Tag Archives: love

Mar12

Just Come In…

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The Rose

I have a love for the garden, and flowers of all kinds. I’m drawn to them like a humming-bird. I can’t pass without taking that moment to savor the fragrance and beauty. I just returned from a “Women on the Frontlines” conference. Over and over during the conference I kept hearing “Just come In” an old Margret Becker song. I urge you, when you find yourself drawn into His presence, “Just come In”. Jesus is the lover of your soul and He is waiting for you. Waiting for you to stop and catch a glimpse of his beauty, smell the sweetness of His presence. He doesn’t care what condition you are in, He just wants you! All of you, unconditionally. He loves you. It’s in those times we steal a moment to find His presence, that the Holy Spirit comes and ministers to us. It doesn’t have to be an hour of prayer, it can come in minutes. In those minutes let Him refresh you, change your heart, prepare you for your day. He is after you, all of you…Maybe it’s while you are driving to work, maybe it’s on the subway or bus, but take that moment to remember the sweetness of your Savior’s love for you. When you come into His presence in worship, let yourself linger, don’t rush to the next thing. There is nothing that can compare.  Hide yourself in Him.

Be grateful, humble and love deeply…

Psalm 38:4

Taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the person who takes refuge in him

If you need prayer please let me know in comments.

Mar1

What lies within us…

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“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Created in His image. God has thoughts of us. So many that if they were counted they would number more than the grains of sand. His word says we are “Fearfully and wonderfully made.” He made us, full of potential, full of promise, full of creativity.  Paul saw and thought of those he cared for with God’s eyes. He saw the promise, he believed in their great potential to change the world, he realized the creative spirit in each one. Paul’s words gave life to the people around him.  His words and thoughts realized the potential in each person.  I believe Paul also saw the obstacles, but his words continued to urge them onward to the goal of becoming “Christ-like.” Paul wrote, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.” What a great encouragement.

So many of us struggle daily to realize our worth. Our worth to each other, our worth to society, and our worth to God. We live in a society that is so focused on the facade of beauty, wealth, and position. Sadly it’s an illusion. We are rewarded for our hard work, great ideas, good stewardship that is true. But our true value is in who He created us to be. How differently would we live if we lived believing this truth?  Created in His image. God has thoughts of us. So many that if they were counted they would number more than the grains of sand.

What do your eyes see? Look around you today. See what God sees.  See the promise and future in each one He created.  Let your words bring healing, encouragement and hope .  Your words have the ability to speak life and death. Choose them wisely. Bring forth life with your spoken words today.  Ask God for His words of encouragement.  If you see a picture, have an impression or a word of knowledge take notice.  He gives us these things to encourage the people around us.  Be bold speak a word of encouragement.  When He prompts you to pray for a stranger, stop and do it.  You have no idea what they are going through, you may be just what they need today.

You have great value, you have worth, you will impact this world with His love. You must wrap this truth around your heart. His love for you is unending. Your story is waiting to be told. Believe in who He created you to be.

Be grateful, humble and love deeply.

If you are in need of prayer today please leave a request in comments. Bless you!

Feb26

When You Are Broken…

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Kiss the Son

When you’ve been broken, broken to pieces.
And Your heart begins to faint
’cause you don’t understand.
And when there is nothing to rake from the ashes.
And you can’t even walk
onto the fields of praise.

But I bow down and kiss the Son.
Oh, and I bow down and kiss the Son.

Let the praise of the Lord be in my mouth.
Let the praise of the Lord be in my mouth.

Well, though You slay me, I will trust You, Lord.
Well, though You slay me, I will trust You, Lord.
Though You slay me, I will trust You, Lord.
Though You slay me, I will trust You, Lord.

When the rock falls, falls upon you.
And you get ground to dust
no music for your pain.
You open the windows, the windows of heaven.
And then You opened me
and You crushed me like a rose.

Kevin Prosch

When You Are Broken…

Over the past weekend a couple came to my home church to visit. They shared their story about following the call of God, and how difficult the journey has been. We live in a culture that really requires we “do pretty” all the time. But what happens when the “pretty” has run dry in your life. What happens when the “pretty” is gone when you believed with your whole heart that you were following God. What happens when you have waited for his perfect timing and his will aligning, and the “pretty” is all gone. You are surviving, but nothing is as you had imagined…it’s hard, and it’s not “pretty.” Jen Patrick’s wife said that it was “in this pain she found herself suddenly so alive.” At that moment I burst into tears. I know this story, I’ve lived it.

Someplace in our American church culture, we believed that if we did the right stuff, all our journeys would have a happy, easy ride away in the sunset ending. But what happens the day, week, month and year that no “pretty” is in sight. Lots of us over the last 10 years have set out on journeys.  Journeys we were certain were God directed, prompted, assigned. We have faith at the starting gate…but somehow when all that could go wrong has gone wrong, there is no “pretty” where do we go? Are we angry at God for taking us on this dead end journey? Do we shout and cry and ask the Lord over and over again why it has turned out this way. Why so much loss, why so much pain, when we did our best to follow him. I have at times done all this and more. I have burned 20 years of journals that contained every dream, promise, vision, prophetic utterance ever given to me by God. Because having those journals in my arms that day was just to painful to hold. All those dreams unfulfilled, so much that I had never seen come to pass in my life.

All my life I was one who prayed. As a little girl I would go to bed every night an pray for everyone and everything I could think of. So to say that I didn’t have faith would be wrong. I didn’t meet Jesus until I was already divorced and 24. But God had a plan, He definitely found me and convinced me of his person, his son and the power of the Holy Spirit. All in one very complete moment. But there are those times when you have sought and followed to the best of your ability that you still end up someplace you never dreamed you would be. The “pretty” is all gone…And you are broken, and broken hurts like hell.  You think of all the things one might do in that place of disappointment and pain.  Then the Holy Spirit comes to you in a way that you realize that it is in this broken place; that you have come to meet him and know him best. That in the pain of all this loss, disappointment and ashes you are most alive. You feel deeper than you have ever felt before, you have compassion at a level so intense that when you hear someone else’s story of a difficult journey you weep with them.  You care when the homeless shelter has no hot food on a freezing cold night, your heart begins to leap to try and make someone else feel comforted and loved. You are willing to live with less so someone else might have a bit more.

This pain so deep, so broken, feeling truly as you have been crushed like a rose on path in the summer’s night. But with that crushing the perfume of that rose is released, it begins to swirl in the air, and the sweetness becomes a comfort to you. The rose now transformed, is not longer pretty, but so very fragrant now crushed and bruised on the garden path. Out of our deepest trials, our deepest hurts, when we look in the mirror and see no “pretty” staring back at us, but there is one who see’s great beauty. The maker of us all stands back and admires his beautiful creation. How much like his son Jesus, this one has become. The heart is now tender, the hands are now useful to him, the thoughts have been purified by fire. That journey which seemed so likely to destroy you before you ever reached the shore, is past. The season has changed. You have been changed.

What will you do at the end of such a hard and tiresome journey…I will bow down and Kiss the Son.

Be grateful, humble and love deeply…

P.S. If you need prayer please leave a reply.

Feb20

What’s in a name?

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I’m sure by now you are wondering what Eliaslinked really means. Elias in Hebrew means “Jehovah God“, linked is a verb, meaning to connect. Hence Eliaslinked! God connected. What really connects us? Those things that we have in common, the things that make our hearts skip, or cause us to stop and ponder. God is doing a work of connection, joining, and knitting the body of Christ together in new ways. I see Him building bridges that span great distances. Connecting us over time,distance and cultures to bring unity, healing and great joy in our friendships. Knowing that in each of us is the potential to do great good. The moment that you make that connection potential is released. All the potential in the world lies within a single connection. One of my favorite authors, Alexandra Stoddard writes about “unknown others”. Those people who will impact your life in a “forever way”, that you have yet to meet. That concept has always intrigued me. Who are those people who God plans to connect me with? Where do they live? What are their lives like, what are their wants and needs today? How can I speak life and blessing to them? What can I say that will make them press in more closely to hear the heart of Jesus? Will it come in a whisper or a shout? I’m so happy you have found me. Be inspired. Be curious. Be thoughtful. Most of all be authentic and be real. Be you, just where you are, just as you are. Today I will leave you with this. God has been speaking to me from Philippians since the start of the New Year. This verse in particular seems to be my theme for 2014. Maybe it’s yours too. Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think on these things. (Philippians 4:8) So go, enjoy your day. Think about those people in your life who have made you better just by knowing them. Look forward to those “unknown others” still waiting to meet you…maybe today. Be grateful, humble and love deeply. P.S. If you need prayer please leave a reply below! Be blessed!