Saturday, January 2nd

Day 1: Your New Habit

 

 1 Corinthians 2: 10-11 “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God”

Here we are, beginning again. Lost, broken, distracted, and weary. Feeling overwhelmed, lonely, and confused about what’s next steps. There always seems to be a next step, another thing to do, obligation to fulfill, another task to complete. 

Let’s form a New Habit, or improve on our Habit, of Trusting God; resting in Him, surrendering and looking to Him.

It is risky...Being with God is Risky. You, “the you” that has been conformed to this world, has to die daily, this feels and is the riskiest of all.

But… He knows you. He knows your every thought, your every worry—every pause and breath and turn of your heart. If the one who knows you better than anyone says He is safe—what else can be trusted?

Let trusting God become our new habit—a new heart born again. We are only as strong as we are weak. So, let us be weak; let us admit our weakness to God. Surrender, and listen He has more to tell you…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, January 3rd

Day 2: Are You Coming 

 

(Habakkuk 3:19). “God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places”

God is bigger than our greatest fear, our greatest hope; so today let His presence and promises energize us; bringing us forward, and leading us to what He has Destined for us. God…has healing for our heart, our past.

He created us with strength, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that his son left within us to keep us connected to our Eternal Father, which makes us divine. So, some so that we may live in our divinity.

You inhabit His glory. You inhabit God, and He inhabits you. This place we can move and feel freedom, breathing in joy and letting His light shine bright through us.

He made us to be humble, not meek. He created us to walk with lifted head, proclaiming His name, showing this world that we are loved, even if they don’t love us or they know not how to love.

For the reality of being loved and known and made and wanted and perfected in faith is what allows us to go forward, grasping hold of His hand, and pulling other daughters…

So, Are you coming?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2: Run Hard Now

 

 1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So, run that you may obtain it”
 

It’s time to awake now. Awake, this day. Give thanks for what has been forgotten, for people around you, for this unfolding day, for all the unknowns, for the possibilities. What do you hope is possible? What do you want to ask God now?

There is no separation between You and God, because of the Holy Spirit that lives within us. Our freedom and new day comes from living in my love. Know you are loved and respond to my love and my love pours out to everyone you see today. When you let nothing separate us, when you hand over the sin that can’t separate us unless you let it, you are free. And all the desires of loving others well, being present and sacrificing and surrendering and thinking of others more than yourself comes naturally. Love is who you are when I am chosen and all separation with me is handed over.

Hand yourself over, my daughter.

Jesus had the choice, to be handed over or not. He took all sin, but I didn’t force him. It is impossible for him to not do my will when his life is one with me. You are capable of anything, and your life is full of possibility and joy and hope when you trust Me more than yourself, when you allow my strength to be your strength, when your weaknesses are no longer weaknesses but strengths, too.

I call you to awake and to go deeper still, in your trust of Me. I call you to live in the safe place of my love so you can go out and love others well. There are so many who don’t know this hope you have, and I ask you to awake and sing loud the life I give you. You are the blessing. You are the one I chose to love and bless and carry forth the hope within you so others may hope and respond to my love by being blessed by the love I give you.

Remember, nothing stands between us, love. Be firm in your pursuit of Me. To awake means to fight hard the battle I’ve given you to fight—and remember, you do it for the sake of the ones I know are lost. I have found you. You are found. So, now awake; get going. Run hard for the ones I show you to love.

I show you how to love. I show you what it means to live awake.

Saturday, January 9th

Fully You

 

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25).

My daughter. Those two words are not small. My . . . mine . . . what belongs to Me, what I call my own. Daughter, family, a closer tie than any flesh, any blood. I begin here, reminding you who you are.

When you hear Me, from the true place that responds to my voice and knows who you are, you begin to think about yourself less. You strive less. You have nothing to prove. I start here, my whisper, my daughter, to ask you to let go of insecurity, let go of stories that are false, let go of memories that can’t be changed. Begin your day thinking about who you are, as that is how you remember your connection to Me.

Nothing separates us, my dear, nothing except what you want to keep separate. We are united because I have made it so.

I see all you’ve done, and I cleanse you. You are white as snow. I recently whispered to you it was time to rise. I have come for you. You are chosen. You are my daughter. I have made you, beautiful one, to claim your place. I ask you to abandon waiting for more than what I offer you, abandon searching for more than what I give.

Trust Me. Look to Me.

Now listen.

I place within you longing. Pursue this longing. Don’t ignore this. But pay attention for what it is you long. Ask yourself if you long for more, from a conviction of knowing who you are. Notice if you long to be more whom I’ve created you to be, and not someone different. Notice if you long to go further, with Me, using the talents and passions I’ve placed within you—or if you are trying to prove yourself, if you wish you were more loved, more liked, more noticed, more cared for, more desired, more perfect.

There are gifts within you, child, gifts I long for you to see. I say it again, daughter, rise. Raise your head and remember who you are and know your place and how I’ve chosen you and how the beginning of freedom and self-forgetfulness and love for Me is knowing who you are.

Mine. My daughter. My beloved.

Most cherished. Most loved. Most fully you.

 

Is This Where You Want to Be?

 

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).

There is the uncovering now. I uncover you, lifting you up from the place where you are. Placing your feet on new soil. When you are placed in this new place, look for Me. I know you cry rescue. I know you cry peace. You crave slowing. You crave my hand upon your heart.

When you are replanted, notice the soil. Ask Me what it needs. I have designed you. And because I have designed you, you crave Me. Because I have designed you and planted you and watered you and adored you, your new place will have Me there. I will fill it up.

If you want Me to.

Would you ask me to? Would you ask Me to fill up the space where you are?

I have come for you, and I remind you how deep my love is, the height and depth of my love. I am the strength you crave, the energy you desire. I am healing. I am newness. Come, be planted and look around. Look at Me, where I am. And then . . . and then, I will show you what I see.

For where you are planted is where I want you to see. I want you to see with my eyes, my heart. I put you here to not stay a stump, a dry stalk stuck in cracked ground. I ask you if you want to be watered and fed and nourished with rich soil.

Do you?

I ask if you want to be fed with holy water, my life pouring in so it overflows. Drink of the stream, my daughter. Look where you are planted. See the richness I bring. You can’t see it unless you ask Me to give you my eyes, my heart. You won’t see the fertile ground.

Let Me show you.

See my hand?

May we go?

 

Strength

 

Keep Fighting

 

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:16-17).

My daughter, I am here. I have given you a heart that knows what is good, what it needs to live and thrive. You struggle against this true part of you, and that is where I come. I lay my hand on you and tell you I am enough . . . and I can take it from here. 

Don’t be afraid of the struggle of self, the part of you that wants to rise up and fight surrender. I will help you fight. For remember, I have already fought the battle and won. What I make is good and beautiful—and rebellion against Me can be conquered. 

Let the part of you that yearns for Me be what you heed—to make decisions, to make choices in how you spend your day, your time. Don’t be discouraged by mistakes you make, and the way you fall. 

Keep fighting, for I have already fought against darkness for the sake of your life. 

Keep fighting, for I have chosen you and you are worth dying for. 

Keep fighting, because I have come for you, and I do not leave you, even when the fighting feels too hard and you feel overwhelmed.

Keep fighting, for there is more light to come, more hope to come, more joy to come, for you.

I am sorry for the hardship of this battle, my love. The outcome, at the end, is good.  Because I fight. Because I fought. 

I stand with you, seeing the beauty of what I have prepared for you, beyond this battlefield.

Keep pushing on. Keep fighting.

Your Friend

 

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

I know it feels hard to hear Me sometimes. I know you wonder how you can become more adept at listening, keen to my voice within you. My whispers are always loud enough for you to hear, but quiet enough so that they can be ignored, too. 

Have you considered how this might be the best kind of relationship—a relationship where the friend doesn’t barge in, demanding to be noticed, shouting to be heard? That can be a lot of noise. And communication, then, is only clamor—not solicitude, not kindness, not fortification for your heart. 

I am the friend who asks to be invited in. I am the friend in the quiet, the quiet within you, the guest outside the door knocking, waiting. I am here, not far away. And I don’t tell you I am waiting to be invited in because I want you to feel guilty or sad or discouraged. I am not telling you I stand, outside, waiting, for the purpose of making you feel you need to work harder, listen better, be a kinder daughter to Me. 

I am your friend, and I love you. And I desire friends who love, who nurture, who pour kindness into one another. You can hear Me. You can be that friend, with Me..

I want you to know I am the friend who will not disappoint. I am the friend who will be strong when you need Me to be. I am the friend who will give you words of hope when you feel sad or disappointed. I am the friend who knows what you mean when you say “I am dying inside” or “I am so alone” and you are lost and afraid of the quiet.

I am the friend who can be heard, even amidst noise. Your heart can be tuned to Me, in any situation. But in the quiet, it can be easiest to hear Me. You can be busy and bustling around. But remember I am the friend who equips you to love others. And without you letting Me in, into your relationships, into your work, into your moments of doing and going and trying, you will feel hollow inside. You will feel alone.

I am the friend who knows everything about you and knows you can, indeed, hear Me. 

Listen.

Shall I come in?

 

You Stand Because I Stand

 

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

You are my dear one. Every act of love, every term of affection, every caress, every high-five, every smile is because of Me. I create everything good. I create love. I bring forth love.

You are not like trees pushed over, roots pulled up from the ground. They lie there, roots exposed, vulnerable, thirsty and desperate, drying up for lack of care, lack of nourishment, attention, love. 

I bring forth love in you, dear one. 

I bring forth goodness, and I raise you up to stand, to not cower and hide, but to stand. You can lean against Me when you stand. You can feel like crying and hiding and running and turning far, far away, while I stand. 

You stand because I stand with you. You are a warrior, a gentle, fierce, mighty, heroic, beautiful, glorious warrior in my name. I foster in you beauty and gentleness and humbleness, a full heart with Me. And this is all, only because . . . with you, I stand. 

I stand amidst storms and droughts. I stand through heartache and sickness and loss and death. I stand when you cannot. I stand because you cannot. I stand because I want to. 

I like being here with you.

I come, rescued one. I come, beautiful one. I come, delightful one. I come, fierce one. You stand because in you I’ve placed roots nourished by my love. Held steadfast by my love. 

My love is what is strong. My love is what holds you secure. Keep thinking on Me, eyes on Me. I can help you lean on Me. I can help you love Me. I am the creator of love. 

There is more than enough love to go around.

So, ask Me. 

Ask Me for more love in your heart.

Ask Me to help you lean into Me.

Ask Me to help you see what I see—what your roots look like, how I care for you, how I do more than just help you to stand.

Want to Wrestle?

 

“O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might” (Psalm 54:1).

Let’s keep this simple. There is a pace, a rhythm to how I work in you. I know you want to rush it, to feel fully free. I place that longing within you to search for Me, a longing that cannot be replaced but can be filled with other things, other commitments.

Oh, daughter, what does it look like to be committed to Me?

Let Me tell you.

There is waiting. A lot of waiting. At least that is what it feels like.

It feels like I am stalling, that I am busy doing other things and can’t attend to you or I am pushing you to wrestle with Me into discomfort.

Wrestling, by its nature, is uncomfortable.

But let Me tell you more about wrestling. It is full body contact. It is arms wrapped around. It is holding on tight and tumbling and maintaining a firm grasp on your opponent.

I am willing to wrestle with you. I am willing to stay here, in the arena, with you. I am willing to be with you, reassuring you I am here.

The waiting isn’t stagnation when you are wrestling with Me. I would rather you wrestle with Me, want to push back against Me, in frustration or anger or fear, than turn your back and not engage all together.

Daughter, I want to engage. I love for you to tell Me what you think, how you are mad or hurt or frustrated or scared. I want to hear you cry out, see you reach for Me, look around, seeking to find Me so you can grab hold of Me—right here—and head into the arena where we can have it out.

I want to have all of you. You are not too much. You are not too much for Me to handle. And I am strong enough to hold you while you cling to Me, not sure if you want to hang on or let go.

Keep hanging on, girl.

No matter what, I am holding you the whole time.

You Are The One I Choose to Love

 

“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4).

My daughter, I am your strength. No matter where you go and where you turn, my love for you does not change. I want to be with you.

I am not obligated to love you because I am your Father. It is not something I have to do. But I do.

I do not change. And so my love does not change.  I want to love you.  I am what I am, and I love what I do.

I choose to be with you, and I choose to love you. I choose to be your strength. I do what I do because I am who I am.  You can count on Me.

You can count on Me to love you no matter where you go or what you do. And the belief I give you in Me, your heart to choose Me or turn away from Me, will help you believe. I can deepen your belief in my love, and I can help your unbelief.

So do not despair. Do not worry that your thoughts about Me bring Me close and push Me away. My love is what draws Me to you. And my love draws you to Me.

Some things you cannot control. And isn’t that better?

So, what do you want to tell Me now? What do you want to ask Me? I love being with you. I love how we spend time together.

We’re Pretty Good Together

 

“For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.” (I Thessalonians 5:5).

My daughter, you need Me like the flowers need sun, like the earth quakes and needs to be quieted, like the sand cries out for a drop of rain. You need Me to write truth again, in the places where it has been forgotten. You need Me to awaken faith and stir the lukewarm so it heats or freezes so that my children who don’t know Me don’t confuse Me with another nice person on the street. 

I am not nice, with a smile on my face each day. But I am joy-filled. I am not mellow or calm all the time. But I am peace. I am secure in who I am. I am the rock, the lion who roars, the light that shines, the beginning and the only way darkness can end. 

I am the end. The end of suffering. The end of angst. The end of fear. The end of death. The end of pain. The end of striving. The end of destruction for the sake of getting ahead. The end of comparison. The end of trying to fit in. The end of loneliness. The end of despair. The end of sickness. The end of confusion. The end of self-centeredness. The end of self. 

You need Me in order to become yourself. You need Me because you are made for freedom. You need Me because you are holy, in my name, and I have designed you with a purpose, a purpose to help and to heal and to encourage and to love. You need Me to receive the joy that is yours, that you were born to receive, for which you were designed to love. You need Me because you are thirsty and hungry and craving more Life, more hope, more freedom, more joy. You are made to desire Me and do the things you have been made to do. 

I want to tell you what those things are and who you are. 

My daughter. 

My delight.

I Know It Hurts

 

“Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy” (Isaiah 61:7).

My daughter, I see you. You are always new to Me. You are always interesting to Me. I never tire of you. I never wonder what’s next. I like staying here. I like being with you.

Your life is not small. You are not small. You inhabit Me. You inhabit where I live, where my heart resides. This is your truest home. This is where you breathe. This is where you drink. This is where you are sustained.

When you are in the place where you are sustained, there is no next thing. When you know you are home, and you belong, there is no other home. When you know you are loved, and you know who you call family, and you know your name is Daughter, Beloved, Chosen One, you can rest, and you can live, and you can be free.

My daughter, maybe there isn’t the next thing. Maybe there isn’t a better place than where I am. You are the daughter I named, the daughter I designed, with purpose, with beauty planned. You are the daughter with promise. You are the daughter I love.

Cry out now. Say aloud the desires of your heart. Tell Me what makes you sad, how you are hurt, how you are angry and wish your life were different, how you wish you were different, how you fear you disappoint Me, how you wish you didn’t make that mistake. . .

I hear you. . . But you know what? These things are not what I see. These memories—of fear and pain—are moments shaping you, opportunities to see Me. Things happen I never planned. I planned you, but there are circumstances that happen to you I never planned. And I am sorry. And I suffer with you, when you, my daughter, are in pain.

Know you are seen. Know you are loved. Know you are where I want to be, no matter what.

 

Love

You Are Not in the Dark

 

“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light”
(Romans 13:12).

This is not the end, you know. Even though, this day, it may feel like it. This is the day I begin again. The day I begin again in you.

Your weariness is only temporary. Your sadness is fleeting, even though it feels like it will never end, never subside, never go away. You, my love, are sunshine. You are kisses of light upon flower petals when they stretch for light, for Me. I’m here. 

I am present, my daughter. I kiss your face with my hope. I grasp hold of sorrow with a single hand and I usher it away, bit by bit. I know you want it washed away with a quick brush, a dashing movement. I could do that. But I want you to look to Me, now, child. I want you to wait on Me and recognize Me when I come for you. I want you to practice recognizing beauty and hope. I want you to wait on moments where hope feels too far away to imagine it as real. And then I want you to throw out doubt, just throw it out to the depths of hell, where sin was cast with the last breath of my Son’s words, choosing Me, seeking Me, looking to Me. 

I cannot stop loving you. I cannot stop. I cannot stop chasing you, pursuing you, looking for you. Oh, girl, you are not my lost one. You are not hopeless or far from Me. I am here, and I come to hold you and lift your head to the light shining brightly on your face. Do you see it? Do you see how light comes to shine? Do you see how it came for you and how it rescued you and how light shines through all darkness so darkness, with Me close, is no more? 

Do you know how all shadows are chased away with a choice to see Me? You can do this. You can see Me. You can see Me moving you, one step at a time, from this place where you feel you need rescue and I show you how I have already come and I come again. I never stop coming for you, my daughter. You are not alone, and it is not too late, and you have not done anything to chase Me away. You cannot chase Me away.  

You are beloved and holy because I have made you so. You are lovely and clean because I have made you that way. You are brand new and adored and shame cannot find you. Find your name written on my hand; respond to my voice;  know the name called out to you, in the light—my voice calling out when darkness feels all around but I show you I am here. In the light.  Darkness isn’t around Me. And you are with Me. So darkness is not there, too.

Light all around my love. Light all around.

 

What Love Is

 

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

My lovely one. Do you know how I love to call you that? You ask Me about my Son and his sacrifice and my sacrifice. And I help you picture it. I help you imagine.

Yes, I hid my face that day. Yes, I let the sky tremble, the earth shake. All of heaven wanted to explode. A battle waged, a victory won, a sacrifice: what love is. One of the pictures of love.

Yes, love is sacrifice. Yes, love is putting self on the altar, giving yourself back to Me. 

Love is giving yourself to Me. The eyes of the created looking to the Creator, the beginning of death and the beginning of life. You are born through Me. 

I give you life. No one else. You can find life nowhere else. 

Are you willing to let yourself die to be born again, with Me? What needs to be sacrificed? Of what are you willing to let go? What do you hold tightly? What seems impossible—creates in you fear—to give to Me, to entrust to Me, to let me take it and give you peace?

My Son’s death and life and sacrifice and resurrection is enough. Just once. 

The birthing of love once more. 

Come and give Me all of you. Let love live in you. Hold nothing back. 

I am coming now. 

My eyes on you. 

Oh, lovely one, I know you want all I have to give.

 

Self-Love

The Way you Dance

 

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him” (Colossians 2:6).

Daughter, I love your gifts. I love what you are equipped to do. I love how you are made and the way you see. You are needed for the way you see. 

The way you love is unique to everyone else. You are needed to reach out, for I give you eyes to see things no one else will notice. Your heart beats fast, its own rhythm. And I love how it is made to beat in alignment with Me.

The way you move, with Me, is a pace that feels like dance. You move with beauty and with grace and with light that cannot be contained. It is made to be seen. You are made to be seen by Me, and I see you, and I delight in you, and I love how you do it.

My eyes are on you, and your eyes are made to be on what you love. And I can show you how to love Me more. What you are made to love, with Me, will be blessed by the fullness of my love. All this will be done through the unique way you see, with the unique way your eyes are on Me. 

You love what you are made to love when you keep your eyes on Me. For then you see what you are made to see, your dance steps in sync with Me. You turn and dip and bend and twirl, and we keep step together. There is music, now, when we dance, to bless the ones you see.

Let’s, together, invite them in. For I let you see possibility. I let you see hope. I let you see light. 

Who needs to be invited in? Whom have I made you to see? Who wants to join in—learning the steps to their unique dance, with Me?

 

You are Beautiful

 

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well”
(Psalm 139:14).

My daughter, you are the one I made. You are the one I crafted. You are the one I adorn with garlands, with beauty I see, with beauty that sweeps Me off my feet.

I love you.

I love you.

And there is not guilt and cost and expectation in it. I love you because I do. You can’t alter it. You can’t change Me. You are what I have made, and I love what I have made.

Look up now, not down. I mean this: 

I love you. 

Like this.

How you are. 

Right now.

There is nothing to chase down, my love. There is nothing to earn or improve or repair. I create. I heal what I have made. Let Me lean in, place my hand upon your heart.

I was there when you believed, for the first time, you weren’t beautiful. I was there, the second time, and the next time, too. I want you to know, I was there. 

I was there when my daughter, whom I crafted, whom I adore, whom I formed and designed and shape ever still, believed she was less than what she should be. Less perfect, less valued, less worthy than. . . Less than who? Less than what, my daughter?

You are beautiful because I made you. You are exquisite because I shaped you. You are worthy because I say so. I chose you. I chose to make you. 

You. 

And daughter, I don’t make mistakes.

My love, hold my hand. See how I extend it to you, and I love to be with you.

My beautiful one.

My daughter.

You Have Something to Say

 

“Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name” (Malachi 3:16).

Fair one, I come for you. I come for you again. I do not tire of being close to you. I do not tire of leaning in, listening to your words, your cries, your pleas, your songs. I strengthen you. I equip you. I restore you. I surround you with hope. I bring people around you to show you hope. You have brothers and sisters I want to show you, people whose names I know and whom I delight in bringing forth to you, whom I delight in you getting to know. 

So open your eyes now. Be open and trust Me. I protect your heart, when I am in the center of community, with you. Do not fear trusting your heart with another when I am in the center. I am the safe place so you can take risks with your heart. Do not fear. I am the safe place so you can be bold and vulnerable and fearless. 

You have a story all your own, with ups and downs and things you regret, things you’ve done you wish you could change. Ask Me into those places. Let Me show you a new way to view these old stories. There is a fresh story I want to give you, a fresh perspective on every past thing you’ve done that you regret. 

There is hope everywhere, child. There is hope in everything, in every moment, in every past, in every future. The hope for the future exists in Me—and I ask you to trust Me so I may show you how I look at your past. When I show you your past, I am asking you to trust Me in how I see you. And how I see you is not at all how you see yourself. 

I give you glimpses of beauty, glimpses of glory, glimpses of hope and light. But the light that shines all around you, the light that shines from within you, the Spirit I give you to lead you and be your friend and carry you through these hard days, is what makes you beyond beautiful, my daughter. You are beyond what you can imagine right now. 

There is light within you that cannot be contained, and that is the light that rewrites all past mistakes, rewrites all regrets, and gives you courage to go forward into the new story I give for you to share. Share with these people I bring, these people with whom you can trust you heart. Look for Me, ask Me where I am. Ask Me if I am with them. And if I am, go forward, daughter, and share that story of yours that will be a blessing to all who hear it. Because it is the story of hope, the story of light, the story of the two of us, so beautiful, together.

 

Fear

 Don’t Waste This Life With Fear

 

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” (Psalm 56: 3-4)

Daughter, there is a battle raging for your heart—a heart already captured, a war already won. But still, the battle continues, the fighting luring you away while I woo you. I only woo you to Me, your Father who knows you and watches you and adores you. I don’t force you to believe Me. I don’t protect you from all harms of this world; although it is true, still, with Me you are safe. 

I don’t always step in and save you from your thoughts, full of fear and doubt and wondering. But I know your thoughts, and I woo you to consider the truth and security of my ways. 

What is safety worth? What is security and a life removed of doubt and fear? Can you imagine yourself living this way?

You can’t will this, child. You can’t decide you want this safe life and have it granted to you. I ask you to keep your eyes on Me. I ask you to keep your ears tuned to my truth. I ask you to walk next to Me, measuring steps so when I ask you to go—do that unfamiliar and uncomfortable thing you’ve never done before—you don’t hesitate because you have become so used to walking with Me.

Walk with Me to learn to trust Me more. Let Me show you what I see when I look at you. Let Me calm you, as you keep your eyes on Me. Let Me be your familiar place, your source of energy and inspiration and passion and joy. 

Let Me reveal in you more of Me, more of the true, unharnessed beautiful, wild you who is unafraid of what comes next because I will be what’s next. 

I am what’s next, child.

Don’t worry about details regarding how to live your life safely. Simply choose to be trained by Me. I am your coach, your teacher, your rest, your energy, your drive, your passion, your fire, your water and food and air. 

I am it. 

Lay yourself down again. 

I am here. 

With you. 

You waste this life with fear.

You Are the Only One

 

“And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail” (Isaiah 58:11).

My darling, you don’t have to worry about how to distinguish yourself, with Me. You don’t have to worry about standing out, being noticed. You don’t have to try so hard. I see you. You can’t make Me love you more. 

It is true that things hold you back from receiving my love for you. You hold on so tightly, too tightly to fear. You think too much about figuring out what you don’t know. You stop seeing what is right in front of you, what I’ve given you to do, to live out, to experience during this moment. 

This day, this gift right here. Open up the gift, my daughter. The gift of this moment with Me. 

I love to guide you, to show you bits of what is ahead. I tell you what you need to know. I whisper who you are into your heart, and you rise up, delighted in and true—truly you—when you let go of trying to be like her . . . or like her, over there. Be fully you, whom I’ve created you to be. 

I put people around you to guide you, shepherd you towards Me. And I ask you to shepherd children to Me, too. I don’t leave you alone, for I have good plans for you. Plans for you unlike any other.

You are unlike anyone else, my daughter. See what’s around you. Know I see you. Live like you know who you are.

I Let You Choose

 

“‘And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,’ says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18).

My daughter, I see you. I know where you’ve been. I know where you’re going. I know you are grown, and that you are afraid and you still feel a little girl inside. Do you know I call you to be free? Do you know it breaks my heart to see you in such pain? Do you know there is nowhere you can run where I can’t find you? Do you know that if you run, I will run with you, next to you? Do you know I love to never leave your side? 

I know it hurts, my love. I know there are places you wish you could just wish away. I know you are weary, and you are tired of trying so hard to be loved. I know you feel you don’t deserve it, my love, even though I tell you again and again. 

I know how words just don’t matter much—that words are only received by a heart open and soft and ready. I make you ready, child. I soften you and move you and do not neglect you. My heart burns for you; and my Son, with his blood pouring out, sacrificed his life so you could be free. 

And you are free, my love. It is a lie that you are not free. 

You can choose to remain enslaved by sin. You can choose to remain tied up by lies that tell you you are small and worth nothing. You can choose to live tired and forgotten and striving. 

This is not my plan for you. This is not living, child. This is dying. This is death. Living enslaved by lies and caring more about what anyone else thinks—anyone at all—more than what I think, more than what I tell you, is sin. It is believing a lie that enslaves you and keeps you separate from Me.

Daughter, do you feel separate from Me? Do I feel close? I am. I am close. I am here. I am with you. I am for you. 

I am the Father who runs towards you, with open arms. I am the Father who holds his daughter and swings her around and lifts her high and gives her legs on which to stand. I am the Father who gives you a life where you rise. You stand tall. You stand tall when you know I love you and you are chosen and you don’t take your eyes off Me. 

Keep your eyes on Me, child. Just Me. I can silence the lies, if you’ll let Me. I can quiet your heart, if you want Me to. I can kiss your cheeks and show you how the sun shines on you. But I let you choose. 

I let you choose.

Stay with God

Can You Stay?

 

“And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’” (Exodus 33:14).

I will sit here with you, you know. You don’t have to feel guilty about doing anything. You don’t have to get up now. You don’t have to figure out how to make this day special, how to make it worth something. 

You don’t have to have a plan or an answer. You don’t have to feel confident or put together or beautiful. I know who you are. I know what you’re worth. 

I know where you’re going and where you’ve been and what it takes for you to breathe. Yes, breathe. I know your inner working, the intricacies of your makeup. And you don’t need to prove anything to Me. I’ve got you. And that is enough.

There are days when I’ve given you something to do, an invitation to go forward, to go deeper in. And you will know when I ask you whether or not you’d like to join Me there. But what about here? What about right now, here, with Me, child? My daughter, do you see this moment? Do you see how I hold it? Do you see how you take my breath away?

I am with you, and I ask you to stay. I am for you, and I ask you to listen. I am before you, and I ask you to see. I care for you. It is okay to rest. I made you. Nothing you do can make Me regret it. 

So stay with Me, and I will equip you for more. Stay with Me, and I will pour into you vision and wisdom and the steps, one by one, as you watch where my feet fall. You cannot go anywhere until you know where I am with you and how, with Me, it is always best for you to stay. For then we can go . . . and you won’t have to have a bit of it figured out, my daughter.

I Am With You On This Road

 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

My daughter, you are no mistake. I made you with intention, I made you with your face in my mind, your voice in my ears. I made you with a name and with grace and with gifts only yours—your gifts my very gift to you. 

You are not made with a pressure to perform, with an expectation to achieve. You are not made with a heaviness to bear around your neck, a weight to carry, a weariness of long days one after another. 

I know the way with Me can feel hard. I know this road feels long. I am with you on the road, my dear. I am with you on this road.

Take steps now, where you can no longer see. Reach your hand out now, for I long to grab yours and hold tight. Lift those shoulders now; let me take that burden you carry. 

Can you see me taking it? Can you see my hands upon your shoulders, the weight being lifted off? Can you feel shackles being cut? Can you feel the things you can’t, with your eyes, see? 

I am for you, my child. And I do not ask you to go places where I will not be. Only go where I am. Even though you can’t see the next steps, I do. And I go ahead, and I know when the path is clear. 

Just follow Me, my daughter. I know this road, this one marked out for you. You have choices about where to go, whether to turn right or to turn left. But ask Me where I am. And trust I give you recognition for the One who made you, for the One who designed your heart, for the One who knows His daughter and the details of the road, for her, ahead.

Your Friend

 

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

I know it feels hard to hear Me sometimes. I know you wonder how you can become more adept at listening, keen to my voice within you. My whispers are always loud enough for you to hear, but quiet enough so that they can be ignored, too. 

Have you considered how this might be the best kind of relationship—a relationship where the friend doesn’t barge in, demanding to be noticed, shouting to be heard? That can be a lot of noise. And communication, then, is only clamor—not solicitude, not kindness, not fortification for your heart. 

I am the friend who asks to be invited in. I am the friend in the quiet, the quiet within you, the guest outside the door knocking, waiting. I am here, not far away. And I don’t tell you I am waiting to be invited in because I want you to feel guilty or sad or discouraged. I am not telling you I stand, outside, waiting, for the purpose of making you feel you need to work harder, listen better, be a kinder daughter to Me. 

I am your friend, and I love you. And I desire friends who love, who nurture, who pour kindness into one another. You can hear Me. You can be that friend, with Me..

I want you to know I am the friend who will not disappoint. I am the friend who will be strong when you need Me to be. I am the friend who will give you words of hope when you feel sad or disappointed. I am the friend who knows what you mean when you say “I am dying inside” or “I am so alone” and you are lost and afraid of the quiet.

I am the friend who can be heard, even amidst noise. Your heart can be tuned to Me, in any situation. But in the quiet, it can be easiest to hear Me. You can be busy and bustling around. But remember I am the friend who equips you to love others. And without you letting Me in, into your relationships, into your work, into your moments of doing and going and trying, you will feel hollow inside. You will feel alone.

I am the friend who knows everything about you and knows you can, indeed, hear Me. 

Listen.

Shall I come in?

I’ve Written You a Love Song

 

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing”
(Zephaniah 3:17).

I love to sit here with you. We can sit, side by side—you by my side. It is lovely here. Close your eyes. Let me show you what I see. . . . I usher you into my company. I invite you to spend this day with me. .  Right now, this moment. Stay here, where I am. . . Deep breath now, dear one. Oh, how you make me smile. You know you don’t have to try so hard to be loved by me. . . I’m not going anywhere. Remember, I love to stay here, with you.

Maybe this will be enough for today? Maybe sitting here, with Me, will be enough? Sometimes the quiet place where we go can’t be explained in words. Sometimes it is the place you know, deep within you, the picture I give you of where you most like to go, what you most like to do. It is the whisper most familiar, the love song so deep inside you you can easily not recognize it as the voice of Me singing. But I do. I love to sing over you, my dear.

Shall we stay here together, a little longer? Shall we wait together, your shoulder folded into my chest? Shall we rest? May I give you rest? It is time to slow now. It is time to stay close to Me. There is so much to do, I know. But is there? Do you trust your list of what needs to get done more than Me? It will not all get done. There will never be that perfect day to spend with Me. But this moment, this moment right here. 

Come close, my daughter. I miss the slowing. I miss the gentle rhythm of moving, my step, then yours, my leaning, then yours. Let this be the season of slowing, of sitting with me. Come, with anticipation. Come, with expectation. Come, with excitement. Come, with time to spend with Me. Come, with desire. Come, with surrender. Come, with longing. Come, with a seeking heart. 

Come to Me, and I will sit down too. And we will sit together, side by side, and we will enjoy this day together. You will be so close you will hear the sound of my breathing. You will watch the movement of my lips when I speak. You will know the color of my eyes . And you will know the feel of my skin as I hold your hand in my own.

Can we sit together now, my dear?

 

 

Destiny