Be hungry for healing.
Be expectant for hope.
Do not despair.
Do not be afraid.
I am here.

It is important to be hungry for healing and expectant of hope. This isn’t always easy. Our hearts ache so often. We feel our humanness, our vulnerability and our weakness. We may feel our brokenness and yet not know the first thing to do.

Do not deny the source of your being. Return to the source of your creation, the source of love that holds you together. To deny by what and by whom you were made is to live untethered and alone. Despite what the world teaches you, you are whole, strong, and free–you are on solid ground–when you live inside of me.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17, ESV).

Let me show you a picture–a timeline–of you and your life. Do you believe, with me, your life doesn’t end when you die? Do you know, in my kingdom, you never die? Do you know you can live brand new and live this starting now? Do you know?

What does your life show for this, if you do know this? How do you act on this confidence? How do you indicate you believe my words are true?

Let me show you your fear. Let me give you peace in its stead. New life awaits you. New birth is here. This world aches for it. Your heart aches for it. I know. Tell me everything now. I’m listening.

You need not go somewhere else to find me. You don’t have to run away, your mind conjuring images of the two of us together. For I am here. Right here. And my love for you is the foundation for your love for me. Let it come in. Let me come in.

Consider the steps toward quieting your heart now: Breathe deeply, breathe easily, and breathe slowly.

Slow, slow, slow.

The following words I heard for us in prayer. They form the invitation for this Encounter.

xo,

Jennifer

It is challenging to live unafraid and present to both the memories of the past and the dreams of the future while also fully awake to the present moment. Let Me explain.

Play this music in a quiet room to be comfortable and completely relaxed for a good period. I find that Airpods or headphones work well, helping me draw inward, block out possible distractions, and be attentive to my heart as the music plays.

To begin, spend some moments consecrating your heart to God, surrendering all your worries and concerns, and asking him to guide you and help you hear his voice.

Lord, I give you (name each worry and concern)...

I consecrate my heart to you. I bring myself under your authority. I am under your cover. I trust my whole heart to you.

Lead me in this encounter with you. Help me to experience your love for me. Help me feel your closeness and hear you if you want to say anything.

Come with Me. When I invite you on an adventure, you are never alone; you are always with Me.

* * *

The word “adventure” carries many complicated ideas and images–and how you feel about the idea of adventure will be necessary for this encounter with Jesus. Are you willing to go on an adventure with Him?

“You are not your own. Yet you want, desperately, be be your own. To stand, with authority, in my name, you must bend low. If you do this, all you do in my love will be blessed and you will be blessed.”

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?