Believer:  101

“Listen, Israel: [People of God]
The Lord is our God.
The Lord is our only God.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
With all your soul,
And with all your strength.’”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5

We love to complicate things, don’t we?   That’s nothing new.   You can taste it in this ancient verse within the first five Books of the Bible.  I can almost hear that ancient voice leaning in, enunciating each word with perhaps a touch of frustration.  Making simple things become terribly complicated is nothing new.  It’s an unending human struggle, and it’s been the struggle of every Believer since the Beginning.  

But in its simplest terms, it boils down to acknowledging God’s very existence. 

Out of that ancient admission of God’s existence, comes the fact that He is the only God.  No other True God exists.  We may hold onto other fake gods in our lives, those things we don’t think we can live without.  But they’re not real.  Not true.   Certainly not worthy of owning our hearts.

What does God want us to do with our hearts?   Love Him. . . with my own heart. . . with ALL of my heart.  Not just a little piece of my heart.  Not a piece that is sad…. or needing love, …. or hurting . . . or having a moment of happiness.  All of it needs to love and embrace Him into our hearts. . . into the core of who you are.   

My soul will live on as my earthly body returns to dust.  The experience of God’s Spirit … His Essence, will carry me as my soul rises to be in His Presence…look into His Eyes….know, at last, the One Who first  . . . and always . . .loved me.

That sense . . . that taste . . . that hope provides the strength needed to walk through each day,  walk with each person, and walk through each situation that Life here presents.  Strength of mind, strength of hands, strength of backbone, strength of spirit . . . strength of heart and soul flows out of our knowledge and love for our God.  Believing Him as His People, who have all come out of the slavery of whatever “Egypt” we’ve been in.  And  we then step into God’s Promises, Love, and Freedom,  carrying His Living Presence to a world that waits . . .