February 2, 2005
Encouragement for Today
"A Knee-print Valentine"
By Susanne Scheppmann,
Proverbs 31 Speaker Team Member
Key verse:
"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'" Mark 12:30 (NIV)
Devotion:
Lacy white paper glued to bright red paper constructed to enchant others, cutout hearts inviting, "Be Mine Valentine!" and pastel candies with cute phrases provide a sweet conversation between two people. February is the month noted for Love.
However, after searching for just the right valentine card this year, it dawned on me that I can spend more time looking for an endearing phrase for my husband, than I do telling God how much I love Him. Personally, I have never seen a "valentine" card to God. Have you?
This February I will certainly bestow my love on the special people God has placed in my life, but I am also determined to love God "with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength." Why? Because the Apostle John writes this truth, "We love because he first loved us." (I John 4:19, NIV) The only reason I can even begin to love a Holy, Almighty God, is because he loved me by sending His son to die on a tortuous wooden cross, payment for my sin.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NIV)
He loved me first. He loved you first. Do you have a love relationship with Jesus Christ? Perhaps, you feel unloved during the month of love, but you don't need to. There are four simple steps to beginning an eternal love relationship with Him.
- Believe He is the Son of the Living God.
- Believe He died for your sins and was resurrected to eternal life.
- Ask for forgiveness of your sins.
- Accept Him as Lord of your life.
Whether you have just begun a love relationship with Jesus or if you have journeyed with him for years, why not present Him with an outward display of your love?
My valentine message to Christ will be a special time on my knees. I pray that my creaking knees will be a sound of praise to His ears. The carpet indented with knee-print kisses and elbow-mark hugs on the sofa will be the loving signature of my devotion to Him. (And I will not make my usual list of needy requests.) This knee-print valentine will be just whispers of love, to a God who deserves complete and loving devotion in worship.
My Prayer for today:
Lord Jesus, I thank you for loving me enough to die on the Cross. Lord, I want you to know that I love you. I want to learn to love you more each day. Teach me how to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Application steps:
Do you remember making valentines in school? Today take 15 minutes and make a Valentine's Day card for God. It doesn't have to be beautiful, but it should be heartfelt. Dig out your glue gun, a red crayon, a few pieces of paper, and make a love note to God. Then hang it on your refrigerator as a reminder this week to tell God just how much you love Him.
Reflection points:
Do you know that God wants to be the love of your life?
How can you show God you love Him?
With whom can you share the story of God's love?
Power verses:
"By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me - a prayer to the God of my life." Psalm 42:8 (NIV)
"But God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!" Psalm 66:19-20 (NIV)
" 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' " Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)
"...They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.' " Zechariah 13:9 (NIV)
Additional resources:
New! Message of the Month Club by Proverbs 31 Speaker Team
http://www.gospelcom.net/p31/resources/messageclub.html
The Ultimate Makeover by Sharon Jaynes
http://www.gospelcom.net/p31/resources/newsletter.html
Living Life on Purpose by Lysa Terkeurst
http://www.gospelcom.net/p31/resources/newsletter.html
Becoming a Woman Who Listens to God by Sharon Jaynes
http://www.gospelcom.net/p31/resources/newsletter.html
Originally published Wednesday, 02 February 2005.
SHARE
