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“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy…mind.” (Mark 12:30)

Have you ever had someone ask, “What are you thinking about right now?” Sometimes when you’re asked, you may be thinking about something totally unimportant or something that would sound silly to share out loud. At those times, it may be embarrassing to answer the question.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit might speak to our hearts and ask, “What are you thinking about right now?” Not because He doesn’t know, but because He wants us to notice our own thoughts. And sometimes we are embarrassed to answer Him. Why? Because we’re thinking selfish thoughts, vain thoughts, worried thoughts, proud thoughts – thoughts that have nothing to do with Him.

God wants us to love Him with our minds. How do we do this? We love God with our minds by thinking about Him and His things. Have you ever really thought about the meaning of a Bible verse that you’re memorizing? Have you ever tried to think of all the ways that you could obey that verse? Have you ever thought about the character traits of God and what they mean to your life? Have you ever thought about the words to a Christian song or a hymn?

Ask God to show you when you are thinking about the wrong things. Ask Him to help you turn your thoughts to Him and love Him with all of your mind.

God wants His people to love Him with all their minds.

My Response:
» When God reads my mind, do my thoughts say to Him, “I love you”?

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” (Psalm 90:2)

One of Martin’s favorite school activities was Show and Tell Day. One time, he took his most valued treasure: a very old Indian stone. His dad had told him that Indians who lived in Florida long before the colonists settled in America had used the stone as a hammer. Every time Martin held the stone, he thought about how old the stone was.

What is the oldest thing that you have ever held or seen? Maybe you have an old baseball card, an ancient coin, or an antique piece of furniture. Can you think of anything or anyone even older than these things? The Bible verse that you read today tells you that before the mountains were formed and the earth was created, God existed.

In fact, the verse says that God is everlasting: He has always existed, and He will last forever. That is hard to imagine, isn’t it? God has always been and always will be. When you try to imagine how long eternity will be in the future, it almost hurts your brain. God will not only live eternally in the future, but He has lived eternally in the past. None of us can do that!

This eternal God knows all about you, and He has given you His Word (the Bible) in order for you to learn more about Him. Today, thank your God for being the Eternal God and continue to get to know Him by reading His Word!

God has always existed, and He will never die.

My Response:
» Have I thanked God that even though He is the great Creator of everything, He loves me?

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.” (Isaiah 49:15)

Ellen rang the doorbell. She was shivering inside her raincoat, but she wasn’t sure whether she was cold or just excited. She was standing on the front porch of the music teacher’s house, ready for her first lesson. Today a dream she’d had for many years was just beginning to come true. She rang the doorbell again. No answer.

Ellen tried knocking. Nothing. She even went around to the side door and rang that doorbell a few times. But no one came to let her in. When she finally turned away from the house, the gray dampness of the day seemed to seep right into her heart. Ellen’s teacher had forgotten about her lesson.

Have you ever been forgotten? Sometimes adults forget the promises they make to kids. Maybe someone promised you a trip to the ice cream store. Maybe someone promised to take you fishing, teach you how to play basketball, or pick you up at a certain time – and he forgot. The Bible tells us that even our parents can sometimes forget about us!

But there is Someone who will never forget you. In Isaiah 49, God comforts His people by saying that He has graven them on the palms of His hands. He promises that He will never forget them. If you are His child, you will never be out of His loving care. All of the promises He makes to you in His Word are true. He will never forget one of them. And He will never forget you – ever.

God will never forget His children.

My Response:
» Have I forgotten about God, or have I thanked Him for His love?

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not the Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a free Spirit.” (Psalm 51:10-12)

Sometimes, when we go through trials, we’re not sure how to pray. It’s even harder when we’ve added our own sin to the trial, and we don’t feel as though God wants to hear us. But God does want to hear us. If we’re not sure what to say, we can get help from prayers like David’s in Psalm 51, or from prayers of other people, like the one below.

O Father,

I so desire to have a clean heart before You! I don’t want sinful desires, wickedness, bitterness, or anger to keep me from You. Forgive me for sinning against you with my spirit, my actions, and my words. Please help me to retain the joy, happiness, and peace that You have given to me throughout this trial. Because of the pain, it is hard, Lord, to smile. It is hard to keep myself from bitterness and anger.

O Father, I cannot do any of this in my own power. My flesh is weak and I easily become bitter. I can only have a clean heart in your strength and power. Give me the strength, wisdom, and power to turn this situation over to You completely. Allow my spirit, actions, and attitudes to reflect you.

For Your Glory and Honor Forever! In Jesus’ name,
Amen!

God will clean our hearts and give us grace in response to our prayers.

My Response:
» When I go through difficult situations, do I pray for grace and confess my sins?

“…that He [God] might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26b)

Let’s pretend that your brother has done something to hurt you very badly. What if when your parents found out what happened, they said, “Oh, we’ll just let that go – it’s all right. Just forget about it.”

No, you say! You have been hurt. You have been sinned against. Your parents would not be just unless they punished your brother for that sin. Right?

But let’s pretend you stepped in and said, “Punish me for what my brother did. I’ll take the punishment, and he won’t have to.” Then your parents would be just to forgive your brother, right? Someone else would be taking the punishment in his place.

This is very much like what God has done for us. We have hurt Him by our sin. Each one of us has gone against His perfect, holy law so many times, in so many ways, that we could never be punished enough to pay for it all. And yet He forgives us. How can He be just to forgive us?

The only way He can be just is to punish someone else in our place. And Jesus, His perfect, holy Son, took God’s punishment when He died on the cross. He was our substitute. He took the punishment that we deserved. If we turn to Jesus, trusting Him to free us from sin, God will forgive us for the sake of His Son.

God is just to forgive the sin of those who have believed on His perfect Son, Jesus Christ.

My Response:
» Have I accepted Jesus’ death on the cross as the payment for my sin?