I’ll Take You Through

The way is dusty, twisty, slippery, narrow.
You cling to the mountain’s edge,
And ruts, gouges, treacherous holes
Threaten to catch your feet and wrench your ankles.
The way is sidelined and ceilinged with poking, choking,
grabbing, thorny branches.
The way is steep, your motion heavy, dragging.
Your head is down – you cannot see.
But I know the way.
Hold on tight.
I’ll take you through.

I’ll strengthen your legs; I’ll measure your gait.
I’ll synchronize your steps with mine, sure-footed.
I am your hovering, surrounding, impenetrable armor,
The force-field that shields you
From every probing, piercing thing encroaching.
When you think you cannot walk, I'll give you strength.
Keep pressing on.
Hold on tight.
I’ll take you through.

When you cannot walk, I’ll carry you,
Papa holding his little one close to his heart,
Your head on my shoulder,
In complete relaxation and peaceful rest.
I know the way. I am the Way.

When you grow faint and claustrophobic,
Now stumbling, oppressed to the point of losing heart,
I'll lift you to My shoulders, to rest and ride.
You can see now, adventures and challenges,
Trial-ways ahead, each one leading to another place of triumph.
You can see a little better, but only I can see all.
I know the way. I am the Way.
Hold on tight.
I’ll take you through

Are you Motivated?

Day 133
What are your core values? What is the motivation for your actions? Is it about being comfortable in this world and being accepted and loved by people? Why do you do the things you do?

If you are compelled to do and say things in order to make a way for yourself in this world, that is what you will have: the temporary, decaying teasures of this world. Nothing of this world will last. It is fading away before your eyes -- you can't deny it. Every material thing will be used up.

The Last Clematis Blossom

Then what should you be spending your time and energy on? Watch for Me. I am pure love. My everlasting love transcends time, heals all wounds, brings joy to the oppressed, feeds the hungry, mends the broken, and makes all things new. Watch for Me. See where I am moving, and move with Me. You will be my partner in these things.

Is that good motivation?

People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. -- Matthew 6:32-33 [The Message]

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners. God sent me to announce the year of his grace—a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies—and to comfort all who mourn, to care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes, Messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.

Rename them "Oaks of Righteousness" planted by God to display his glory. They'll rebuild the old ruins, raise a new city out of the wreckage. They'll start over on the ruined cities, take the rubble left behind and make it new. You'll hire outsiders to herd your flocks and foreigners to work your fields, but you'll have the title "Priests of God," honored as ministers of our God. You'll feast on the bounty of nations, you'll bask in their glory. "Because you got a double dose of trouble and more than your share of contempt, your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy go on forever. Because I, God, love fair dealing and hate thievery and crime, I'll pay your wages on time and in full, and establish my eternal covenant with you. Your descendants will become well-known all over. Your children in foreign countries Will be recognized at once as the people I have blessed."

I will sing for joy in God, explode in praise from deep in my soul! He dressed me up in a suit of salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara. For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, so the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations. -- Isaiah 61 [The Message]

Cold Weather -- Mum!

Limited?

Day 131
What limitations have you placed on Me? Is the problem too big? Are the resources not available? Is there not enough time? Not enough money? Is the road too long? Are the people too resistant? Do they argue with you, mock you, persecute you? Have you endured for too long? Is the difficulty too deeply entrenched? Are things happening too quickly? Too slowly? Is there too much confusion? Is the pain too debilitating? Are you surrounded by people who doubt Me? People who don't understand? Have you already tried everything? Have you lost hope? Can you see no way of escape?

Okay. Now lift up your eyes and begin to focus on Me. I am above every limitation. It's only the direction of your gaze that keeps Me out of your picture.

Autumn Asters

I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
He won't let you stumble, your Guardian God won't fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel's Guardian will never doze or sleep.
God's your Guardian, right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke.
God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now,
He guards you always. -- Psalm 121 [The Message]

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, but He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble.

"To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?" says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. -- Isaiah 40:21-31 [NASB]