Now What?
Luke 2:25-27

“Now what? How’s my life going forward, going to be different?

Matthew 22:34-40

1. Love the Lord with all your heart. I long for my heart to experience unwavering and joyful devotion to Jesus. Where my feelings, my will, my choices and my affections, are consistently and joyfully aimed toward God.
	Our hope - “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts 	are fully committed to him.” - 2 Chronicles 16:9a

	Store up good things in my heart
		“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart.” - Luke 6:45a

	Protect my heart against fear, jealousy, and insecurity.
		Antidote for all three is trust
			1. Trust that God will take care of me no matter what the circumstance
			2. Trust that God will satisfy me with what I need
			3. Trust that God loves me for who I am, not for what others think of me

	Pray. “Father, I love you with all my heart. Help me to have a heart that is unwavering and joyously 	devoted to you. Heal my heart where it is distracted, disordered and distant from you. Help me to 		learn day by day to trust you.”

2. Love the Lord with all your soul. I long for my soul to experience a deep oneness with God. Where all the elements of my life are placed carefully around God, and I’ve given Him center stage, and I’m allowing him to orchestrate all of the “sounds” of my life. 

	An unhealthy soul…
		Mistakes itself for God and lives a life of self-importance
		Is enslaved to disordered desires and affections
		Is marked by internal and external conflict
		Is locked in performance to protect self-image

	Our hope - God is ready to meet us in our longing for oneness with Him. (John 15:4, James 4:8)

	Attend to my soul
		What if I set aside some time, maybe 15 minutes each day, to reflect on the previous 24 
		hours. To capture maybe two or three moments my soul was bleeding through. And talk to 
		God about those moments.

	Practice the presence of God
		Imagine what it would be like to be fully aware of God’s presence as I go through each part 		of my day. How might your day look different than it does now if you were fully aware of 			God’s presence in each of the moments of your day? 

	Pray. “Father, I love you with all my soul. I acknowledge my soul’s wounded condition through 		disobedience, yet I pray that you’ll heal my soul and draw my mind, body, feelings and will together 	to form a life that is whole and one with you.”

3. Love the Lord with all our mind. I long for my mind to experience a constant renewal of virtuous thinking.

	Our hope
		God created our mind to love Him rightly.
		God wants us to see Him, our life, and the world around us through eyes of truth.
		God wants to graciously transform our thinking. (Romans 12:2)

	Learn about Jesus
		What would it look like for me to focus my attention on the four Gospels? To read them 	
		through slowly, thoughtfully, pondering the information, the meaning and the implication of 
		who Jesus is and what he does.

	Keep God before my mind at all times
		I want to challenge myself to memorize portions of Scripture, rather than just a verse here 
		and there. Passages of Scripture, so that they become the fabric of how I think. (Romans 5, 
		Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 13, Psalm 23, Psalm 91)
	
	Pray. “Father, I love you with all my mind: Grant me the grace to keep you before my mind at all 		times. Help me to replace unhealthy thoughts with thoughts that are true, praiseworthy and pleasant 	to my soul and allow me to apply my thinking to the Word of God.”