For You Are Lovely: The Power of Goodness
For this week’s Encounter, I am sharing a conversation I experienced between me and God, typed up straight from my journal. I invite you to use the transcript as a tool, hoping it might provide a fun jumpstart to your own listening to God’s whispers to you.
So, perhaps, do this:
Find a quiet, secluded place where you can be undisturbed for at least 20 minutes. Then, consecrate your heart and mind to the One who loves and knows you most.
Lord, I consecrate my heart and mind. I give my heart and attention to You. I trust You and desire You. I bring myself under your authority. You are my King and my Guide, my Shepherd and Father. Help me to hear your voice in my heart now.
(Deep breath…eyes closed….feel your body, mind, and heart be in the same space.)
Next, surrender to God everything that is weighing you down. Give Him every concern, worry, anxiety, thought and fear.
Lord, I give You…
Open your journal and read the transcript below. After every paragraph or so, pause and respond with what is going on in your heart as you read. You’ll notice, when you begin reading the conversation, that God jumped in and spoke first, guiding and helping me listen.
So, are you ready? Take a few more deep breaths, and then let’s begin.
* * *
Holy Spirit: “Let’s start here with what is going on in your heart.”
[I don’t say a thing yet; I don’t immediately respond.I just pause, trying to figure out how to answer His question.]
Me: How, Lord, do I even know what is going on in my heart unless you tell Me?
Holy Spirit: Yes, how do you know? And why is this important?
(I love God’s questions.)
Me: My heart is where You often speak to me–at least, it is where I can recognize You most.
(I can feel my body wanting to be fully present, and I take a deep breath.)
Holy Spirit: Lovely, lovely, you are lovely.
(Oh, how He floors me.)
Me: I love You, Lord. I see You. I feel You. You are inside me and all around me.
What is going on in my heart? What questions do I have? How am I restless? How am I content? What is consuming my attention–and is this where you want my focus? Or do You invite me to place it somewhere else?
(I love asking God questions.)
Holy Spirit: Trust Me. Turn your heart’s gaze to Me.
Me: What am I not trusting You with?
Holy Spirit: Be guided by Me, moment by moment. Think about what is good.
Me: (He brings to my mind Philippians 4:8-9: ”...[W]hatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”)
Tell me, Father, what is the power of goodness–of love? Why is it good to think about these things?
Holy Spirit: You are mine, my very own. This is how I instruct you, how I raise you–as my daughter, as my child. Thinking about goodness strengthens you from the deepest place within you–the heart that lives connected to Me–to life. I am goodness. I am love, I am life.
Thinking about what is good brings forth living water–my Son’s life–for you to drink. My goodness--my life–sustains you. It equips you for battle–the heartache of the world–and it provides measurements for hope.
Hope in Me. Trust in Me. Find freedom in Me. Seek life nowhere else.
I tell you in all moments how I love you–the immensity is too great for you to understand. But yet, rest in goodness. Think about goodness. Let my kindness (oh, you are lovely) fuel you. Then you will remember my love, how I care for you because I love you, and you are my own.
* * *
Pause and respond, letting your heart feel the words you just heard. Did you have any questions for God? Did you feel Him speaking to you?
Lord, when I read this conversation:
I thought…
I felt….
I wondered…..
Keep your journal open and ask God to guide you deeper into His heart. What is He teaching you about Philippians 4:8-9?
“[W]hatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”
Father, this is what I hear You saying to me….
And how do you feel about Him looking at you and calling you lovely? What else do you hear Him say?
Lord, when you look at me….and you say_________ I feel……
Continue your conversation with Him, remembering that He might speak to you in ways other than words.
Amen.
