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Do You Love Me?

         My daughter is taking a Bible course at Liberty University and asked me a simple question that opened floodgates for me. She wanted to know what it meant that God wants us to love Him of our own free will and why even put the forbidden tree in the garden. When I read it, I smiled and thought to myself, “That’s simple.” But as I typed out my answer, it was so much more. Let me explain.          God does want us to love Him of our own free will. This means He wants us to CHOOSE to love Him rather than forcing us to love Him. To me, love is so much more than a feeling or an emotion. I defined love as choosing to put the needs and well-being of another ahead of your own. If we are forced to do this, it’s not love but obedience.          I went on to explain that in loving God, obedience is an expression of our love for Him. John 14:21-24 breaks this down for us. Jesus speaks and tells us basically, that if we truly love Him, we will obey Him. It’s important to note that we obey
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Day 7 of 30 - Testimonies, Prayers, & Poetry

A Praying Friend I received a text with a prayer and words of encouragement from a friend of more than 26 years. We haven’t seen each other in person in at least 5 years but I think it’s been longer than that. The point is, distance doesn’t matter. God put her in my life and allowed her to remain there. The real blessing is, she’s not just occupying space, she’s serving a purpose. She prays for me and my family. She has been all the years I’ve known her. I don’t have to call her or text her and tell her we need prayer. She prays anyway because she loves me and my family and she loves God. I’d gotten texted prayers and encouraging words from her before and am always grateful. I send them to her as well. Today, after reading her greetings and prayer, these words fell on my heart to share with her. I have one other such blessing in my life. I’ve known her for more than 30 years and she is definitely a prayer warrior.   These words are also for her. If you don’t have praying friends, a
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Day 6 of 30 - Testimonies, Prayers, & Poetry

Precious Father, Sovereign God I look to You and to You alone I ask you please to come into my heart To make my life Your own   Take away my heart of stone And give me a heart of flesh Help me to love You and live To give to You my very best   So many times I’ve fallen short, I’ve let You down; I have sinned Yet each time I cry out to You You forgive me all over again   Recently my days seem hard I’ve taken on more than I can bear Help me to look to You And in obedience to cast my care   My greatest desire is to honor You To serve You and bring You glory I want others to know who You are I want to share Your story   Precious Father, Sovereign God Holy is Your Name May I forever bring You joy May I never bring You shame.
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Day 5 of 30 - Testimonies, Prayers, & Poetry

Turnaround      Today,  I finished reading a book I’ve had sitting on my shelf for more years than I can recall. I’ve begun reading it many times but never saw it through. Today, I did and the end was where my breakthrough was hiding.          The book is titled “ Dry Bones Dancing,Resurrecting Your Spiritual Passion ” by Dr. Tony Evans. The book begins with a look at Ezekiel 37 and the story of the valley of dry bones. It was enlightening and informative and gave me insight into a story I had been hearing all my life. But that’s not why this book is the subject of my writing tonight.          At the end of the last chapter, when our bones have come together and the Holy Spirit has breathed new life into us, Dr. Evans tells us how to “stay hydrated.” It’s great to get dry bones dancing again, but it’s better to not dry out in the first place.          God doesn’t breathe new life in us for us to just say, “Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord!” He has something He wants us to do. To assis
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Day 4 of 30 - Testimonies, Prayers & Poetry

  More Than a Savior More than just a Savior He’s my Lord and my best friend The Son of God and Mary’s baby He’s the beginning and the end   He surrendered His life so that I might live He was beaten so that I could be whole He rose again and was seen by men His story is repeatedly told I once used Him to escape Hell’s fire He was my savior and nothing else But then I reached the end of me And realized I couldn’t save myself   Finally, I was ready for more Our relationship began to slowly progress Still, I withheld so much from Him But He wanted all of me and nothing less   I was still slow to make Him my Lord To truly give to Him my all But once again, I couldn’t do life alone My Savior I had to call   True to His faithfulness He heard and answered my cry Finally, He’s much more than a Savior to me I dare you to give Him a try.
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