Loving Jesus Most of All

Loving someone often happens naturally. 

But maintaining loving another person is not that easy. In fact, it takes work.

Love. A small and seemingly simple word. Yet it holds more power than we realize. 

And I’m not an expert on the subject of love. Instead, I held misconceptions about love as a child and young woman.

You see, my father abandoned me for a time, and I never remember the phrase “I love you!” when he came back into my life.

I was grown with my own children the first time my father uttered the words I love you. The conversation’s forever etched in my memory.

Still, as much as I wanted to hear my dad tell me he loved me, I needed to believe it. And I longed for the reassurance he meant it.

You know what? The same holds true today. My husband and other family members can never tell me they love me too many times. And I can never say it enough to them.

Because a continual and intentional assurance of love takes any relationship to a higher and deeper level. Pure and whole-hearted love, in the most powerful form, is a show-and-tell affection.

Loving Jesus 

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Though None Go With Me: Move on With Jesus

Though none go with me. Not all people will stand by you…believe in your dreams or calling. Move on with Jesus.

I recently finished a 30-day devotional by a writing friend, Dr. O’Shea Lowery, Lord, Please Help Me: God’s Truth & Light for Dark Times.

And I thoroughly enjoyed each devotion and the practical application to my life. So I’m sharing an excerpt this week from one of the devotions.

Though None Go With Me

“As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?'” John 6:66-67 (NASB 1995)

God is bringing all of His children to their very own personal Promised Land—a place where He has assigned us to work and carry out His kingdom agenda.

God is bringing all of His children to their very own personal Promised Land—a place where He has assigned us to work and carry out His kingdom agenda. Dr. O'Shea Lowery, "Lord, Please Help Me" devotional Share on X

…while journeying toward these ordained places, seasons may occur in which we find ourselves traveling alone—not aloof from God but from those to who we wished would have accompanied us. The guestion is, will we allow these moments to halt us in our journeys, or will we continue to follow Jesus?

David was the king of Israel, both blessed and anointed. Yet, on one particular day, David found himself fleeing for his life—not from an enemy or even a stranger but from Absalom, his very own son. David had to leave behind his home, his throne, and all that he loved. (See 2 Samuel 15:13-18)

Shea reminds us how we all experience those times in our lives when people who we trusted and loved rejected and betrayed us. And also times God had to step in and purposefully remove acquaintances from our lives who were unsafe or unhealthy.

Not All People

We experience these hard times. But here are 3 things from Dr. Lowery to remember:

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