Holistic Love: Engaging Heart, Mind, and Spirit

Now I'm about to read to you if you have a history in the faith one of the most familiar verses in the entire Gospels to you, but I'm gonna tell you everything else Hinges on Christ's answer right here in the Gospels when it says in Mark 12 Verse 28 and one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another and Seeing that he answered them. Well, and he is Jesus asked him which Commandment is the most Important of all and listen this was a people who believed in Commandments they love Commandments so much that the commandments they had were not enough They added and added and added and added to them these people law of commandments What is the most important of all it is the word in Greek? Protoss p -r -o -t -o -s long o short o protoss from which we get priority What is the priority? What is gorgeous about? [00:00:02]

verse is that at no time do you and I ever have to wonder what God's priority is for us at no time there may be a whole list of things that he's doing but at all times when you and I think to ourselves I wonder what God wants most of all for me it will never change this is it this is the priority this trumps everything else in our lives this is what we want to pray after this is what we want to seek he says in verse 29 the most important is here oh Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one he's repeating the Shema which was the most familiar watchword the Jews had verse 30 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 31 the second is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself there is no other commandment greater than these you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart with your whole soul [00:01:11]

with your whole mind, with your whole strength, with everything you've got. Some of those words would be so familiar to us. To love Him with our heart, I think that's the one that we say the most, the one that we understand the most. The soul, that would be the psyche. And it would mean that which is the part of man that is not the material man. That which is soul in us. Very often you will see that it is differentiated in a particular verse here or there, the soul and spirit. When Hebrews talks about the Word of God dividing between the soul and spirit and the bone and marrow, it's differentiating between the two. And when there is a distinction between the two, here's what the distinction is. Our spirit in us, if we're made of a body and a soul and a spirit, our spirit in us is our capacity to know God. Every single person who is ever born on the face of the earth, and this has been true since God created Adam and Eve, every single human being is given a spirit. He breathed a spirit in... [00:02:22]

to man, that's the part of us that is eternal, and that part of us is the part of us that has the capacity to know and to relate to God. When we become born again in Christ, when He becomes our Savior, His Holy Spirit takes over the spirit of the natural man. And it is His Holy Spirit that is inside of us. But sometimes in Scripture, the words will be used where soul would mean both of them, and spirit would mean both of them. But in this particular verse, you'll see that He's giving these four components, these four parts of the human being, and He's saying every last ounce of it, every fleck to the very last one. And then the mind, the mind, I want you to see what this word is because it is going to drive us. It's the word dianoia, from a word that means like to agitate in mind. And you'll, please think electricity with me right there, to agitate in mind. And it is that capacity that dia denotes separation, to think over in such a way you can separate something. I think. [00:03:34]

You're using your mind when you drive through, when you pull up to the window, and you're making your order there at the screen. Your mind is separating between the order of french fries on that particular board, and the baked potato. Because that's your thought process, you are able to separate the two. It is the ability of the understanding, the intellect, the intellectual faculty, the thought, and the mind. This is our reasoning power, our insight, perception. This is where revelation would come from the Spirit engaging that mind. You know, God makes the distinction even between the heart and mind in his own word about himself. First Samuel 2, 35, I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. He describes himself as having both heart and mind. So, here's the question I've come to grapple over. Remember, what does it mean to love God with our whole mind? So when I do this, I'misin' man. To understand, I'm coming back. Heardan is obeying his individual faith. As an a prophecy was written in the world where he died. Thank you. [00:04:47]

We're so accustomed to saying, I want to love you with my whole heart. I love Jesus with my whole heart. It's so heart -oriented, that's a gorgeous thing, gorgeous priority. But I want to ask you, what does it look like to love God, not just with this little segment over here, but with our whole mind? [00:06:01]

There's no limit to the impact of loving God with our whole mind. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. I want to read verses 6 through 16, yet among the mature, we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man... [00:06:27]

Imagine what God has prepared for those who love him if that is not a memory verse staring us in the face I don't know one when I see one and it says in verse 10 these things God has revealed to us through the spirit for the spirit searches Everything even the depths of God for who knows a person's thoughts Except the spirit of that person which is in him So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the spirit of God So I want you to notice with me in verse 11 Do you see that first spirit is a lowercase? That's gonna be the spirit of man as part that's one of the three components We may have created with before we're ever redeemed in Christ. We have a spirit. We have the capability To know God it just has not been answered yet by receiving the one Who we are invited to know so it's lowercase s and this is so also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the spirit of God That is uppercase holy spirit verse 12 now We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God that we might [00:07:12]

the things freely given us by God and we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual you and I want to be taught by the Spirit not by human flesh and blood not by any human teacher every time you open your Bible at home you are asking God teach me Holy Spirit this is your word I want you to teach it to me I want you to open my understanding you tell it to me you interpret it to me you give it to me verse 14 the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are folly to him and he is not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned the spiritual person judges all things verse 15 says but is himself to be judged by no one verse 16 for who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him but we have the mind of Christ I want to say that to you again let's let it sink in we have the mind of Christ that that does not mean that we have have Thank you. [00:08:24]

identical mind of Christ in the full capacities that he has because Christ alone is Christ but what it does mean is that you and I if we are in Christ have the capacity to think with the mind of Christ to think in his likeness not to think as him but to think like him does that make any any sense to anybody that is our capability in the spirit so I want you to look at this with me because this if we will let it sink in is dramatically transforming to us see this is where believers in Christ are one up to over the mind of unbelievers and there are a lot of brilliant brilliant unbelievers out there and as smart as they may be the believer in Christ has something in their mind that is one up over any person regardless of their IQ out there in their natural man because they have their natural brain and mind we have our natural brain and the mind of Christ [00:09:35]

Our hearts, we're even told in Scripture, in Ephesians chapter 1, talk about one -upping over the things of the natural man. We are told that we can literally have eyes of our hearts enlightened. You don't just have eyes in your head. [00:10:52]

The Word of God says, may the eyes of our hearts be enlightened that we may know the hope to which we have been called. I mean, we are living embodiments of our own dramatic series, Stranger Things. [00:11:14]

We're supposed to be different. When you and I are just trying to blend in with the world, that could not be more different than what we have been called to do. [00:11:35]

Christ is meant to show up in us. You have a calling on you that you cannot possibly do. [00:11:54]

the very Spirit of the living Christ through us be impossible for us. We literally have the capability to know things we cannot know with our natural minds. Anybody here with me tonight? [00:11:59]

All of this in the Spirit of God. Now, here's what I want to say. Some of you who are God -intentioned and very gifted intellectuals and academics have withdrawn from a good measure of your faith for the sake of your intellect. [00:12:12]

How would I know that? Well, because that is just the natural course of what we would do if we were just like really growing in our intellect, and we would think that we're just like getting smarter and smarter here, and then it just becomes its own thing. And we find out over time, sometimes we will release much of our faith because we've done it for the sake of our intellect. But here's the question. Do you have faith enough to believe God for your intellect? [00:12:34]

let him access that very intellect for his glorious name and for his glory because listen you hadn't even seen intellect until you have you don't even know i wouldn't even know what my mind was capable of until i let him get hold of it now the opposite is also true somebody here maybe a lot of us have resisted anything intellectual because we think you know he said he's going to use the foolish to confound the wise i want want to just remind you that's right before the passages that i just read to you that it's many of you were this many of you were not many of you were wise it says what we very much want to be wise now there listen there's no humility in being an idiot but that's not the way we want to have our humility there's nothing about that that brings glory to god and let me promise you that he is fully capable if we really do what we're talking about the world is we're still going to think we're crazy so we're going to be just fine they'll still you [00:13:11]

think we're fools and he'll still take that foolishness and he'll confound the wise with so we're in good shape here but there are those are things I don't want I don't want anything intellectual nothing intellectual I just want to love God with my whole heart but you have cheated your heart of all that it could know to love him for all that he is capable of doing who he is what that means do you have the faith to not only love God with your whole heart but would you be willing to begin to pursue a love of him with your whole mind stop taking for granted what God has planted underneath your skull did you know that second Corinthians chapter 4 tells us it calls us and this is Paul writing it says that we are jars of clay we are jars of clay so when we're not clear jars but this is just really important that you know because this is one of our very important points I need you to know that you have got a brain in [00:14:22]

okay look back at them and say you are a jar and there's a brain in it and we're gonna learn to use it what wouldn't it be a glorious thing if we just began to give access entirely to God to our entire brain that is one of the most important things we've got to say because there ain't no shame like wasting your brain there's somebody in this room and playing dumb is your stick I mean it's a thing you do it's one thing you do it in some kinds of environments we will do it so that we will keep people's favor because if we acted like we knew our right hand from our left hand somebody might not like us anybody's just like you play [00:15:51]

dumb because if you play like you are who you really are and you act like you have a brain they're not gonna like you you know what I'm proposing to you is it maybe we could just ask him to have let us have some humility instead of stupidity wouldn't it be good that we wouldn't it be wonderful if you got permission not to play dumb I'm gonna wait for that to sink in with somebody because that right there could absolutely change our lives now now here's what have you still got your Bible open to first Corinthians 2 because I want to tell you something and I don't know if this is helpful to anybody else but I love I love little diagrams and I'm gonna give you one if you like these kinds of little formulas here so let me talk you through it before I give it to you so do you remember that it is the spirit that knows the mind let me read 11 again first Corinthians 2 11 for who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him so if the spirit actually knows the thoughts so I mean when it has full knowledge of it then it's greater than so the spirit is greater than the mind [00:16:45]

And we're going to see that because the mind has a huge and tremendous impact on the brain, we're going to also suggest that the mind is greater than the brain. [00:17:58]

And somebody may say to me, and this will be a, I try to think, because I think in a classroom, I think like a teacher and a student, and I argue with my own self, and I ask my own self questions to see if I can answer them. I try to think what you would ask. And so, what you might say is, you might say, but Beth, I mean, if your brain dead, then I mean like your mind and your spirit are dead. Oh, no, they're not. No, because our spirit is eternal. [00:18:11]

So they're both greater than. In the human, the spirit is greater than the mind. The mind is greater than the brain, because the eternal is greater than the temporal. So I started thinking of every conceivable, every possible condition of the brain to either extreme, whether it was genius or for whatever reason mentally disabled, whether it was impairment or it was extraordinary, whether it was young or old, whether it was right -brained or left -brained, whether the brain had been operated on, whether you had or had been operated on, whether it was a choice or a choice or a choice or a choice or a choice [00:18:40]

tumor, signs of dementia, or whether some part of the brain has just been locked up by something, maybe trapped in the past, trapped in something, in some kind of trauma, crisis, whatever it may be, does this apply? Absolutely, 100 % across the board, there is not a single person in hearing in this room with an eyeshot of this lesson or that would be out in the halls or anywhere on this planet that would not have something profound to gain by saying, God, I give you my mind and my brain. [00:19:12]