All Daddy's Strength

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deut. 6:4-5

My dad has really been on my mind lately and the impact he had on my life. He showed Christ at every veer in the road, living his life with the cross in the backdrop of every decision. It is no surprise that as I read the verse above this morning I pictured his face.

Daddy was the Director of CEF which is a ministry targeting children who haven’t come to know Jesus yet. The work is powerful and was my dad’s passion as he served for over 10 years volunteering full time work. When Daddy’s cancer came out of remission and his body began to fail, he felt that the time had come to resign his directorship for the benefit of the ministry in late 2007/early 2008.

In August, 2009 each of my sisters including myself received a phone call from him asking us to pray for his body. He had been called out of his bed much like Lazarus was called out of the tomb. God told him to get up and go back to CEF promising Daddy would have the strength to accomplish the will of God…again. Whenever his pain or nausea would overcome him, he would sit in the recliner in his bedroom and pray until it would pass. Sometimes it would pass but sometimes it would not. Either way, 90% of the time he would get dressed, climb up in that truck and drive to the office to serve God…with all of his strength.

This is the call to love God that is written of in the Bible. God pursues a continuing love relationship with each of His children that is personal and intimate. The first and greatest commandment is the standard for our response to the love that He first had for us. It is our spirit answering back to His pursuit of our love. “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’” Matt 22:37

While we cannot accomplish loving God perfectly we can be victorious in loving God passionately.