Month: November 2017

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Ripple Effects

God, I still get so impatient. I’m so sorry. Can you help me be better?

Not if by better you mean that you devalue everything you’re doing or thinking. This is an awkward, in-between stage for you, where you are transitioning from discounting everything “you” – your likes, your wants, your dreams, your plans, your work. It seems as if you are over-emphasizing those because for years you gave them zero place, no importance, so any attention now feels selfish, self-centered. I Am asking you to be self-centered for a while. Pull your focus back, away from everyone else, and let yourself relish what you think, what you want, what you love. Dream Big Dreams and Make Big Plans. I Am a Big God. In the words of TreeBeard, let’s do some Big Things together. And for that, you have to focus on you, on your life. Center there and we shall ripple outward with great and wonderful impacts on the world.

 

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Heaven

Lord, I was thinking, if I died today, who in heaven would be there, to meet me, I mean? If I think of eternity as timeless, then people not yet born, people not yet died, could be there, but that complicates things. I was imagining, say, 20 years from now, and a heaven where even those who hurt me were there, were sorry, were healed themselves, and we could have in Eternity the relationship we didn’t have—couldn’t have—here.

Your first vision of heaven was as a place of healing, of reconciliation, of peace and love and forgiveness, a place of restoration and joy. Not judgment. Not regret. A place where all is put to rights, in body, mind and spirit. Do you think you can out-vision Me? Do you think you can out-imagine Me? Where do you think this vision comes from? In your vision there is only peace, not punishment, not torture. There are, literally, no more enemies in your vision. All swords, even Mine, are plowshares. You didn’t dream this on your own. You are tapping into the deep vein of My Love, My Peace. For those who must have vengeance, My Blood satisfies. But you have gone deeper even than this. You’ve gone to the bedrock of “seventy times seven.” That is why you don’t focus so much anymore on My Cross. That’s why you focus on My Rising. You picture Me alive, not dying.

 

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Unbridled Joy

I am way over three pages, playing catch-up. And You would say…

You are still so rule-bound. Julia Cameron advises three journal pages. Louise Hay devises a number/color system. You tend to adapt to a lockstep pace—and then you hate it. You chafe at it. You need flexibility, you need freedom, to thrive. You keep turning yourself into a caged animal, into a circus performer. No, no, a thousand times, no. For all the Yes I have spoken over and into your life, this is My grand No.

But…but don’t I have to have a schedule? A routine? Especially now?

Your schedule leaves no room, no time, for surprises. For serendipity. For spontaneity. For play. And thus, very little opportunity for genuine creativity. You are living in a sandbox when I have given you the beach. You are living in a playpen when I Am giving you the world, My world. Look every day for your larger purpose. Look every day for My Presence, manifest. That is what the hearts are about, signs you can share. You won’t have the same set schedule every day, and you are going to love that. Let yourself love that. And yes, it is okay to have some time both at the house and outside by yourself—how else will great songs and stories get written?

We are not abandoning Eve the Photographer, Eve the Image-maker. But finally after decades, you will, your life will, integrate all of you, all of your talents and gifts, all your creative expressions and longings. No longer will worry or even concern about financial solvency dominate your thinking and feeling. As that becomes a non-issue, your mind and heart shall be freed to be creative, wildly passionately joyously creative! Joy is contagious. And My broken world needs it. That is your job. That is what you bring to the table. Unbridled (see the imagery? horse running free?) joy. You can have peace and passionate joy all at once. And this is the year you will experience and exude both, in spades.

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Pray for New Things

Lord, You keep talking to me about change, and about fresh. But Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun. Right?

What about “His mercies are new every morning” in the Psalms? What about Isaiah’s “Behold I am doing a new thing?” What about the “I make all things new” as a final promise in scripture? What about those?

You have to discern who is talking when you read sacred words or words that purport to be sacred. “A tree is known by its fruit,” remember? There is a fatalistic cynicism that masquerades as religion. Some of the tenets of that belief system are that human actions are pointless, that everything that happens is pre-arranged and that humans are merely puppets in some Divine morality play. That belief system bears fruits of despair, apathy, helplessness, and hopelessness. Does that sound like a tree of My planting?

How about this? Every human born has limitless potential to be unique and to offer the world a fresh perspective on life, on love, on joy. Every expression of personality, every latent talent, every overt impulse to creativity are all gifts of the Divine ensconced in humanity. The great challenge for every human born is to become. To become the best self possible.

Lord, then what about tragedies? What about kids born in poverty? Born in abuse? Born into the drug culture? Born in war-torn villages? Born sick from day one? What about them?

Do you think My Love for these, for those the world would term “the least of them” is less than My Love for those born into wealth? Into health? Into loving, caring homes? Do you think I rank-order by circumstance?

No, of course not. But I think so many have the odds against them before they even start out. And it’s not fair. I’m sorry to say it that way. But take me—I was born late, to a family that very much wanted a child. I was loved, cherished, taken care of. I had so many advantages even in being born to older parents. And I had difficulties too, like no grandparents because of that. But my folks really wanted me, and I have carried that knowledge, and their telling me I was special, all these years. So I had a head start over so many others.

And you have felt guilty for your advantages. Isn’t that true? You have felt ashamed of having such love, and over being gifted in the areas you are. Listen to Me. Every child is gifted. Every child born is loved by Me. But I don’t wave some magic wand and send a child into hell on earth or heaven on earth. Children are conceived naturally, and not everyone who conceives is an ideal parent. Inherent in that conception is a spark of divinity that includes creativity, personality, and the capacity to give and receive love. Some have those gifts cut short before they can even be opened. You have heard there is great joy among angels when someone decides to change their path for good, for the better. Well, there is also great sorrow among angels for every injustice, for every life cut short before its potential is realized. Eventually, on humanity’s last day, there will be no more tears. That is the day of rejoicing that is coming, for all of creation.

But what about now? What do we do about now?

Follow your heart. Follow your path. You love to pray—pray for newborns, pray for foster families, pray for communities where drugs and gangs have taken over. Pray for peace. And don’t buy into the cynicism that says nothing can change, or that there is no possibility of newness in these homes, in these families, in these communities, in these villages, in these nations. Pray for New Things to increase and abound. Pray for a spreading ripple of grace and mercy, of kindness and compassion. Pray for hearts to rule hands and heads. Ask, and watch how you receive. For your very act of asking can change the flow of events, can alter circumstances, can reveal choices to others that might otherwise go unnoticed and unheeded. Pray for miracles of enlightenment. Pray for aha moments all over the globe. What do you have to lose? Try praying instead of lamenting, and see what happens.

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Intercessory Prayer

Okay, that was great—I am asking, God, for Miracles. Nothing is too hard for You. Now I breathe in the joy experienced.

See how quickly you turned from asking for yourself, for yourself and Pete, to asking for others? You are an intercessor for you have an intercessor’s heart. Do you think I will answer only those prayers you pray for others, and not the ones you pray for yourself? Do you think I mean to exclude you from the kingdom? From Kingdom blessings? I Am inviting you in, not shutting you out.

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More on Rhythm

I feel a little blinky yet. Need to make my smoothie, shower, make to do lists. What I really need–always–is to hear from You. 

The thoughts of future upset, of attacks, do not serve either you or Me. They assume you will be alone, unguided, unprotected. They confuse your earthly and heavenly sources, and they forget Who I Am—Who I Am in your daily life.

I am asking you to live out your daily life—all of it—from a position of trust in Me and connection to Me. I am asking you to listen for My Heartbeat in each day, and to match your rhythm of thought and action to Mine. In this way, compassion will balance joy. Action will balance rest. Outflow will be balanced by inflow. In fact, inflow has to be at least double the outflow: inflow to sustain you, and inflow to share with others.

So again, the keyword is Receive. And for right now, what I want you to receive is rhythm. Let’s slow the tempo now. Let’s have some soaring symphonic experience and expression.

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Follow the Stream

So, Lord, what would You say, to my tired body and my somewhat stressed mind?

You keep laying an axe to your own growth. I Am trying to grow you in a new direction. Think of your life path like a compass. Think of people relocating. They are not trying to re-create the same look, the same experience-otherwise, why move? But that is what you have been trying to do. I have been calling you into new and fresh and you have been trying to survive on leftovers, on stale and in some cases spoiled leftovers. You want fresh but you don’t want change. But you need change. You—especially—need change. You are like an octopus; you need new experiences. It is how you thrive. You want Time to stand still or flow backwards and I want Time to carry you as a river, around the bend to new and never-imagined vistas. Maybe you have flashed hot and gone cold because you can’t reconcile how to grow and have balance while you stretch into new directions.

What directions, Lord? I am seeing a sort of sprawling live oak, growing where the wind has sculpted its path from behind.

The force of the river can be said to be from behind but we think of rivers as flowing towards. Think of the wind as blowing towards.

Towards what? Towards where?

Towards a life of Adventure and Experience. Towards a path that opens before you as you walk it. Towards a trail that you blaze, with your words and your work. You need time for words—your own and others’—and you need music—your own and others’. And you need beauty. And you need serenity. And you need vibrancy. And you need customers, paying patrons, for all of it.

And my part is?

 Your part is to keep walking. To follow the stream. To let the River flow where it will. To listen for My Voice. I do not drive you in a wilderness, I lead you through pastures of plenty, pastures of green. Stay in Psalm 23 a while. Stay in Psalm 23 until you see it fresh, every day, in your own experience.

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God with us

Lord, when we started Now Through A Glass, I thought we were going to talk about profound things. Instead, it’s gotten very personal, my daily life, its current challenges. 

What is more profound than Emmanual, than God-with-us in your daily life? Is anything more important than that?

Even all the hearts you find are meant to remind you, God with us. I carry your heart–and you carry My Heart within you. This union, deeper than parent/child, deeper than spouse, is a union of spirit. In Me, you really do live, and move, and have your being, your you-ness. There is a philosophy that individuality disappears in the Divine, that any “you” is swallowed whole in a cosmic conglomeration of consciousness.

You know why I wanted you to stop picking your fingers? Not only because that was an outward manifestation of your inner upset and worry, but primarily because I created your fingerprints, unique, individual and different as a sign to you of how special every human being is to Me, and you were tearing at that very sign of My creating. You were destroying that which I declared Precious, precious in My sight.

I have told you before, I don’t want a lockstep army of soldiers, but a field full of creative and playful children–children of God in every good sense childhood implies–innocent, open, growing fun-loving, creative, inventive, imaginative, living every day all-out and all-in. Unburdened. Free. God-with-us promises and prompts that kind of life, those kinds of choices. Color outside the lines a little today. Invent some new shapes. Mix up some new colors. See in new ways. In other words, go be you! Live your life. And know that I Am with you.

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Salt and Pepper

Ok, so. So now what?

What do you do when you skim the fat off the top of a pot of soup?

I discard it and then I can add seasonings. Then I stir.

So these random musings, which are almost diary-like, serve the same purpose. They get you ready to distil the essence of what is important, what you can discard, and they help you taste your life to see what’s missing, what it needs.

Lord, what does my life need today? What does it need right now?

You can over-season, over-salt, put in too much pepper, and ruin what would have been a great recipe. You need balance.

Lord, I’ve had soup like that–so much salt or pepper I couldn’t eat it! When I think of salt now, I think of tears. And when I think of pepper, I think of anger.

So this is very important. Not only can you over-season, you can under-season. Soup–and life–is very bland if it is too watered down with no seasoning at all. So don’t be afraid of your seasons of tears or anger; just bring the whole of your life to Me. Tell Me here what makes you sad or makes you mad. Then we can more easily focus on what makes you glad still.

You see how cathartic that was? It is okay to acknowledge situations you think are unfair or hurtful. How can I help you right a wrong if you are not honest with Me or with yourself?

You can help me right a wrong I didn’t cause? One I don’t deserve?

But of course. Forgiveness is part of the process which you know very well. But that is not all. Sometimes restoration is needed. Sometimes a new situation needs to fill the gaps left in the aftermath of an older one. There is always a way to move forward. There is always a way to find or generate peace and joy. But you have to begin by stopping. Stop and acknowledge where you are. Then you can go on with more clarity.

 

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Nurture your inner life

God, do You—You always do—have anything to say to me today?

Breathe. Being frantic or fretting won’t help you. It won’t help your body or your mind, and it won’t help you get more done. Consider the lilies. Consider the thought that I love you just as you are right now, even while drawing you on to greater growth. Every winter, underground, lilies multiply. The “more blooms” that appear above ground come from more bulbs underground. Nurture your inner life, your underground life.

How do you do that? Worship is one way, because you are focused on Me and all I Am in your life and in the universe. Not sermons, not fellowship—as good as they may be, they don’t multiply your bulbs. Random acts of kindness, compassion and thoughtfulness help multiply your outward fruit and influence. Intercession as long as it is not a disguised worry is a bulb-grower.

Notice the metaphors: bulb for flowers and growth; bulb for light; bulb for inspiration, for creative ideas, for epiphanies. Anticipate surprises. Live expectant as you used to, and let your expectation be filled with My Presence, for in My Presence, nothing is impossible, nothing is too hard. The only defeat in My Presence is defeat itself. Defeat is defeated, overcome by victory. Overtaken by Love. Begin to anticipate a healthy body, a healthy lifestyle, a healthy business season. Begin again to visualize thriving. Trust that in this winter, which you are seeing as time lost, trust that underground, within, beneath the surface, is tremendous growth, is a field of multiplied bulbs, all ready, all waiting for the signal to burst forth into glorious flower. “A crop so great you cannot contain it all” – that is My Promise to you, renewed. So much fruit you can easily share, easily Give-Away. Is any of this too hard for God? Am I not God for you? Focus on that.