Psalms 18:1

The scripture for today is Psalms 18:1
 
Psalms 18:1 I will love you O LORD, my strength.
 
Everything that follows in this beautiful psalm flows from this first verse. Love for God is the foundation of our lives. That is why the Word says, "And you shalt love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
" Deuteronomy 6:5 Jesus repeats it in the New Testament. "And your shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment." Mark 12:30
 
Love for God is what separates a true believer from a professing one. Love for God transcends all other convictions and empowers us to stand for God when others deny Him. It is love for God that enables us to receive the power of God on our behalf. In Daniel, chapter three, there were many "church members" standing on the plain of Dura when king Nebuchadnezzar gave the order to the "congregation" to bow down to the image of gold. All of them, but three, bowed down. Those three loved their God. Their love was manifested by their actions. They knew that their decision could cost them their lives, but love for God was stronger than love for their lives. 
 
When Jesus says that we shall love the Lord our God will all of our hearts, that is the kind of love He is speaking of. Those three young men would rather die than violate the commandment of God. Standing on God's commandments was the very expression of their love. They did not offer "lip service" to God; they loved Him with all of their hearts; they offered Him their lives. Can we love God with the same all-consuming love? Are we willing to lay everything on the altar of sacrifice and declare Him to be our all? Yes, we can and we must.  
 
God never instructs us to do anything that He does not enable us to do. The love that He requires, He supplies. We do not generate it; He supplies it to everyone who desires it and seeks Him. As we come to Him with surrendered hearts, He enables us to move from our natural weakness to His supernatural strength. We are capable of loving fully because God gives us His Spirit of love. And we will declare with the psalmist, "I will love you O LORD, my strength."
 
God bless you as you continue in His service.
Tim