"Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them - living and breathing God. Attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life." Romans 8:6-7 ~ The Message


- Last Friday was Good Friday. I long to appreciate all You suffered for me oh Lord. Come Holy Spirit! Live and breathe God in me until every fiber of my being cries out, "Come Lord Jesus!"  


+ My love....lay all your feelings down and just come. Think of the insistency with which Cooper (your beloved grandson) takes your hand and says, "Come!" with all the confidence and authority of a two and a half year old. He has no doubt that you will come with him joyfully because you love him. I reach out for you eternally and say, "Come" and expectantly wait for you to grab My Hand and come with Me wherever I choose because you know and have utmost confidence in My Love (and because I called you by name before you were knit together in your mother's womb.) I know you long to be with Me and that you listen for the sound of My Voice. So Come! Come with Me and let me bring you into My expansive and joy-filled heart. Life with Me...connected at every point with Me ...is life to the Full. The world cultivates a sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction. I only offer fullness and deep, quiet satisfaction. This is the wide-open, spacious, heavenly place I purchased once and for all on that dark day on Calvary. I did it to bring the possibility...the certainty of LIFE back to My Father's fallen children. Death had closed the door to Him. I opened it...never to be shut...with My sacrifice. I opened the way to all that is Good - I opened the way to My Father - Whose Goodness and Loveliness are far beyond anything you could imagine or dream. He is the One Who sustained Me every second of My life. He is the One who blasted Me out of the tomb and in so doing...gave life once more to all of creation. My gift to you....the majestic, brilliant, all-loving, enthusiastic Lover of your soul and your life - the beautiful Holy Spirit - is the facilitator of all that was won for you. He fills you with power and joy, confidence and faith so you can come into the throne room with the certainty of a two and a half year-old who doesn't know how to doubt! He shows you the door to the dazzling, wide spaciousness, where you are able to feel the Father's extravagant Love and still live! I came for ONE PURPOSE: to do what My adoring Father asked Me to do. And what He asked of Me was to give My all for you because of His unrelenting Love for you. So....when you think of Good Friday...think of your name (and all the curses and sins and failures connected to your name) carved on My Hand...nailed to the tree once and for all. I was cursed that you could be blessed. So come, My love....be Blessed! Let your heart and your mind and spirit meditate on this eternal transaction. It was for freedom that I came. So, come little one...be free! Rejoice and delight yourself in the magnificent God of the universe, Your own beloved Father. Come! this is why you were born.

"The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you...the Lord turn His face towards you...."Numbers 6:25-26 

+ Remember how you used to say your Mom got that "Mother look" on her face when she was proudly watching you do something? It embarrassed you because it was so blatantly PROUD and shining with Joy! She was doing something that reflected what your Father does all the time. When His Face is shining on you...when His face is turned toward you....this is the same look that shines on your from the throne room. It is LOVE...His perfect, unconditional, unchanging Love that exults in who you are for the simple reason that you are His own beloved creation....His rescued child...His wonder and delight! No kind of affirmation on earth can compare with this! Just as being appreciated is healing and life-giving (a pale reflection of what He gives), having His face shine on you lifts you up and empowers you to become all that He created you to be. You were made to dwell under His smile....to bask in His inordinate affection...to seek His attention just the way toddlers look for every small triumph to be noticed and cheered. They understand what this kind of love looks like and they are wired to expect and seek it. Again and again they say, "Look! Look what I can do!" Do you understand that it is in this same kind of confidence and uninhibited joy that I want you to live your life? ?This is abundance...freedom...life to the full. This is what was gained for you forever at Calvary. I want you to understand that living under any kind of constraints and unworthiness cancels out the work of the cross in your life. You would never consciously choose to continue living under the curse would you? Don't let the enemy's wiles convince you that you have no other choice....that this is your lot in life. HA! Not true! I have assigned you your portion and cup. I have made your lot in life secure. So, what are the  boundary lines that have fallen for you in pleasant places? (Ps 16: 5-6) ...they are simply you, dwelling under your Father's smile! When you have that deep sense of His "Father Look" dazzling down on you, stop and enjoy it. Thank Him and revel in the beauty of His healing, empowering Love. Rejoice with all your heart. That's your smile back to Him!