Safety in Resting

This flower is kind of scraggly. It dwells as a beacon of beauty surrounded by not-so-beautiful things. And yet there is a sort of beauty and serenity in this setting too.

From The Heart of Abba Today

Beloved,
As you come to Me and continue to come, you will find REST for your soul.
Your heart will find a place of peace.

The turmoil of the outer world will no longer impact your inner world or your outer world.

There is great freedom and great peace in realizing how little control you actually have.

You DO have control, one choice at a time, over your thought life.
Your internal thought life has great impact on your external choices.

The world is not as you would like it to be.
Chaff if being shaken and blown away.

Look to Me.
I am the Source of Life.
I am Hope, and Joy, and Peace, and Love.

And YOU are MY Beloved.

Verses to ponder:
Deut 33:12 Of Benjamin he said, “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders.”

Psalm 131
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Psalm 39:7 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

Psalm 119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.

Matthew 11
At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.

All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

 

What a Season

From the Heart of Abba

 

Beloved, when the world around you is unstable remember that “I AM” is your stability.

 

Remember that “I AM” is your Refuge,

your Defender, your Hope and your Shelter.

 

When storms of life come, be they natural or spiritual, know that “I AM” is always and forever Emmanuel.

 

When your heart, or your mind, or your emotions are becoming overwhelmed, draw near to Me and you will find all you need.

 

“I AM” is all you need, past, present and future.

Verses to ponder:

Psalm 18:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

 

Deuteronomy 4:29

But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

 

Psalm 61:1-4

Hear my cry, O God;

Attend to my prayer.

 

From the end of the earth I will cry to You,

When my heart is overwhelmed;

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

 

For You have been a shelter for me,

A strong tower from the enemy.

I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;

I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah

County Dock

 

County Dock is BEAUTIFUL.
I have been twice since it reopened and every time there are people out enjoying the lovliness of it.

The dock is made out of individual boards.
Each board is unique in grain and pattern. Due to our individual differences we might think the pattern on one board is better than another.
All based on individual perception and preference.

But together the boards comprise this BEAUTIFUL dock, which everyone loves.

Are we like that?
Each of us different.
We all have different gifts and talents. We all look different.
And yet, when we join our hearts together….just imagine what we can do to make life better for one person at a time.

Somehow the dock reminded me of 1 Cor. 12. Especially verse 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
I wonder what the world would be like if instead of bickering we simply got along with one another?

Hope

HOPE

Hope that makes no sense.
Hope when circumstances of life make no sense.
Hope when in the natural all is dark, gray, devoid of life or hope.
Hope that springs up like a bulb from deep within the soil.
Hope that simply “is “because you “know”.
HOPE in the person of GOD, Himself.

Elohim…Gen. 1:1 “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Elohim who is all we need. Elohim who has always been. God. God, who made all things, including you and me. Gen 1:26 “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'”

He is El Shaddai, the all sufficient one. He is all we need. All we ever needed and all we ever will need.

He is Sar Shalom, our Prince of Peace. Isa 9:6

When the tide of hopelessness threatens to wash over us, all we need to do is stop, pause and remember Who He Is.

What name, attribute of GOD do you need this very day? What name of God would awaken hope to arise in your heart?

Rest

REST in My love.

 

RETREAT from the cares of life and from living out of your mind. Instead of drawing away from your heart, your feeing and emotions.

Open yourself and your heart and all it contains to My love.

 

REFRESH your mind, your heart, all that is uniquely you, in that moment of coming, by inviting Living Water to pour forth.

Sometimes, when feeling overwhelmed, just pausing to come to Me, even if you can only remain connected for a brief moment, will achieve as much in your heart and mind as pushing the refresh button on your computer.

 

RENEW your mind by revealing or allowing Me to reveal your heart.

 

RESTORE, or restoration, happens only when you are intentional about coming.

A table will not be restored by sitting alone in a dark garage or attic. Likewise your heart will not be restored if you are hiding it away and separating yourself from it.

 

REDEFINE, or invite Me to redefine, the parameters of what is and is not like the true you I created.

Each time the overwhelmed feeling or state of being arises, use it as a clue that either your heart or mind, usually your perception of your heart (which is directed by your mind) needs a bit of HS defining, refining, and definition.

 

REFUEL simply by drawing apart to be with Me, even if that entails laying in the hammock or going to the pool. Or simply sitting quietly somewhere.

Relax in all that I am.

Bring all that is you to “I Am”.

 

Then…

 

Rest in My Love.

Refreshment

If you look at the photo, you see rocks. There are sea creatures who dwell in the rocks. They NEED the ocean to come and cover them or they would die. For a time, during low tide they are ok, but if the ocean ceased to exist it’s ebb and flow they also would cease to exist.

There is a yearning
A longing
A drawing
That only LOVE can satisfy

There is a place
A deep deep place
Deeper than the deepest reservoir
A heart place created to be filled
Only by Jesus

His invitation stands open
He beckons us to come
To come closer
And deeper than ever before

His love is everlasting
Eternal
Rich and fulfilling
His love satisfies our heart
And fills that deep place

But His love NEVER quenches
The longing
And the drawing
We were created to LONG for intimacy
With Jesus

The world can’t fill us
People can’t fix us

We truly NEED intimacy
Daily and moment by moment
Awareness of our connection
To and with Yeshua.

Everything else is parody,
A mirage,
A shadow
Of the “real thing”
Jesus

When it says…”But His love NEVER quenches” that simply means that we NEED daily and moment by moment to be in connection and awareness of Him. It is not a one time filling of the reservoir but an ongoing thing.
I think in part that is because as His sons and daughter, we are to be giving forth of that which he has given us. We were created for relationship and one meeting is not relationship.

Shalom

Where faithfulness and trust abound, there is heart peace.
Heart peace comes from relationship with Me.
When you have spend time with Me,
Beginning your day in recognition of Me,
Emmanuel, God with you,
Then there will be fruit.

You can not “be” present with Me,
Without there being fruit.

The first fruit is heart peace.
A calm heart-knowing that you ARE loved,
As well as accepted and cherished.

Then from the position of “knowing” that,
Peace will be the center of your heart.

You will always go forth,
From time spent with Me,
In My presence,
With shalom.

So Beloved, be faithful in your coming.
Place your trust in and on Me each day.
Then go forth, living, moving and having your being,
Encased in my Love and Peace.

Regardless of what the day brings,
I am eternally your Abba and your Emmanuel.
9-20

Psalm 37:3 Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.
Psalm 91:4
[Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.
Numbers 6:26
The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]
Matthew 1:23
Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel–which, when translated, means, God with us.

Kason and God

Kason is my grandchild. He is 7 now. When he was about 6 months old I wrote what follows. God has done this for me and God can do this for you as well. Living safe in the love of God can become our daily reality.

Kason likes me. 
Kason knows my voice now. 
If Kason is waking up and crying in his bed and I call his name from another room and start talking to him, he quiets. He does not have to see me in order to quiet because he knows I am coming to be with him. He has always known his mommy’s voice and his daddy’s voice and responded to them because they talked to him and loved him while he was still in the womb. But experience and time has taught him to know my voice in a different way. I am just a caregiver who comes in and out of his life, but he has come to recognize my voice.

Kason knows some of the songs I sing to him. I can tell because when I sing them at the part he likes you can see the anticipation.

Abba sings over us. We can anticipate his songs, if/when we learn to listen to them. The songs Abba sings also have a theme. The bible says, “my sheep know my voice”. I woke today thinking about all this.

The Word says…in Zep 3:17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” NIV)
The songs Abba sings to my heart say, “I love you. You are My beloved. You are safe in My love. I will never leave you or forsake you.”
Maybe He sings the same songs to your heart, or maybe you get different ones. But this I know, God IS singing over each of us.
The more time we spend with Him, in His Word, in worship, in prayer the more readily we will be able to tune into his voice.

I love Kason. When he is upset, I do my very best to quiet him with my love. If he is really really upset and nothing works to quiet him in that moment, I simply hold him and rock him and continue to sing over him with love.
If I am sinful person can do that because I love little Kason, how much more does our Abba do the same for each of us?

Will you join me today and spend a little time tuning into the voice of our Abba rejoicing over us with singing?

Additional verses to ponder: John 10:27 God’s Word version My sheep respond to my voice, and I know who they are. They follow me.

John 10:14 NIV “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—
Barnes: Know my sheep – Know my people, or my church. The word “know” here is used in the sense of affectionate regard or love. It implies such a knowledge of their wants, their dangers, and their characters, as to result in a deep interest in their welfare. Thus the word “knoweth,” in John 10:15, is in John 10:17explained by the word “loveth.” Jesus knows the hearts, the dangers, and the wants of his people, and his kindness as their shepherd prompts him to defend and aid them.

Am known of mine – That is, he is known and loved as their Saviour and Friend. They have seen their sins, and dangers: and wants; they have felt their need of a Saviour; they have come to him, and they have found him and his doctrines to be such as they need, and they have loved him. And as a flock follows and obeys its kind shepherd, so they follow and obey him who leads them beside the still waters, and makes them to lie down in green pastures.

Shalom

From The Heart of Abba Today:
Beloved,

Embracing Me,
Resting in My love,
In the midst of life,
Which includes:
What is,
What isn’t,
What may never be,
Is the path to shalom.

Shalom is not the absence of longings,
Unfulfilled heart longings,
Nor is it the absence of problems of life.

Shalom is resting in/on Me.

Choosing Joy and Trust and Hope,
Which are a way of “putting on Christ”,
From within the messes and messiness of life.

It is knowing you are not alone,
Even in the moments of crushing aloneness.

It is knowing you are safe and loved,
Not because of what you do,
But because of who I am,
And who you are in Me.

 

Lent 32 Love

Lent 32

Do we LOVE ourselves? If not how can we LOVE another? Just something to ponder. Jesus said, Love your neighbor “as” yourself. We are to love them in the same manner as/while we love ourselves. God loves us. We are lovable. Therefore can we choose to love ourselves?