Flawless in His Eyes

Flawless in His eyes
That is what I am, that is who I am
To the Father...

Yes, when He looks at me
He sees flawless, nothing missing...

"Oh," you say,
"How can that be? No one is."

But the fact remains
For those who have believed and embraced His Son, Jesus...
He sees them as flawless...

He tells me this
When I am feeling condemned
For my lack of patience, my complaining spirit, for my lack of discipline...
"I see you as flawless!"

"But God," I argue,
"It seems like I am never victorious in these areas."

"But I see you as flawless, beauty itself..." He repeats.
"You see," He continues,
"When I look at you, I see Jesus.
 I transferred My righteousness to you when you believed and embraced My Son, Jesus
 That is who you are, my child, you are righteous.
 No, it's not your righteousness...
 It is My righteousness that I transferred to you
 Because you believed in My Son.
 My Son took all the punishment for your sin.
 He received the curses, the condemnation, the shame you deserved.
 It has all been judged by Me,
 And you, my child, are acquitted!!!"

"I cannot change My verdict." He whispered,
"Because My righteousness cannot be lifted from you.
 We are joined together, cemented...
 I cannot break covenant."

"But, But, But..." I respond

"It is all a mystery of My grace to you my precious child," He continues.
"I declare you flawless!"

But the Lord Says...

Oh how I love those words

"But the Lord says..."

Contrary to the anticipated expectation,
The blaring news report,
The dreaded lab results,
The seemingly obvious...

"But the Lord says..."

He says something different.
His message carries hope and restoration.
His message has the power of heaven behind it.
His word contains  the element of supernatural.

Yes, His words sound outrageous to our ears,
But to our spirit ears
Which are connected to His Spirit,
It brings Hope,
It lifts our eyes, our thoughts to Him,
Reminding us of His bigness, His goodness, His strength, His authority, His grace...

He promises that all who wait upon Him will not be put to shame!!!

Yes,
And the world will see, the world will hear
And they will know...
That the Lord is the Mighty One, the Lord our Savior and our Redeemer!

A Letter

Grieving mother,
Whose heart is heavy with concern for your son,
Your son, who has turned from wisdom,
Who has listened to the spirit of foolish, the spirit of pride and arrogance against your God,
Who has responded to the whispers of the spirit of the lying tongue, the deceiver...

Allow yourself to be comforted by the Prince of Peace,
The Holy Spirit, who loves to come alongside with a touch of heaven
And refresh and encourage your feeble heart,
And plant those seeds of Hope...

Yes, the Prince of Peace, the Holy Spirit,
Knows all,
He knows your son,
He feels your grief, anxiety and pain...

 Take courage in your God
He cares and loves your son dearly,
He has plans to turn this captivity of your son into something good...
Yes, this is the God who raises the dead,
This is the God who creates something out of nothing,
This is the God who gave His life
So your son, and you, precious mother,
Could have wholeness, peace, and joy...

There is Hope..
Our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we can imagine.

You, dear mother,
You are the Father's treasured daughter,
You are royalty!
Your Daddy holds out His scepter to you, His favored one...

Yes, the time of grieving will end very soon...
Because, your son, precious one,
Will return to wisdom, peace, and wholeness...

Love always wins.

And your prayers have been heard and answered with a
Mighty shout of Yes and Amen!

Keep On

Yes, we need to keep on celebrating,
Celebrating the hope,
The expectation of good, the promise of blessing,
The experience of God's grace in our lives, and in the lives of others.
Yes, this is possible
Even in the times of trouble,
When all seems hopeless...

How, you say, can I hope when all appears hopeless?

Does hope belong to the land of make believe?

No. our Hope has an anchor, a foundation.
Our Hope has the promise of the One who raises the dead.
Our Hope has the promise of the One who calls into being things that don't exist.
Our Hope has the promise of the goodness of God,
Restoring all things for His glory.
Our Hope has grace and love in the picture,
With an unlimited supply of the riches of heaven...

Is there anything I cannot hope for when I look into the face of my Beloved,
And see the magnitude of His heart to bless, prosper, and bring me to wholeness?

No, dear one...
This Hope in our God does not disappoint!!!

This Hope in our God is not a disappointing fantasy.
Because this Hope comes from an experience,
An experience of the endless cascading love of the Father
To me...His beloved.

Yes, let's keep celebrating the Hope
The anticipation of His goodness, His blessings, His promises!!!

A Letter to Daddy

 Daddy,
Could you have ever imagined
This site I saw on the farm you bought and poured out your life to make a living
For your wife and children for so many years?

I saw a celebration, Daddy,
On your farm today...
A wedding celebration of your granddaughter.
Your son walked her down the aisle of your yard that over-looked the creek
And gave her away to her beloved.

There were 200 some people on your farm celebrating this glorious event
And they all left rejoicing, blessed, and refreshed
With the beauty, the serenity of the farm, and the joy of the celebration.

Yes, Daddy,
I remember when I would lay on the grass with you at twilight and you would look up at the sky
Predict the weather and plan when you would do your mowing, raking, and baling...
I know you laid there and dreamed...
You so wanted your farm to stay in the family...and it has.
But today I witnessed something that I believe was beyond your wildest dreams...

I witnessed a celebration that was a touch of heaven,
And many were there to experience and be touched
With the goodness and extravagance of your God!

Yes Daddy,
You did not know in the mundane chores, moments of extreme fatigue,
And the routine of your faithfulness as you provided for us...
That you were building blocks of a foundation that would lead to this day that I witnessed today...
You endured in the tiredness, the crunch, the storms of trouble...
Faithfully, you continued on...
Believing in your good God,
Believing He was able to Help,
Believing you were called to be where you were,
Believing that you served a big God!

 As I walked around your property and observed the joy that was resounding from so many...
I was thinking about you, Daddy.
I was pondering the fact that you were also viewing this event through the portals of heaven,
Observing and rejoicing in your God,
Who exceeded your wildest imaginations with His goodness and faithfulness!

Precious friend, if you happen to come upon this letter to my Dad,
Be encouraged
That in the simpleness, the mundane of every day life...
When you endure with joy, knowing that all things have purpose...
You are building a foundation.
A foundation of a dream that will exceed your wildest imagination some day...
Because we have a good, good Father, who loves to give His children good, good gifts!

That is what He is doing for me!
When I saw this picture taken by my daughter,
I saw the little girl standing there
Observing the same familiar childhood horizon,
And I realized that God's goodness was so much better than I had dreamed as a child,
That God's love and His blessings, gifts and rewards
Have already exceeded my wildest dreams...

Yes, it is our God who does it...
He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we may ask or think!

He Marches Forward

Who is this who is marching forward?
 Marching forward in royal robes, stained red?
Who is this who is marching forward?
Marching forward in greatness of strength?

"It is I," says the Lord.
"It is I, the Lord, who is mighty to save...
 It is I, dear one...it is I."

"I have trodden the winepress alone,
 I have trampled all your enemies, all your foes are under My feet.
 My robe reveals the victory."

"Your enemies, dear one, have been destroyed.
 Observe My scars, My wounds,
 My blood that was shed for your victory..."

"You are safe now...
 Safe from the proud oppressor,
Safe from the one who attempts to steal, kill and destroy."

"You have called...
 And I have marched forward.
 I stand before you now with victory!
 Victory that is yours because you are Mine,
 Victory that has been won with suffering love!"

"Precious one, I love to come...
 I love to fight for you,
 I love when you ask,
 I love to give you all you need..."

"Because I am in love with you,
 Because when you suffer, I suffer..."

"Be assured that My love will always rescue you...always save you,
 For My love for you will never end!"

Isaiah 63

Is There an End?

Is there an end to the discovery of the greatness of our God?
Is there an end to the outpouring of His blessings?
Is there an end to the stories of His faithfulness, His provision, His goodness?

There is no end...
There is no stopping...
There is no measurement that can contain or word that can describe
The magnitude, the continual outpouring,
The untold, even forgotten answers to prayer,
And the outpouring of His love upon us...

Generation after generation
He continues to reveal more of His goodness, more of His glory.

Sometimes it is brilliantly displayed for many to observe,
Sometimes it is in the every day,
The protection, the favor, the grace, the divine appointment at the appointed time...

Other times it is all around
But only available to be seen when the scales fall off and the Light invades...
Occasionally it is hidden,
And needs to be dug up and rediscovered...

But the truth remains,
Day in and day out,
There is no end of the greatness of our God, no end to His faithfulness, His goodness!!

May my heart bubble over with observation,
Stirring me to proclaim His goodness...

Yes, this is the marvelous goodness and beauty that You desire to pour out upon us
With specific intent to reveal that abundant life You desire for us!!!