Matthew 22:34-40 Page 1535 L OVING THE JYO W AY

L AST W EEK :  We looked at how our love for God should be different than the way that the world “loves God”.

L OVING O URSELVES :  The Worldly View:  Gain Oriented Thinking.

O UR H EROES :  We look to the rich and the famous as the ideal because of how little they work compared to how much they play.

O UR H EROES  Our heroes should be those in service and those in uniform; soldiers, police, firemen, nurses, doctors, etc.

W HAT IS T HE C ONNECTION ?  1. The gain mentality has ourselves as the center of decisions and our goal of life is to take care of ourselves so we need to know what God says about loving ourselves.  2. The response to this self- centeredness has been to see the role of the Christian as one who lives the J.O.Y model.

L OOKING TO J ESUS  Think of how the gospels would be different if Jesus loved himself with the God, Others, then Yourself model.

JYO M ODEL !  So many people to cure – everyone begging him to end their suffering. Yet Jesus pulls himself away from the crowd.

T IME TO F ILL  Jesus took time to care for himself.  “If you want to keep the lamp burning, you need to keep putting oil in it.” Mother Teresa.

M ATTHEW 22:34-40 P AGE 1535  MT 22:37 Jesus replied: " `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

M ATTHEW 14:21-25 ON PAGE 1520  The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.  MT 14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.  MT 14:25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

L UKE 6:12-16 ON PAGE 1600  One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

L EAKY C UP

H OW DID J ESUS RENEW HIMSELF ?  1. Jesus spent time with friends.  How are you doing with this? Is your life too busy to have time for friendships? Who could you spend time with this week?

2. J ESUS TOOK TIME ALONE.  It is crucial to carve out alone time to reflect, read, pray and so on.  How are you doing with this? Are you spending time alone with God and how are you spending it? Would you consider setting aside time this week?

3. J ESUS CARED FOR HIS BODY.  … “She has done me a kindness.”  How are you doing the same? How are you doing with diet and exercise?

T AKING I T H OME :  This week I would encourage us to take the time to care for ourselves so that we are helpful in the kingdom and a benefit to others.  Try the JYO model and see how God blesses your efforts!

N EXT W EEK :  We conclude with  “God’s Help to Love the Unlovable”.