Fall into love now. Let it cover you, let it overwhelm you, let it flow through you, let it sing through you.

“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You” (Psalm 63:1-3).

"We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

What comes to mind when you think of the word “home”? A building with walls, a ceiling, and rooms? Do you think of people? Of things you touch and smell? Is home a place? Is home a feeling? Is home an attitude–a mindset to adopt?

“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16).

* * *

Jesus is walking outside in a beautiful place. You are with him; it’s just the two of you together.

You walk on a dirt path. You can hear the crunch of small rocks and gravel under your feet. Tall stalks of foliage and sweet-scented flowers blow in the wind’s gentle breeze on both sides of you. The path is high, on a cliffside, and you hear the soothing crash of waves on a beach a distance below. The air is fresh and cool on your skin, with a hint of salt, while the sun’s rays keep you comfortable and warm.

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near”
(Philippians 4:5).

Dear one, take 3-5 minutes to relax, breathe deeply.

Surrender everything to God. Name each thing, each worry. Let these things come to your mind and then surrender them, one by one, to Him. See Him taking them.

“And he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha” (John 19:17).

* * *

I know there is a tug of war inside you, a wrestling between your flesh and your heart. It is okay. You are okay. I am here. I am not leaving you.

Yes, I gave you everything. I give you everything. But love is not guilt. And love is not repayment of debt.

Hear Me.

This love is not a transaction where one plus one equals two–not in the way you think. But one thing is true: your whole heart for my whole heart is the only thing that satisfies, that protects you from this suffering and angst of wanting more than that, more than all of Me.

The conversations you have within yourself can guide you to Me. What are you feeling? What are the messages you hear in your mind over and over and over?

* * *

There are thoughts in our heads that we hear on replay, conversations within ourselves that we don’t share aloud, especially with others. They are the internal dialogues that shape (and reveal) how we feel about ourselves, equate our worth, and choose the role we want to have in the world.

We often take these internal, private conversations for granted. What happens most often is one of two options: (1) we don’t acknowledge their existence and let the power of their influence shape us without a second thought, or (2) we stay hyper-attuned to them, giving them the power to decide what we do, what we feel, what we believe we know, but without discernment, wisdom, or letting Holy Spirit join in.

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:4-5).

“They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8).

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

“’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’” (Matthew 22:37).

Wander around, my love. Wander around in my love. You will find me there–and with it, all the answers to every question you ask and all the answers to every question you don’t yet know. Let Me bring forth in you the riches of life that come from surrender. I will help you be content with Me.

What does it mean to be content with God–and with God’s love? What do we know of God’s love? How do we choose it, find it, experience it? And what does God’s love teach us about contentment?

How will you know me unless you find me? And how will you find me unless you first see I am right here?

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)

Dear one, open your heart now. Open your heart even more to Me. I adore you. Know Me and then love Me–like I know and love you.

How is it that we know God the Father? How do we know Jesus? How do we know Holy Spirit? To know God–and not just know about Him–requires encountering Him and opening our hearts to receive his love.

Let's do that right now.

Dear one, I am here. Let me gather you up now. All the pieces. All of you. You are all I want.

Can I just be with you now, Lord? Can I not do a thing but be here? Can you help me see you and feel you? Will you help me relax in this space?

At this transition from one year to the next, Lord, shall I look back and reflect? Or shall I look ahead? First, I want to be present.

You sit at my feet, and your heart is dulled. You are here and not here. You are longing and yet far from your longing. Your distractions rule you. I wish you were with me. I wish you were right by my side.

May you be winsome. May you be expectant for what is good. I am good. I am everything you’ve dreamed of. But why do you neglect to dream?

Do not be frightened. There is so much you cannot control. And time is one of those things. Why is it you fret about the passing of days? I am in the midst of all time. And how I count the seconds of your life is not by what is or what is not accomplished. What are seconds to me? What is a day? What is a life? I am present in your heart. And where I am, there is no boundary.

What does it mean to see? What does it require of you?

Let go of what you thought it meant, and let Me show you. (Yes, do you now understand?) What I show you and you understand is what it means to see.

I knew she was there. I know where you are. Do you think I don’t see you and that I don’t care? Do you think I am numb to your pain? Your healing is what I am after. Your healing is why I came. I want all of you, all of your heart, all of your mind. I have created you whole, and I will make you whole again. I promise.

‘“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace’” (Luke 8: 48).

I love it when I have your attention. And you are yourself when you have mine. It is yours, all my attention. Always. But do you see it? Do you know? For when you do not know, what good is it? If your heart is not your own, for its attention is elsewhere, how will you know what you do not know?

“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations” (Ezekiel 36: 26-27, NLT).

How much do you rely upon me? How does your self-sufficiency get in the way? Shall we connect anew now? I restore all things. I make all things new.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2: 8-9).

You are my child, but you are not a child. You have come before the throne, and you are worthy to be here because I say so, because I have created you so. So stand, not with haughtiness but with assurance that your life shines with my glory because my love is in you. So stand. How will you stand?

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

How do you talk to yourself, my love? How do you know what you feel? How can you trust it? Can I lead you deeper in so you know?

“As the deer longs for streams of water,/ so I long for you, O God./ I thirst for God, the living God./ When can I go and stand before him?” (Psalm 42: 1-2, NLT)

What are you responsible for, and what are you not? Do you know? What are you doing with what I’ve given you? And are you carrying things I did not ask you to pick up?