Mark 12:30 (NLT)
30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’

Psalm 73:27-28
27 Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. 28 But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.

Daniel 10:12 (NLT)
12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.”

How beautiful it is to have a God that listens. How beautiful it is to have a choice to speak with Him, to love and be loved by Him, to have redemption, go have His grace. Many say “I don’t need no stinkin’ redemption, grace, or God!”

OK. I do because I sin. Daily. Hourly. Minutely (well, spell check says it’s a word, not worried about the pronunciation or dictionary meaning). We all do.

Galatians 2:20 (NLT)
20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

This is true. My wife, kids, friends, can’t see me being the person I once was. It is so far out of their experience, my past just doesn’t fit who I am today. Those left in the wreckage of my wake might not believe I’m the person I am now, that the change is real. It is. I could never go back and cry in horor for who I hurt. Such is the level of change possible with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit for any of us. No one is to far. Ever wonder why there were two thieves next to Christ? Think that was an accident? No, it was a telegraph right to everyone.

Psalm 130:5 (NLT)
5 I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.

When left with the choice of counting on me or the Lord, I’ll take the Lord every day. He shows us what he expects, what the true way forward is, what we should be doing with our lives. He gives s the Holy Spirit to move forward. He intercedes on our behalf.

Ever stop to think how he knew so much? He was a carpenter from the backwater that hung out with the lowliest of the low, the outcasts. How then?

Mark 12:28-34 (NLT)
The Most Important Commandment
28 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
32 The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.