“I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:1-2 (NKJV)
Absolutely, positively, one of my most favorite verses from the Word of God, is Psalm 18:1-2. It is a passage I often go back to, especially when anxieties and discouragement come into my thought patterns and I need a reminder of the one thing in my relationship with God that is most important. To love Him.
One of the things that I love so much about the Word of God is its balance and alignment. There is never a time I have read in the Scriptures, where I am commanded to give up or avoid something without replacing it with something wonderful that honors, worships and glorifies God.
God does not simply want me to just repent of my sins and run from doing things wrong. He wants me to run towards Him! He wants me to love Him and be intimate with Him. He desires for me, in this love relationship with Him, to trust Him and only Him as my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my shield and the horn of my salvation.
So often, I attempt to defeat sin on my own strength, thinking I am honoring God by my feeble attempts to be righteous on my own. This plan fails much more often than it succeeds. But God, in His infinite grace and mercy, simply asks me to love Him. He desires my heart. It is when I love Him deeply, that my reaction and response will always be obedience to Him.
Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ (2 Thessalonians 3:5 (NKJV)
O great and awesome and wonderful Lord and Savior, you are so merciful, loving and good! You reign in heaven above and you have kept your covenant of love for millenniums. And although you and I both exist, my existence is definitely derivative, for I have not always existed. You are self-existent. You have always been and you can never cease to be.
Lord, even on my best days, I confess that I have not been reliable and consistent. So many times, in the frailty of my human existence, I have been inconsistent in my thinking and in my actions. But the same is NEVER true of you! You are my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. You are my strength. Your promises cannot fail because you are fully and ultimately dependable. I can stake my very life on every single one of your promises because you will never, ever fail to keep them.
Lord, your love for me has always been most consistent. Even when I have swayed, you still keep loving me. You never stop. Your love cannot be any greater or any less. I love you only because you have loved me first. How I long to love you with that same awesome love that you love me with, to walk in the love of God. But I know that this is impossible without you.
Lord, it is my prayer that you manifest your great and awesome love into my heart and my mind, by the power of your Holy Spirit. Only your Holy Spirit can make your love real for me! Loving you is the fruit that makes all the others become fruits!
God, I know I need to love you perfectly and completely, but I am human and my heart is wayward, so until then, I will daily seek your face and seek to find you in all things. I will pray daily, continually looking forward to and longing for the glorious day of your return to this earth to make all things new, including this heart that is reserved for you and belongs to you, forever and ever.
Take this existence. I am yours.
O God how I love you!
John (johnd7264)
Sixty-six books in a year 