The Faith Walk

Jonathan Evans: Today on The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. How do you get to the place where you just 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): You ever wonder 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's Jonathan Evans.

Jonathan Evans: He's teaching us how to run it, how you're supposed to do all of those different things. And I said, "Well, what is it?" They said, "6 300s with 30 seconds rest." All I knew was I wasn't 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 didn't know any better, so I ran 100 yards, stopped, turned around, ran 100 yards, stopped, and then ran back 100 yards. Do y'all know how hard it is to stop and build your speed back up than run a continuous lap? I didn't know any better. I didn't 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're going to die." I got on the line, I started running. And as I was running, I said, "Oh, we're just running around the field?" And I got back after number one and I was like, "Okay." Then we got to number two, we got to number three.

At number three, I'm still standing there and they're like this. And I said, "Oh, I'm going to make this." We got to number four. I got a little bit more tired, but then the boys were like, "He might make this." So we got to number six. There were two guys ahead of me and I started picking up.

This is my last one. And I heard the coach say, "That boy got heart. You can't coach that." We finished. I made the time. Six guys made it out of 60. I went down to the other field and the coach was so mad that the people who trained couldn't make the goal, he made them run six more. I know.

And he looked at them and said, "How y'all got the training and you couldn't meet the goal? It's because he got heart." And a lot of people have been running for a long time and you're still missing the goal because you ain't got no heart. And you're still trying to figure out the Christian life and you're still trying to figure out based on training how you're supposed to do it and what's the rubric and what's the list and what's the law.

And Jesus is like, "Give me your heart. And once you give me your heart, that changes the entire game." The Pharisees had it in their head, but they didn't have it in their heart. Let me tell you about the disciples. Acts 4:13 says they were untrained men, but they knew they had been with Jesus.

The Pharisees didn't change anything. The disciples, 12 of them, changed the world. And what happens when you have 2,200 to 2,500 people who can leave church with the heart that has been given to Jesus Christ? If 12 can change the world, we can at least change the community.

The problem is we've been satisfied with being the salt to the shaker and not the salt to the world. So we come to church and we learn, "Ooh, that was a good sermon," and we leave with the same stale heart that still hadn't fallen in love with Jesus. He sat down with the Pharisees and he said, "I got your brain. I'm trying to get your heart." That's the law.

And you look good, but I don't care about that. He said when he was choosing David, "Man looks at the outer appearance. I don't. I look at the heart." You look cute and pretty and handsome, all the things. And that's nice for us. Jesus said, "Love me. Do you have heart?"

And many of us, just like me for a long time, I thought I loved him, but I didn't. I listed him or lawed him. And we get it confused when we list him or lawed him because it's like this little line where we do so that God will respond instead of responding to what God has done. This is just my gratitude and my response. I love him. I'm not trying to enlist him.

It said to love the Lord your God with all of your heart. That's the unleashed part. You can't teach that. He says, "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. The soul is the disposition that will parade that desire around on the outside.

In other words, the soul is your temperament, your personality, your personhood. It is 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 first service. He was like, "Oh, don't do that." I could see him like this in first service.

"That's not your gift." He told me when I was little, he said, "You got an A ear but a D voice." Like you can hear it, but you can't execute what you hear. It don't matter. But when you sang that, you could feel that. It's well with my soul. What you're saying is, "I'm okay. I'm at peace. I'm going to be all right because it's well with who I am."

That's why Matthew 10:28 says, "Fear not the ones who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul." Because the soul, that's who you are. The body without the soul is just an empty shell. The soul still lives on. And so the soul is who you are. So when he says, the Pharisee says, "Which one is the greatest law?"

Jesus says, "Love the Lord your God with all of your desire, all of your beating desire from the inside." And then he says, "Give me your whole soul. I want all of you, not just your head knowledge, not just your ability to put on fig leaves to cover yourselves up in front of people. I want your whole soul.

I want your will, your time. I want your talents, your past experiences, your future aspirations. I want your positioning and your posture. I want your whole soul. I want the heart of the man or the woman. I want the whole soul of the man or the woman. That's more than going to church."

That's having that thing live inside of you. In other words, when you repent, you repent with a heart and a soul. Not just, "I'm sorry, he'll forgive me, it's that grace thing." When someone loves somebody and they're sorry, that's a whole different level of repentance. Here's your answer. Back to the basics.

If I can just get my people to love me, disciples unleashed would be no problem. It would be their whole life, not a calculated list when they pick and choose when they're going to do it or not. If I had their whole soul, then their whole disposition would be set to carry out the desire that's 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 got a desire, we have a disposition, 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're going to prove the will of God because what's coming from my desire and my disposition is now being worked out in my mind. My whole self. I don't just want your knowledge, I don't just want your memorization. All of those things are important. It must be connected with your whole life, not disconnected from your whole life.

Jesus wants all of you. I can't say it more simplistically than he said it. They just couldn't hear it because they're Pharisees. Their whole goal was not the sermon. Their whole goal was to try to trip the sermon up. They weren't there to listen or learn. And he said, "Love the Lord your God."

They didn't even know who they were talking to. The whole thing is an indictment on who's asking the question. Love the Lord your God. By the way, I'm him. And some of us come to church not knowing where we're at. He's him, but we haven't given us to him. And he wants all of us, your mind, your heart, your soul to prove what the will of God is, that which is acceptable, perfect, and good.

So how do you get there? How do you get to the place where you just 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.

See, you are waiting for another how-to like a list of functions that you need to do to try to figure out how to love God and how to figure out. No, you go sit in the sun and you get dark. That's how it works. It's the effect of who he is, not the effect of who you are. You keep trying to figure out what you're going to do. No, go be in his presence and watch him burn on you.

Guest (Male): Jonathan will return with more of our message in just a moment. Did you know that God has a purpose for you right now? You may think you're not ready to make a difference in God's kingdom or that you're too young for others to take seriously. But that's 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 thanks for your donation to help support the ministry of The Alternative. It's 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's 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's 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're negative? They dwell in it. They can't see the cup half full; it's just half empty. They can't see anything positive. They only want to talk about the negative. They can only see what's wrong; they can never bring up what's good. Their whole mentality has been skewed to the negative because they live there.

People who are living in anxiety because they dwell in fear. And you spend your time trying to pick them up like, "No, see it this way, understand nothing to be afraid of." You're doing all of this and they just can't get out of the woods because they're 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. That also means 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, you don't want to change your people.

You want to stay inside and get the sun. No, 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 not be the same person. I need you to, if I can just get my people to love me, not try to enlist me, but love me.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your mind. Then it'll be evident because you'll then be able to love your neighbor as yourself. I hate to say it, but some church people can be some of the ugliest immediately. Just mean. And just left worship.

Just left listening to the sermon. They came to church and as soon as someone bugged them, flipped their lid. I thought you loved me. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and then love your neighbor as yourself.

Now here is the misinterpretation of this verse is I'm going to love people the way I want to be loved. No. I know because I used to think about it the same way. I used to think, "Well, great, this works for me, so it must work for you." Now if you've been married for any time at all or in a relationship, you know that don't work. Have y'all know the five love languages? Y'all read that book, seen that?

If I tried to love Kanika based on my love languages, that ain't going to work. I'm touch and words of affirmation. She's service, which is her highest one, and quality time. So if I loved her the way that I want to be loved, she wouldn't 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.

Matter of fact, because I'm a fallible person, I should never use the way I want to be loved as the rubric for loving anybody. That's not really how that works. When he says love your neighbor as yourself, he's 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 didn't deserve grace, but didn't you need that from me? He's saying, "I know exactly how you want to be loved. Now love them like that."

Why? Because 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 who is unleashed, a disciple is a visible verbal follower of Jesus Christ, not their own history, their own rubric of love, how they were raised, what they think is good.

You're not a disciple of you; you're a disciple of him. So what you're doing is carrying out who he is, not who you are. I want you to love the Lord your God. Why? Because of how he loved you first. And then you turn around and you give it to others. And then things begin to change.

Things begin to morph. You say, "Well, we're not Jesus. We can't do it perfectly." Well, he knows that and at the same time still says, "Be steadfast, unmovable, 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, with all your soul, with all your mind. That's first and foremost, and the second is much like it. You turn and you 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.

Now how in the world is that possible as I close? Jesus is a beast. I mean, how did you sum up the entire law and the prophets by telling people to love you? Anybody know the Ten Commandments? They got quiet. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

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. You notice anything about those first four? They're all about you and God. 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 love me 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. And so hopefully, after we break huddle, you know, I'm happy that football season is here. Anybody happy about football season?

100,000 fans aren't 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 now huddled, can you 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—do not forsake the assembly of the saints—huddle. But the kingdom of God is like, what difference does the huddle make? Having now huddled, can you now score? What are you going to do about the enemy that's waiting for you right outside of that door with what you just learned?

So 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. That's 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's a copy of Jonathan's book called Your Time is Now. In this book, you'll understand that God has a purpose for you, even if you think you're 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's 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's 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's 1-800-800-3222. 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.