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Saturday, August 25<\/em> AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR\u00a0SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. (Mark 12:30)<\/strong><\/p>\n If you look at this verse for what it is, you realize that the Lord is being thorough. He is calling for a love that is all-encompassing and from every cell of our being.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t just say Love the Lord and add for good measure with all your heart. Nope, He wants all of us \u2013 our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength.<\/p>\n The key word repeated over and over is ALL<\/strong>. It reminds of when Jesus was speaking in Revelation and says He\u2019d rather us be hot or cold than lukewarm.<\/p>\n All<\/strong> your heart, all<\/strong> your soul, all<\/strong> your mind, all<\/strong> your strength. Is He just being jealous and self-centered or is He leading us away from a pitfall?<\/p>\n There is something about being all<\/strong> in that endears Him and protects us. First off, He loves passion. Look at His biblical heroes \u2013 Abraham, Elijah, David, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jesus, Peter, Paul \u2013 crazy guys with guts and zeal. He put His trust and seed in them all to bring about His kingdom upon the earth.<\/p>\n And there is a deadly consequence to not being all in<\/strong>. Thoughts of I\u2019m concerned, what about or what if reveal chasms in our heart, mind, soul and strength. These are gulfs separating our true self from whoever or whatever we are connected to. The result is lackluster faith, lack of trust, doubt and fear.<\/p>\n Half-hearted means that half your heart is somewhere else. That somewhere else steals precious life from the half that is trying to move forward. And most often the \u201cjuice\u201d from the one half is poison to the other.<\/p>\n I love all in<\/strong> people. Just like the disciples who simply left their nets to follow Jesus, these fearless ones lay hold of what God laid hold of them for. Do they make mistakes and fall on their face sometimes? You bet. But these are the ones who change the world.<\/p>\n As a leader in both ministry and business, I\u2019ve realized that the all-in<\/strong> are often not the most gifted, smart or wise of the group. This is not a knock on them for it is the foolish of the world that confound the wise. And that could be exactly why they are so passionate. Their brain or intellect doesn\u2019t get in the way of their forward movement. They just might be \u201cdumb enough\u201d to trust the Lord.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do without the all-in<\/strong> in my life. They are my energy when my strength fails. They remind me of the vision when my eyes grow dim. They are the faithful when my faith wanes. As I\u2019ve matured in the Lord, I\u2019ve learned to value the faithful over the gifted. It\u2019s a lot easier to gift the faithful than it is for the gifted to become faithful.<\/p>\n To the all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, all of your<\/strong> strength<\/strong> people \u2013 you have the attention of heaven. To the lukewarm, sell it all and buy the field. You will feel insecure and slightly nuts at times. But it\u2019s the wildest and most fulfilling lifestyle you could ever live.<\/p>\n In love, Mark<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n