Category: Courage

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Rise Up for Peace

Hoo boy, Lord, what a wild few days. A real roller-coaster ride emotionally. One friend left the area after living here more than 20 years. I seem to have the ability to hold another person’s needs inside, see their perspective, while at the same time trying to hold onto mine as equally valid. So I can both rejoice for her new beginning, acknowledge her mixed feelings about leaving, and experience my own sadness, all at once. How is that even possible?!? Here is another one: conflict among people I care about. I seem to be able to hold a point of view that looks for a door, a keyhole, a way out, a reconciliation. Even though in my own life I have experienced times where reconciliation was not possible; too much would have to be compromised. I think I have sometimes been a peace-at-any-price person, and that attitude doesn’t stand up. It doesn’t stand up for truth, or fairness. So in the end, it doesn’t stand up for peace either. If no fights break out on the playground only because everyone is terrified of the school bully and no one will say anything, that is not peace. So Peace has to mean more than “absence of conflict.” Right? What would You say? How do people, how can I, be a peacemaker, when two sides are so opposed? Or if two sides hold values that contradict each other, so that if one prevails, the other loses by default? You always, always talk about a third way. I need one. 

You are thinking, I can walk North or I can walk South or I can sit and do nothing.

Exactly!! And none of those seems like the right choice. I mean, at the moment. None of those is exactly right. None of those gets to the real heart of the issue. None of those brings lasting peace.

So you want a Third Way?

Yes I do. I thought of three myself, just like You said. North, South, Sit. Meaning, do nothing. That is not acceptable. So since that is not acceptable, I am trying to figure out how to stay balanced within myself while I walk North, say. Or South, say. I know I am talking in circles, I can’t help it.

There is one direction you have not considered.

What is that?

Up. Rise Up. Grow some Wings.

Oh, Lord, speaking of wings…the little butterfly, the one that overwintered? It finally emerged, way too tiny a body, and stunted little wings that will never fly, could barely flutter. All that cocooning, for nothing.

Not for nothing. It emerged out of time. Timing is very important.

But…but…I thought it was supposed to over-winter, emerge in spring! Rest, be dormant, renew, and come out fresh, energized, full of new life!

Little One, how much rest, true REST, did you have this winter? How much rest do you allow yourself now? And you see the result.

Are You saying I am stunting my own growth? My own growth spiritually and creatively?

That is exactly what I Am saying. Do you believe you can enter a conflict and maintain your own peace? That is another way of asking, maintain My Own Peace within you? What did I say? Peace I give you, My Peace I leave with you. Not as the world gives do I give. And how does the world give? It gives and takes. It gives and takes back. It gives, holding back. It turns aside, turns its back, refuses to give an inch. And how do I give? Profusely, continuously and constantly. Always in line with Who I Am. There is no conflict within Me. Hear that again. No conflict within Me. If you can find your center in Me, that is how and where you rise. That is where your wings are. Stay centered and there will be no conflict within you either.

No conflict means you are assured, and true to your purpose. And what is your purpose, your particular purpose? To connect. To open your heart wide. To open your life wide. Not to become a victim by your openness. Your gentleness really is your strength, as you said earlier today. Remember My Word: In Quiet and Confidence shall be your strength. That is certainly true for you.

Where did you put the little butterfly?

I tried to put it on some flowers but it just kept falling off. So I carried it up to the statue I have in the yard, which to me always looks like a cross between Jesus and St Francis. I laid it there with my blessing. I could not bring myself to squish it. I just couldn’t.

It emerged too early. Over-wintering was not the issue. Trying to force emergence prematurely was the issue. It is still too cold. The wings needed more time.

What about me? 

Trust My Timing for you, too. Those creative expressions you sense beginning to stir, let them stretch slowly. Just like your muscles, don’t stretch too hard too fast. Let them ease their way into their full length and strength.

Now, about the particular conflict that concerns you.

Yes, God. What in the world do I do about that?

Stay your course. You already know how you want to proceed. Your heart has already shown the way. Follow your heart. You can trust your heart; it beats in rhythm with Mine, especially where peace is concerned. You are going to live out the third way in a deeper way than you have before. You hate “fight” so typically you choose “flight” — meaning, you flee. You abdicate. You capitulate. But this time you shall choose to fly. Flight shall take on a new meaning. You shall rise up strong in the knowledge that you speak My heart from your heart.

Lord, what if others don’t understand? What if they don’t agree? What if they argue? What then?

Don’t give in. Don’t fear their fear, don’t be angry with their anger. Just keep pointing the way to the only solution that will work, and that solution IS Peace. You are not seeking to avoid conflict as you are to inhabit an entirely new, different, and sacred space within those relationships, and that space is Peace. You can pinpoint it on a map, and as soon as you do, you will notice how it grows, receiving territory as others want what you have, want to live as you live. Stay In Peace. Wear Peace as your emblem. But remember–True Peace. Not Peace at any price. Peace that stands up for the weaker, that defends the belittled or ignored, that befriends the outcast in a way that transforms everyone in the situation. You can do this. You have done this before. You can–and will–do this again.

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Just be you

Okay, God, I have a question. Say you feel you have been wronged, maybe not in a huge way, but still…what are we, what am I, supposed to do? Here is what I usually do–I get upset at first, and then I try to just let it go. I rarely confront, I rarely challenge the behavior, I rarely stand up, or at least, not for myself. I have  a friend who says, you teach people how to treat you. So I am always also thinking of how I want to be treated. So the Golden Rule rules, right? And that means walking away, right?

Let Me ask you a question in turn. If you offended a friend, wouldn’t you want that friend to tell you? Or if you made a genuine mistake, wouldn’t you want to know?

Well, yes. But I am not talking about a friend. The thing I am talking about now is literally a person I don’t know personally. I feel taken advantage of in one sense, and then in another, maybe what happened is okay. Maybe it will work out okay.

But you will never know that without bringing it up, without bringing the situation to light. And yet you think I would want you to keep silent. Keeping the peace and holding the peace doesn’t always mean silence. Sometimes it means having courage to speak, to say no when you mean no and yes when you mean yes. Sometimes it takes asking a hard question and being willing to wait for the answer, and then having the courage and discernment to ascertain whether the answer is truthful, or a deliberate lie, or a misunderstanding, or a mixing of all of that.

I think I was schooled for silence.

Many have been. But silence is not necessarily a virtue. Remember, My Word says, there is a time to keep silence AND a time to speak. I think this is a time to speak, for you. HOW you speak is the issue. Do you speak respectfully? Do you judge in advance or do you go into the conversation willing to both speak and listen? The answers to these questions will tell you, first, what is in your heart, and second, where you need to ask for My help.

So, Lord, here is the situation–as if You didn’t already know! Someone used one of my photos in a publication. My name is there–tiny. And they might have gotten that photo from someone else I DID give images to, with permission to publish, but it is not at all clear to me that is what happened, or how it happened. And in any case, I did not give explicit permission to these folks to publish it. On the other hand–I always can see another side–the credit is good, and I wouldn’t mind the chance to legitimately work with these folks and supply photographs. But not without permission, and not without some arrangement in writing. Is that wrong to ask for? I feel torn. If I make a stink, then I might never have a chance to work with or for these folks. If I keep quiet like nothing happened…well that doesn’t seem right, or fair to me, either. And that certainly wouldn’t give me opportunities!

Of course it is not wrong! For one thing, this is your livelihood. For another, I have told you that now is your time to shine, not to hide. Keeping silent in this case would be hiding. Make the call. Be yourself–not your apologetic, this-must-somehow-be-my-fault self. Your authentic self. Try it now. Take a breath. What would you say?

I think I would ask to speak to someone in charge, say who I am, and say I have questions about how my photograph was used, where they received it from, just needing to understand the sequence of events. And depending on how I am answered, then I would like to open a door for them to see more of my portfolio. But not for free, for the same renumeration others receive.

So what is wrong, or confrontational about that? Remember the Third Way. Neither the aggressor, nor the victim. If you go in peace, with peace in your heart, you can open many doors. The issue for you isn’t whether to be a peacemaker; that is who you are. The issue is are you willing to speak up at all?

Yes, Lord, I think I am. I think I need to be. Thank You.

Remember, I Am with you in everything, great and small, hard and easy. You can do this, on your terms. Just be you.

 

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Open Doors

Thank You, sweet God. I needed to remember what I know. I needed to look ahead and look around with that perspective. Now what would You say?

Praise is a Key, a big Key to a Big Door. Not because I have a big ego that needs stoking like a fire with the fuel of your devotion, but because My whole heart is devoted to you. To all of My creation. I love nothing more than blessing those I love. Your praise, your trust, your recognition of Who I Am is what allows those blessings to flow. All the locks are on your side of the door. There are no locks whatsoever on My side. Your choices can create barriers, and those barriers sadden Me. Yes, just as with Jesus’ physical body, your earthly choices have the power to wound My Heart. A harsh word wounds My Heart. Lives devoted to destruction, theirs and others, wounds My Heart. My Great Work of Creation is ongoing, for I Am always creating new chances, new possibilities, new outcomes for everyone on the planet. Your steady choice to believe and receive has swung open the door for you and your life many times.

Now let’s take the next step. If you can commit to what you know of Me again this morning, we can take the door itself off its hinges. The door will transform into a bridge across to My Country. You don’t ever have to go back or even look back to that existence where you questioned or doubted My Love for you or My “plan for your life”—which is expanding blessing, just as the countryside opens up before you. Like Lazarus, like Jesus, you can experience a resurrection, but you still have to make the choice to come out of the Cave. I Am inviting you into yet a larger life.

How can this be? you ask. You can live without fear. You can live without anxiety. You can live without upset. All of those are cave-dweller mindsets. You can live without worry. You can live with confidence, live in assurance, and experience daily, hourly synchronicity. I will never withhold from you any true blessing. Trust My timing to be perfect. “Yes” to praise frees you. Begin again to see Beyond.

This is how time-travel works for you. See the future I promise as real in your now. See it for everything you care about, your business, your family, your friends. See it for anyone who struggles. You don’t have to tell Me what you see of the struggle, unless doing so helps you release it. Instead, let Me tell you and show you what I see so you can see with Me.

This is the point where you’ve always drawn back before. “What must I sacrifice?” you thought. “What must I give up?” “What must I suffer?” These are false questions and they lead back to false gods, not to Me.

Live a life so connected with Me, so overflowing with blessing, that it magnetizes others to good. Let your very presence cause them to open their door to Me, which is how healing happens. You will have to give up the world’s perspectives of fear and of anxiety in order to fully inhabit the life I have for you. You will have to give up an obsessive concern for what others think of you in order to wear well the mantle of what I think of you.

You are thinking, how do I begin. You’ve already begun. You’ve walked a long distance already. You can jog now. You can run now. You are not a beginner. You know this.

You have pictured your life lately like a finite water bucket that others dig down into a well, and draw from what you perceive as your small, leaky reserves of time and energy.

You are a river in Me, the Great River. Live connected and experience an unending flow.

Living in the flow rejuvenates you and it increases your capacity to flow. That is what we are doing this morning. We are excavating in the Spirit. Like a mighty Canyon River, we are carving new pathways of possibility—I Am, by My Power and Intention, and you are, by the power of your agreement. Alleluia, alleluia. I have waited long for this day. The last boulders are tumbling downstream and the floodgates are flung wide open. Alleluia, alleluia.

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A Time To Speak

Lord, how can I know when to speak and when to keep silent, when these words are meant only for me, and when they are meant for others, too? There are times I have shared in the past and then thought, I should have just kept my mouth shut.

You mean, should you have just kept My Mouth shut?

Here is a hard truth you know intellectually and biblically, but you are going to have to learn to live with it emotionally: not everyone receives. Not everyone hears. Not everyone wants glad tidings. Some much prefer judgment. Some much prefer hiding in their own darkness. And some—like feral cats—will hiss and even bite before they let themselves be loved.

You have to decide this work is worth rejection, that you are not in this to become popular, but to be a beacon of light in stormy times.

Lord, why wouldn’t everyone want the light to shine in a storm?

Almost everyone—unless someone is mentally ill—wants the light to shine in specific ways and specific places. My Light shines everywhere, on everyone. And that is a hard concept for some, who live by rank-ordering and who cannot conceive of a love, or favor, that is not based on merits. It seems unfair somehow to them.

Lord, like the parable of the workers hired late in the day?

Exactly.

 

 

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Peace Plays the Umpire

Lord, what is the watchword for today?

The watchword for today is Peace–the kind of peace that plays umpire over your thoughts, calling fair or foul, in or out of bounds. My Peace outruns even your best thinking and your deepest understanding. When you come to the limit of all you know or understand, when nothing “makes sense,” that is when you need My Peace the most, and that is where you will find My Peace waiting.

Out of bounds thoughts and “foul moods” go hand-in-hand. I Am talking about thoughts like envy or resentment, thoughts that label others in any way less-than-you, or that label you as less-than-them, or–and this is very important for you now–thoughts that whisper you must do this alone. No, you have a team of helpers and Me as both Coach and Umpire.

But life has thrown a curveball, I hear you say.

Are you going to hurl your bat in frustration and take a chance on hurting someone else, or are you going to come to Me for some extra, private, one-on-one batting practice? You can hit this curveball. You can hit it out of the park. You can run the bases and you can drive others home, Home, on the strength of your swing. Don’t walk away from the batter’s box. Let Me show you how to handle life’s curveballs so that your peace, My Peace in you, stays intact and all your swinging for the fences bears much fruit.

It doesn’t seem fair, this particular pitch.

I know you are afraid of grounding out, of losing everything you cherish most. What happens with a game-winning run? The whole stadium cheers! All of Heaven rejoices. Let this turn into a victory lap.

How do I do that?

This is how. Your set-apart times with Me will give you everything you need. You’ve trusted Me for so much; trust Me in this.

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Adjust Your Sails

Lord, You know I am still stressing over finances. I can’t seem to stop worrying. And when I worry, I react badly—inside—to what others say or do. And I second-guess my every decision, even decisions I thought I heard about from You.

You are waiting for the wind to shift before you adjust your sails. It is what the world does. I am saying to you, adjust your sails and the wind will shift. Get ready, anticipating a blessing. The man in the parable was greedy and stingy, but I am telling you, build a bigger barn. A bumper crop is coming; it is even now growing. It is even now on its way. Take in the rainbow; it is a sign for you of My provision.

Am I not still Jehovah-Jireh? Can I not now also be your Jehovah-Rapha?

You are reacting as you always do, trying to make up a deficit at cost to yourself. What about the loaves and fishes? What about the lost coin? What about the pearl of great price? What about the coin in the fish’s mouth? If the Kingdom of God doesn’t touch you right where you live, and in your society—which includes money, the very foundation of exchange for everything except the air you breathe—then what good is it?

My Kingdom is not esoteric. My Kingdom is based on Love. My Kingdom is not ascetic. It is not a system of exchange, your wealth for poverty. What would miraculous provision look like, to you?

Let Me provide, as a lesson to you. Let Me work, so you can clearly see it is I. I have shown a spotlight on what you call a deficit to illuminate a much bigger deficit in your thinking, in your pattern of thought and belief—about money, and Me, and you, your life. That is the deficit that must be overcome, and the miraculous is the only way that will happen. So I don’t want you to engineer anything in the natural. Instead, set your sails. Instead, watch Me shift the wind. Instead, watch Me work. Continue to be generous, and watch Me give to you.

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Don’t Be Afraid

Please. Will You hear my heart’s cry, and will You please intervene? Will You do this thing I am asking?

 

Because you have asked this, I say to you, I am hearing your cry, and I will act to save Florida from destruction that would have otherwise been. Not to show Myself strong–to show you, to show praying people everywhere, how strong, how effective your prayers are. I have asked you to pray, asked you to ask, so you can see how this works, how prayer, how connecting with Me and getting hold of My Heart, changes everything. “For it is not My will that anyone perish.”

Yesterday I asked, and I am still praying You weaken the storm, wring it out. So in advance of a strike, I see the storm is weaker. Thank You. And I posted my “I can’t hear You” entry.

Yes, you can.

You can hear Me.  And you know I hear you–all of you. I Am not deaf, and I Am not mute. Neither are you.

Okay, so, deep breath, what would You say? Now? To our fear? “Fear not” doesn’t seem practical.

Fear is a last resort. I never want any child, any of My Children, which means anyone on the planet, to feel afraid. I said “fear not” over and over and over. I sent angels to say “Don’t be afraid.” I don’t want humans afraid. That is not My will or My plan.

But isn’t Your will what happens? I mean, You are God–so, Thy Will Be Done–it’s Your will, it is what is supposed to happen, right?

Oh, little one, no wonder you are so afraid, so susceptible to fear and the torment fear brings.

No, My will is, sadly, rarely done. That is why what you call The Lord’s Prayer begins with, first, an acknowledgement that I Am Holy, which is another way of saying I Am Goodness, I Am Kindness, I Am Pure Love. Next comes “Thy will be done” as a plea, not as a statement of fact. If My will were done, you would be living in Eden: no shame, no regret, total transparency between humans, and completely tame wildlife. You would be fed, fulfilled, healthy, loving, and loved. There would be peace on earth.

I asked you to pray for God’s will to be done in the context of My Holiness, My Hallowedness, not to focus your attention on all that is wrong in the world, but as a way to align yourself with all that is good and right and true.

Right now, your heart-cries and pleas for mercy are good and right and true, and I promise you, I Am acting on behalf of all My people, prompting everyone to take action, to take shelter, to keep themselves safe in the storm. You ask, where am I? I am in the midst of Irma, weakening it here, turning it there, giving as many people possible as much time as possible to flee and get to safety.