Oh Lord, I know You –
Maybe only a tiny bit,
for You are so great.
But knowing you,
such as I do,
Whether it be a vast portion of Truth,
Or only a glimpse by which to hope,
I am changed.
No longer am I
confused
inept
discouraged
sad.
I am Yours –
And you are Love:
The most beautiful,
desirable, sought-after
quality in life.
I can be content;
All I need is contained
in My spirit, my mind,
and thus in every area of my life.
Whether rich or poor –
Young or old, ignorant or wise,
esteemed or ridiculed –
none of these matter.
Only You do I seek to please.
Not because you demand it,
But because it’s the way things are
When they are in order:
The child honoring the father –
the father caring for the child.
A team, a partnership –
a fellowship –
a yoked pair.
Yoked gladly, joyfully, enthusiastically.
Moving purposefully
Along the Way,
enjoying the experiences,
the scenery,
Yet knowing that the best is yet to come.
The longer the companionship,
the deeper the feeling for one another is known,
acknowledged and expressed.
Somewhere in the place called ‘eternity’ in my mind,
Is the ecstasy indescribable
By human understanding.
To know it exists –
And to know I’m on my way there,
Is to transform me here and now.
I have a new vision of who I am.
This person, yoked with the God the Creator,
Sustainer of the universe –
Yet the gentle shepherd,
the unassuming helper.
Because I’m yoked with You,
Your fellowship changes me.
You give me new visions,
new competency,
new knowledge,
new wisdom,
new strength,
new desires,
new goals.
When I’m so fascinated by You,
caught up in admiration,
That I forget myself,
Then I am a new creature in Christ.
Through Christ’s loving sacrifice
made real in me by my appreciation,
Christ is expressed in me, through me, by me.
I don’t understand how, or why…
I do know it’s right.
It’s being content – in all circumstances.
It’s like a veil lifting,
or seeing face to face,
instead of in a mirror darkly.
Release Your Burdens & Rejoice
O, Little One, My beloved child, My precious lamb – I would, I did, lay down my life that you may live. You are my beloved, my pride and joy.
Meditation Thought: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
“Yield yourself to Me – including your emotions and your desires. When you absorb My word, do My works of kindness and love, rejoice in the Spirit and seek Me as your constant companion, you can trust that I will provide the emotions which are pleasing to you and the fulfillment of your deepest longings and desires.
‘My yoke is easy and My burden is light’ (Matthew 11:30) is to be your theme song. When you yield the stress of decisions to Me, through prayer, praise, trust and doing what seems appropriate without fretting, you then put into operation My grace and My strength. I cannot take your burdens unless you let go of them as I reach for them.
I will not violate your free will. No, even I, who created you, who created the marvels of the universe, will not force you to do My bidding. Does this reveal to you the extent of your value to Me? Do you have any ides of the joy it brings Me to have you freely listen to Me and believe Me when I say I love you and seek good for you in all circumstances? (Romans 8:28)
O, Little One, My beloved child, My precious lamb – I would, I did, lay down my life that you may live – truly live – not just exist. This is who you are – a new creature in Christ: My beloved, but more than My beloved, my pride and joy.”
Sing in New Life
Only by giving up the life of the present can we move on to a new life.
Meditation thought: “Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth. See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare.” (Isaiah 42:10,9)
If we will allow Him, the Lord will constantly bring us into more knowledge of Himself. This is how the Father enables his child to mature, developing into a person able to do many things the Father does, thus fulfilling the Father’s dream for the child as well as fulfilling the child’s desires.
Only by giving up the life of the present can we move on to a new life. When God is our guide into the new ventures, we can move on in anticipation and hope – not fearing the future, but glad for what our loving Father has prepared for us.
We shall have trials, for all have not yet seen the glory of God and the joy of being His. But we can, if we will, be content in knowing what the sages of the ages have sought to know: the Truth, the Reality, the best way to live one’s life, for both the joy of the present and the joy in the future.
Actions of those living in sync with the Spirit make no sense to others. It’s the difference between living a new life compared to living a life stuck and mired in the past, ignoring or rejecting God’s revelation of “new things” through the life of Jesus.
To move on the “new things” is to experience the power, the grandeur, the joy and the anticipation of a life based on loving God with all our soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Crushing Evil: The Role of Peace and Wisdom in Our Lives
Evil can mask itself as good to an unsuspecting mind, and especially to unguarded emotions.
Meditation Thought: ” I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:19-20)
Only by the power of the indwelling Spirit can we know what is good – and what is evil. Evil can mask itself as good to an unsuspecting mind, and especially to unguarded emotions.
To be filled with the Spirit is to allow eternal wisdom to flow into the mind, peace and joy flow into the heart (the emotions), and energy to do good works course throughout the body. Given these conditions, evil is simply not known – it is ‘crushed under the feet’, never being allowed to affect the Spirit-protected body. It is the way Christ lived, and the way the Father would have all of His children live.
When the children realize it is the way we want to live as well, then the Spirit is able to rush into our being – cleansing, renewing, transforming, reforming – doing a complete remodeling job according to the specifications set down at the beginning of creation.
Visions of Delight
Meditation Thought: “Trust in the Lord and do good; so you will dwell in the land and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:3,4)
Lord, sometimes I’m tired, confused
and ready to give up.
Then, as sunshine after a dark night,
Or rest after weariness,
The whole scene changes.
I glimpse You,
And what You would do –
In me, through me, for me.
Excitement mounts,
Energy flows,
I glow within
And sing with joy.
You are my delight.
I have the desires of my heart.
Not the desires I had,
But the desires You give
Once I come to know you.
I am a new creature in Christ.
Being so, I am your delight.
To know this
Brings gladness beyond measure.
I have pleasure – without guilt.
I have creativity – without strain.
I have love – without fear.
I am in harmony with you,
And peace and joy
Reign in my heart.
Hallelujah!
Fruits of the Spirit: Cultivating Peace and Joy
Sighing shall flee away
Meditation Thought: “…a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way… the redeemed shall walk there… they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35: 8,9,10)
The Holy Way is the Father’s will. It is the way of the Son’s obedience and it is they way of the Spirit’s power. It is the natural way – the way which is best for God’s beloved children.
So long as we do not, out of rebellion brought on by stubborn self-will, refuse the walk the Holy Way, we travel with peace, joy, love and all the other fruits of the Spirit which we can gather along the way. This is true regardless of circumstances. Only as we believe this, and integrate it into every area of our lives, does the kingdom within become recognized. And as we realize that we are in the kingdom, through our knowledge that it is an internal place, we are able to bring changes in the external world which liken it to the kingdom.
We all seek approval – but we need to seek the approval of the Father more than the approval of our human companions if we are to be producers of the fruits of the kingdom. The world needs farmers to feed fruits of the spirit to a starving world!
Seeds of Opportunity May be Found in the Weeds
Which means we may have to get dirty.
Meditation Thought: “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.” (Acts 7:9-10)
“God rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharoah.” God raised Joseph from despair, from a low place, and put him in a place where he could be happy, fulfilled and honored while at the same time helping others. This was a process; it took time.
This is often the pattern. We may not choose to go where we must, to do what we must. Yet in those very circumstances are the seeds of the opportunity God perceived for us. If we are faithful, trustful and work to do our best no matter what the circumstances, then God’s provision for His faithful results in a joyful conclusion.
Embracing Challenges: Faith as Your Strength
Do not fret over what is past.
Meditation Thought: “I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:9-10)
“When you are too weak to stand and to walk alone, I stretch out my arm to support you. Lean on Me! Do not fret over what is past. Challenges will strengthen you and bring you into closer companionship with Me if you seek me in them and rely on my supporting strength.
Our working closely together will enable you to understand Me more clearly and emulate Me more perfectly. You very need of Me focuses your mind and spirit more fully – always this works good! Therefore, rejoice in your need.”
GPS to God’s Kingdom
There is no coercion, for love must be given freely to qualify as love.
Meditation Thought: “nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21)
The kingdom of God exists wherever it is recognized as existing. When we, who have the capacity to do so, respond to God’s Presence within us, we are transformed by the knowledge of the magnificence of the Whole of which we are a part.
When we recognize that we are a part of a Whole and that the Whole is good – good for us and for others – and that goodness is that Whole’s innate Character and Nature, we perceive ourselves in an entirely new way. We perceive that the kingdom which Jesus referred to is actually within us! – to be discovered there and to be explored there.
We are so accustomed to having outside forces be the influence of our perception and decisions that it is difficult for us to realize that the Force within our own being is available and more powerful than any other.
We look inward in the wrong place: we look to the way we feel, and to the selfish desires of our own heart. We need to look inward to the right place: to the Father, the One who can guide us surely through the maze of life, that the Whole is healthy, as the parts are healthy.
We can find the Father and His kingdom within. Jesus is the key. God constantly urges us, and gives clues to us as to His whereabouts – but He desires for us to seek Him that both He and we are aware that the choice is ours. There is no coercion, for love must be given freely to qualify as love.
Lost & Found: Joy, Peace, Fulfillment
…we gain joy, peace and fulfillment.
Meditation Thought: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 16:25)
In any system, when the lower is subject willingly and enthusiastically, cooperatively, and harmoniously to the higher, the whole functions more perfectly. So it is when we yield our lives to Christ – in one sense we lose them because we no longer have control – even partial control, which was really all we had to begin with.
But when we lose that control, we gain everything else that is good for us, everything that will bring joy and peace and fulfillment. These are the very things for which we searched by our own control. We could not find them, for that was not the nature for which we were created.
Only when we realize that we are a part of the whole can we make decisions which are in harmony with the whole, and thus accomplish our goals of finding peace, joy and fulfillment. If we fight the whole, we cannot win! We are weaker, less informed, and incomplete.
Once we recognize that Jesus is our head, – and what a head that is! – we are content, grateful, even, to delegate the functions of the head to Him, and to function as the body ourselves. We become a great body when we have a great Head to instruct us properly!
This understanding can only be achieved by faith – believing in the possibility of the truth that we are not merely what we observe, think and feel, but that we are part of a fantastic whole – and can become far more important, effective, and content as a part of such a glorious whole that we can be alone.
Meditations of Marie's Heart 