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“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20, KJV).

This verse gives me comfort because it reassures me that God will always be there for me, ready to come to my aid at any moment. I grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist home, but I didn’t have a personal relationship with God. When I got older, I felt like something was missing.

I grew up thinking about love and how I wanted someone to make me feel complete. I began dating, and every relationship started out great, but some of the guys wanted more than just love. This made me feel like I wasn’t good enough for anyone. I was tired of chasing guys and looking for someone to love me.

“He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you’” (Matt. 17:20–21, NIV).

My family vacations in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., at our family beach home every year.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13, NIV).

As I look at 1 Corinthians 13, it is clear that prophecy, the gift of tongues and other gifts of the Spirit will come to an end because they will no longer be of value. But verse 13 has the wonderful word, “remain,” which expresses the idea of permanence for the three basic elements of our Christian experience: faith, hope and love.

This verse signifies that love is the element used to describe the very nature of God. That’s the reason Paul clearly says that, above all gifts of the Spirit, this one is the greatest.

“For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7, NKJV).

He landed on our doorstep, without an invitation, nor in swaddling clothes. He answered, on occasion, to “Buddy.” He was a white, 40-pound fur ball. My wife, Jackie, lacked enthusiasm regarding this unexpected addition to an otherwise empty nest. She had never liked big dogs, especially at grooming time. She never liked boy dogs for the obvious reasons, and she did not like the fact that he was all white, too hard to keep clean. And to boot, he came without papers. By all outward appearances, this pooch was a loser.