DAY 11: SINCERE SEEKER (Mark 12:28-31) “LOVE EVERYONE”

Welcome back. Great is His faithfulness.

Mark 12:28-31

The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?

28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, [a]perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the [b]first commandment of all?”

29 Jesus answered him, “The [c]first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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.’ [d]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.”

Jesus response to ONE OF THE SCRIBES, is a quote from (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), shema' is a great Jewish confession of faith - (meaning "hear", the first word of the confession). We see in v. 31, JESUS quotes Leviticus 19:18, He is combining what was already present in the OT, He was creating a new understanding: love of NEIGHBOR is an example of love of GOD. ( see Matthew 22:35-40, and read notes from Orthodox Study Bible commentary).

Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: [a]The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Leviticus 19:18: You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

"People won't accept truthful answers if the purpose of their question is to justify sin. It's a motive that always makes for frustrating conversations. We see this time and again throughout the gospels. For a good while, the religious leaders were bent on trapping Jesus with all kinds of self- justifying questions. Needless to say, their lack of sincerity never really worked in their favor."

(The Chosen 40 Days with Jesus Book 3 devotional page 56)

Prayer Focus from the Devotional

Pray through Matthew 27:37-40. Ask God to help you love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love others as yourself. Ask Him to reveal an area in your life where you might need to learn something new and ask for humility to hear and accept it. Pray that you'd allow your love for God to govern the way you respond to the things He has to say.

Moving Forward questions from the devotional

Have you ever asked questions about faith with selfish or insincere motives? What were the questions, and what sin or unbelief were you trying to justify? Here is my answer. Every evening I thank the Lord for what I have because that is enough for me to Heather and the kids. Next I ask only for simple things like humility, compassion, understanding and wisdom. I ask for help with patience and a better ability to listen to those who want someone to chat with.

In your faith journey, what has been the bigger stumbling block to deepening your relationship with Jesus: not knowing the Scriptures or not obeying the Scriptures you know? I don't fully understand this question. My biggets struggle and stumbling block is myself because I'm usually taken out of context by others.

I also spoke about my ongoing battle with PTSD and compared it to being my thorn in my flesh. Christ has been the cure to battling my PTSD…

On a scale of 1-10 how eager are you to be educated and won over by God's truth, so that you can love the way He wants you to? 10 I'm a 10 everyday I'm 100% committed to my calling to do His Will.

In Christ love Jared W Campbell

#orthodoxchristianity #orthodoxchristian #biblereadings #bible #biblestudies #orthodoxchurch #thetruth #churchfamily #church #churchonline #christ #christianity #christianposts #holyspirit #holybible #holyspiritteaching #holy #loveofgod #loveofchrist #love #churchofchrist #churchofgod #churchofgodmission #youthministry #inspiration #inspirational #nevergiveup #neversurrender #dontgiveup #dontgiveup #dontquit #faithoverfearalways #faithfulness #faithinChrist #faithinaction #livingfaith #isaiah45 #genesis22 #proverbs17 #proverbs18 #faithandpatience #faith #faithful #faithfulservant #study #christisenough #christisking #mark12 #matthew22 #loveyourneighbor #loveforall #ptsd #combatveteran #combatvets

Find me on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@heathercampbell6231

My Bible Study website: https://www.howiseeit.info
JPCE Spiritual Talk