The White Flag Comes First

Please my sweet Lord – let us not forget that we must first raise our white flags in full surrender of ourselves to YOU before we can be truly washed clean and made pure and white as snow.

Isaiah 1:16-18
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.”

Deep Roots

Isn’t it interesting that when things are going well we can so easily be lulled, like a sleeping baby, into believing that we have strong and great faith, yet in times like this we are most susceptible to the bubble of faith. Our bubble grows fast, it quickly becomes big  and is so colorful and beautifully round – it is a delight for both ourselves and others to see.  We fill it with air, words, talk and so much more – so it will keep growing, but oh how quickly it pops at the first signs of trial and we are left with what is REAL and TRUE- maybe a seed, but probably something even smaller.

Oh Lord – to have faith the size of a mustard seed!   Please give us each a real and true seed of faith and then, my Love, please teach us how to garden.  Gardeners know that most tiny seeds must be planted and kept in the dark as they begin to grow. Please protect us, keep us hidden in the dark as our roots of faith begin to grow and let us not boast in anything, but especially not in any faith that might appear on the surface for we know that our true faith lies within our deep roots. We know that the deep roots will not only withstand the storms and trials of life but will become stronger with each storm – reminding us yet again of the Joy of Suffering.

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Colossians 2: 6-7

Intersections

When two opposing lines, a vertical line and a horizontal line, intersect they create a cross – just like the cross our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was crucified on.  On that ancient cross, at that intersection, heaven and earth collided, yet we forget… opposites and intersections are a part of our everyday lives and I think heaven can be found at these intersections.

My friends – seek the intersections, seek the opposites and when you find them fall to your knees in worship, prayer and gratitude as if you were before that very first intersection, the cross carrying our sweet and precious Lord, Jesus.

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
– 
Luke 23:46

Aligned

Isn’t it funny that when waves are perfectly aligned they become bigger, or when a mirror is aligned with a light source the light is doubled, or when a compass is correctly aligned it can be used to find the way.

Sweet Lord, please align the ripples flowing from my heart with the tsunami of Your love , please align my mirror so that I may reflect Your perfect light, and please align the compass of my heart with Your Will so that my path will be straight and clear!  Please let me be an infinitesimal addition to the Your infinite goodness!

Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.
Luke 3:5

A Perfect Prayer

Sometimes during my workout, I take the word “neighbor” literally as the person on the machine next to me.  Yesterday someone was there and as I was working out I started praying for him. I prayed for him, his family, his friends, and his job, but it felt jumbled and messy, and not quite right.

I stopped myself for a moment and thought…

Holy Spirit, please give me the words to pray for this man.

I think I was hoping for specifics about him to better pray for this one man, but the next thoughts that started flowing through my mind were…

Let him Glorify You with his life,
Let him Glorify You through his marriage,
Let him Glorify You through his children,
Let him Glorify You through his job,
Let him Glorify You through his family,
Let him Glorify You through his friends.
Let him Glorify You in all aspects of his life.
Let him Glorify You with his life.

Halfway through this prayer I realized that these words were not mine, they did not come from me. I realized this prayer had been given to me.

I am still in awe of this perfect prayer.   It’s beautiful simplicity and it’s perfect logic that both allow it to be prayed over everyone while keeping it always aligned with His will.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
– James 1:17

Talking

If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth.
– Jeremiah 15:19

My Lord as the school year begins and we reunite with friends, catching up, sharing, talking, talking talking –  please let only Your precious words escape my lips and let my lips fall silent for all else.

Come, come and see…

When I first began writing this blog, I didn’t realize I was searching for Jesus, but now that I have found Him (through His infinite Mercy and Grace alone) how I long to take EVERYONE by the hand and say,

“Come, come and see…”

And then in His infinite kindness and gentleness He whispers – patience my love, they are coming, they will see, they too will find me… theirs is a different path, just as painfully beautiful as yours, but different.  Keep praying, keep loving, and keep listening so that you know when the time is ripe for you to take someone by the hand and say ever so gently and full of My love,

“Come, come and see!!!”

Blessed are the eyes that truly see…

On New Year’s Eve we had dinner with our family.  I love going around the table and giving everyone a chance to give thanks for something from the year.

As always when it was my turn, my eyes welled up with tears, my throat became tight and my sweet girls lovingly said, “There she goes again… Mommy’s going to cry.”  We all started laughing and as I was wiping away my tears and getting ready to speak, my sweet husband quietly spoke and said, “Sarah is thankful for the wind as it blows through the trees, a leaf that falls in her path, a bird that soars past our kitchen window, a caterpillar she finds in the backyard… she is thankful for everything.”

Sweet Lord, I love the little reminders You place in our paths.  My sweet love truly sees me more than I realize and in that moment I felt so deeply understood and loved.  Oh my Lord… I am so blessed that he is mine, I am his and we are Yours!

Thank You, thank You, thank You… in every moment and in everything – Thank You sweet Jesus!

Opposites

I was talking with my daughter the other night before bed and she brought up heaven and hell.  She wondered why God would send anyone to hell?  It is such a simple question, and yet so deep that it has been debated by the greatest of minds.

It’s so interesting to me that in heaven there are no opposites.  The opposites of heaven exist only in hell.  For example, in heaven there is love, and the only way to describe the opposite of love in heaven is to say, “the absence of love”, because in heaven there is no word for hatred since it doesn’t exist there.

We live in a world where opposites co-exist, and yet our true home is in a world where opposites don’t exist.

I don’t think God sends anyone to hell, but it is almost as if heaven can’t hold us while we still contain the opposites of heaven within ourselves.  Maybe it is the great weight of these opposites within that cause us to fall from heaven as Lucifer did so long ago.  Maybe as we release them to Jesus we become light

  • Free of physical weight
  • Electromagnetic radiation – some of which (waves within a certain portion of the spectrum) make things visible

And once we have become light (in both definitions) – there is no place that can hold us but heaven.

Oh my Love, my Lord, my sweet Jesus – the mysteries you have buried around every corner amaze me, excite me and fill me with great joy as I stumble upon them time and time again.

Faithful in the little things

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
Luke 16:10

When I think of being faithful in the little things, I am reminded of “The Little Way” of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.  I am reminded of the image of seeking holiness of life in the ordinary and the everyday.

Recently I have been trying to be faithful in the little things by acknowledging that He is guiding me, directing me and teaching me through the little moments of my everyday.  As music plays in the background of my day and a specific song catches my attention, I acknowledge that He chose this song for me in this specific moment  and I thank Him and quietly listen for His message.  When my soul is pricked by a moment that has passed or something that has been said, I immediately turn inward to thank Him and attempt to understand the lesson buried within.  These faithful little moments have been such a blessing to me as I find myself thinking of Him, turning towards Him, leaning on Him, loving Him more and more throughout my everyday life.

I pray to continue growing in faithfulness in very little things so that someday He will grant me the grace to be faithful in much!