The Faith Walk

Jonathan Evans: How do you get to the place where you are in there? You just love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. You want to know how you get there? The same way you get a tan. You go sit in the sun.

Guest (Male): Have you ever wondered what you should do first to move the spiritual needle forward? Or do you ever ask yourself, "How can I live the Christian life consistently every day?" Well, let's find out through Jonathan's multi-part series, Discipleship for Everyday. But before we begin, if you want to know more about Jonathan and the Alternative, visit tonyevans.org. Now, here is Jonathan Evans.

Jonathan Evans: He is teaching us how to run it, how you are supposed to do all of those different things. And I said, "Well, what is it?" They said, "Six 300s with 30 seconds rest." All I knew was I was not going to show up and look like a fool. I was going to make my time. So I took my stopwatch, wrapped it around my hand, went up to Duncanville High School by myself, and started running 300s.

The way that I ran them was wrong. They ran one continuous lap. I did not know any better, so I ran 100 yards, stopped, turned around, ran 100 yards, stopped, and then ran back 100 yards. Do you all know how hard it is to stop and build your speed back up rather than running a continuous lap? I did not know any better. I did not have the training. All I knew was I had a desire to win.

So when I came to the summer workouts and they were like, "Bro, you are going to die," I got on the line and I started running. As I was running, I realized we were just running around the field. I got back after number one and I was like, "Okay." Then we got to number two and number three. At number three, I was still standing there while they were struggling. I said, "Oh, I am going to make this."

We got to number four and I got a little bit more tired, but then the boys were like, "He might make it." So we got to number six. There were two guys ahead of me and I started picking up since it was my last one. I heard the coach say, "That boy has heart. You can't coach that." We finished, and I made the time. Six guys made it out of sixty.

I went down to the other field, and the coach was so mad that the people who trained could not make the goal that he made them run six more. He looked at them and said, "How have you all got the training and you couldn't meet the goal? It is because he has heart." A lot of people have been running for a long time and you are still missing the goal because you have no heart.

You are still trying to figure out the Christian life and based on training how you are supposed to do it. You wonder about the rubric, the list, and the law. Jesus said to give him your heart. Once you give him your heart, that changes the entire game. The Pharisees had it in their head, but they did not have it in their heart.

Acts 4:13 says the disciples were untrained men, but people knew they had been with Jesus. The Pharisees did not change anything, but those twelve disciples changed the world. What happens when you have 2,200 to 2,500 people who can leave church with a heart that has been given to Jesus Christ? If twelve can change the world, we can at least change the community.

The problem is we have been satisfied with being the salt to the shaker and not the salt to the world. We come to church and learn, thinking it was a good sermon, but we leave with the same stale heart that still hasn't fallen in love with Jesus. He sat down with the Pharisees and said, "I have your brain, but I am trying to get your heart." That is the law.

You look good, but he doesn't care about that. He said when he was choosing David that man looks at the outer appearance, but he looks at the heart. You look cute, pretty, and handsome, which is nice for us. Jesus says to love him. He asks if you have heart. Many of us, just like me for a long time, thought we loved him, but we only listed him or lawed him.

We get it confused when we list or law him because it is like a little line where we act so that God will respond, instead of responding to what God has already done. This is just my gratitude and my response. I love him. I am not trying to enlist him. He said to love the Lord your God with all of your heart. That is the unleash part. You can't teach that.

He says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, beating desire, and all your soul. While your heart gives life, the soul is positioned to perpetuate the life that you have. The heart is the inner beating desire on the inside, and the soul is the disposition that will parade that desire around on the outside. The soul is your temperament, your personality, your personhood, and your character. It is you.

Repeat after me. It is well with my soul. Sing it together. It is well, it is well with my soul. My brother was here for the first service and told me not to do that. He told me when I was little that I have an A ear but a D voice. I can hear it, but I can't execute what I hear. It doesn't matter. When you sang that, you could feel that.

It is well with my soul. What you are saying is that you are okay. You are at peace. You are going to be all right because it is well with who you are. That is why Matthew 10:28 says to fear not the ones who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. The soul is who you are. The body without the soul is just an empty shell. The soul lives on.

When the Pharisee asks which one is the greatest law, Jesus says to love the Lord your God with all of your desire, all of your beating desire from the inside. Then he says to give him your whole soul. He wants all of you, not just your head knowledge or your ability to put on fig leaves to cover yourselves up in front of people.

He wants your whole soul. He wants your will, your time, your talents, your past experiences, and your future aspirations. He wants your positioning and your posture. He wants the heart and the soul of the man or the woman. That is more than going to church. That is having that thing live inside of you. When you repent, you repent with a heart and a soul.

It is not just a "he will forgive me, it is a grace thing" apology. When someone loves somebody and they are sorry, that is a whole different level of repentance. Here is your answer. It is back to the basics. If he can just get his people to love him, disciples unleashed would be no problem. It would be their whole life, not a calculated list where they pick and choose.

If he had their whole soul, then their whole disposition would be set to carry out the desire that is beating from the heart. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and all of your mind. This brings it all together. We have a desire and a disposition, and now we go do because the mind makes you do.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is. That which is acceptable, perfect, and good. Now we are going to prove the will of God because what is coming from my desire and my disposition is now being worked out in my mind.

Jesus wants all of you. I can't say it more simply than he said it. The Pharisees just could not hear it. Their whole goal was not the sermon; their whole goal was to try to trip the sermon up. They were not there to listen and learn. He said to love the Lord your God. They did not even know who they were talking to. The whole thing is an indictment on who is asking the question.

By the way, I am him. Some of us come to church not knowing where we are at. He is him, but we haven't given ourselves to him. He wants all of us, your mind, your heart, and your soul, to prove what the will of God is. That which is acceptable, perfect, and good. How do you get there? How do you get to the place where you are just in there?

You love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. You want to know how you get there? The same way you get a tan. You go sit in the sun. You were waiting for another "how-to" list of functions that you need to do to try to figure out how to love God. No, you go sit in the sun and you get dark.

That is how it works. It is the effect of who he is, not the effect of who you are. You keep trying to figure out what you are going to do. Go be in his presence and watch him burn on you.

Guest (Male): Did you know that God has a purpose for you right now? You may think you are not ready to make a difference in God's kingdom or that you are too young for others to take seriously, but that is not what God thinks. We want to give you a book by Jonathan called Your Time Is Now. This book is our gift to you as a thank-you for your donation to help support the ministry of the Alternative.

It is our way of showing appreciation for the continued support of listeners like you who make this program possible. Get all the details online at tonyevans.org. Again, that is tonyevans.org, or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you. That is 1-800-800-3222. Find your way out of distractions and into God's purpose for your life. Now, let's get back to Jonathan with the rest of today's message.

Jonathan Evans: I know people who are negative. You know why they are negative? They dwell in it. They can't see the cup half full; it is just half empty. They can't see anything positive. They only want to talk about the negative. They can only see what's wrong and never bring up what's good. Their whole mentality has been skewed to the negative because they live there.

People are living in anxiety because they dwell in fear. You spend your time trying to pick them up, telling them to see it this way and that there is nothing to be afraid of, but they just can't get out of the woods because they are living there. You dwell in victory and it builds your countenance and confidence. You dwell in gratitude and it builds up your joy.

But you can't go be in the sun and stay inside. Being in the sun also means a change of location. This is the hard part because you don't want to turn off your social media or change your people. You want to stay inside and get the sun. You have knowledge of the sun, but you don't get the effects of the sun until you go outside. You can't be in the same place and stay the same person.

If I can just get my people to love me, and not try to enlist me, but love me. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Then it will be evident because you will be able to love your neighbor as yourself. I hate to say it, but some church people can be some of the ugliest. Just mean.

They just left worship and listening to the sermon. They came to church, and as soon as someone bugged them, they flipped their lid. I thought you loved me. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and then love your neighbor as yourself. Now, here is the misinterpretation of this verse: "I am going to love people the way I want to be loved." No.

I used to think about it the same way. I used to think that if it works for me, it must work for you. If you have been married for any time at all or in a relationship, you know that doesn't work. Have you all known the five love languages? Have you read that book? If I tried to love Kanika based on my love languages, that isn't going to work.

I am touch and words of affirmation. She is service and quality time. If I loved her the way that I want to be loved, she would not be getting what she needs. I can't assume that the way I want to be treated is the way she wants to be treated. Because I am a fallible person, I should never use the way I want to be loved as the rubric for loving anybody.

When he says to love your neighbor as yourself, he is reverting back to God, not you. Love your neighbor as much as I know you wanted to be loved by me. You don't want to forgive, but didn't you need forgiveness? You don't want to give mercy, but isn't that how you wanted me to love you? You did not deserve grace, but didn't you need that from me?

He is saying he knows exactly how you want to be loved, and now you should love them like that. His love is not fallible. His love is perfect, true, and good. So you revert back to what he gave you and then you give that to everyone else. A disciple is a visible, verbal follower of Jesus Christ, not their own history, their own rubric of love, or how they were raised.

You are not a disciple of you; you are a disciple of him. So what you are doing is carrying out who he is, not who you are. I want you to love the Lord your God because of how he loved you first. Then you turn around and you give it to others. Then things begin to change. Things begin to morph.

You say, "Well, we are not Jesus, we can't do it perfectly." He knows that, and at the same time, he still says to be steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord. He does not coach you based on your ability; he coaches you based on his standard. Back to the forge. Which is the greatest command? Love me with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.

That is first and foremost. The second is much like it. You turn and love your neighbor the way I loved you as yourself was loved. In this is a disciple unleashed. In this is the entire law and the prophets. How in the world is that possible? Jesus is a beast. How did you sum up the entire law and the prophets by telling people to love you?

Anybody know the Ten Commandments? "Thou shalt have no other gods. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." Stop. Do you notice anything about those first four? They are all about you and God. The first four commandments are vertical commandments.

Then it goes, "Honor your mother and your father. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house or anything that is thy neighbor's." He just went horizontal. When he said to love him and love others, he just attacked the entire law in one fell swoop.

The New Covenant is not about the list. The New Covenant is about love. Hopefully, after we break huddle, we realize football season is here. 100,000 fans are not going into Texas Stadium to watch 11 men bend over and have a private conversation. They come because they want to know what difference the huddle makes.

I want to know, having huddled, if you can now score. What are you going to do about 11 other men on the other side of that ball daring you to go public with that private conversation? Every week, this is a much-needed huddle. But the Kingdom of God is asking what difference the huddle makes. Having now huddled, can you now score?

What are you going to do about the enemy that is waiting for you right outside of that door with what you just learned? I hope from today, you don't continue to play the game without the ball. Love him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Awana, that is all you needed for the whole law and the prophets. God bless you.

Guest (Male): That was Jonathan Evans. Before you go today, I want to remind you that we have a gift for you. It is a copy of Jonathan's book called Your Time Is Now. In this book, you will understand that God has a purpose for you even if you think you are not ready to make a difference. Move beyond inaction and embrace the calling God has placed on your life.

The book Your Time Is Now is our gift to you to thank you for your donation to help support the ministry of the Alternative. It is our way of showing appreciation for the continued support of listeners like you who make this program possible. Get all the details online at tonyevans.org. Again, that is tonyevans.org, or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you.

Find your way out of distractions and into God's purpose for your life. Thank you for listening to today's program with Jonathan Evans. This program is produced as a part of the Urban Alternative, a ministry of Dr. Tony Evans.