“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie    http://www.harvest.org/devotional

Written by Bruce R. Mills for “Gods group” @ www.Godsmanforever.com

“The Greatest Commandment”

Mark 12:28-34…  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+12%3A28-34&version=NKJV

Then one of the scribes approached Jesus and asked Jesus this… “Which is the first commandment of all?”  (V 28)   Jesus replied…

Mark 12:30-31…  “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”   (NKJV)

In…Mark 12:32-33…the scribe repeated back to Jesus his understanding of these two commandments, in his own words…and here was Jesus’s reply, in…Mark 12:34a…  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”  (NKJV)

My friends, Jesus tells the scribe it was great that he understood what the first two most important commandments were…  But Jesus then goes on to tell the scribe…“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”   In other words…it’s one thing to know what these two most important commandments are…though many people would not be able to tell me what these commands are, even though they are listed two other times in God’s Word  (Deuteronomy 6:4-5…&…Matthew 22:36-40)

It’s a whole other thing to put these commandments into action in your own life !!  Friends churches today are filled with “born again” believers, that have been saved by God’s grace…but God is NOT FIRST in their lives, because something or someone else is more important than living a “Christ centered”, Spirit filled life…  Unless your heart is filled with the love of Christ…allowing the Holy Spirit to totally control your life (Ephesians 5:18-20), you will NEVER be able to fulfill the second Commandment…  You may be doing all these good works in your church, but not because you are motivated by Christ’s love in you…  A perfect example would be the “loveless church” of Ephesus we read about in Revelation 2:1-7…  [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rev2%3A1-7&version=NKJV]   Jesus tells these believers doing all these good works in their church this…

Revelation 2:4-5…  Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.  (NKJV)

Jesus is telling them they forgot about Him, and if they didn’t repent and place Jesus first again in their lives, that He “will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place”…  Jesus would eliminate the church !!

“We are called to be doers of the Word…not just hearers”…but doers with a heart motivated by the love of Christ to glorify our Father in heaven…  The Apostle James explains this very concept, in…

James 1:22-24…   But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.   (NKJV)

This same concept of knowing what the Bible tells us…and then not applying it to our own life, can be seen by the person who says they believe in Jesus, but they don’t KNOW HIM with a one on ONE personal relationship…  Even Satan knew who Jesus (God in the flesh) was… We also see this in scripture… “Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God” (Mk 3:11). Another time a demon cried out: “I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” (Mk 1:24).  [This came from the following link- https://www.osvnews.com/amp/2012/05/09/satans-knowledge/]

I am reminded of a conversation I once had with a good friend I was trying to share the “good news” gospel of Christ with…  She told me “That’s OK…with all due respect…I believe in Jesus”…  She went on to tell me that her Mother and her Grandmother also believed in Jesus…  My friends, only God knows the heart and mind of every human being…Jeremiah 17:10…   We can never truly know what others believe in their heart…so we shouldn’t be speaking for someone else…   Each one has to speak for themselves, in regards to their belief in God, and whether they have been “born again” as a new creation in Christ…2 Corinthians 5:17…

So many people believe in Jesus, with many that go to church every week…  They fulfill all the Sacraments that the church requires of them…as part of their doctrine for what is required to get into heaven…  They hope they are good enough to get into heaven when they die…  My friends, you don’t have to hope you will get into heaven…  God’s Word tells us in a few places that we will KNOW we are children of God, and promised a room in God’s mansion when we die…John 14:1-4…   The Apostle Paul pens this, in…

Romans 8:15-16…   For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  (NKJV)

1 John 5:12-13…  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.  (NKJV)

Do you want to know with a 100% guarantee that you will be face to face with Jesus when you die ??  God gives us as believers the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we are commanded to share with those around us that do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior…  This command was so important, that it was Jesus’ last spoken words, before He ascended into heaven… [See P.S. below for a gospel presentation]

Matthew 28:19-20…  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  (NKJV)

When you read through a “good news” gospel of Christ message of the cross…to be “born again” as a redeemed child of God, you have to pray to God asking Him to forgive you of your lifetime of sins…  You must believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood to cover your sins…  You must believe that Jesus was buried and rose again in 3 days…  And you must ask Jesus to come into your heart to guide and direct your life…   If you believe this with …“with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength”, God will gladly grace you with salvation, and you will absolutely KNOW at that moment in time, when God indwells you with the Holy Spirit, that you ARE a child of God… Remember the scripture from above…

Romans 8:16…  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  (NKJV)

Gracious God and heavenly Father…I come before Your throne of grace with a heart filled with the love of Your Son Jesus Christ…  I thank You and praise You Father, for sending Your Son down to be born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25), on a day we will be celebrating as Christmas…  Jesus came down to earth for the sole purpose of dying on a cross at Calvary, to shed His blood in order to cover the sins of those who believe and receive Jesus Christ and eternal life granted by God Himself…  I pray Father, that You would draw in every un-believer (John 6:44) reading this post…and that You would grace them with salvation, and eternal life in heaven…  I pray for this miracle of miracles, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

Blessings in Christ,  bruce

P.S.  When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !!  If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ??  Here is the truth for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…

Picture credit:  https://www.google.com/search?q=image+Matthew+22%3A37-39&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwigy-vl8dXtAhXXHd8KHbTvB3kQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=image+Matthew+22%3A37-39&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoFCAAQsQM6BAgAEEM6AggAOggIABCxAxCDAToGCAAQCBAeOgQIABAYUPyWEFjy6RBgjPQQaABwAHgAgAFdiAH3CJIBAjE3mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=FcTbX-DsBde7_Aa035_IBw&bih=863&biw=1268&rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS832US832#imgrc=af6cSRnm_XgQKM