When God says we should love Him with all our hearts, minds, and strength, it is simply what He Himself is doing toward us. God spared Abraham’s son, but He did not spare His own son. God loves us continually, individually, and thoughtfully.

One of the reasons we fail to regularly read God’s Word is that we don’t plan to. We get up day after day, and we haven’t decided where to read. Pressing duties soon sidetrack us, and another day passes without significant time with an open Bible. If we want renewal in our devotional lives badly enough, we will make sufficient plans.

One day the secretary called from our daughter’s school saying, “Arla is sick.” When I arrived to pick up my eight-year-old, I found I was not the only mother there to pick up a sick child.

After eight-year-old John’s father died, he became “stuck” in the anger stage. One evening while Marie was walking and praying, it came to her that she should build a “prayer wall” around John for his growing up years. She was to surround him with the specific prayers of people who loved him and knew the value of seeking God.

I heard a Jewish girl share the story of her parents’ conversion. Her father, a chiropractor, had a technician named Mary whose witness, love, and prayers convinced him that Jesus is the Messiah.

A missionary was surrounded by tribal enemies. Miraculously, none of them harmed him. Later the leader of the tribe became a Christian and told the missionary that they had not attacked him because of the twenty-six white warriors surrounding his house. The missionary stated there had been no white warriors, but the tribal leader insisted he had seen them.

An amazing phrase is repeated in 2 Samuel 8. "The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went" (verses 6 and 14). Perhaps the secret to his consistent victory is found in the motivation expressed in his earlier prayer: "Do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever." His motive in every battle was for God's name to be known.

Several years ago I attended “The Awakening” hosted by Crossroads Tabernacle. Beth Jones, the pastor’s wife, told the following incident.