(John 15:12)
I am often questioned about writing most days in my
devotional that "I love you". The questions usually are asking how I can
love someone I don't know, and if I really mean it when I say those words. I'll be very truthful. In my own strength and ability, it would be impossible
for me to love you. But because of Christ and because of the example that He
left
us to "love one another as He has loved us", it is not only possible, but
required. I have been in full-time ministry for 9 years now, but prior to
the ministry, I was a very successful businessman at a young age. I was
married, divorced, and remarried now for 16 years. I have drank, experimented
with drugs, and gambled. What I am trying to tell you is that I have seen both
sides of this life and can empathize with 95% of the people in this
world. It is based on my life experiences that I can relate and try to
help you walk out of those dark places and live in the light each and every
day.
I do love you more than you can ever know because I understand the daily
pain and struggle many of you are facing. I understand the battles many of
you
fight. I also know there is a path to victory, a path to overcoming the
hold this world can have on your life which keeps you from serving, being
blessed, and knowing the peace and joy only a daily intimate relationship
with the Lord can provide. God has many ways in which to reach us with His
word and message. That is why I speak so often of listening to Him and learning
how to hear from God. He speaks to us in so many ways. It is no accident
that you get these devotionals every day. It is no accident the message they
contain each day. I love you because I know God has placed on my heart each
day to write what I do because He is trying to reach many of you with a
special word that day. I never take this responsibility lightly. Each day,
the
best gift I can give you is myself. I give you my love, my time, and my prayers, as God has
brought us together even for a short season to work His will in both of our
lives. I have been approached and often tempted to do what many Internet
sites do. When a person sends in a prayer request, an automatic response
comes back saying they will be prayed for. I am not criticizing that
because
everyone has to do what God leads them to do. God has led me to create a
site with a LIVE broadcast 24/7 so you can actually see and hear a Godly
person pray for your needs. God has led me to take time each morning and
write these devotionals. God has led me to spend the bulk of my day
answering and overseeing the answers to thousands of email requests that
come to me each day. Why? Obviously He has a plan, and He has found me
worthy
to be part of that plan in some small way. So out of obedience, I come each
day and do what He has called me to do. I do it out of love for Him, and out
of love for you.
Never forget that I am here, accessible, and ready to love you, pray for
you,
and try to help you at those times in your life when you need someone
standing
with you. You can count on me. I will love you with an unconditional love,
the kind of love God had for each of us when he sent Jesus into this world
to
die for our sins. It is the kind of love we can never have in our own
strength,
but through Christ it is possible. In closing, I really do love you, care
about
you, and am praying for you. Go forth in your day-to-day life and do the
same.
We have been called to love one another. That is the example Jesus has set
for
us to follow.
