She saw him at the corner...cars whizzing by....the sun in her eyes...people rushing. He sat on the cold hard ground...dirt in his nails...blankets hugging his seemingly small frame...eyes looking down...no words.
She felt her heart beating...beating - cross the street it said. Go to him. Apprehensive she searches her mind...this makes me uncomfortable...I should keep walking...stop looking...stop feeling. Go to him...give him your five. She stops...heart beating...what have I got to loose? ... I have no words, she thinks...how can I let him know I see him, I care...you're loved...
Five folded and in hand she slowly approaches and leans over the crumpled paper bag...his face is close now...can she hear his heart beating? She can hear hers...look up, it says. Her eyes meet kindness...Jesus in disguise, dirty and hungry. He smiles...through his blanket muffled speech the words - Thank you. Their eyes lock and she smiles. This split second feels holy...sacred. Is she peering into a face sent straight from heaven? She drops the five into the bag....I hear your voice, I see your face, she thinks. If only the most profound of words could come out in this moment...that could change their lives forever. She opens her mouth...have a good one...it's all she could muster. She floods heaven with prayers as she walks away. I am a coward, why couldn't I speak my heart?
Silence...listening...then her Creator spoke, piercing the shame. You gave a piece of your heart...that is a language that I love. Whatever you did for the hungry, the thirsty, someone needing a smile to set a rhythm to their heart again, you did it for me. (Matthew 25:40) Thank you.
(see picture at http://pinterest.com/pin/98938523036454505/)
The prodigal's come home! This joyous reunion filled with kisses and a zealous embrace. A son has turned. Safe at last. Home again! Laughter and celebration...
But haunting questions linger - in his mind...on his heart. When the dust settles, when the feast is over, when the champagne runs dry, when Monday morning strikes, will you still forgive me? Will you still feel this love in your heart for me? Or will the memory of this time passed haunt us all forever. Has it tarnished a life that could have been...regrets...regrets - they haunt.
Shame of the past...guilt...condemnation. It chokes...strangles. A mind filled with doubt and fear can't move forward...can't begin a new chapter - a new season - a new beginning. The chains not only bind with immense strength, but they weigh a ton! Can't breath...Can't move!
Forgiveness. It lifts the shadow...brings it all into the light. Shame can't live in the light, regret can't live in the light. It takes having faith in the giver to be pardoned...and sometimes it takes more faith to receive it. Drink it in to flush the disease ridden soul of this doubt. It's real...it's here...it's yours. Receiving forgiveness is the key to releasing the chains. It moves you from death to life...from losing your way to being home. All things are being made new. Restoration. Welcome home.
~wanna read more: Luke 15: 11-32, 2 Corinthians 5:17
(see picture at http://pinterest.com/pin/98938523036455157/)
Organized, categorized, sanitized, carefully wrapped and neatly tied. A life carefully planned, thoughtfully laid out. So meticulous, like a neat little box perfectly wrapped...corners folded, ribbon tied.
But the box wasn't waterproof, wasn't fire resistant...anxiety, depression, addiction, destruction crept in when she wasn't looking...seeped in and she couldn't plan for this. She looked back to see where she must have missed something...but I was good, I did what was right, I did what I was taught. I lived in the box...I never crossed the line. Fighting to put the pieces of the box back together...no amount of tape or band-aids will fix this...
A hand reaches out and touches hers...she stops...holds her breath. She can hear it in her heart...a small gentle voice...do you trust me?
Her mind races...everything's come undone...life is unrecognizable...how will I ever get this back? Tell me what to do...tell me what to do...
Do you trust me?
Just tell me what to do and I'll do it
Let go...TRUST ME.
Eyes wet, face burning, she loosens her grip...the box is crumpled and soggy...she watches as it begins to change shape. Begins to morph further...it erupts into a blazing fire and in a split second it's gone...burned up with only ash remaining. She covers her face...
Her heart beats...the rhythm of life....
She sits...waiting...silence...the words form deep within. She listens...
Daughter...how precious you are to me. How deeply loved you are. I am making all things new. I am working all things together for your good. Put down the burden of figuring this out...life. I will carry it and give you freedom in exchange. You may feel weak, but I will replace it with strength...deep strength. Open your eyes to joy and peace that you have never known...that could never flourish in your safe little box. My abundant life is too big for your little box. It's time to live in your inheritance...riches and blessings you've never known because you never received them. But it is a choice...to receive...will you take it?
She peels her hands away from her eyes...opens them wide to something unrecognizable...what is it? The ash was gone and in it's place is a scroll with a red seal holding it closed...blood red, with a royal emblem... Release the seal to receive your gift.
Her hands trembled but she knew there was no turning back...the choice was hers and the time was now. As she unrolled the scroll she began to see the words IT IS FINISHED penned across the parchment. The love surrounding these words began to flood her heart...her mind. She knew what it meant...she had heard these words before. There was power in these words - When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30) -in giving something familiar up, something new can be born. Something beautiful, something powerful, unlike anything you've ever known. To save your life, you must give it up...to him.
An outpouring of tears, releasing of breath, hands out stretched to receive the gift...the freedom in these three words. She didn't even have to speak them...they were spoken for her. The box was broken for her...his body was broken for her...through the nails you're forgiven, by his stripes you're healed!
~wanna read more? see Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Isaiah 53:5
(see picture at http://pinterest.com/pin/98938523036454496//)
Heads were down, feet were shuffling. I could smell the stuffy mix of expensive colognes and leather brief cases through a sea of black and gray suits. We were all being herded like cattle up the crowded stairwell to the turnstiles exiting the subway on a busy April morning commute. Not a word was spoken...like robots making our way to our cubicles and offices for another pay-cheque, another day that will slip quickly by without anyone even noticing.
Then I heard it, like a ray of light piercing a cold dark cell. Piercing my beating heart, desperately searching for light....the wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town... The little girl with the red raincoat, oblivious to the mood in that stairwell and unhindered by the solemn, serious faces, shocked my heart back to a living rhythm, sending life giving blood to my life giving body...waking the spirit deep within. Such joy in her voice proclaiming more life to live, and live to it's fullest...with unhindered joy! More buses to ride, more wheels to turn!
I smiled and heard my heart beat for more. Beat in unison with your heart. I prayed, what does that mean, Father God? What are you saying through this undeniable God moment? I heard a small voice whisper - - Faith like a child. To live everyday, every moment in this tangible, unhindered love for life, love for my Creator, love for the gift of life I've been given..for today! Let my voice break through the darkness with words of joy and hope...pointing the way to the only way, truth and life that will make a difference.
Isn't that what we all want? Something different? To be freed from this monotonous, repetitive, life sucking existence? Is that what I hear in the sound of the underground morning shuffle...no words, but hearts crying out for more...wanting to break free...to release the inner child...the inner faith that there is something bigger and more meaningful out there for each one of us. And not to believe it in secret - to feel calloused and marred by the wounds this life has given- but to hope with a heart that can't let go of this nagging doubt, to declare that I truly believe there is abundant life to live and it is mine! Life to sing and dance about and that I can live it out to it's fullest exactly where I am right now....in a stuffy subway stairwell...in a cold dark jail cell...in a cubicle on the 33rd floor....in my backyard....in my laundry room. 'Cause the author and perfecter of my faith, my child-like faith, dwells inside me...he's taken up residence and is patiently waiting for my heart to beat with his...for my eyes to open wide....for my child within to wake up. Wake up 'O sleeper. Rise from the dead and Christ will Shine on you! (Ephesians 5:14)
(see picture at http://pinterest.com/pin/98938523036455229/)
Who does the Father's heart search for? Where does Jesus' love magnetically draw to?
Is it where they've got it all together?
Where perfection has been obtained?
To those who are righteous and perfect law abiders?
...don't be fooled...all of these are an illusion.
The Father's heart searches for one that requires the grace that he so freely, abundantly, lovingly has longed to pour out into. It is his greatest pleasure to do this. It is his heart's desire to do this. Jesus follows after his Father's heart...in complete likeness...much like when you see a little boy that is the spitting image of his father. Where it makes you go "Whoa! I know exactly who your father is!" Jesus is that "whoa". The unconditional, unbreakable undeniable love that heals the deepest wounds that gives the most indescribable peace, that breaks even the strongest, tightest chains of bondage and that sets a life plagued by addiction, darkness, depression and despair into the kind of freedom that can make the deaf hear, the blind see, the crippled walk, the sick well...the impossible, possible...that is the Father's heart...that is the love Jesus emulates.
(see picture at http://pinterest.com/pin/98938523036454501/)
God knows you...REALLY knows you. Better and more intimately than you know yourself.
He speaks a coursing rhythm to your heart, he breathes your organs to life, he renews your cells, your complete make up, daily.
He knows your secret dreams...your deepest fears...your preferences and inspirations. He knows what bores you to tears...makes you tick...makes you cry...takes your breath away...the things that make you, you. Beautiful, mysterious, complicated, wonderful you!
You are different than anyone else and he knows that...in fact, he likes it. He created you to be different for his GLORY...because he's so unbelievably, undeniably creative.
Don't get caught up in what other people think...blending with the crowd. Painting your heart, your passion, gray so no one can see it. Jesus never blended with the crowd...he proudly wore his heart - his father's heart - on his sleeve and bore it to the world...in blood red.
There is freedom in that...in being who you were created to be with only one audience that matters...and the audience already thinks you're amazing so don't hold back.
He wants you to be inspired...to be enveloped in love...to feel creative and smart. To feel overwhelming joy in living life....it's all right before you...the banqueting table is set and ready for you to dig in...savour the creative meat...drink of the inspiring overflow that will never run dry.
And to add a new dimension to all this creative outpouring, Jesus wants to meld his heart with yours...you are already creatively and wonderfully made in his image and now he wants all of you to be melded with all of Him.
Will this take away from you?
No!
It will make who you are richer, deeper...
you in technicolour...
you in 3D...
you in High Definition.
Who you were created to be!
~wanna read more? try Psalm 139, John 15:1-17, Song of Songs 2:4
(see picture at http://pinterest.com/pin/98938523036454417/)
Written Releasing is Father God's love songs released into my heart and onto the page. He releases so much joy, peace and freedom through his unfailing, undeniable love everyday. I believe these words are for everybody, so I want to release them to you, as a gift from a God who knows you...who sees you...who loves you!
