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”

Pools of Refreshing

John 5:2, 4 (TPT) Inside the city near the Sheep Gate there is a pool called in Aramaic, The House of Loving Kindness… an angel of God would periodically descend into the pool to stir the waters, and the first one who stepped into the pool after the waters swirled would instantly be healed.

Beloved, step into the pools of refreshing and find healing and rest for your soul. It is vital to stay soft and supple, for if you become dry and brittle it is far easier for you to be damaged or break. Make the time to pause. Rest and refreshing is not “doing nothing,” it is allowing you the time and space you need to stay healthy, alive, and vital. 

Resist the urge to strive or “power through.” You are important enough to pause for, precious enough to tend to, and loved enough to be taken care of. So love yourself, even if at first you only do it because I love you. You are worth it. 

Matthew 9:17 (TPT) And who would pour fresh, new wine into an old wineskin? Eventually the wine will ferment and make the wineskin burst, losing everything—the wine is spilled and the wineskin ruined. Instead, new wine is always poured into a new wineskin so that both are preserved.”

No More, No Less – Simply Be

Matthew 5:13 (TPT) Your lives are like salt among the people. But if you, like salt, become bland, how can your ‘saltiness’ be restored? Flavorless salt is good for nothing and will be thrown out and trampled on by others.

Beloved, be all you have been created and called to be – no more, no less. Just as flavorless salt can no longer season, and an excess of salt simply ruins the flavor it was called to enhance, so you miss the fullness of your call by trying to be less or do more than what I’ve given you to do. So walk out the plans I have for you. No more. No less.

Remember that striving doesn’t earn you extra credit (though the enemy of your soul likes to try to convince you it does, thereby leaving you overextended and exhausted). Choose to simply be obedient. Again, no more. No less. Trust I know exactly what is right for you. Trust that you don’t need to earn My love by doing more. Simply be. 

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.”

Share Your Light with All

Matthew 5:47 (VOICE) And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that!

Beloved, as you encounter people throughout your day that you don’t know, resist the urge to be “too busy” to engage. At the store, buying coffee, as you interact online – everywhere you go, you encounter people unknown to you but loved by Me.

You are called to be My light, My vessel – one who reflects My countenance, and that shouldn’t be something you turn on and off. I’m not saying never rest – for I strongly support moments of pause, but I mean don’t be so busy and distracted that you miss people I have placed in your path. Be aware, listen to My Spirit’s prompting, and shine unhindered – sharing your light with all.

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.”

Choose Wisely What Your Character Reflects

Matthew 5:44-45 (VOICE) …Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven…

Beloved, when someone wrongs you, you do not have to return it in kind. Instead of stooping to their negative behavior, respond with a heart that reflects Me. One filled with compassion and mercy. For any ill they’ve done or said against you is a greater reflection of them and their character than it is of yours.

Choose wisely what you want your character to reflect. If you want to reflect Me, respond to those who wrong you with forgiveness (even if they haven’t asked) and love (even if they don’t want it). For in reflecting godly behavior, you bless and honor Me, so let that be enough encouragement and resist the urge to rely on any human response.

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.”

My Everything {Moments with God}

{Reminding myself} When I am weary, You renew my strength. And when I am tired, You give me rest. And when I am sad, You give me joy. And when I am lonely, You give me peace. In every moment and every season, You have what I need. So I will look to You at all times and hold fast to Your hand, for whatever need I’ll ever have – I know You have a plan. I’ll rest in You – in the shadow of Your wings, for You, my God, are my everything.

Matthew 11:28 (NLT) Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Psalm 57:1 (NLT) Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by.