Gethsemane By Adam AbramMark 12:28-34
Audio Bible Max McLean, English Standard Version
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
~ love Him with all your heart
My college years, in the early 1980s, were wonderful. "The early 80's," said Senator Trent Lott, Senate Majority Leader, "were a shining era of light." When asked to explain Sen. Lott said his kids were in college then, he visited them & saw college young men and women as well dressed, interested in the American system, behaving well, and believing in the American dream of hard work and playing by the rules. And ya know, I gotta agree. We graduated, jobs were hard to find there was a recession, stores I'd gone to all my life were closing and we still all believed it would be okay. Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, the news about him was almost always amusing & Margaret Thatcher. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. I still look back on the 80's as challenging and rewarding - plus, big bonus here- the people I knew graduating from college in the 90's all said the best music was from the 80's.
Who is going to look back at these 10 years of (what do we call them? the zeros?) 2000 and say wow. With great certainty the financial situation and the wars lead to this gloom. Where did this gloom come from... quitting. Why all this quitting... me, me, me, me, me, me, me. I saw it today on the Rick Warren Facebook, people commenting they love the gospels, but don't like the New Testament. Like the gospels, but don't like the Old Testament. Have you heard someone say, I liked my Church until.... reason (my feelings were neglected).... I liked my friend until... (their feelings mattered more than courtesy). I liked my actual neighbor until.... (they put themselves in some way before me).
How can we like this passage? It requires belief there is Something Greater than ourselves. In my opinion the news is angry, the politics are angry, the neighborhoods are too busy(angry), because we (including me) are all so taken up with pushing ourselves forward, for the brief span of our adult lives, life now has bigger problems than from 20 years ago.
Well this commentary was awful today, I don't feel better now. Wait! How can we see hope? How can we see a better tomorrow? Love Him with all your heart. Decide not to quit Church, decide not to quit your friend, decide not quit your neighbor. How? It is just justified, it is just rude.
Love Him with all your heart. The first step is to hang in there. Trust Him, He cares, He is there for you. The second step is to not return evil for evil. Love covers all. Keep trying, keep nurturing someone. Love Him with all your heart. Is your cup looking empty? Thank Him for the blessings in life you'd miss if they were gone tomorrow. Love Him with all your heart. Don't quit. Do you hear someone complain about how down the times are? Remind them God is faithful. Care for them. Pray, keep on praying. You are not far from the kingdom of God.
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(Reprint from Scripture for Today Blogspot Friday, February 19, 2010)
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
~ love Him with all your heart
My college years, in the early 1980s, were wonderful. "The early 80's," said Senator Trent Lott, Senate Majority Leader, "were a shining era of light." When asked to explain Sen. Lott said his kids were in college then, he visited them & saw college young men and women as well dressed, interested in the American system, behaving well, and believing in the American dream of hard work and playing by the rules. And ya know, I gotta agree. We graduated, jobs were hard to find there was a recession, stores I'd gone to all my life were closing and we still all believed it would be okay. Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, the news about him was almost always amusing & Margaret Thatcher. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. I still look back on the 80's as challenging and rewarding - plus, big bonus here- the people I knew graduating from college in the 90's all said the best music was from the 80's.
Who is going to look back at these 10 years of (what do we call them? the zeros?) 2000 and say wow. With great certainty the financial situation and the wars lead to this gloom. Where did this gloom come from... quitting. Why all this quitting... me, me, me, me, me, me, me. I saw it today on the Rick Warren Facebook, people commenting they love the gospels, but don't like the New Testament. Like the gospels, but don't like the Old Testament. Have you heard someone say, I liked my Church until.... reason (my feelings were neglected).... I liked my friend until... (their feelings mattered more than courtesy). I liked my actual neighbor until.... (they put themselves in some way before me).
How can we like this passage? It requires belief there is Something Greater than ourselves. In my opinion the news is angry, the politics are angry, the neighborhoods are too busy(angry), because we (including me) are all so taken up with pushing ourselves forward, for the brief span of our adult lives, life now has bigger problems than from 20 years ago.
Well this commentary was awful today, I don't feel better now. Wait! How can we see hope? How can we see a better tomorrow? Love Him with all your heart. Decide not to quit Church, decide not to quit your friend, decide not quit your neighbor. How? It is just justified, it is just rude.
Love Him with all your heart. The first step is to hang in there. Trust Him, He cares, He is there for you. The second step is to not return evil for evil. Love covers all. Keep trying, keep nurturing someone. Love Him with all your heart. Is your cup looking empty? Thank Him for the blessings in life you'd miss if they were gone tomorrow. Love Him with all your heart. Don't quit. Do you hear someone complain about how down the times are? Remind them God is faithful. Care for them. Pray, keep on praying. You are not far from the kingdom of God.
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