Deuteronomy 6:5

Deuteronomy 6:5 – Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! (MSG)

Moses was telling Israel to listen obediently and do what they were told by God – his God, their God, the only God. But the biggest thing they had to do was to love God with everything they had.

God didn’t want the people of Israel to love him as a friend, He wanted them to love him as their Father, as their God.

Nicholas has a friend in his first grade class named Cassidy. She is a little red head with freckles and so cute. Nicholas plays with her at school and talks about her here at home and says he ‘loves her’ and this is from his six year old heart.

The other day he came home upset because he thinks she is lying to him. Rebecca asked why do you think that? And he answered, ‘I told Cassidy I loved her and she just looked at me and said we were only friends. So she is lying because someday she will say she loves me.’ Nick was upset to hear her say those words.

After listening to Nick’s story, it made me think about how many times God will tell us he loves us and how many times we look at Him and say we are only His friend. I bet God gets upset when he hears that from us.

God, to some may be just a friend, but to a Christian, he is so much more than that. He is God, our God and the only God and we need to love him with everything we have and we need to tell him daily.

Nancy

A View from the Porch

I went to button my pants the other morning and discovered that wasn’t going to happen. Clearly an indication I need to start dieting and exercising. Of course the easy solution is to simply buy a new pair of pants that will fit. How many times does God give us a clear indication of what He wants us to do, but because it doesn’t fit us, we look to the easy solution, the easy way out.
Blessings,

Wayne

Moon in May

Now that winter is gone and spring is here, I've been out walking as part of my daily exercise. This evening I decided to go out just before dark to get some fresh air and relieve some stress. As I was walking down my street, I was thinking and brooding about an issue going on in my life. It never seems to end and I dont want to deal with it anymore. I think we all know that feeling.
I got to the end of my road where it meets Robinson Rd. and turned around to go back. Just as I turned around I was stunned to see the most majestic full moon glowing above straight down the opposite end of the road before me. It was golden with a halo around it shining through some wispy pinkish and bluish clouds. I thought wow, Lord, this is breathtaking!
As I stood and stared, in that moment I was reminded that God is the creator of the universe and is more than capable of taking care of me. I saw God in that moon because only God our Father could create something like that.
I also realized in that moment, that as I was walking and brooding that whole time, I just had to look over my shoulder to see that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is behind me every step of the way.

Suzanne Waddell

A View from the Porch

View from the Porch

Brothers and sisters, God wants us to be the best that we can be. The best Christian; the best servant; the best spouse; the best parent; the best brother or sister; the best employee; the best neighbor; the best church member, etc. You get the picture. How do we become the best at who we are and what we do? Seems to me, training and practice. Athletes, emergency service personnel, military personnel, landscapers, secretaries, teachers, carpenters, nurses, etc. need practice and training to become the best. Again, you get the picture. Don’t we need practice and training to become God’s best? My answer is, yes. So how do we find the practice and training we need? We find it in reading scripture daily; praying daily; daily devotionals; listening to the Holy Spirit; attending Bible studies and being part of other small groups; attend Christian conferences; worshiping on a regular basis; being an active church member; fellowship; reading Christian books; doing God’s Will; using our spiritual gifts, etc. I’m certain you can come up with your own list. Because we are sinners, the key is, the bottom line is that we DO need to practice and train.

Wayne Moore