Today I take this further step in recognizing a new change, one that I know will make all the difference in my life, from this day forward and forever. I recognize that to love God above all things is my supreme value.
Each day I perceive this and believe in it much more.
I am infinitely grateful to the Lord and to all the angels of light who brought me to where I have arrived. I am not able to describe the transformation that they have allowed within me. I am no longer the same. I died, but I was reborn. I was renewed.
All my perceptions, beliefs, ways of seeing the world, spirituality, life, others, and myself—everything has changed so much and so completely.
I believe that I am beginning to love myself: truly to accept that I need nothing in order to be happy. I need nothing. I have the Lord, and He is enough for me. And I shall always seek to love Thee with all my strength. Jesus, I love Thee; what Thou hast done echoes even to this day in our hearts. I love Thee greatly and desire always to have Thee in my heart, always to remember Thee in my thoughts and to live in Thy presence. Thy love transforms me, each day, into a better person, more forbearing, calmer, and with far greater peace. It is in the trust I have in Thee that I find all the peace within my being. I feel peace, I am at peace. Thank Thee, Jesus, for having answered my prayer.
Thank Thee, my God, for everything in my life. Today I come unto Thee because my promise was not in vain. I desire to love Thee above all things, I desire to place Thee first, I desire to value Thee and our relationship above each and every human value. I desire to be able to say, with sincere honesty, that there is nothing more important than God in my life.
Jesus, as a person, as a man, in His human part, was our neighbor. He told us that the greatest commandment was to love God above all things, and the second commandment was to love one’s neighbor as oneself.
Jesus, as man, was our neighbor; He made Himself equal to human life and became human. If He was our neighbor, He loved people in the same way that He loved Himself. Jesus loved His neighbor and valued the life of each person; this means that He also valued His own life. Just as He would not give anyone over to sacrifice, neither would He sacrifice Himself. And He did not want to; He asked God to take the cup away.
The One who allowed the sacrifice of Christ was God. The cross does not represent Jesus’ love for the world; rather, the cross represents God’s love for the world and Jesus’ love for God. Jesus not only revealed the law; He lived it to its utmost: He loved God in such a way that He gave His life for Him.
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” — Matthew 22:36–40
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” — John 3:16
Lord, in Thy presence I seek refuge; in Thy presence I find peace; in Thy love I feel the certainty that calms my heart. Thank Thee, Lord, for Thy signs of love. Every message that I know comes from Thee is like an embrace that has no end. It warms my heart to feel Thy presence within me. Only one who has already lived it knows what it is to feel the Lord. Thank Thee for placing in my life reminders of Thy love.
To feel love, to live in love, is Christ’s commandment for our lives. We must love. Yet what is love? Is it finding someone special? Is it finding someone beautiful? Is it wanting to be near someone?
And what is it to love? To give affection, welcome, words of comfort? To rejoice, to laugh, to connect? To admire, to smile, to be moved? To desire, to kiss, to touch? To listen, to understand, to be present? To give gifts, to praise, to express oneself? To lighten burdens, to lessen pain, acts of service?
Jesus demonstrated one of the rarest forms of love: that of giving Himself for the other. If this is one of the rarest, it is also one of the highest, because He loved the world in such a way that He gave Himself to save us.
Love can be expressed in many ways: with joy, with affection, with presence, and with service. But the outward is still an imperfect expression of love. Love is much more than its expression. Love is all of this and much more; above all, love is something that is felt in the heart. What is outside does not matter if the intentions are obscure; what always matters is what is being felt within us. In all these cases, love is the feeling that floods our heart and guides us to act.
What is pure love, what is the love of Christ?
Love is when we feel another person to be important; love is when we value someone, not for the outward, but for their essence. Love is to give importance, to feel someone as important, to give worth, to value.
When we finally understand all this, we understand that the greatest commandment, “To love God above all things,” is to value, to give importance to God above all things. As Christ did: to give oneself completely, one’s whole life. Value God to the point that there is nothing more important than Him, not even your own life. It is not enough merely to do, but rather to feel, and, in order to feel, we must value Him above all.
Jesus, may Thy friendship always be my priority, may I always surrender my heart to Thee, may I always remember Thy presence and Thy love, and may I, with each passing day, cultivate an ever greater love for Thee. As I seek to love those whom I love most, may I seek to love Thee with the same intensity.
The Lord has always been by my side, has always loved me, has always desired for me the highest good, has always counseled me, has always guided me, only waiting for me to recognize that, by making myself present before Thee, I would find all that I seek.
Thy love has always been present; yet, in my stubbornness, I turned my back and did not see it, did not hear it, did not feel it.
By turning myself toward Thee, setting my thought on Thee, setting my focus on Thee, making Thee my friend, my companion, my brother, my father, my confidant, at last I lifted up my face and saw Thy ever-present gaze, and I was able to feel Thy infinite love.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of the Universe, thank Thee for always leading me back to the path of life, for allowing pain not to destroy me, but rather to transform me and draw me ever closer to Thee.
Thank Thee, Master Jesus, for Thy teachings. Thank Thee very much, Lord my God, for all the paths of my life that have led me into my presence in Thee.
Fragments of an awakened soul 