“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:12.

When I first began walking with Jesus and learned that God wanted me to tell people about Him, so that they would come to know Him, I was pretty intimidated. I felt a little like Moses when God called Him to be the spokesman, to Pharaoh, for His chosen people – Israel (Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”  But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ).

I knew how God had reached me and had forgiven me, but I had no idea how I could convey that to other people. To me, the magnitude of His forgiveness and the love and mercy that He showed me was beyond conveying in words.

There were a couple of things that both Moses and I were forgetting. First, nothing is impossible with God (But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26). And, just as Jesus explained to the disciples that they should not worry about what they will say, because the Holy Spirit would speak through them to accomplish the Father’s will, He will speak through us as well (For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:20). And finally, that simply through love we can reveal Him to others (A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35).

As I have indicated in past devos, I am not necessarily a people person. I enjoy seclusion. I also do not like crowds or being touched by strangers. Not even in the form of a manicure, lol.

But through the power and workings of the Holy Spirit I was able to stand in the parking lot of our church on Halloween and hand out tracts and invite people to be our guests at church. Even holding hands and praying with one lady who, through a trial we had in common, the Lord opened a door with.

I have, through His incredible workings, a self proclaimed “hugger”. lol. It is rediculous, how incredibly God can work through a simple hug.

My husband and I were recently registering at a hotel for the weekend and I usually sit with our luggage, while he registers us and gets our keys. But this particular time, I felt compelled to go to the desk clerk and give her the business card for Forgiven-N-Loved.com. The moment I handed it to her and explained that it was merely a site that had a daily devotion posted on it weekdays, she got a little teary. She said “thank you I really need this”. I knew in that moment that I needed to hug her one simple hug and pray for her. I asked if I could hug her and she agreed and as I hugged her I whispered a short but heart felt prayer, lifting up whatever the burdens were that were on her heart and praising God for the victory that He was going to bring through them. As I whispered she began to cry openly. This is a hotel that we go to frequently so I have forged a relationship with one of the other woman who work at the hotel and who has become a dear sweet sister in the Lord to me and she confided later that the young desk clerk (Natasha) told her about how incredibly God had moved through our simple and brief encounter.

While we were away, we received a two compartment buffet that keeps food warm when you are having a gathering. I have always thought that one of those would be so incredibly useful for our family get togethers, but never broke down to buy one and we received a free one as a give away! I thought what a blessing, I have always wanted one of these. As we walked through the lobby a young lady asked about our buffet and where we got it. She explained what I had been feeling, that she always wanted one. As we walked away, after explaining that we had received this one as a gift, my husband whispered “what if you gave her ours?”. I immediately knew that this was a leading from the Lord and was able to give her (Rosa) one simple hug, our buffet and a card for the website and we were able to share about the Lord and were both blessed because of that quick and simple interaction.

And remember the sweet sister in the Lord that I previously mentioned. Needless to say, that encounter too, started with one simple hug and has resulted in many more and I am incredibly blessed every time the Lord allows us to share a moment together.

You see, we don’t have to have an electrifying personality or be an incredible public speaker or the likes of a TV Evangelist. Sharing the love of Christ and revealing Him to others can simply mean being willing to share one simple hug and be willing to be used by Him to heal the hurt in others or meet a need.

I pray that today we would step out of our comfort zone and be willing to answer the call of God. That we would desire to be used by Him to heal hurts and meet needs and love others as He first loved us (We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19). There is no greater joy, honor or exhilaration in this life than to be used by God to minister to others. I pray that we would each know that joy, honor and exhilaration today…it may be as easy as one simple hug.

If you have needs that are unmet and hurts that need healing and if you do not know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/) and pray the prayer that is outlined there. God desires to heal your wounds, love and forgive you. Please pray and once you have, please reach out to me and let me know so that I can be in prayer for you and help you grow in your relationship with and knowledge of our Precious Savior, Jesus Christ.

Luv Ya!