Do you remember what it was like when you first fell in love with Jesus? The sun shined brighter, everything seemed fresh and new! You couldn’t wait to spend time with Him and you wanted to learn everything you could about Him. I remember that time, Jesus was on my mind every single minute of the day, there was joy in my step, and a smile on my face!
A few days ago, I was asked an interesting question, “Think of a person who really loves the LORD?” My mind flew straight away to dear Maggie, a lover of Jesus, who faithfully came every Wednesday afternoon to our Prayer Group. Rain or snow, Maggie was there, praying for those she loved, until her Abba Father called her home at 101 years old! I still remember her beautiful face as we sang an old hymn, her eyes would close, her delicate hands would turn upward, and a smile would appear at the corners of her mouth. She was carried right into the loving arms of her glorious Savior! Maggie was in love!
John Piper asks us this thought provoking question, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴: 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘸, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?”
That’s a question that stops you in your tracks and makes you think!
Does your “𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙊𝙍𝘿?” Does your “𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙊𝙍𝘿 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧?” Do you “𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙃𝙞𝙢 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙝 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙃𝙞𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧?”
Let’s ask the LORD to return us to our first love, to remind us how it felt to be in love with Him, let’s take the time to seek Him out and fall in love again with the lover of our soul.
Claire's Prayer 