Focus Scripture: Mark 12:29-34 (KJV)
And Jesus answered him the first of all the commandments is here, O Israel. The Lord, our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment, and the second is like, namely, this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these, and the scribe is sent unto him, well, master, thou hast said the truth for there is one God and there is none other than he and to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, you are not far from the kingdom of God and no man after that dared ask him any questions.”
Introduction
So we have, we have been, hearing this passage of scripture. I know Pastorod has been preaching on it. Pastor Rod has been preaching on this scripture. We have many who have expounded on it, have taught it, discussed it, and rightfully so, because this is the crux of the matter here. This is it—how we love God, and our love for God is definitely demonstrated and shown in how we treat one another. The Bible tells us so clearly that how can we say that we love God and hate our brother, mistreat our brother, mistreat our sister?
So if we are truly loving God, then we are loving one another. So God is in the process of working on us, that our heart and our mind, our soul, our entire being would be in alignment with Him. He’s constantly at work. He began, as the Scripture said, He began a good work within us, and He is faithful to perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Yes, He’s pruning. Hallelujah.
The Refiner at Work
He is pruning. He’s clipping away as He is the refiner. God is the refiner, and He is refining our hearts. He’s refining our souls. He’s making them into what He would have them to be, in the image and likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ.
It’s important for us to abide in Christ, abide in Christ, that God may work His awesome work in us. Sometimes there are things in us and about us that we are not even aware of. And, you know, God is at work. He is at work. He’s helping to bring some of these things to the surface, and all the things that need to be skimmed off, all the things that need to be burned up. The refiner is at work, as it were. He has us on the wheel. He has us on the wheel.
He is the master, the master of the shift. Think about a potter forming his masterpiece on the wheel. And however, however He needs to shift the speed, however He needs to do His thing in order to come up or to complete His masterwork, He knows what to do. He knows how to do it.
Abiding and Trusting
So what’s key in principle for us is just to make sure that we continue in God’s Word, stay in the Word, stay in prayer, continue to abide in the presence of the Lord, and let God complete His work in us. Let Him do it—the things that we can’t do. There are things that we’re unable to do, but He’s able. He’s more than able.
So we are going to trust and depend on Jesus, our Lord and our Savior, to do His masterwork in us. And as we yield to Him, and He leads and guides us, to be vessels of honor unto Him.
Prayer
Father, we thank You this morning. We just thank You that You desire, Father, that we just continue to abide in the vine, as we abide in Jesus. Father, our hearts are fixed. Our hearts are made how You would have them to be, Father. Our love for You, Father, is perfected. Our love for one another is perfected as we abide in You, as we continue in Your Word. Father, Your Word is a lamp, and Your law is a light, and it reproves us. It corrects us. It does Your work, and You are doing Your work, Father, and we are thankful that You’re doing Your work.
We thank You that You will not fail, Father. So help us, help us to trust, to trust in You with all of our heart, with all of our soul, Father, with all of our mind, with all of our strength, Father, to trust You and to love You and to give You the glory, the honor, and the praise, in Jesus’ name. Amen, amen, amen.