As for that which is beyond your strength, be absolutely certain that our Lord loves you, devotedly and individually, loves you just as you are…. Accustom yourself to the wonderful thought that God loves you with a tenderness, a generosity, and an intimacy that surpasses all your dreams. Give yourself up with joy to a loving confidence in God and have courage to believe firmly that God’s action toward you is a masterpiece of partiality and love. Rest tranquilly in this abiding conviction.
Abbe Henri de Tourville (1842-1903)
You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices— a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon… Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow…. (and she says to Him) Let my beloved come to His garden, and eat its choicest fruits.
~ from The Song of Songs 4
My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
~ from Proverbs 4
Oh beloved, it is true. He brings together beautiful truth in our lives and then shows it to us in the most amazing ways. As we meditate on who He is – and how amazingly good He is to us, and to anyone who would but look to Him and ask. As we come to a stop in our spirit and simply look at Him, we are both blown away and drawn ever closer to the center of a heart that is bigger than the universe we inhabit.
He Loves us. Oh how He Loves us. This Father we have sassed and disrespected and disregarded and hid from and even hated, Loves us. And He Loves us with a passion so bright the sun seems but a shadow. Why?
And He says, “you needed Me child. And I find you lovely, for I have made you as the people upon my Love should rest well-pleased.”
Oh Daddy, i was so scared – and i was so alone!
“I know child. I AM here now. I AM never leaving. Not ever.”
There are so many scary things out there!
“No more. Fear cannot exist in my presence. And there is no need to wander off to those places by yourself any more.”
i am so yucky sometimes Daddy.
“Oh beloved, you are accepted. I have made you beautiful. And neither is this an illusion. The cleansing I have done in you has completely replaced the horrid flesh that used to control you. You are perfectly re-done by Me.”
Are you saying….?
“Yes.”
Really?
“Yes beloved. You are absolutely the focal point of my Love. I Love each of you fully, but this is not an egalitarian love – for infinite Love is just that. All of Who I Am is completely focused on you. I Am completely, utterly, totally, absolutely in Love with you. And this Love is all the more pure because it does not spring from need. Rather it springs from both from Who I Am, and the Power which holds My very Self together in Trinity.”
why…?
“I Am who I Am. There is no need of any other answer. For I do not answer to any authority. There is no place to appeal. My Love is simply the highest Law in the universe. It is that which both has protected you up to this point, and now will set you free in Me forever.”
It’s true, isn’t it Daddy?
“Yes, beloved. This is what you have been looking for. You are home. Welcome home child. It is so very good to see you, and have you with me. All of eternity has pointed to this moment. It is one of My favorite moments ever.”
Oh my!
“Yes child, and it only gets better from here!”
Where are we going?
“I will show you. I AM The Way.”
