Love the Lord your God ♡

 
"And thou shalt love the Lord  thy God with all thy heart,

and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: 

this is the first commandment. "

* Mark 12:30 *

33 years ago on January 21 at the age of  25,

 I trusted in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.
On that day, He became the Lord of my life. 
I knew I was a sinner and came short of the glory of God.  *Romans 3:23*
I acknowledged that the wages of sin was death, 
but the gift of God was eternal life through Jesus Christ.  *Romans 6:23 *
I acknowledged that while I was a sinner Christ died for me.  *Romans 5:8*
I confessed with my mouth,  believed in my heart and called upon
the name of the Lord,  and was saved by God's grace. *Romans 10:9&13*
It was a day I shall never forget, a day when the burden of my sin was lifted. 
The love of God was the leading grace in my renewed soul. 

******

As I began to grow in my relationship with Lord,
I longed to have a deeper knowledge and understanding
of  who God was.
I can remember wanting to read and read the Scriptures,
and as I read I had question after question,
oh there was so much I wanted to learn in a big hurry.
I wanted to know Him through His Word, so I followed the instructions
found in Joshua, a verse I came across early in my walk of faith.
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth:
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night."  *Joshua 1:8a*
To meditate involves thinking and living.
"I have chosen the way of the truth;
thy judgments have I laid before me."  *Psalms 119:30*
I knew that as I took the time to meditate on God's Word
it would increase my understanding.
There were times I would challenge myself to memorize chapters at a time.
That was one of the best things I did for myself,
in fact, I have picked it back up, because as I age
I'm finding my memory needs it.
I began to realize that the more I saw the Lord in His Word,
the more I loved Him.
The Pharisees studied the Word, but they failed to see the Lord in it.
My desire was to be like Paul~ "That I may know Him."  *Philippians 3:10*

 After a couple of years into my walk with the Lord 
I came across verse 30 of chapter 12 in the book of Mark ,
which became my life verse.
"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
and with all thy mind, 
and with all thy strength, 
this is the first commandment. "
When I found this verse I fell in love with it!
I said to myself, "that is your whole being, Debbie."
Verse 29 tells us that " The Lord our God is one Lord."
If I was going to believe that truth, then it was sure to follow
that I was going to love Him with all of my heart.
He is my God, therefore, I ought to love Him,
to set my affections on Him, and delight in Him.
He is one Lord, therefore, my desire is to love Him whole heatedly. 

In the years I have known and walked with my Jesus,
He has proven that He is for me by His unfailing love
and personal involvement in my life.
His grace and presence has been enough for my every need,
every trial, in any circumstance. 
He is my all-sufficient, all-powerful, all-loving, all-sovereign God.
As a child of God, my life is blessed.
I know that I will continually receive His limitless love, 
His immeasurable grace and His boundless power.
May the joy in my heart be the sign that God is everything to me!
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord
so walk ye in Him.
Rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith,
as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."
* Colossians 2:6-7 *
 What a glorious promise. 
My spiritual birthday wish is that I will so walk in Him,
and become more like Him, until the day I meet God face to face. 

Precious Heavenly Father~
I praise You for my salvation, and thank You, that You were willing
to give up Your Son for my redemption.
Guard my heart, increase my faith
and mold me into the image of Christ.
Amen.

To God be the Glory!
~ Debbie ~