As for me and my blog, we will serve the Lord

Wanted to set the tone for this blog and use it to Glorify my Heavenly Father. I acknowledge Him as my Lord and Savior and believe that we need to serve Him with all that we are and all that we have. So, as for me and my blog - we will serve the Lord!

Many times we come across a message, conversation, quote, etc. that really impacts us profoundly! One of those quotes for me is "Live in such a way that those who know you but don't know God will come to know God because they know you." I read this at least 8 years ago now when I found it in a book entitled "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul". It became my mission and as I reflected on what that meant to me I focused on the life of Jesus. In Mark 12, Jesus is asked "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ... Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

Love is the foundation and it brings light into any situation! 1 John 4:7-12 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us."

Let me challenge you to find ways to love one another! It is easy to love your family and friends (most times) but the challenge is to love those you do not know or even those who do not love you!

Try some Random Acts of Love (RAOL). Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Buy the person behind you at the Starbucks his/her morning coffee,
• shovel a neighbor's driveway,
• open the door for someone,
• pay for someone's lunch,
• send an encouragement card to your pastor and thank him for his heart to serve,
• compliment someone you don't know
• write a note to someone you haven't talked to in awhile

The list is endless! You can ask God to reveal to you people He may want you to love on! He wants to show His love so let's give Him the opportunity to use us to reach out to a lost and hurting world!

Remember "let your light shine"!