Blossom and Flourish

Matthew 5:43-48 (TPT) …Since you are children of a perfect Father in heaven, you are to be perfect like him.”

Beloved, love like Me. Refuse to allow bitterness, resentment, or pride to take root in your heart. Instead, be perfect – be whole in My love that you might be a vessel not just for receiving, but also for sharing that love.

Refuse to take the bait to love conditionally. Resist the urge to only love those who make it easy. If you aren’t certain how best to love those around you – simply ask Me. Reflecting My heart is the most powerful way to shift the atmosphere. So love and love well, and watch how that life-changing love causes all those it touches to blossom and flourish… including you. Continue reading “Blossom and Flourish”

Dare to Believe Me

Luke 12:6 (TPT) “What is the value of your soul to God? Could your worth be defined by any amount of money? God doesn’t abandon or forget even the small sparrow he has made. How then could he forget or abandon you? What about the seemingly minor issues of your life? Do they matter to God? Of course they do! So you never need to worry, for you are more valuable to God than anything else in this world.

Beloved, you cannot begin to fathom how much you mean to Me and how precious you are in My sight. Think of the person that you love the most, and then imagine that they refused to believe that you loved them. Imagine that they not only doubted your heart for them, but they doubted they were even worthy of receiving the love you were offering. Imagine how hard it would be watching them make choices that underscored the lack of value they placed on themselves – like someone insisting a hundred dollar bill only deserved to be exchanged for a single penny candy.

That, beloved, is what I go through each day, and I go through it multiplied on a grand scale. Few of My children begin to comprehend My capacity for love and their inherent worthiness to receive it. So choose to be different. Dare to believe Me. Take Me at My word and trust My love for you. Reflect My love to others that they might know it too. Choose something greater – choose faith, choose trust, choose love.

A Person of Mercy and Compassion

Proverbs 3:4 (VOICE) In this way, you will win the favor of God and others, and they will think well of you.

Beloved, when you become known as a person of mercy and compassion, people are drawn to you. A person like that feels safe and trustworthy. A person like that reflects My love. Choose to be that kind of person.

As you seek to reflect Me, resist the urge to do so simply for the favor and blessing that accompany that kind of life. Rather do it because it’s the right thing to do. It’s right for mercy to triumph over judgment. It’s right for love to triumph over hate. So cloak yourself in character that mirrors Mine, and do so from a heart of love.

Proverbs 3:1-4 (VOICE) My son, always remember what I have taught you; keep my instructions dear to your heart. If you do, they will be your guide to a long, healthy, prosperous life. Stay focused; do not lose sight of mercy and truth; engrave them on a pendant, and hang it around your neck; meditate on them so they are written upon your heart. In this way, you will win the favor of God and others, and they will think well of you.

Reflect My Love

Proverbs 3:3 (VOICE) Stay focused; do not lose sight of mercy and truth; engrave them on a pendant, and hang it around your neck; meditate on them so they are written upon your heart.

Beloved, the more you know, the easier it seems to be to slip into judgment. It is far too easy to think you know what is right and to assume you know best how another should act or what choices they should make.

I encourage you to be rich in mercy – to love one another, and be rich in compassion. Make that your focus rather than some self-congratulatory sense of “rightness” that feeds your pride. Cultivate mercy and be rich in understanding that you might reflect My love and live the true meaning of My Word.

Proverbs 3:1-4 (VOICE) My son, always remember what I have taught you; keep my instructions dear to your heart. If you do, they will be your guide to a long, healthy, prosperous life. Stay focused; do not lose sight of mercy and truth; engrave them on a pendant, and hang it around your neck; meditate on them so they are written upon your heart. In this way, you will win the favor of God and others, and they will think well of you.

Love Yourself

Mark 12:31 (TPT) And the second is this: ‘You must love your neighbor  in the same way you love yourself.’ You will never find a greater commandment than these.”

Beloved, in order to effectively love others, you must first love yourself. For if your heart is filled with judgment and criticism for yourself that cannot help but spill out onto others. Therefore, you must instead choose a different way.

Reflect My heart not simply towards others, but also towards yourself. For if I saturate you in My unconditional love, who are you to determine yourself unloveable? So decide in your heart to love yourself – and do so well, and then from that place of joyous stability, may you overflow love towards others too.

Your Heart is Safe with Me {Moments with God}

Psalm 125:2 (AMP) As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.

{Speaking to God} You are my shield, so I rest safely in Your presence. For I know that You are steadfast, so I know I can be fully at ease and rest in You. You remain the same – yesterday, today, and forever. You are my rock. You are perfect. You are true.

{He whispers back} You’re worth protecting. You are precious to Me. My eye is ever on you – not one thing goes unseen. Whenever you reach for Me, I’m always by your side. I will ever love you and My love will never die. So rest assured and dwell in peace, for your heart is safe with Me.

Psalm 125:1-5 (AMP) Those who trust in and rely on the Lord [with confident expectation] Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not reach out their hands to do wrong. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good And to those who are upright in their hearts. But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways [in unresponsiveness to God], The Lord will lead them away with those who do evil. Peace be upon Israel.

Saturated in Me

Matthew 5:48 (VOICE) But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Beloved, I have called you to be perfect – complete and wanting nothing. This can only be achieved by being saturated in Me. For you cannot pour out the love of God without being filled with the love of God. So abide with Me and be filled that you might share from your overflow.

When you are overflowing with the joy of My Spirit, it is contagious and blesses all those you encounter. So drink deeply from the waters of My presence and be abundantly satisfied that you might share with many more.

Matthew 5:44-48 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Sacrificial Love

Matthew 5:46 (VOICE) It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him.

Beloved, it is good to love well those you already love. For all of us have moments where we are unloveable. So be reminded to persist in love regardless of how prickly someone you care about is being. Remember there are moments you yourself will need that same grace extended to you.

However, if the extent of your sacrificial love is only to those you already care about, you are falling short of the mark. Where the real challenge begins is in loving those who you don’t like and don’t agree with, even ones who have been hostile to you. There is the true challenge. People are prone to segregating into safe little groupings where everyone has shared belief sets. This feels safe.

However, true unity is accomplished when you are intentional to move beyond your safe place and allow yourself to be challenged. Choose to love those you may not like, and choose to seek peace with those you don’t agree with. That kind of love – that kind of harmony, reflects My heart and honors Me.

Matthew 5:44-48 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Love Unconditionally with Abandon

Matthew 5:45 (VOICE) in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner.

Beloved, I do not pick and choose which of you are worth loving. I deem you all worthy of love. I don’t withhold sunshine from one while I pour it out on another. I’m not fickle or changing. I AM steadfast and true.

If you desire to be like Me, you too must be steadfast. You too must love liberally – refusing to withhold it on a whim or as a punishment. To be like Me, requires true sacrificial love.  It requires knowing that even as you choose to die to your fleshly responses, often no one will see or know but Me – and yet that is sufficient. So love unconditionally with abandon, and do so with no desire for recognition knowing My approval is all you need.

Matthew 5:44-48 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Hard Choices

Matthew 5:44 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies…

Beloved, if you choose to walk with Me, the path isn’t always easy. However, it is beautiful – sometimes poignantly so. Making the hard choices and dying to your flesh are key parts of the journey. How can you love someone who is your enemy? Seek to understand them. Seek to understand what motivates them. Strive to remember who they are to Me – My creation.

You can love someone without agreeing with them. You can be “for” someone without agreeing with all their choices. Loving your enemies, beloved, is about wanting My best for them – even if you don’t think they deserve it, because you realize what they should or should not have isn’t your judgment call to make. So you choose to trust Me and yield to My perfect wisdom.

Matthew 5:44-48 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”