke 10:27 New International Version (NIV) 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]” (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A27&version=NIV)

A Noun!

Recently inspired by the scriptures at work in the heart of C.J. Wakefield, were I was challenged to examine whether I am treating my spiritual walk as a commitment or a devotion to God, I have decide to create this Blog as an examination of Devotion.  Today I will examine the word its' self. 

First, devotion is a noun.  Yes, I said a NOUN!  You remember when you were in 1st grade learning about Nouns being a person, place, thing, or idea?  Well, Devotion is an "idea" Noun. We normally consider a noun something that is tangible or concrete.  We tend to include items that we can use one of our 5 senses to solidify our understanding of the item.  Like a house, a car, or a kitten.  We can see, touch, feel, smell, and if you are so inclined, taste these items.  Devotion however, is what your Language Arts teacher would call an "Abstract Noun".  Devotion is not tangible.  You can not hold it in your hand and look at it nor can you taste or smell it.  Devotion is therefore "abstract". 

So why the Grammar lesson?  Well, I wanted to point out that Devotion is NOT a VERB.  It is NOT a call to ACTION! DEVOTION is a STATE OF BEING.  We think of Devotion as something we do, but the truth is, Devotion is something that we ARE. 

According to Dictionary.com, Devotion caries the following meanings: 

1. profound dedication; consecration.

2. earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc.

3. an assignment or appropriation to any purpose, cause, etc.: the devotion of one's wealth and time to scientific advancement.

4. Often, devotions. Ecclesiastical . religious observance or worship; a form of prayer or worship for special use.

 

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/devotion)

 

It may also inspire you to know that DEVOTION is synonymous with LOVE which is both a Noun and a Verb!  And we will get into that more in the next post. 

 

Acts 2:42  They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.