This … this is no ordinary love affair DearOne. There is no intimacy that compares to the love of our Creator. None.
The radiance that escapes His eyes adores His creation of you. His love is more than a mind can hold.
He traces every tear that slides down your cheek. His all-consuming eyes hold on you in steady gaze. He tenderly places the scent of the sun and the dust in your hair.
Beloved, intimacy with Him is like lightening in your veins. Powerful. Bewildering. Perplexing. Surrender and you slip under His skin, curl like smoke through His nostrils, move with unruled passion through His blood.
The change is as delicate as the artist’s detail stroke, yet powerful so that nothing else in all of life will compare to this journey. Your journey with Him. Your story.
He ‘crowns you with love and compassion.’

‘Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,’ (Psalm 103:2-4 NIV)

Let’s say you get kidnapped. Taken to a far away country. Put in a small cement block cell. Rice gets slid under your door once a day. You are not allowed to talk. It wouldn’t matter … there is no one to talk to anyway.
Say you live in that cell for 7 years, or 7 days, or 7 hours … Do you have enough of God’s Word locked into your memory to keep you sane? Copy this down. Memorize this one line at a time.
Prisons can and will come in all shapes and sizes in your life. Prepare your heart and mind for the battle Dearheart. So … when you start talking to yourself you can say to your soul, “Soul! Bless the Lord! With ALLLLLLL that is with in me ….”

‘Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless His Holy Name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy’ (Psalm 103:1-4 ESV)

Change of seasons draw out a change of season in us too… brings to mind holidays … thoughts of home … warmth.
Ever notice the warmth the flame of a single candle can bring to a home? Make the lighting of a candle a prayerful experience DearOne. Think peace that passes understanding; as you light one, bring to mind those who have hurt you, those you need to forgive.
Light the candle, praying for them, then Sweetheart, release any hurt you cling to. Choose to let it go, disappearing with the smoke, never to return.
Give God Most High room too move into the empty space. Let His flame move you from pain to peace.

‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ (Luke 2:14 KJV)

‘The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.’ (Psalm 121:8 NLT)

…as you come and go …
…as you come and go …
Sit there a moment DearOne.
Letting live, letting die. Seasons. Father God sets in place rhythms in all of life.
There is a natural rhythm drumming through our days. We anticipate and the ground swells in anticipation – then empties to a fade – only to be born again to life, if only on a memory.
Rise-fall-rise.
Rise-fall-rise.
His eyes never leaving us … Guarding, guarding, guarding.
As we come and as we go.

‘But those who die in the LORD will live;
their bodies will rise again!
Those who sleep in the earth
will rise up and sing for joy!
For your life-giving light will fall like dew
on your people in the place of the dead!’ (Isaiah 26:19 NLT)

This is the promise we keep … the believer’s assurance. Just being here, open and ready is worth all the dirty laundry you can throw at me.
I’d rather be here, be alive, feel deeply the pain and the thrills of life than be one of those who’s eyes are vacant, blank from living life on the surface without reaching deeper into the crevices of the soul to touch the trust of the Savior.

‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ (Matthew 6:11 ASV)

Beloved, long term victories happen one day at a time …

…Oh, God of Glory
Lord of Love
Set our captive hearts free to adore You
Deliver us from all that blurs Your Greatness,
and all that distorts Your Goodness.
Self, take your rightful, crucified place
And, Son of God, take Your place.
King of Glory, we approach Your throne
And, by the Blood of the Risen Lamb,
we confess our pride,
and the poverty of our lives without You.
We acknowledge that You are Sovereign.
You are perfect in all Your ways.
We rise in belief that we are Your treasure,
the apple of Your eye. . .
And, as we worship in Spirit and in Truth
May our awakened soul find rest
Captivate our minds with Kingdom thoughts
Unveil our eyes to share Your vision
Steal our hearts and set them ablaze with your passion
Wrap us in garments of praise,
And, robes of Your righteousness
Turn our mourning into dancing
And, make our hearts beat as joyful tambourines before you
Rejoice over us, Oh, God
Renew us with the Breath of Heaven
And, as we sing your praises,
May the song you sing over us drowned every worry
And, bind every broken heart
Whispering hope to the hurting
And, cause those crippled by fear to rise up and walk
And, God, as we walk, we ask that lives, hidden in you
That Your light will be revealed in us
Oh, God of Glory, Lord of Love
Your children worship You.

‘Tell me what to do, O Lord, and make it plain because I am surrounded by waiting enemies…I am expecting the Lord to rescue me again, so that once again I will see His goodness to me here in the land of the living. Don’t be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and He will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted, and courageous. Yes, wait and He will help you.’ (Psalms 27:11-14 TLB)

Deep inside you DearestOne, is a sort of wildish nature that has the ability to use all your senses in times of attack. When a bobcat senses danger, the first thing it does is get still as a statue. It allows it’s gifts to go to work – looking and smelling and listening and feeling and tasting. When you find your breath is panicked … running for your life in all directions … Beloved, get still. Sit down and be still – allow your values room to work. Let your imagination run wild for a while. Then allow the Spirit to separate the fears from the focus. Be still and give Him control to rock your thoughts back and forth for a while. Keep those that move you on, throw away the rest, and your Holy Spirit will renew you. That is all.

I’ve heard my Mom and Pop Coon tell of where they were and what they were doing when they heard Pearl Harbor was under attack. My mother remembers being on a bus from Texas to Oklahoma when she learned John F. Kennedy had been shot. I was a college student at UCO, between classes, on a stairwell, when I overheard the space shuttle exploded just after takeoff. I ran back to my dorm room and watched the images of the horror over and over on my little black and white tv.
Today we remember the day of the attack on the twin towers. Many of you were too young to remember the day … some of you were not even yet born. But, the ripple of terror seized the attention of the entire world.
There are disaster type events that happen in life that leave a dramatic mark on mankind.
Beloved, tragedy on such a huge scale tends to turn desperate hearts to the only place they can find comfort: in the arms of Father God. Hope eternal.
As much as we try to avoid it, the next national disaster will happen. And, when it does, hearts will come together in unity as a nation and turn home, toward God Most High.
Know that you know where you find your hope.
‘Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.’ (Psalm 25:5 NIV)