The old hymn says, “Oh How I Love Jesus because he first loved me.” I was thinking today about God’s love for us. As a teenager, I would hear the older saint testify about how much they loved Jesus. He was their whole world. They would say how they couldn’t make it without him. Some would say things like they couldn’t breathe without him. They didn’t want to live even a second without him. At the time, I couldn’t relate and wondered how they got to that place in life. After all, I didn’t have any worries. My parents took care of me and I had a good life.

As an adult, I know what they meant. When we walk through some storms in life, we realize we cannot make it without him. The more things we walk through, the stronger our bond to our Lord. Hard things we face in life can kill us or make us stronger. They will help us grow or make us bitter. I choose to live with the hope that God is in control. He wants us to love him with our whole hearts.

( “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jer 29:13 KJV ) I believe this is what happens as we walk through life. We learn how to pray and to Love God.

We are not born knowing how to love God. That is something we learn as our faith grows.

That reminds me of something that happened years ago. We were having a family dinner. My oldest nephew was around four years old. They had been teaching him the little kids prayer, “God is great, God is good and we thank him for our food…”

He wanted to say grace, He didn’t do that prayer he said, “thank you for our food,” then he paused for a moment, so long that my mom finally asked if he was done. He then shook his bowed head and said, “help me love God. Amen.”

That was such a sincere prayer from the heart. I changed it a little, now I say, “help me Love You More God.” He honors that prayer daily.

Until next time, BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS.

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