Love the Lord your God with all your Heart

In the last post, we looked at our soul’s response to God’s loving call. When we listen, God reminds us day by day that we are beloved. Our response is to love God with all our soul. Today we look at “loving God with all your Heart.”

What is the difference between Heart and Soul? According to ancient traditions the heart is the seat of life. The soul, as we already learned, is the source of personality. God says “I will write my words on their heart” and “I will give them a new heart.” If our heart is where God writes his dreams for us, then it follows that our lives would be devoted to God.

This is the very opposite of what culture says. We hear messages from the world around us saying ‘put yourself first’ or ‘watch out for number one.’ Commercials promote ways to be first the first to get a new product, to be number one in your investments or in your vacation destination. Children are tested to find out which school is performing best and which child has the best grades, because that is the way to be number one! A recent Newsweek article (April 27, 2009) highlights a new book about the fact that we too often think we are the most important thing on the planet.

That isn’t to say that we should quit striving to take care of ourselves through good habits, but rather to take a second or even third look at what we are choosing to give our hearts to. In Christ, we find God’s heart offered to us, made incarnate when “the Word [was] made flesh and lived among us…We beheld his glory as of the only begotten Son.”

Children know instinctively how to put their whole heart into whatever they are doing. You can see from this picture, that my granddaughter is putting all her heart and energy into shaking glitter onto an Easter egg. That is the zeal with which we ought to respond to God who creates us instead of putting ourselves in the center of the universe.

Paul reminds us “With what love the Father lavishes on us…while we were sinners Christ died for us.” To God we are number one, always. This isn’t because we are important or top of our game. “God chose what is foolish in the eyes of the world to shame the wise…” We may not think we are important because we aren’t famous or smart or rich. Sometimes we complain that others have it better than we do. None of that lessens God’s love for us or the dreams God has for us.

It is pretty awesome that the Almighty God would stoop to live in human flesh. If you really stop to think about that, you will find your heart ‘strangely warmed’ as Charles Wesley said, and want to offer your heart and life back to God.

Miriam’s Healing tells the story of how Miriam learns to listen to her heart. Only then can she fulfill God’s call on her life. It ultimately takes being literally separated from the rest of the congregation, with leprosy, for her to understand that she is loved and that God was writing on her heart.

"[She says,] Miserable and repentant I waited for death. Instead, I felt peace envelope me as it had in my dream. It was like being enfolded in my mother’s arms long ago when I feared Pharaoh’s swordsmen. Overwhelmed, I knew I was loved and that God had forgiven me. Seamlessly I slid into a doze. When I awoke, I was not surprised to see the leprosy gone from my hands and body.
“Living and True God, forgive me. My pride has led me to doubt your power and forget your loving care. I am nothing without you, Almighty One. It was not my tears or Moses’ words that freed the children of Israel from Pharaoh. Only you, I AM that I AM from before time, could have brought us from bondage and led us to your holy mountain.””

Love God first and then all the rest falls in order. We often find ourselves offering our hearts to worldly goals. It is easy to give your heart to any number of good causes. There are needy children around the world who tug at our heartstrings. Ending war and poverty and oppression are all necessary things. Perhaps what we need to do is get our priorities in order. As God told Moses, “you will do great things.” First however, he had to be separated from all the trappings of the world. Forty years in the desert may sound a bit extreme, but many times we do need to be faced with difficulty before we can really love and trust the Lord with all our heart.

Is God seeking to warm your heart so that you can accomplish great things?

With God first in our heart, we can find out what path we are to follow. As we Love the Lord with all our heart, we do find ourselves doing what God wants us to do. And we will find the joy of a child in doing it!

Love the Lord your God with all your Soul

According to one definition, soul is the “immaterial part of a person”—the thoughts and personality. We talk about ‘soul mates’ and ‘soul music’ as that which speaks to the deepest parts of our identity.

Our society and culture says that your personality is determined by your environment and that you can (and should) improve yourself in any number of ways. You can “never be thin enough or rich enough”, as the Bessie Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, once said. Talk shows, magazines, book shelves, and videos offer diets, exercise, beauty, and other self improvement ideas. We are told we need to be thin, beautiful, smart, rich, and perfect in order to have good self-esteem—a good soul. This makes us search and search for just the right combination of money, looks, and success so that we can 'be the best you can be.'

Our Loving Father says something entirely different, however. “I have carved you in the palm of my hand” and “your times are in my hand” are just two of innumberable citations that assure us of our worth in the eyes and heart of God. We do not have to be the perfect size or brilliant successes to be important to God. Our soul is much more than a dress size or hair color. Even intelligence or wealth are not really part of our soul. The soul is our deepest identity and that is “hidden with God in Christ.”

God says, “I have called you by name and you are mine.” The name our parents gave each of us is important to who we see ourself as. There are various resources where you can learn the meaning of your name. That can be interesting, but it is the name that only God knows, which truly determines who we are. In Revelation, we are told God “will give you a new name.” When God calls us by our real name, we respond with our soul’s deepest longing—relationship with God’s love.

God loves us unconditionally because our soul is created in God’s image and that is enough. Since we are so important to the Living God we can respond to the cultural insistence on self-improvement by saying, truthfully, “My Father says I am perfect just the way I am.”

Several times in the Gospels we hear the Father say that Jesus is “my beloved son.” We, too, are beloved sons and daughters of the One who has from the beginning of creation said you “are very good.”

Is that enough for you?

Throughout the Bible we find men and women who struggle with this same question. Jacob’s wife, Leah doesn’t think she is loved and is so sure that her only importance is in her child bearing. “When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb…she called his name Reuben; for she said, ‘Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.’” (Gen. 29:31-32)

In my book, Beloved Leah, she finally realizes that she is loved. She says, “For too long, I raged against Rachel and against Jacob for not loving me. I wanted them to love me for being beautiful. Too late I have learned and understand that they loved me for who I am.”

This week think about the truth that God ‘calls you by name’ and loves you so much you are engraved ‘in the palm of [His] hand’. What difference does that make to how you see yourself?
God loves you and me for who we are today. Let your soul respond to that Love and rejoice.

Eastertide Blog

"Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength and your Neighbor as Yourself" Mark 12:30-31

During Eastertide (the time between Easter Day and Pentecost) let’s look together at becoming more fully the people of God we were created to be.



In Genesis, God is delighted in everything created. “God saw that it was good” is the refrain that runs through chapter 1. After creating everything else, God said, “Let us make humankind in our own image…male and female God created them….behold, it was very good.” If we take seriously the truth that we are imago dei, in God’s image, then we should listen for God’s voice rather than the noisy and insidious voice of the culture around us. What does God, through scripture, say to us in contradiction to the noises of the world?


Jesus sums up all the Law by giving us the Great Commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength and your Neighbor as Yourself.” We’ll look at what culture/society says about each of these attributes and at the truth Christ offers.

Easter season

Check back for further posts or keep up with upcoming studies at my website (http://www.cynthiadavisauthor.com/).

My plan is to post something each weekend to encourage us all to think about how to "love the Lord your God with all your Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength, and your Neighbor as your Self" each week until Pentecost.

Learning to Love God (and our neighbor and our selves) more deeply is like finding the special egg in the Easter egg hunt. We can be so busy looking on the ground that we miss it just above us in the fork of the branch!

Easter Day, April 12, John 20:1-18

Today 'Alleluias' ring out because we know the end of the story. For Mary, Martha, and Lazarus things weren't so simple.

(By Cynthia Davis)

It was almost light by the time the trio from Bethany arrived at Jacob’s home.
“Welcome, my friend,” the man hugged Lazarus. “I thought you would come.”
Lazarus looked around the room. There was no sign of the eleven disciples.
“Where are the others?” he asked.
Jacob chuckled without mirth. “Hiding upstairs, where they have been since…the….”
The man glanced at Mary and Martha afraid to complete the sentence.
“Since Jesus died,” Martha finished the sentence. “What cowards.”
“We have come to anoint his body,” Mary said softly.
“Some of the other women just left on that errand,” Jacob told her.
Mary did not even look at her brother and sister before whirling and racing from the room.
Martha ran to the door. Already her sister was too far away to call back. The slowly moving group of black garbed women only a couple of blocks from the house turned, startled by the sound of Mary’s pounding feet.
Lazarus joined his sister. Together they watched Mary and the women move away.
“They will be fine,” Jacob assured the pair. “Let me offer you water for your hands and face.”
Belatedly the man assumed his role as host.
Martha remained at the door, watching until the group was out of sight. She swallowed a lump of sadness at not being with them.
“Have the others eaten yet?” finally she turned to Jacob and her brother. “I will take them food if they haven’t.”
“How thoughtful of you, Martha,” Jacob smiled at her. “I am sure they would be glad of something to eat. My servants have not returned from spending the Sabbath with their families.”
The man watched Martha hurry away to prepare food.
“You are fortunate to have two sisters to care for your needs,” he told Lazarus. “I am dependent on the servants ever since Tabitha died two years ago.”
“They have never wanted to marry,” Lazarus responded as if the idea had never before occurred to him. “Mary could have, but she did not want to shame her sister by marrying first. Martha has never desired anything except taking care of my needs.”
It was not long before Martha returned with a platter of fruit, flat bread, and cheese balanced on one arm. A jar of barley beer rested on her hip.
“I will bring you something in a moment. Your guests deserve theirs first,” she told the men on her way up the stairs.
They heard her knock on the door.
“It is Martha, sister of Lazarus,” she replied in response to a muffled question. “I have your morning meal.”
The door opened just wide enough for a pair of hands to accept her offering before closing tightly again.
“They are afraid,” Jacob stated. “Some think the Romans will come and arrest them as well.”
“I think that is unlikely,” Lazarus responded with shake of his head. “With Jesus dead, what good would it do to arrest his followers?”
“That is what I said,” nodded his host.
Martha entered the room with a smaller platter of food for the two men. Carefully she poured the beer into wooden mugs.
“Thank you, Martha,” Jacob smiled at the woman.
She nodded absently but frowned. “I heard what you said. If there is even a chance that the officials will arrest those associated with Jesus, Lazarus is in danger.”
Lazarus repeated, “It is unlikely that anyone is interested in those who followed the Master. With his death, the dream died.”
Martha opened her mouth to argue. She never got to say anything because the door burst open. The woman screamed before she realized it was Mary of Magdala who had entered.
“Peter, John! They have taken my Lord away! I do not know where they laid him!”
After a few minutes, the upstairs door opened. Peter and John came part way down the steps.
“What do you mean, woman?” John’s voice was harsh.
“The tomb is empty,” Mary sobbed.
Peter and John looked at each other in consternation. A moment later they ran out the door. The woman from Magdala followed. Martha stood in the center of the room. Lazarus and Jacob stared after the two men.
“Could it be?” Martha wasn’t sure if she spoke aloud until Lazarus spun around.
“What do you mean?” he demanded.
“He said he would rise,” she whispered.
Jacob frowned, “It is impossible. It is a trick by the authorities to cause more trouble.”
“What if it is true?” the woman persisted.
The men shook their heads and looked away. She heard Jacob mumble, “John and Peter will find the body in the tomb. Mary’s grief has made her confused.”
It seemed hours, but most people were still in their homes when Peter and John returned.
“The body is gone,” Peter stated.
John added, “I went inside the tomb. All that was there were the grave cloths and head wrapping.”
“Where are the women? Where is my sister?” Martha asked urgently.
John shrugged, “They refused to return with us.”
“I must go and find her,” Martha stated. “She will be devastated that she could not offer the final service to Jesus.”
There was no need to seek out the women. Before Martha could leave, they rushed in.
“Mary, tell them what you saw!” Salome pulled Mary of Magdala forward.
The woman faced the skeptical men. She lifted her chin proudly and announced, “I saw him. I saw my Lord.”
“Your grief has made you see a vision,” Peter patted her arm.
“No,” Lazarus’ sister took a stand beside her friend. “If Mary said she saw Jesus, I believe her.”
“Did you see him?” demanded John.
“No,” Mary lowered her head sadly. “We had already started to return. Mary was behind us. We stopped when we heard her talking to someone. By the time we got back to her, he was gone.”
“Tell them what Jesus said,” urged Salome.
Mary looked at the 4 men. She lifted her chin. “Jesus told me to tell you, so I will.”
Martha stepped closer to the women around Mary. “I believe you did see him,” she said. “It is what he told us would happen.”
The woman of Magdala smiled. “It is true. But we forgot it in our grief. When I looked into the tomb, there were two angels who asked me why I was crying. Then I saw a man nearby. At first I thought he was the gardener and asked him where he put the body.”
Mary paused. An exalted look changed her face. It seemed to glow from within from joy and peace.
“He spoke my name. ‘Martha,’ he said. I would know his voice anywhere. When he said my name, I knew it was the Lord!”
Peter took a step closer. Wistfully he asked, “Is that all he said? Just your name?”
“No, Peter, when I called him Rabbi and tried to touch him, he drew back. That’s when he told me. “Go to my brothers and say to them ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Then he was gone.”
“Did he walk away?” Jacob asked.
“He was just gone and the other women were there. We came to tell you what happened.” Mary smiled dreamily.
“Could it be?” John looked around at the gathering. “Is it possible that the Master really did rise from the dead?”
“It would not be the first time such a thing happened,” Lazarus inserted. “If Jesus can call me back from the grave, then certainly he could defeat his own death. I believe we will all see him again.”
“I hope so,” John replied.
Peter nodded although his expression was troubled. “I wonder if he will speak to me after I denied knowing him,” he mumbled on his way up the stairs.
“There is no need to be afraid,” Mary of Magdala called after the men.
A closing door was the only response.
“I wish I could have seen him,” whispered Martha to her sister.
Mary smiled, “I think we will all see the Master again. He said he would rise and he has!”

Thanks for joining me during Lent and Holy Week. Check back for further posts or keep up with upcoming studies at my website (http://www.cynthiadavisauthor.com/).

Holy Saturday, April 11

We continue with our journey to Easter with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, in the desolation of their mourning.
(By Cynthia Davis)

The home of Lazarus of Bethany was quiet through the Sabbath day. Even the servants were silent as they went about their tasks. Mary held the jar of nard tightly as if afraid she would lose it if she set it down.
“This is the same way I felt when Lazarus died,” Mary wept to her sister.
Lazarus stroked her hair in an attempt at comfort.
“Jesus brought our brother back to life,” Martha reminded her siblings. “Why couldn’t he save himself? He told me then ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will never die.’ I don’t understand.”
“I do not understand how this could be the will of God,” agreed the man. He moved to stare out the doorway. “After the Sabbath we will join the disciples in Jerusalem. They are at Jacob’s home.”
“Let us go now,” Mary suggested. “As soon as the sun sets it will not be breaking the commandment. I want to be able to go to the grave tomorrow. Jesus told me to use this for…his…his….”
She could not finish the sentence. Instead, the woman held out the jar of perfumed oil as a reminder of her duty.
“Yes,” urged Martha, “let us go as soon as we are able. There will be few on the road to the city.” “Very well,” Lazarus nodded. “I too want to be with friends. The Gentile gate will be open for it never closes.”
Despite his optimism, it was almost dawn by the time Lazarus and his sisters reached the home of Jacob in Jerusalem. They had to wait outside the city in a cue of eager traders while especially careful Roman guards examined the loads and questioned each person entering the city.
“What is happening?” One Syrian merchant grumbled. “I have never seen such thorough work by the Romans.”
“It is because of the crucifixion a couple of days ago,” explained a nearby Nubian. “Pilate sentenced two thieves to death and also the one everyone believed was the Messiah.”
“I heard of him,” chimed in a third trader. “He was the young rabbi from up north, wasn’t he?”
“That’s the one,” nodded the informant. “In fact, I heard that some say he will rise from the dead.”
“No one does that!” scoffed the Syrian.
“Don’t know about that, but the Romans posted a guard at the tomb and are checking everyone to be sure they aren’t smuggling a body into the city to claim he did rise.”
“I heard he raised some man in Bethany who was dead four days,” argued a heavily accented voice nearby.
Everyone looked around for the speaker.
Mary and Martha drew close to Lazarus when the Syrian faced them.
“You are a Jew. What do you think?”
Lazarus lifted his chin. The women held their breath. Martha gripped her brother’s hand tightly. “I heard that story,” he said slowly.
“Hurry up! We are moving!” Someone called from behind the group.
Gratefully the trio let the Syrian hurry away to gain entrance to Jerusalem.
“Would you have told him it was you?” Mary asked softly.“I don’t know,” the man answered. “I don’t know.”

Good Friday, April 10, John 19:38-42

We continue with our journey to Easter with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus at the foot of the cross.
(By Cynthia Davis)

Lazarus did not return until late the next evening. He was exhausted when he stumbled through the door.
“Brother,” Martha rushed to his side. “Where have you been?”
“What happened?” Mary solicitously removed his cloak and handed the man a bowl of water to wash his hands and face.
Absently he performed the traditional ablutions.
“It is over,” he groaned, sinking onto the nearby cushion. His head fell into his hands.
Mary gripped Martha’s hands tightly. The women stared at their brother. Neither could voice the question because they feared the answer.
In a monotone, Lazarus began his report. “Jacob and I reached the garden just as the Temple officers arrested Jesus. We followed them to Caiphas’ house. In a little while he was dragged to the governor and then even to Herod.”
The man looked up. A wry smile crossed his lips, “It seemed that no one wanted the responsibility for pronouncing sentence.”
His smile faded and Lazarus stared past his sisters when he resumed the saga. “When Jesus was brought back to Pilate, the governor offered the crowd a choice. They could free one prisoner in honor of the Passover. Even the power of Rome didn’t want to judge the Master. He offered the choice of Barabbas or Jesus.”
“Barabbas!” exclaimed Martha. “Wasn’t he the one found guilty of murder?”
“The same man,” nodded Lazarus.
Mary sniffed and wiped at the tears streaming down her face. “No one chose Jesus?”
“Some did, Sister, some did. But the crowd shouted them down. I think the priests had paid some people to shout for Jesus to be crucified.”
“Crucified!” Both women gasped the word in horror.
“That is for the worst criminals,” argued Martha.
“It was the final sentence,” sighed Lazarus.
For a long time there was no sound in the room. Mary and Martha both wept openly. Lazarus again lowered his head into his hands.
“He said nothing. Jesus said nothing in his defense. I could not understand it,” finally he spoke again. “They took him and whipped him until his back looked like raw meat. The soldiers forced a crown made of thorns onto his head and the blood ran down his face. Still Jesus didn’t say a word. It was barbarous. I wanted to do something, but he was surrounded by soldiers with swords and spears. He had to carry the cross bar through Jerusalem, but he never made a moan, even when he fell.”
“He fell?” Mary whispered through her tears.
“More than once,” her brother looked up. “Finally the soldiers forced a man in the crowd to carry the cross.”
“Why didn’t anyone help him?” Martha sobbed.
“No one could get close because of the soldiers,” Lazarus explained and fell silent.
“I have seen the crosses outside of Jerusalem,” Martha shuddered. “I cannot believe that Jesus was nailed there. Why didn’t God help him?”
Lazarus looked at her and shook his head. “I don’t understand either. Even while he was dying, Jesus asked God to forgive...” The man choked and repeated, “’Father forgive, for they don’t know what they are doing.’”
“It is wrong,” stated the woman. “If he could raise you to life, how could he let himself die.”
“I think that is what he did. Jesus allowed all this to happen. I don’t understand why,” her brother shook his head again. “At the end, he raised himself for one last breath and proclaimed, ‘It is accomplished.’ Jesus sounded…exalted and the words could have been a prayer the way he said them. It was not resignation or despair, but triumphant. It was strange.”
“Where is Jesus now?” Mary choked out her question.
“My friend Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate after Jesus died,” Lazarus turned to his sister. “He asked if he could bury Jesus in his own tomb. That is where we laid him.”
“I must take the ointment for his body,” suddenly energized Mary turned to leave the room.
“You will have to wait until after the Sabbath,” Martha told her, pointing to the setting sun. “You cannot go all the way to Jerusalem now.”
“Martha is right,” her brother nodded. “There is nothing more we can do tonight.”
Mary buried her face in her brother’s shoulder. Great sobs wrenched her body.
Martha stood in the middle of the room with her fists clenched and tears streaming down her face. “I don’t understand. This should not have happened.”
Lazarus wept with the women. Exhausted from their emotions, the siblings sat together in the dark room throughout the night.