I belong to You, forever You have my heart

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Just like you, I need to be reminded regularly how much I am loved.

And just like you, I have come to realize that I can’t always have my needs met by those around me.

I fall into the mindset at times where I expect my loved ones to ‘just know’ when i need to hear I am loved, without needing to tell them.

I don’t think I am alone, for I believe we have all been hardwired to need affirmation, love and appreciation.

But we are not always prepared to dig in and seek them from their Source.

The best way to receive love?
From its Source.

But going to the source isn’t enough. God IS more than enough, but love takes effort on our parts.

We need to:

Believe it.
Receive it.
Appreciate it.
Reciprocate.
Express it.
Soar with it.
Encourage it to grow.
Never take it for granted.
Fight for it.
Protect it.

There are three main ways to receive God’s love.

1. From God, Love Himself.
Through prayer, spending time in His Presence, listening & resting in Him, He reveals His love to us – in as many ways as there are possible depending on the recipient!

Take some time daily, and go to your favorite place to connect with God. It may be your fave chair, room in your home, pathway or in your car during your travels to and fro. He will be found no matter where you go to seek Him! Just as you feel closer to your loved ones after time with them, make sure to date God regularly if you want love to grow & flow between you.

2. His Word.
This tangible touch of His love is written for all to be able to know this Love. For His love story began before Creation as a whisper in God’s heart, and will last forever as we love our way through eternity together.

Take a walk through the Word, and look for all the ways He showed love and made promises to those who draw near to Him. Write them down, highlight them. Leave a track record for you to remember & return to when you need another reminder of His love.

3. His children.
Through the love of other people, and the love they have found through God that they have recorded in word, art & song. Sometimes a piece of music, artwork or writing strikes the right chord within us, and opens our hearts to His love in a new way. And that child of God was just expressing His love for them, and their love for Him….and the overflow can remind the viewer, reader & hearer.

Pull out a source you have that reminds you how much He loves you. It may be your old photo albums, remembering how He has been with you every step along your journey. It may be a painting that speaks to your heart. It may be a book that sketches with words His wooing love for those who wander looking for Home.

For me, time with God involves seeking Him through His Word. Digging deep, wrestling with who I am and who He longs for me to be. Listening & chatting with Him, sensing and waiting in the quiet place where we gather. Worshipping through the Psalms, worship & music cds and singing a new song when it rises up out of me.

God is calling “I love you, come Home” to His bride, for deep love is constantly calling out for the one He loves.

There are a few songs recently that have been like arrows into my heart I would like to link in below for you to hear.

May His love for you echo loudly through the words, melodies and harmonies as you listen.

May you know where you belong, and who has Your heart, forever.

I Belong to You, Derek Johnson

Love Came Down, Kari Jobe

Yours Forever, Darlene Zschech

You Don’t Miss a Thing, Amanda Cook

freedom in belonging

When you know where you belong, you open up a freedom you may not have known you needed, let alone wanted.

I was always on the outside looking in, I felt, as I was growing up. A fish out of water, or a black sheep standing in sharp contrast to the flock of white ones in the same field.

You know how you just can’t put your finger on that nagging difference or missing part, and that thought sticks with you until you can resolve it?

Kind of like that, a piece looking for the rest of its pizzle.

That reality whispered into the recesses of my mind fairly regularly as I grew up. It took on a whole new aspect when I moved to Quebec, and came back to Ontario six years later fluent in French to a small town that was filled with almost anyone but another French speaking person unless they were a teacher!

So through primary school into middle school into high school, this feeling I don’t quite fit continued to hang around…unless I was singing, playing an instrument or writing. Even so, I played almost anything I touched, which spoke to my giftedness but isn’t as common in a small town.
I read ferociously, loved to learn, wore glasses and suffered through 3 years of retainers and 4 years of braces. I made friends, especially with fellow musicians & artsies…but still felt like a misfit. I was sensitive, but not sure why.

When it came time to head to university, I felt I wasn’t ready for “it” yet, so I headed to a differently structured high school for a year, and discovered something shocking.

At this school, I first experienced feeling like i fit. The structure and classes and fellow students- 90% made for me. I began to hope that after high school, I could find my place in this world. Closer to where I was meant to be.

But getting to know yourself better doesn’t necessarily help you belong.

I spent a few years wandering after high school. Unsure of what I wanted to do because I didn’t know yet who I was.

Then I met Jesus, and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

I have a few gifts that are not as common, and one of the “side effects” is feeling set apart. Like all of us, I am hardwired to hear God’s voice. For me, at times, quite clearly. The Word shares how this is known as the prophetic. Which ties with that sensitive feeling I had struggled to come to grips with.

And in the bible, most of them were known as being “odd or misfits.” They didn’t quite fit, having one foot in the heavenly places with God, and the other here on the earth.

When you tell people you made a decision based on God’s telling you to go that way, you tend to be looked at funny, and avoided by those who don’t know what to do with you as a result.

The prophetic can be a lonely place to be, just you and God.

But here’s the thing.

I found my place after those years of searching:

I belong to God.

What a price He paid for me, to buy me out of my broken, lonely, lost in the pit of my despair. He set my feed upon solid rock, whispered words of love, and clothes me in fresh white forever robes, naming me Beloved Daughter of the King.

I belong to Him, with every fibre that’s within me.

But I also belong with Him.

Spending time in His Presence reminds me that though I walk on this earth, it is not where I belong. My place is heavenly, in the courts of my King, in the arms of Jesus.

For now, I need the constant reminder of Spirit whispers, reminding me who I am to Him.

So although I have a great family, wonderful church & friends, good jobs- I don’t belong here. I never really did, for He designed us to be with Him.

So whether I feel like I fit is no longer relevant.

My heart is already tied to His, and wherever He is, that’s where I belong.

Home is where the heart is.
You have my heart, God.
And one day
You will welcome me home
forever, and I will live
where I have longed to be,
eternally where I belong!

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Sunday Psalm: Pursuit

I am pressing hard after You.
Hot & heavy,
without restraint or abandon.
I keep running towards You,
through stormy gale,
fiery darts & red herring whispers
trying to lead me astray.
My intent is see You
face to face,
to make it Home-
the one place
where I belong.
Where I am known
as Beloved.
I may come limping,
hoarse or racked with pain,
but I will keep coming.
I will not be deterred.
My pursuit has one singular focus:
Jesus.
Nothing but Jesus.
I will pursue only Jesus
into eternity.
You are always and forever enough for me,
no matter the season.
I will always arrive on time
when You guide my path
& I walk to the beat of Your heart.

#hopeinHisPresence
#SundayPsalm

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where do I belong?

I am prone to wander.

Not so much physically, like an uprooting kind of trek, although I am known for loving to walk around town.

I love nothing more than to meander through a great book, join a story in progress in a movie, or read updates on Facebook at times to help me unwind (although I  am learning the value of a nap, and rest: the art of not doing).

In my virtual wanderings, I can lose track of time, or catch myself falling behind on what I need to be doing.

And even with today’s post, I have just started to wander off topic.

In my wanderings, I sometimes lose sight of where home is. Where I belong.

I learned over the years that I am not a normal person, a fact I choose to embrace now.  I need rootedness in order to thrive. Deep solid roots, seeking constant nourishment to grow….exploring without being uprooted.

I spent many years looking for home, before i realized what home really represents.

Home is not only a physical place, but ideally a place to always be welcome, safe, protected, loved up on unconditionally.

But with none of us perfect, our home lives on earth can be battlegrounds for many out there, or deserts to others. 

When home depends on people, we end up disappointed.
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Home is where we are meant to live. Where we truly belong.

With our designer, redeemer, deliverer & the lover of our souls: God.

If you have lost sight of where true home is, and need a reminder to rekindle your desire to seek Him, please ready these lyrics, and get your heart ready by worshipping Him.

Your heart & voice were meant to constantly proclaim:

I belong to You
forever
I belong to You.

Home is where our heart is.
Choosing to give ourselves into His hands, we find out true Home waiting for us:
Ready to remind you with His presence.
Ready to provide you both purpose.
Ready to reveal His heart back to you, as He sings His response:

You belong to Me
forever
You belong to Me

May i find my true home in You, Lord, where i truly belong, as I hang up my wandering shoes.

Lyrics: I Belong to You

belong

One of the downsides to working part time is missing out on the same camaraderie those who work full time share.

The same can be said about our walk with God.

God isn’t interested in part time relationship.

He is ours full time, 24/7, 365.

And beyond.

We think of time in forward increments, God sees all time at any time.

He is, after all, eternal.

When I keep too busy with life, I tend to waver on knowing where I belong.

God is always there to remind me I belong to Him.

He belongs to me.

Nor because of anything I have done, will or can do…
but because I am the only me He made.

That alone makes me, and you, precious to our Creator.

But He didn’t end there.

When we kept wandering, as the distracted tend to do, away from Him, and failed to focus on the words He kept speaking to us through His Word & prophets…
He sent the Word.

To live among us.
To walk beside us.
To listen to our hurts.
To heal our brokenness.
To love away our loneliness.
To touch us- heart, mind, soul & body.
To set us free through the death we deserved.

To know, without doubt, we belong.

We are His.

He bought us at great price, and will never stop calling out to us to come: be known by Him, and know Him.

When we spend a great deal of time with others, we develop a sense of belonging: that we fit, we are good together, which only makes us want to spend even more time together.

We become tightknit, close than we sometimes could ever dream possible.

We know that we know we belong.

If you struggle with knowing where you belong, look no further than His Word, His heart poured out in a love letter like no other.

God reminds us each and every day that we have a place where we belong.

With Him.

God reminds us each moment that we are treasures.

To Him.

God draws us close in His embrace, so we can rest.

In Him.

The belonging you long for?
It is a precious gift,
offered,
given,
by Him.

May you draw closer to His Presence than you can imagine, as He reminds you how much you belong to Him, always.

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who am i

There are many days
where my busyness
causes a daze
resulting from a haze
of scattered thoughts

Who am I
where do I belong
what I am here for
become my heart’s song

and if I am not careful
I will miss the cue
that who I am pales besides
the Presence of You

Maker of the Heavens
All Earth Land & Sea
Every creature known to man
down to the smallest bee

Who I am still echoes
in the light of who You are
I hear Your voice speak to me
I see the hand that is scarred

reaching for me
reminding me
I am never alone

The One who set the stars in the heavens
and the rhythm of the tides
calls me back to life again
from His eternal throne

Who He is
is the key
to the answer I seek
Who I am
flows from His heart
where redemption & I meet

I am my Beloved’s
and He is mine
forever more to stay

The hope of more
than in the now
helps get me through today

I am chosen
here with purpose
planned to be His
marked precious deep below the surface

I am the victor
as He leads me
into peace despite the storm
my refuge and hiding place,
safety from the swarm

I overcome
in His name
the Name above all names
Jesus Christ of Nazareth
frees me from all shame

The chains fall off
in freedom’s song
as Jesus moves in me
His Presence defines
who I will become
as unveiled I begin to see
that as I look
into His face
all else fades away

I am His
He is mine
and beside Him will I always stay

I belong.

(because some days
the words write themselves out of these hands,
and in thankfulness for all He is,
I follow His plans)

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And if like me, sometimes you need God to sing the reminder of who you are over you, please listen to:
Jason Gray: Who i am to You

step back & behold, beloved

When we’re not so busy pushing in to belong, we step back and behold. We find we’re beloved right here with wide spaces for God to work.
Alia Joy, http://www.narrowpathstohigherplaces.com

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We need space in order to appreciate the bigger picture.

When we hold things too tight or are too insecure to take a step back, we can miss what is really going on:

You are beloved.
All the time.

There is nothing you can do to change how much God adores you. He may like your behavior more some days, but His love for you is secure.

God is always working for your good.
All the time.

He doesn’t start working on you, and get distracted by something new, and shuffle you to a waiting area or holding zone. He finishes all He starts.

We are in.
All the time.

Once you become part of the family, you are in. For eternity. You may lose sight of that truth, but God doesn’t.
You are secure.

The closer we hold things tight, the less room we give God to move in the ways He is longing to. We need space. Wide open spaces to run free, rest and be rejuvenated. Freedom to just be.

God is in those wide open spaces when we leave the room for Him to work in them.

I was in a job a few years ago that didn’t want to stay relegated to just being work. It wanted to invade home and private time, and refused to stay in the boundaries it needed to in order for me to keep working there.

God clearly told me to take the leap, let the job go and trust Him to work in the void it would leave behind.

I now work for 8 different businesses doing what I love to do. My job security has been left in God’s hands versus my own, and He has taken me further than I could have envisioned.

He knows me better than I know myself.

And I am so glad.

When we know we are secure no matter what, we are able to hope for the future, trust God will provide, and build our faith for God to move us beyond our expectations into our dreams.

I have a few areas left in my life that God has had me taken my hands off of trying so hard in, and trust they will happen in His timing. Not mine.

So as we wait for God, may we all experience the security in knowing He is for us, and He will bring all His plans for us to pass as we rest in His release and timing.