Love One Another Read online

Love One Another

  By Samantha Terrell

  Notes about this edition: Love One Another is an e-book adaptation from Poet, Samantha Terrell's prayer journal for children and teens, released in 2016, via her website. This epic poem with biblical references to history, names, places and common stories, was designed for children and teens, but may appeal to readers of all ages.

  There was nothing.

  Then God made something.

  All was darkness and night.

  Then God made light.

  ∞

  Learn More~Genesis 1:1

  Today I pray for:

  God made animals and creatures, land and seas.

  God made man, “Adam,” and woman, “Eve.”

  And God gave them children, Seth, Cain and Abel,

  Who revealed traits of integrity, jealousy and peril.

  ∞

  Learn More~Genesis 4:2

  Today I pray for:

  God made Noah, who built an ark,

  Saving pairs of animals from floods and dark.

  Then God made rainbows to follow all storms,

  But men honored themselves with a Tower, and the world’s languages were born.

  ∞

  Learn More~Genesis 6:9

  Today I pray for:

  A good man named Abraham, and Sarah, his wife,

  Had Isaac, a son, born late in life.

  Isaac married Rebecca,

  Who bore Jacob and Esau.

  ∞

  Learn More~Genesis 17:15

  Today I pray for:

  Jacob was deceitful and fled,

  But eventually returned, as ‘Jacob-Israel.’

  He had married Leah, and Rachel, her sister.

  In all, God would give Jacob-Israel 12 children.

  ∞

  Learn More~Genesis 25:23

  Today I pray for:

  Amongst them was Joseph, his father’s favored.

  His brothers, in jealousy, cast him out and he was enslaved.

  But, as a servant, Joseph earned King Pharaoh’s respect

  When he interpreted dreams which predicted Egypt’s fate.

  ∞

  Learn More~Genesis 41:14

  Today I pray for:

  During drought-filled years, Joseph would save

  Both Egypt and his family, once reunited with the brothers by whom he’d been betrayed.

  Soon Pharaoh became intimidated by the tribes of Israel.

  He told the Egyptians not to treat the Israelites well.

  ∞

  Learn More~Genesis 42:6

  Today I pray for:

  But from the tribe of Levi, the Israelites’ priests,

  A baby boy was hidden amongst the Nile’s reeds.

  Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house, but once grown he grew enraged.

  He wanted freedom for the Israelites but Pharaoh refused, so God brought Egypt plagues.

  ∞

  Learn More~Exodus 2:2

  Today I pray for:

  The people fled, and God parted the Red Sea,

  Allowing the Israelites to become free.

  Moses, and his brother Aaron, led their wandering people.

  God gave them Ten Commandments, and they built a tabernacle.

  ∞

  Learn More~Exodus 15:4

  Today I pray for:

  When the land of Canaan was finally found,

  Joshua and his army used trumpet sounds

  To make the city of Jericho theirs.

  But a woman, Rahab, would be spared.

  ∞

  Learn More~Joshua 6:17

  Today I pray for:

  Rahab bore Boaz, who took Ruth as his wife,

  A loyal daughter-in-law to Naomi who had suffered much strife.

  In Bethlehem, their son, and their sons’ sons were born,

  Obed, Jesse, David, and more.

  ∞

  Learn More~Ruth 3:16

  Today I pray for:

  After a period of Judges, who ruled and failed,

  The Kings and the Prophets would prevail.

  Samuel, son of Hannah, was raised by Eli, a priest.

  Eli told Samuel to listen, for he was hearing God speak.

  ∞

  Learn More~I Samuel 3:9

  Today I pray for:

  In Bethlehem, King Saul arose,

  But his mind was troubled, and he lost hope.

  God told Samuel that David, the youngest of Jesse’s boys,

  A shepherd and harpist, was the right choice.

  ∞

  Learn More~I Samuel 16:11

  Today I pray for:

  David, the boy who would become king,

  Would also undergo days of reckoning.

  The story goes that as a young man

  He slayed Goliath, the giant, with a slingshot in hand.

  ∞

  Learn More~I Samuel 17:45

  Today I pray for:

  But later, as a jaded ruler, and simply for his satisfaction,

  David betrayed some within his own faction.

  King David would conquer mighty Jerusalem,

  But some glory was reserved for his son, Solomon.

  ∞

  Learn More~II Samuel 11:3

  Today I pray for:

  King Solomon would see God’s Temple built.

  Though later he sinned,

  Taking 700 wives.

  And two divided nations arose from Israel’s 12 tribes.

  ∞

  Learn More~I Kings 11:4

  Today I pray for:

  Great prophets implored the Israelites, also called Jews,

  To make right with their Creator, and prepare for good news.

  A prophet named Jonah tried to avoid his task,

  But a whale spat him out and he went to Nineveh at last.

  ∞

  Learn More~Jonah 3:1

  Today I pray for:

  In the world, in relationships,

  Religion, or politics,

  Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, and Daniel

  Told of order, restoration, and renewal for God’s people.

  ∞

  Learn More~Isaiah 6:9, Numbers 11:25, Ezekiel 12:10

  Today I pray for:

  One day in Bethlehem, as was foretold,

  A baby was worshipped with spices and gold,

  By kings who had travelled from afar,

  Following the light of a heavenly star.

  ∞

  Learn More~Luke 2:1

  Today I pray for:

  A young lady, Mary, and her husband, Joseph

  Named their holy son “Jesus” which means “God With Us.”

  But King Herod was threatened by this baby’s reputation,

  So Mary and Joseph fled from the nation.

  ∞

  Learn More~Matthew 2:1

  Today I pray for:

  In time, Jesus grew

  And often withdrew

  To pray, or to learn from rabbis and preachers.

  He, too, soon became an authoritative teacher.

  ∞

  Learn More~Luke 2:49

  Today I pray for:

  Jesus had a cousin, John,

  Who baptized him as God’s own Son.

  And everywhere that Jesus went

  He ministered to young and old, injured, sick, or indolent.

  ∞

  Learn More~Mark 1:6

  Today I pray for:

  Many were brought to him for inspiration and healing.

  His approach was both comforting and appealing.

  He told stories, called parables,

  To teach his followers.

  ∞

  Learn More~Luke 15:4

  Today I pray for:

 
He taught how to be restored to God,

  How to reject hatred and fraud.

  In the temple, he overturned

  Merchant tables. He scorned politics and popular culture.

  ∞

  Learn More~Matthew 21:12

  Today I pray for:

  He welcomed Jews as well as Gentiles,

  Common folk, and even criminals who were reviled.

  In time, Jesus taught 12 others,

  Called Apostles.

  ∞

  Learn More~Luke 6:16

  Today I pray for:

  Among them were fishermen, and tax collectors,

  Missionaries, and activists.

  And great crowds of people clamored

  To hear of God’s love wherever they gathered.

  ∞

  Learn More~Matthew 4:25

  Today I pray for:

  But in time, the politicians, alongside the rabbis,

  Feared this powerful message. And one disciple, Judas, took a bribe

  To turn Jesus over to the corrupt authorities.

  He was tried as a criminal and nailed to a tree.

  ∞

  Learn More~Mark 14:18

  Today I pray for:

  On the third day after his crucifixion, Mary Magdalene found his empty tomb,

  And soon, Jesus Christ appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room.

  He told them he would bestow on them, like a heavenly dove,

  God’s Holy Spirit of peace and of love.

  ∞

  Learn More~Mark 16:1

  Today I pray for:

  And the disciples would go out into all nations

  And do as God commanded and Jesus had sanctioned.

  Many followers became leaders; Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,

  James, Peter, and Paul,

  Went on teaching what we have learned:

  To love one another is the greatest commandment of all.

  ∞

  Learn More~James 2:8

  Today I pray for: