The Love of God

Romans 8:35-39 -" Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."



These words, from God Himself to us brings me such comfort.

I choose to see myself as God sees me.


No, I am not perfect and yes, I make mistakes.


I am learning from those mistakes and growing every day.


But, His love for me is so strong, so constant, and so tender... it brings tears to my eyes.


That love is so powerful and so strong that He does not allow ANY circumstances in our lives to get in the way of it.


And, it is that love that makes us "more than conquerors" to life's challenges. Have you thought about what that means? It is one thing to be a "conqueror". That, in and of itself is pretty cool! A conqueror has victory and overcomes. So, what does it mean to be MORE than that?

It means that we not only have victory and overcome, but that we do so with the God of the universe pouring his love out to us every single minute of every day, healing our wounded hearts and feeding our hungry souls. He is giving us the grace to fully and completely overcome and to move forward in His grace into what He has next for us in our lives.

I am choosing to see myself today as more than a conqueror! I am His child and am loved beyond measure by the King of Kings. He is with me every step of the way, and I am blessed.

The Human Spirit

A quote from a good friend of mine:

"I believe in the indomitable human spirit and the Lord Jesus who is there to lead it."

How true.

We as human beings are capable of , and do, overcome unbelievable obstacles in this journey we call life.  I see it over and over again in my work, and in my personal life.

I am so awed by the strength I see in people.

I am awed at the strength I see in myself.

A strength I know comes from Him.

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." (Psalms 18:2 NKJV)

Thursday, July 08, 2010

"When we were young, most of us loved adventure. There is something about the unknown that draws us, which is why we like stories so much. But I like to leave the theater at the end of the play, knowing that the dilemma of evil has been resolved by the characters on the stage or screen. Like Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Edmund, to find ourselves not as spectators but as central characters in the play itself is somewhat daunting. The stakes are truly high, sometimes literally life or death, and God rarely if ever yells, "Cut!" just as the dangerous or painful scene descends upon us. No stunt doubles come onto the set to take our places. Many of us feel that we have been playing these kinds of scenes ever since we were children. We wonder if the hero will ever show up to rescue us.

We would like to picture goodness as being synonymous with safety. When we think of God being good, we perhaps picture someone like Al on the popular TV program Home Improvement. He is someone who carefully plans out each task ahead of time and has all the proper tools and safety equipment in place; someone who has thought out every possible danger ahead of time and made allowances to ensure our safety as his workmate; someone who goes to bed early, gets plenty of rest, and wears flannel shirts as a mark of his reliability.

Being in partnership with God, though, often feels much more like being Mel Gibson's sidekick in the movie Lethal Weapon. In his determination to deal with the bad guy, he leaps from seventh-story balconies into swimming pools, surprised that we would have any hesitation in following after him. Like Indiana Jones's love interests in the movies, we find ourselves caught up in an adventure of heroic proportions with a God who both seduces us with his boldness and energy and repels us with his willingness to place us in mortal danger, suspended over pits of snakes. "

(John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance , 56-57)

How very true this is in my own walk with God.  It is not safe at times and I have felt "suspended over pits of snakes" more often than I would like to recount.  But, no matter what has happened to me in my life, and what continues to happen, my heart is always drawn back to Him.  He is still my Hero and still my Rescuer and Deliverer.  My life is His.  And I am grateful.

Heart of Hearts




Heart of hearts

My deepest voice

Someone tried to steal

You cannot have the heart of me

No matter what you will



I am strong and I am true

My heart rises above

Your nothingness

Your silenced voice

For I choose a path of love



Heart of hearts

My deepest voice

It has now been found!

For it has all along been here

And let my voice resound
 
written by Lisa Parkin

I will not die an unlived life

I will not die an unlived life.

I will not go in fear
of falling or catching fire.


I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
To make me less afraid,
More accessible,
To loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.


I choose to risk my significance.
To live.
So that which comes to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom
Goes on as fruit.

Dawna Markova