This word is submitted by Teresa Seputis [ts@godspeak.net]

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                           Good Gifts
     
You know what I consider to be the greatest of all My commandments,
because My Son has told you clearly what it is, but let Me reiterate 
it for you: It is to love Me with all of your heart, and all of your
soul, and all of mind and all of your strength. 

You know what it is, but do you understand what that entails?

Many of you have been told that means you need to stop living your own 
life, give up all that is important to you, and live only for Me. But 
dear one, that is not really what I am asking for here. Yes, you must 
submit your priorities to My will, and at times I may ask you to put 
aside things in your life because are displeasing to Me. 

I must be Lord of your priorities, but I still want you to have them. 
In fact, at times I will pick up one of your priorities and make it My 
own, just because it is important to you. I care for you greatly, dear 
one, and some of the things in your life that are important to you 
become important to Me because you are important to Me. When you love 
Me with all of your being, you will find that I love you back, and that 
I desire to fill you with great joy; I desire to give you good gifts 
that delight your spirit.

Some teach that you have to give up all pleasure, that you must make
your flesh miserable in order to please Me, but that is not the case. 
You see, I have given you this life as a gift, and I want you to live 
it to the fullest. Yes, I want you to have joy, peace, and abundance 
in this life. If you deny yourself these things when I try to give 
them to you, then you are snubbing the good gifts that I give to 
you--and that does not cause Me pleasure.

Yes, I must be your Lord and Master--but that does not mean that you
think only of Me every hour of the waking a day, every day of the week, 
and you think of nothing else. I have put many good things on this earth
to give you pleasure and to bring joy to you, and I want you to enjoy
these gifts--providing you put them at the right priority. I must always
be your first and highest priority, but I do not need to be your only
priority. You must always walk in My ways and behave according to what
you know pleases Me. But you may find pleasure in the many good gifts
that I have put before you, and you may spend some of your time and 
energy thinking of things other than of Me.

Of course, you must be at all times yielded Me; if I speak to you and
give you a command, you must obey instantly. You are "on call," so to 
speak, and available to My will at all times. But I do want you to have 
a life apart from pursuing only kingdom things--providing that you do
not pursue any of the things that you know are displeasing to Me.

Dear one, the more you endeavor to keep My greatest commandment, the 
deeper that will bring you into a love relationship with Myself, and 
the more of Myself I will reveal to you. But that does not mean that
I want you to turn your back on your other interests, forsaking all
other things as you pursue Me. Remember that I have put so many good 
gifts into your life, and it causes Me pleasure when you use and enjoy
them. 

You can love Me with all of your heart, and still love/enjoy the good
gifts that I have given to you. Over time as our relationship builds, 
you will learn to invite Me into all things that you do--even the 
mundane things that you think I have no interest in, and even the 
things you do for relaxation and pleasure. You will learn to share 
all of these things with Me and to experience My nearness and blessing
in each of them. 

But until that day comes, you may have a splitting of attention, where 
at times your attention is on Me and at times it is on the good things
that I have put into your life. Do not allow the enemy of your soul to 
make you feel guilty because you spend some of your time and energy on 
things other than Myself. As long as I remain your highest and first 
priority, then you are loving Me with all of your heart, and I am 
pleased with you.