Tag: heaven

Do you remember when…

When I die, I hope this is what will be said…

Remember that time when Sarah did something really kind for you? That was really Jesus helping her to do something good.

Do you remember that other time when Sarah was really generous? Well, that that was Jesus too.

Do you remember when Sarah said something really meaningful and profound? Well, you guessed it, that was Jesus!

Now, do you remember all those times when Sarah did something really mean, selfish, greedy, out of envy, out of anger, or full of pride? Well, Jesus told our Dad, Abba, that He did all those things so she wouldn’t get in trouble, because He wants her to come home. Now she gets to go to Heaven too!

Thank You Jesus!

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
1 Peter 2:24

Agony

Kneeling by the couch once more,
I nod off, just as they did many years ago.
Position doesn’t matter kneeling, standing, sitting, plank…
In any position I sleep.
Watchful nights come easily to me 364 days of the year.
But on this night, the night He asks us to
Stay awake,
Watch,
And pray,
I sleep.
As dawn breaks, I wake up and I am sad.
He was alone, once again.

When He rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.  “Why are you sleeping?” He asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Luke 22:45-46

Breath of God

Every breath is His because it is His breath that fills each of us with the breath of life. I am in humble awe as His breath soothes me in the darkness while I listen to the soft exhales of my sleeping husband. I am humbly overjoyed as His breath tickles me as my daughter whispers sweet secrets into my ear. I am filled with sorrow as I recall a sharp and hurtful word that I spoke polluting the sweet scent of His breath, and then I am consoled as I cry out, “Forgive me” and He responds in a gentle whisper sweetly carried on the fresh breeze of spring.

My Lord, I pray that You guard every utterance of my mouth so that the words I speak will never again pollute the sweet scent of Your breath, but instead will carry forth from my being to bring You Eternal Glory.

Genesis 2:7 – Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The Golden Touch

If we could realize the merit concealed in the actions of each moment of the day… if we understood that surrender to the will of God is the true philosopher’s stone that changes into divine gold all our occupations, troubles, and sufferings, what great consolation would be ours!

I read this the other day in The Joy of Full Surrender by Jean-Pierre de Caussaude (chapter 9, Holy Made Easy) and I immediately thought of King Midas.

I’m sure you have heard of King Midas.  He was a king of great fortune who wished for – The Golden Touch, for everything he touched to be turned to gold.  Initially he received his wish with great joy, running through his castle turning everything to gold, but his joy quickly turn to fear as he realized even the food he tried to eat turned to gold before reaching his mouth, and finally his fear became true horror when he turned his own daughter to gold by giving her a hug.

Isn’t it crazy how quickly the desires of our flesh that seem good, can be twisted and turned into horrors?  Yet with the eyes of faith, a heart of love, and a true desire to fully surrender to the Will of God, we all gain The Golden Touch and everything we do is changed into divine gold in His Heavenly Realm.

Matthew 6:19-21
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done!

Vibrations

Sweet Lord as we surrender to Your Holy Will – could it be true that the vibrations of love flowing from our our hearts compose a beautiful symphony for You in Your Heavenly Courts?

The Greek word sumphoneo, where we get our modern English word Symphony is used to describe being in agreement, in unison, in one accord, to speak together, to concur with one another.  Thank you to Lowell Hohstadt for this definition.

Sweet Lord – I thank You for granting us such an amazing gift and privilege to fill Your Heavenly Courts with beautiful music when our hearts are aligned with Your Holy Will!

Matthew 18:19-20
Jesus said, “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.  For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

Ephesians 5:18-19
… be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord…

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

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.

Returning to innocence…

My grandmother is very sick and will probably die soon.  I don’t live in the same city so I haven’t seen her in a while, but my mom and dad continue to share the details of her days.

Her recent memories have begun to fade, while those from long ago remain.  She is again being fed her meals as she was when she was a little baby, and she is filled with the joy and gratitude of a child when each visitor arrives in her room.  As I watch and listen from a distance, it seems as if the layers, the years, the hurt and the pain are being stripped away from my grandmother and she is returning to the innocence of her childhood and the purity of her baptism.

I am again in awe of our Amazing Father in Heaven and His Amazing Plan that we can’t imagine or understand, but sometimes glimpse when the light of understanding hits the veil at just the right angle.

Thank You sweet Lord and please do what You must to strip us clean and bring us all home to You!

In His presence…

Lately all I have wanted to read and learn about are the saints.  Why this insatiable thirst?

Is it because my prayer has been, “Please lead us Home” and my eyes are being opened to the ones who can show the way?

Maybe, but this morning I started wondering if He has opened my eyes for another reason.  Maybe He wants me to know that I know a saint and he wants me to be able to truly see her, see Him, see her, see Him.

Do we know when we are in His presence?  Do we really see Him shining through others? Can we get past the exterior and the good works to really know when He is living in another?

I am not sure that I know when I am in His presence.  I am not sure that I would have known Him, but I want to, I long to know Him.

Despite His Majesty, Glory, Wonder and Power, He is bending down to show me.

Look around my friends…. you probably know a saint too. The saints are here with us, helping us, quietly guiding us.

They haven’t gone straight to heaven, they turned from the open gates because they know that it isn’t truly heaven until we have all made it.  He wants all of us, they want His will… they want all of us.

The first truly will be last as they continue returning to lift up the rest of us!

Windows

We were away for Christmas this year and our rental house was full of beveled mirrors reflecting rainbows all over the house.  The girls had a blast finding rainbows throughout the house all week!

Every time I saw a rainbow reflected across the room, I smiled to myself and imagined that each one was a tiny window into Heaven!

Jesus thank you for blessing us with so many windows… please help us to see through them and find You!