Come Home

Come out of hiding
You're safe here with Me
There's no need to cover
What I already see

You've got your reasons
But I hold your peace
You've been on lockdown
And I hold the key

'Cause I loved you before you knew it was love
And I saw it all, still I chose the cross
And you were the one that I was thinking of
When I rose from the grave

Now rid off the shackles, My victory's yours
I tore the veil for you to come close
There's no reason to stand at a distance anymore
You're not far from home

I'll be your lighthouse
When you're lost at sea
And I will illuminate
Everything

No need to be frightened
By intimacy
No, just throw off your fear
And come running to Me

'Cause I loved you before you knew it was love
And I saw it all, still I chose the cross
And you were the one that I was thinking of
When I rose from the grave
Now rid of the shackles, My victory's yours
I tore the veil for you to come close
There's no reason to stand at a distance anymore
You're not far from home
Keep on coming

And oh as you run
What hindered love
Will only become
Part of the story

Baby, you're almost home now
Please don't quit now
You're almost home to Me

Dear Prodigal,

You have not gone so far that the Lord cannot save you. I know the struggle inside your heart; the pain and emptiness that you feel. I know the hurts that rip you apart. God has not left you. He is calling for you to come home. He longs to hear your voice once more. He longs to hold you in his arms. It's not to late to turn around. It's not to late to come home. You may feel worthless and you may feel like no one will ever accept you back. Trust me, Jesus is calling you home. He will make you worthy and he will accept you. If you could only see the love that he has for you. If you could see the tears that he cries for you.
The inner turmoil that you feel will never go away until you come back to God. The days when you feel so lost and broken are the days that God is yelling your name. He is saying, "Come home. I love you. I miss you. Please don't go down that road. All it leaves you with is brokenness and pain. I want to hold you again."
I don't know everything that you are going through, but I know a God that does. He is looking down on you and waiting for you to come back. The prayers have prayed from the ones that love you dearly. Travail has sounded in the night for you. Tonight could be the last night you have to struggle. those things that hold you so bound up need to go. You need to find that alter and make things right. God is longing for that moment with you. He is longing for the times you used to talk. He wants to help you, but it is your choice. You have to choose to come home. Just like the prodigal son chose. He had to realize that this world had nothing for him. He had to realize that life back at the father's house was better than living with pigs. He has to desire to come home and once he did, he had to take the steps back to the father's house.
Do you hear him calling? Do you feel him drawing? He's waiting for you.

2 Chronicles 15:3-4
Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
But when they, in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found.

He Has Heard Your Cry

Mark 10:46-52

And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.

And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.

And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.

And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.

And he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.

And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

When I look at this scripture, I can see the longing of poor Bartimaeus. He desired to be able to see. Who knows how long he sat on the streets of Jericho, blind. It was probably years. 

Someone may have told Bartimaeus about Jesus. He could have heard it on the streets that there was a man who could heal the sick and raise the dead. Imagine what it must of felt like, knowing that people were receiving their miracles and blessings, but never receiving that healing for yourself. Bartimaeus must have got a little excited when he heard that Jesus was coming down the road. He knew of the miracles that had happened. He knew that today could be his day for his miracle.

If you could imagine right now the cries of this blind man. His calls for Jesus to come and help him. To see him reaching and groping for the healing he desired so much. Others began to criticize him by marking him. They said he would never get his healing. He was unworthy of his healing. He was just a needy, blind man.

I can just see the pain on his face as he cried out louder. I can almost hear his thoughts screaming, "NO! JESUS! COME TO ME! HELP ME! DON'T PASS ME BY!" His desperation for his healing growing with each cry for mercy. 

Then, Jesus hears him and stops in his tracks. He heard the desperate cry. He heard the pain in his voice. He stopped just for him and told his disciples bring him to me so that I can help him. Let me see this man. 

I can see the smile begin to brighten Bartimaeus's face as the disciples tell him to come to Jesus. I can see the excitement flowing through his bones. I can almost hear his mind screaming, "YES! HE HAS HEARD MY CRY! I KNOW HE WILL HEAL ME!"

I tell this story because I want to encourage someone today. God has heard your cry. He has seen your tears. He loves you and wants to bless you. If he did it for Bartimaeus, he can do it for you. Your prayers stop him and your desperation pulls at his heart. He feels your pain and he knows your suffering. He will answer if you just believe. He will bless you. All you need to do is trust that he is there. He stopped just for you today. That moment when you spoke that prayer, he heard. Sometimes prayers are not always answered in our timing. Bartimaeus could have been blind for years. Remember, God has never left you and he has heard your cry.

Psalm 18:2-6

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. 

In A Dry and Thirsty Land

Psalm 63:1-8

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

This scripture speaks volumes to me. I know that each and everyone of us goes through dry times when it feels like God is not there. We pray and do what we know to do, but our answers never seem to come. We reach the point of giving up and throwing in the towel. Maybe we do give up and maybe we do say, "this is all I can take." We may lose our faith in God, but if we could stand back up and remember the promises that God has already given us, our heart will be encouraged. Remember what He has already done for you. Remember the prayers that He has already answered. If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever then He can hear our prayers. He will hear them today and He will hear them forever. If He could bless you yesterday, He can bless you today. 

As I read this Psalm, I can picture David crying out for God to show His power and rescue him from the dryness all around him. David could have been angry with God, but he wasn't. He was grateful even in the dry times. He was thankful when everything was falling apart. He thanked God for what He had already done and thanked Him in advance for what He was going to do. 

Life is a struggle. It is not easy and trials will come to make us slip and fall. They will also come to make us stronger and teach us important lessons. Each trial or struggle is unique in its own way. I believe that God takes us to the breaking point and then some. He doesn't do this to hurt us. He does it to strengthen us. 

If we always went through the same trial all the time how would we learn anything new. We would hopefully learn how to succeed and overcome that one trial, but what could we show from going through the same thing over and over again? I understand we can get in a rut and struggle with the same thing more than once. I am talking about every struggle that we ever went through being the same. We would never become what God wants us to be and we would never learn what God wants us to learn. We would master one part of our life and the rest of it would be in shambles. 

If we can realize that with each trial comes a greater victory, we would be on fire. My encouragement to you today is, don't become hard while you are in your trial. There is a blessing coming your way. If you stay thirsty for the things of God and thankful during your struggles, He will bless you beyond measure. He loves each and everyone of us and it is not His will that we suffer. He is only trying to teach us something new and show us once again His awesome power. 

Keep on holding on.

Grateful, Ungrateful

"For Every Mountain"

I've got so much to thank God for

So may blessings and so many open doors

A brand new mercy

Along with each new day

That's why I praise You

For this I give You praise

For waking me up this morning

That's why I praise You

For starting me on my way

That's why I praise You

For letting me see the sunlight of a new brand day

A brand new mercy along with each new day

That's why I praise You

For this I give You praise

You're Jehovah Jireh

That's why I praise You

You've been my provider

That's why I praise You

So many times You met my need, So many times You rescued me

That's why I praise You

I wanna thank You for the blessings You give to me each day

That's why I praise You

For this I give You praise

For every mountain You brought me over

For every trial you've seen me through

For every blessing

Hallelujah, for this I give You praise

Tonight, as I was praying, this song began to play on the church's prayer, playlist. I did not realize how much I needed to hear these words. God began to speak to me as I sat and listened intently to the music. 

He began to tell me, "You have been ungrateful." 

What? Me? How could that be? I had just thanked Him for something just a minute ago. Sure enough, I began to search my heart. I called out to God and asked Him how I had done this. 

He began to speak to me saying, "I have brought you through the night. I have watched over you and kept you. I have given you breath to breathe. I woke you up and showed you a new day. I have walked with you in your moments of distress. I have done this all today." 

Right then and there, tears filled my eyes. I began to thank Him and tell Him how sorry I was for neglecting to praise Him. 

Many times in life it is easy to forget about the "little" things that are given to us day after day. We say that it is just a normal occurrence and there is nothing really "big" or "great" about it. If we could really see what God has done just while we were sleeping, or in that moment of fear or depression, maybe we would understand. It is not meaningless. It is supernatural. It is powerful. God took the time to say good morning and let oxygen fill our lungs. He set His angels around us as we slept and sheltered us from harm. This is the supernatural. Sometimes we fail to realize that it is just as big of a miracle to be alive another day as it is to be healed of cancer. 

Thank you Jesus for showing me just how miraculous You are and for showing me my faults. I want to thank You for waking me up this morning and for protecting me throughout the day. Thank You Jesus for Your supernatural blessings!

An Everlasting Love

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3)

As I was going about my day, I started thinking about the love of God. Questions began to run through my mind. 

"What causes God to love me? How could He love me after all that I have done to Him?"

Facts are facts and they all say that I am a sinner in need of the mercy of God. Honestly, God doesn't have to love us. He doesn't have to show us mercy, but He does. I am not worthy of the love of God, but He has made me worthy. 

One thing I have had to realize is, the love of God is not determined by how good I am as a person. The love of God is determined when I except it or not. God draws us in with His love. The love of Jesus was shown when he laid down his life down on the cross. He showed us then how much he cares. He cared enough to die for the very sin that plagues humanity. He was beaten, bruised, and a crown of thorns was placed on His head, for me. For me, the blood was spilt. For me, He cried out in agony. This my friend, is the love of God. A love that surpasses all understanding. A love that holds you close. A love that will never let you go. I am so thanking for His everlasting love. I may never understand why He loves me. I may never understand why He would care enough for me, but knowing that He does, is all I need to love Him right back.