Peace Incarnate

You are the Prince of Peace

abiding and living in me;

flooding my soul like a river

my mind and my thoughts;

my heart and emotions

producing the fruit of peace.

Quiet, calm, soothing stillness

settling over my life;

weaving in and out

of daily activities;

conversations, decisions

disappointments, joys.

As I wait upon You

in circumstances and abide;

surrendering and casting cares

thoughts and concerns to You;

I am comforted and find rest

all is well; You are there.

-Prince of Peace

 

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 These were some of the last words of comfort and encouragement that Jesus spoke to His 12 disciples before leaving to be reunited with the Father.  During this same discourse, HE also reassured them that although He would be leaving, He would be giving them another Counselor, the Spirit of truth, who would be with them forever.

Jesus Christ, Peace Incarnate. Through the witness of the Holy Spirit living within us, He manifests to us His amazing Shalom peace, continuously.  After ascending from the dead he reappeared to His disciples, and some of His last words to them were, I am with you always! That is His promise, and the great news is that when He makes a promise, He keeps it!

Whatever Christian tradition we might choose to be apart of, we can always be assured that He is with us always. In every circumstance, challenge, fear, stronghold, and whatever we might be facing at any given moment. Through the presence of His Holy Spirit, the Prince of Peace is available to invade our hearts and minds with Himself and give us a peace that surpasses understanding.

As I complete this series on the 6 Christian traditions my prayer for each one of you is that He Himself, Beauty, Love, and Peace Incarnate would invade your heart, mind, soul, and spirit each and every moment. May the I am with you always, guard, protect, empower and prevail in your life, to bless and keep you and to glorify Himself all the days of yourWith God life!

-The Quilted Poetess

Love Incarnate

Just as God’s beauty is seen incarnate through our lives, His love is also readily available to flow.  Daily, He pours His love out through the Holy Spirit into our hearts to bless us.  His love flows like a river from the throne room of His Presence to water and feed our spirits, soul and body.

The great news is that His love is both unconditional and unending. As we focus our eyes upon Him, we can both taste and experience its endless flow.  It comes to heal, renew, comfort, strengthen, and just plan shower every blessing of heaven upon us.

As we take time with the Lord, He fills us afresh with His love. Then we are prepared to become the very conduits He will use to incarnate that love to those in the world around us.  Friends, family, and all we come into contact with can become recipients of His amazing, incredible, all-consuming love; through our words, touch, or just a look. 

Prayer is another avenue He infiltrates others with His love.  As we take the time to lift up those in need, His love and grace follow the track of our prayers to deliver all His glorious riches in Christ Jesus to them.

The greatest news is that His love never fails.  As 1 Corinthians 13:8 says, Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. God bestows no greater gift upon us then His all-surpassing, unconditional love that never fails; and that we can depend upon!

Why not take some time today to bask in His love?  Close your eyes, put on some soaking music and allow Him, the Lover of your soul to tend to your needs and fill you up to overflowing.  Oh’ how He loves you and wants you to experience firsthand His incarnate love.  There is not greater gift that He desires to lavish upon you.  Be blessed and filled today!

Unfailing love, our greatest treasure;

Not bought or sold, nor can be earned;

It’s given freely, heart to heart;

Myself playing, absolutely no part.

This unfailing love, has such a powerful way;

To bring to my life, more than I can contain;

It stirs up my senses, it’s amazing, captivating;

Touching my heart, my soul and my mind;

With lavishing fullness, it’s truly divine.

No other God-sent blessing, nor earth-found passion compares;

To the insurmountable pleasure, this unfailing love does stir;

It’s completely beyond measure, supernaturally elevating;

Bringing heartthrobs from Heaven, joy, delight, bliss, contentment.

-Unfailing Love

-The Quilted Poetess

Beauty Incarnate

Last week as many of you have found out, I wasn’t blogging as I took the week off due to a sinus infection.  I also attended an Encounter weekend which was a delight-filled pleasure.  The weekend reminded me of a topic I’d like to share on today regarding beauty. 

During the weekend I was surrounded by so many beauty-filled women who were comfortable and at rest- able to express their beauty to all those in their midst.  Being in this atmosphere was so amazing and created a safe place for me  also, to express mine. As women and men created in the image of God, we each carry the essence of His beauty incarnate within us, readily available to manifest itself through us.  The sad thing is, because of the hurts, wounds and the losses we’ve incurred, often times we do not feel the freedom to allow its expression. 

The interesting thing is this type of atmosphere creates an open invitation of safety which invites truth and honesty being spoken into our lives. When we know we are loved and accepted, we can trust what others have to say that otherwise might be difficult to receive, because we know that their motives are  for our best. When others take the risk to share truth for our well-being, we not only hear it, but receive it.

Our relationship with God is the same.  He loves each one of us sooooo much-  but too much to allow us to stay the same.  As we truly believe and experience His unconditional love as the foundation in our lives, He feels the freedom to come in and address areas He wants us to free us in.  During those times if we don’t give way to fear, we are transformed which frees us to become more and more an expression of His incarnate beauty mingling with ours for the world to taste.

This was what it was like to be in the company of these beauty-filled ladies and gentlemen this weekend. You see, none of them started that way.  They all came into the kingdom with all kinds of baggage like ourselves- including   such things as fears, unfulfilled hopes and wounds,  but God in His mercy, coupled with His truth, has transformed them.

Now together, they are an army of God inviting others to experience this same transformation. And that was exactly what this weekend was to be about; encountering incarnate beauty, Himself, the Father heart of God. It was a true picture of the kingdom heaven on earth; of  love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit.  We tasted and saw that the Lord was good!

I look forward to continuing this journey in hopes that I too can offer a taste of His incarnate beauty with those He crosses my path with in the days ahead.  May you too be touched today and feel the freedom to invite others to do the same.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory,

are being transformed into His likeness

with ever-increasing glory,

which comes from the Lord, which is the Spirit. 

 2 Corinthians 3:18

 -The Quilted Poetess

The Waters of Baptism

Today, I’d like to specifically share more about the sacrament of Water Baptism and the powerful incarnation of Christ that is made available to flow through us because of it. Although water baptism does not save us, it can be described at minimum, as an outward act of our obedience of an inward commitment or circumcision of heart to the Lord.

The Lord commands each one of us go through the waters of baptism and by doing so, we identify symbolically with Him. The word baptism means, immersion; and when we actively choose to partake in this sacrament we are actually supernaturally immersed in His Holy Presence.

Through this sacrament we individually identify with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.  As we enter the waters and are immersed, we also are making public declaration of not only our personal belief in who Jesus is, but giving our consent to surrender or die to our own self-life, so we can be resurrected to live our life in Him. As I’ve shared before, it is IN Christ that we live, and move, and have our being, and it’s also IN Christ that all God’s promises are Yes and Amen!  

This supernatural transference of life is imparted through the Holy Spirit as we are brought forth from the waters.  Some people report that when they are baptized they can actually feel this infusion of power, while others do not. After our glorious ascent from the waters we can be confident that the power of the resurrection life of Christ is now ours- Hallelujah!  We are now equipped through both the birth and infilling of power through the Spirit to fulfill our great commission on earth.

And the great news is not only do we receive the initial empowerment through this act of obedience, but Jesus, the Living Water, now continually bubbles up from within us as a wellspring of life. As Jesus says to the woman at the well in John 4:14. Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

If you have never been water baptized, it is never too late.  I would encourage you today to JUST DO IT!   You will be blessed beyond heavenly measure…………

 -The Quilted Poetess

 

 

 

In the Cool of the Morn

Yesterday was off the charts crazy for me.  When I was faced with some unexpected circumstances, instead of turning my gaze unto Him, I rose up in my own strength only to find myself completely out of control and stressed out. Sound familiar? 

This morning, thank God I began my day by making a different choice. I started it off by spending time sitting at His feet. And thank God His mercies are new every morning, which I desperately needed! He immediately spoke and ministered to my flailing heart. Thank you JESUS!  Today, I’d like to share that journal entry dialogue with you as an example of the Sacramental tradition, as well as a poem I’ve written that compliments it called, In the Cool of the Morn.

You Lord, are the One who will never leave or forsake me.  I cannot depend on anyone else in that way, only You.  You are the God who sees -that is there for me.  I do want to strengthen my spirit, but I want to do that by abandoning self and my soul, fully depending on You.  Tapping into Your wellspring of strength. I know I can do all things through You, Christ, who strengthens me.  You are always faithful to bestow upon me all the riches found in You.  I can do these things through renewing my mind continually with Your Word of Truth. -then choose to wholeheartedly both believe it and apply it to my life circumstance.  You Word is filled with revelation of who You are and the all that You offer and promise to provide and be for me in my life.  When I choose to focus the eyes of my heart on that spiritual truth that is so often unseen to the natural eye-I open my spirit up to embrace Your incarnation flowing in and through my life.  We become one. This is when I truly live and move and have my being in You.  This is the secret place where I experience the river of the kingdom of God within- that can then flow without- to bring life and love to those in the world around me.  When this occurs You are willing and working according to Your good purpose through my life to reconcile all things to Yourself, to their original design and substance. Oh what a mighty, and faithful, and loving, and powerful God I serve. To serve You is to reign with You. Come Holy Spirit-have Your way in me today. I cast all cares and concerns upon You with great anticipation and elation, knowing You are there for me-  able to move mountains.  I surrender- not my will, but Thy will be done-on earth as it is in heaven!

 In the Stillness of the Cool of the Morn,

I come to You, my precious Everything;

To spend priceless moments of Intimacy,

Where You walk and talk with me.

We gleefully Play, chat and discuss what may,

Whatever Thoughts my heart and spirit does say;

And as I Dialogue and converse with You,

My longing heart is drawn to;

Your gentle Voice leading me the Way.

As You Speak to me so lovingly,

We create a conversational Sonnet in harmony;

A Duet just between us, played so tenderly,

Once completed becoming the Melody;

I’m able to Dance to, move forward, perform,

In step, in Synch, one direction, accord.

With You as my Partner in unity,

Embracing one another flowing so gracefully;

Intertwined oneness, heart, spirit, mind’s aligned,

A Ballet of two Lovers so delightfully Divine.

-In the Cool of the Morn

 -The Quilted Poetess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bread of His Presence

I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. John 6: 48-51

 There are 2 sacraments that most Christian denominations agree upon and practice which I would like to share about with you the next 2 days. The first is that of the taking of Holy Communion, or The Bread of His Presence.

As Jesus declared above, He is the Bread of Life.  When we make the choice to surrender our lives to Him, His incarnate life becomes the very substance that nourishes our spirit.  His body was broken on Calvary for us. Through our participation in the sacrament of Holy Communion we not only do so as He says, in remembrance of Me, but each time we partake in this holy, sacred, act; we actually partake in eating the incarnate Bread of His Presence. At the very moment of inception, Jesus Christ incarnately fills our hungering spirits afresh with Himself, the Bread of Life  bringing us life and life abundantly.

The word sacrament actually means an outward sign of an inward grace.  Through the act of taking Holy Communion the actual elements used as symbols are transformed by the Holy Spirit into Jesus’ body and blood.  Once this has occurred and we eat and drink them, the power of His incarnate life is imparted to us anew, bringing with it healing, forgiveness, deliverance, strength, encouragement, and whatever our need might warrant at that present moment. Participation in this sacramental act is an honor and privilege.

 Jesus, Himself, instituted this sacrament the night of His last supper with His beloved disciples. When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you. Luke 22:14-20

Personally experiencing the incarnation of Christ can be experienced through this sacrament, as well as that of water baptism. Next time I will be sharing more about how this powerful life changing sacrament works.  Until then, be blessed in the name of the incarnated Lord!

 -The Quilted Poetess

Holy of Holies

I am reading an amazing book I can hardly put down regarding the Sacramental Tradition, written by Jeanne Guyon, called, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ. In the book Jeanne shares so intimately about the simplicity of the With God Incarnate life that God has made available to us as Psalms 46:10 says, Be still and know I am God.

Quieting our soul so the Spirit of God that lives within and longs to commune with our spirit is sometimes a challenge at best. When we become still, the inactivity many times appears to us as no activity, but in God’s economy just the opposite is actually true. His Spirit that now resides in the center of our being, longs for our fellowship with us, but with that said; we are the one who makes the journey inward to meet with Him. Making the inward journey below the surface level to that epicenter can be more difficult than it would seem.  Distractions, temptations, as well as preconceived ideas about the spiritual nuts and bolts necessary to accomplish such a journey can all hinder our progress.

True fellowship With God is a spiritual activity.  Because we consist of soul and spirit, often times our soul becomes our vehicle of choice in making that inward journey.  When doing so, because Self is in the driver’s seat, the destination we long to arrive at is never truly reached.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, on the 6th day of Creation, when we were created God sovereignly gave us dominion over both the earth and the choices we make in our lives. Because God communes with us spirit to spirit,  it is always up to us to surrender Self (or our soul) so we can enter His Holy of Holies.  Once that surrender takes place, our spirit is free to engage with Him.

This can be most easily accomplished by becoming still.  When we relax and let go of concerns, preoccupations, striving, talking, etc., we actually are telling our soul to move over, so our spirit can take the driver’s seat.  When this occurs, as a magnet the Lord’s Presence attracts our spirits to Him.

As our spirit comingles with His, we experience a taste of what the Incarnational life is all about. We are ushered gracefully into the Secret Place of His reality. Stillness, rest, and oneness with the Lord result.  Inward tranquility soon becomes our portion.

During those times the Spirit of God begins to pray and intercede within us those things that are on His heart.  He also reveals the things to us that He longs to change in us, and  shows us our nature. It comes by way of revelation, and although has the impact of being a personal encounter, is filled with tenderness and love which evokes from us a longing to change.

Jeanne Guyon does a great job explaining the process that I’ve just touched upon, as well as give practical spiritual steps to grow in her book, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ.  The first step she mentions is to become like Mary and sit quietly at the feet of Jesus. 

As you do He will reveal His Presence to you and begin to take you to the depths.  Spending quality time alone in a solitary place With God on a regular basis will increase your encounters with Him, which in  turn will make you more aware of His Presence throughout your day.  

As you still yourself regularly throughout the day, His gently nudges will not only lead the way, but empower you to live His life through yours. It’s truly a journey, but begins by surrendering and entering The Secret Place.  Won’t you choose to do so me today?

Just to “BE” in The Secret Place-

To rest, relax in Your embrace.

To meet with You where I can “BE”

Released and free- merged, “ONE” with Thee.

From thoughts, activity distractions, worry-

Where time stands still and there’s no hurry.

Your glory filling the atmosphere-

Where peace is found and there’s no fear.

Only impartations with revelation-

And manifestations in demonstration.

Of Kingdom activity Heavenly visitation-

Your Spirit moving calling, loving, wooing.

As Your anointing infills me-

I know that when I leave this place

I’ll “BE” with You wherever I go

Experiencing daily communion sweet-

Heaven’s taste of The Secret Place.

-The Secret Place

 -The Quilted Poetess

Holy Ground

 When born-again, we became Christ Jesus’ spiritual offspring and came alive in our spirits, receiving His breath of life into our mortal bodies; the incarnated life of Christ. As the Apostle Paul says in the Acts 17:28, ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ 

The world around us that we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell with our physical senses is only the vehicle that this incarnate reality becomes visible. Each moment of each day, we have a choice to either live incarnate in the Spirit through Christ, or live in the natural state of our soul- through the portal of our flesh.

Through God’s grace we can live IN Him, and live our lives THROUGH Him. When we make the choice to do so it creates the opportunity to make every aspect of human life- holy ground. Ordinary day-to-day activities become extraordinary- when graced with His presence flowing through us. 

During the lives of many biblical characters such as Moses and King David, life consisted of  what we would call, day-to-day mundane activities. We might ask ourselves, Where was God during those times?  He was right there beside those men of valor. The activities they partook in during those many days and years were not in vain and meaningless.  Each moment had its own value and meaning, and on special occasion God would co-partner with them to do something miraculous. Even when Jesus walked on the face of this earth incarnate in bodily form, He too was frequently engaged in ordinary, common, day-to-day activities.  As He grew in wisdom and divine and human favor, through the leading of His Father was also empowered to supernaturally minister.

Practicing the Presence of God as Brother Lawrence was so good about doing, brings not only value and meaning to the mundane, but infiltrates it with God’s holy incarnate Presence. As the Apostle Paul told the Colossians,  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17  When everything we do, we do in Him and for Him; our acts in this material world all become acts of incarnate righteousness that bring God glory. Small or grand, they are all of value in His economy.   There is no waste of time, or finances, or energy when we make it our aim to please the Lord.  As Richard Foster says, The great strength to the Incarnation Tradition is that it awakens us to the sacrament of the present moment. 

Practicing the Presence of God in every moment is the goal to living the With God life in the daily rhythms of life. When doing so, we will be delightfully surprised when in the midst of the mundane, He chooses to intervene through us in mighty ways. I invite you to renew your mind with me today by first bathing in this concept, then choose to walk with me on the Holy Ground of the Presence of the Lord in all you do. 

 -The Quilted Poetess

The Sacramental Tradition

Alas, I will be completing my series on the 6 Christian traditions by sharing with you this month about the last stream; the Sacramental or Incarnational Tradition.  This tradition is truly where the rubber of your invisible spiritual life is expressed visibly on the road of your Christian walk, through the integration of the previous 5 traditions into everyday life. 

The word sacrament means, an outward sign of an inward grace.  In other words, the Sacramental tradition is the outward expression of the embodiment of the life of Christ within.  The Apostle Paul expresses this to the Galatians in chapter 2:20 by saying,  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Once we are born-again, Christ not only comes to live within us through the Holy Spirit, but He also manifests or incarnates Himself throughout us.  We, the Body of Christ are the visible evidence of Christ to the world as living epistles, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living Lord. 

The Lord, Jesus Christ incarnates His life through us, as we CHOOSE to allow Him to do so.  As the heavens declare the glory of God, we, His masterpieces, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, glorify Him, as we make it our aim to please the Lord by doing ALL we do for Him and through Him.  Making it a daily habit as Brother Lawrence, to practice the presence of God, in all we do, will not only bring benefits into our lives, but will also benefit others as He incarnates Himself through us.

 Although His omnipresence, as well as abiding presence is continually available to us, when we choose to focus intimately on Him, He will incarnate to us the manifestation of His presence. Spending them With God through worship, prayer, the Word, and fellowship is the secret to opening our hearts to receive increased awareness of His Presence. 

As we grow in sensitivity to His manifest presence, the most ordinary experiences can become extraordinary experiences of grace. When this occurs in my life I experience it as PEACE.  I feel His presence as a peaceful, soothing, calming, relaxing, all is well experience.  My questions and concerns vanish when He incarnates through my life. I am at true peace and tranquility. 

God invites us to climb into the landscape of our journey to breathe deeply with our lungs, to feel blood pulsating through our muscles, doing what they were made to do-experiencing the wonders of having a body with which to see, and hear, and smell, and taste, and touch this astonishing world.  Richard Foster

 -The Quilted Poetess