Love the Lord your God - DW 2006 July - Project Idea

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Love the Lord your God - DW 2006 July

Inspired by 7/6, creat a journaling block the same size as the photo and 7/29-30, crop the photo to only include part of the subject. This is one of my favorite verses of scripture, Mark 12:30. The page was created because I wanted to tell why this verse means so much for me. So the journaling was first. The pictures since they are secondary represent things that are related to what I wrote. For example the cupcakes and cookies, represent baking for the Ronald McDonald House. The four pages are mean to be viewed together. Instead of hidden journaling each page goes in it own protector. Pages 2 & 3 are back to back and are shorter so that you can always see the title. No need for me to cut the page protectors either. I love how this turned and kept myself from adding anything else because I didn't want to ruin the clean look.At the bottom right corner of page 4 I give the verse, you can't see this in the scan.Journaling reads:HeartRecently, I have been noticing how God has opened my eyes to the things He cares about. He has softened my heart and given me greater compassion for others. I desire that the things that sadden His heart sadden mine. I know I have a long way to go. I can be selfish. There are times I want to ignore others, or am short tempered and not compassionate.I trust that the Lord will continue to transform my heart. My desire is that one day He will say to me ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ I look at David, called the man after God’s own heart. I take great solace in the fact that David was called that even though he sinned. David repented and God forgave him and saw him as the man after His own heart. He didn’t see the sin when it was all said and done because it had been forgiven because David looked forward to the Christ.While I can not fathom the depth of his love for me that He would pay the penalty for my sins, I know I have been forgiven. How can I not love God when He has not only died for me but given me other blessings – my husband, my parents, a beautiful home, a job I love.SoulWhen I think of loving God with all my soul, I think of a deep eternal love. My soul is the very essence of me. It is the part of me that I think closely communicates with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that cries out to the Father in prayer about the things of deepest concerns – prayers that I don’t even have the right words for.Recently, when Doug and I were memorizing scripture we memorized a verse that really made me think ‘Bless the Lord, O’ my soul.’ I think of the Lord blessing me but I don’t think of me being able to bless God. Other translations use praise, which I understand better. However, when I think of asking my soul to bless God I realize how much it gladdens the Lord when I praise and worship Him. He doesn’t need this from me, but He enjoys receiving it. My soul blesses Him by showing Him the honor and glory, by remembering He is God and deserves all my love and respect. He gave me a love of singing so I can use it to worship Him; to raise my voice along with my soul in praise.MindGod created me with a logical and questioning mind. I struggled in college with why I believed in Jesus. I wanted to be sure that I believed not because I grew up hearing about Jesus but because I believed for myself and would have even if I had been raised differently. I struggled until I realized that I have always known God exists and that He made sure I knew about His son. I trusted that even if I hadn’t been born in a Christian home I would have believed in Jesus. Why? Because I had a relationship with God and He would have done what was necessary to make sure I knew about Christ and how He died for my sins.It was also in college that it hit me that God wanted me to love Him with my mind. He says so in His word. Christ said its how the commandments could be summed up. It made me realize that my questions were okay. God wants me to learn more about Him. He wants me to accept Him rationally. Yes, I need faith and trust, but that doesn’t mean that my logical mind isn’t involved.My love of apologetics comes from my desire to love God with my mind. It fascinates me that God created such an amazingly complex creation, something so complex we are still trying to comprehend it. It is too complex to have occurred randomly – No, it was designed by God.StrengthI don’t think of myself as a strong person. I have various health problems and I am a klutz. When I am strong God is the source of my strength. When I didn’t think I could stand my pain any more during my gallstones – He was there. He made sure that I got to the hospital, that the Dr.s realized what was wrong, that I had peace and reassurance right before surgery.I think loving God with my strength is realizing that He is the source of my strength when I am weak or when I am strong. It is remembering that everything comes from him. It is not my own strength. I shouldn’t think that I can do it by myself – I always need Him.Loving Him with all my strength means I should use the talents and abilities He has given me for His glory, to further His kingdom. It means that I hold fast to Him and His promises, with everything I have. I shall stand firm.