When Love Sweeps In (Day 22)

Today we celebrate the day Love took on human form and was birthed into the earth; Christmas day!

Love comes and sweeps me off of my feet at times when I least expect it! At times Love comes and overwhelms me and at other times it feels as though my senses have dulled. In fact lately, the times which are usually the most amazing, have felt the driest. Recently, the times I feel Him the most is when I'm just thinking about Him and not making any effort of my own. He comes and initiates conversations with me, or just surprises me with overwhelming love for me that hasn't been earned by anything I have done;

it is a gift.

I now long for Him to come and reveal Himself to me in ways I have nothing to do with. Such beauty in the absence of striving! Though He is in me, I cannot force a manifestation of His glory. Though I am FILLED with Him, I find myself craving greater consciousness of my holy union with Christ. I realize that I am as close as any human can be, yet find myself stuck and unable to get past this level of nearness He has blessed me with. Such irony! Only Jesus can come and allow me to experience deeper depths. This desire for Him consumes me. I am lovesick!

"I think the prayer of union is the ‘cellar’ in which our Lord places us when and how He chooses, but we cannot enter it through any effort of our own. His Majesty alone can bring us there and come into the centre of our souls. In order to declare His wondrous works more clearly, He will leave us no share in them except complete conformity of our wills to His and abandonment of all things: He does not require the faculties or senses to open the door to Him; they are all asleep." -Teresa of Avila

Comments

Making Peace with Catholicism...and Other Religions

I remember it clearly - watching a reel-to-reel movie in Sister Patricia's second grade class. Although I don't remember why the girl in the movie was crying, I do remember the affect it had on me. My heart was gripped by the fact that I wanted to know God more. The church was close to our home and I liked to hangout there, hoping to find God. One of the priests found it so odd, he phoned my Mom to let her know I couldn't be there everyday. Guess I looked a bit like a 7 yr. old hoodlum with my pigtails and missing teeth. In the eighteen years I grew up in Catholicism, no one ever taught me the deep spiritual truths of knowing God. All I knew was to attend mass, say my prayers, and take communion. And I did - until I visited a "non-denominational" church and felt God's presence for the first time. I was wrecked - in a good & bad way. Not only did I find what I had been looking for, I also became judgmental towards the Catholic religion. They had le...

You Are God's Mastepiece

Today's article is an excerpt from my book, Prayers on Fire , which I wrote with Brian Simmons. I pray it's a blessing to you. ~Gretchen I’m mesmerized; awestruck over the beauty of your creation. The evidence of your creative genius streams from the heavens with glory. All of earth echoes your name. There is no denying that you are the Master Artist who set before us your most beautiful works of art. The moon and stars are dazzling, brilliantly glowing against the night sky like jewels mounted in their settings. Still, I’m awed by something even more splendid than the wonders I see above. God, though you’re famous—great and powerful— you know me by name and call me your child. I am your masterpiece. My Father, whose name is known throughout the universe, you have created me to be just like you. Filled with glory, I’ll shine in the darkness, illuminating the world with your splendor and compassion. Crowned with majesty, I’ll stand in authority ...

A Journey Into Identity

In all of the years I’ve been dancing, I have never had a season where I have learned more about dance and myself in it, than this last year. Unfortunately, it has come out of a season of injury. This has been a difficult season to navigate through in the natural, but what the enemy has tried to steal, kill, and destroy, God has turned into a time of great discovery. I have danced since I was 4 years old. I have no memories of a life without dance (except when having babies). As a result of a life woven into a beautiful tapestry of dance, my identity has been intertwined with dance as well. When I cannot dance, I feel incomplete. However, what I’ve recently been processing with the Lord is that my identity is not that of a dancer. When God looks at me, the most significant thing He sees is not that I am a dancer. The most significant thing to Him, is that I am His child. I am much more than dance. Within me is the convergence of two realms – Heaven and earth con...

___________

The Uncaged Journey

Search This Blog

Follow Me on Facebook