Tag: heart

what family looks like

Karla Lees

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Today is Family day here in Ontario, falling the day after Valentine’s.

Which got me thinking about love and family.

To me, there are three different types of family, which ideally represent the three main types of love:

The family we are born into is meant to be our Agape love foundation. Agape love is meant for each person, whether they know God or not. It was meant to be a love we offer regardless of how we like one another or not, by choosing to love. You may or may not have experienced this type of love in your family, which may make it hard for you to accept God’s choice to love you no matter what.

The family we choose is designed to meet our need for Philos love. Philos love is sisterhood/brotherhood love, the kind of companion or best friend love we all need. And it’s the one we choose for ourselves, based on our likes/dislikes. This kind of love can also not be what we hoped for or expect, as its based upon others.

The family which chooses us represents the best love, God’s love. Eros love is the deep passionate desire and longing kind of love, which initially draws hearts together to long for more besides agape (security) and philos (friendship) love.

All of human love is a pale reflection of the Love which was and is the source of them.

For we are fallible, and will let each other down, even those we love.

God’s love isn’t like ours. It’s puree without flaw. Deliberately chosen and eternally held dear.

His Agape love?
It is for always.
(John 15:12-13, Romans 5:8)

His Philos love?
It is for everyone.
(John 5:20)

His Eros love?
It is forever.
(Song of Song 1:1-4)

For His heart? His heart is:

●To place the lonely into families.
(Psalm 68:6)
●To restore the brokenhearted.
(Psalm 147:3, Psalm 34:18)
●To comfort the hurting and mourners. (Job 5:11)
●To hear your cries. (Isaiah 41:10)
●To fill you with His love. (Ephesians 3:19)
●To never leave you. (Romans 8:37-39)

If your family isn’t quite what you hoped for, wounded you or abandoned you…

If your best friend hurts you or your spouse breaks it off with you…

There is still hope to be found in love.

God’s love is the purest love there is. It is yours to receive, and He longs for you to be one of His.

For He not only made you, He loves you. No matter what. And He wants you part of His family.

Family here on earth may let you down. God never will.

Take a few moments to ponder His love for you.

Allow His love to bypass your wounds and walls, and fill you up beyond your imagination.

For if you invite His love in, He will come. His love cannot help but do so!

Family is about love.
Love which chooses one another even though there may be failures or wounding.

Family is at the heart of God.
For He is family all in One.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Ever loving one another, ever reminding us all we are wanted and loved.

As family.
As friends.
As the Beloved.

when God’s love letter appears unexpectedly

Karla Lees

I have searched the whole world to find you. You are My Beloved. The one I have chosen. The one I love.

I have a deep seeded cry I have left unspoken for a very long time.

It is possible to appear normal on the outside but to have a  broken piece within crying out for healing.

I know, because God showed up in the service today and read my mail.

I have struggled with a deep sense of loneliness for several years now.

Unshared.
Unspoken.
Unseen.

Or so I thought.

God knew.
God heard.
God saw.

Following a time of intimate worship this morning, our pastor shared what He had placed on his heart.

The first piece of mail was mine.

Just like the woman who had been bleeding for years, desperate for healing, I too was shocked that Jesus shared my most intimate need in public.

But I know why He did.

Just as that woman who touched His hem and was instantly healed, something needed to shift beyond what was touched within me.

I needed to hear He loved me, outloud.

That He passionately pursues me.

That I am His, and He is mine.

That I do not need to be lonely anymore within His love.

My heart is safe in His hands, and all my broken and restored pieces matter to Him.

Everything about me matters to Him.

And the same is true about you.

Today, let the lover of your soul in.

You too will be changed beyond imagination, and loved beyond measure.

Whether you are heart broken, single, married, widowed, on your own, in the family you were born in or welcomed into: you are loved.

Deeply.

Faithfully.

Eternally.

May His love be the best Valentine’s gift you too receive again today.

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Sunday Psalm: in the depths

Karla Lees

In the depths
where we hide our hearts
the deep cries are made

In the heights
of Heaven
Your tears at our plight
were great

For You so loved us all
You decided to send
part of Yourself
to meet our need
with the gift of Your son
merged with our DNA

Such depth to Your love

That very same babe
free to be a Rabbi of renown
who spread Your Words of love
as He walked through our towns
speaking peace to our hearts
and life into our hidden places

No matter to You
was too large or too small
You touched each of us
with the greatest Love of all

Such depth to Your Love

Never ending
Your love will go on and on
Forever
Your heart will beat for me
Drawing me out
from where I’ve hidden away
into Your embrace
which restores each day

Such depth to Your Love!

#SundayPsalm

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See Amid the Winter’s Snow

Karla Lees
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this carol in the hymnal I sang it from this past Sunday night!

See amid the winter’s snow
Born for us on earth below
See the tender Lamb appears
Promised from eternal years

Hail, thou ever-blessed morn
Hail, redemption’s happy dawn
Sing through all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem

I have two favorite ways I love to experience this carol.

The first is to sing it live. The hair raising wonder I get from the chorus stirs me each and every time I proclaim Him born.

But the second? Hearing Annie Lennox sing it in the way I only dreamed it could be sung.

A slice of heaven here on earth.

There are moments when we are struck dumb with wonder, and hearing this song on her latest Christmas album was one of them.

Because I know (last time I heard) that she is not a believer.

And she, along with many hundreds of other artists, record these carols on their Christmas albums, proclaiming the newborn King to be born.  Even though they don’t personally believe it.

Somehow, the wonder of who He is has leaked into the songs He has gifted to His people, and the world continues to proclaim Him despite not intimately knowing Him.

This only serves to reflect our humanity, doesn’t it?  How many times has someone spoken the expected response, when you know they don’t believe it for themselves?

We can be the same when it comes to our worship.

These words contain the Word Himself, and with His birth, we too are born anew, remade as His Beloved.

We are to enter the Christmas story, not as observers, but as part of the heavenly chorus proclaiming His arrival and kingship!

Today, if you hear one of the familiar carols, tune your mind to sing or hum along as your act of worship.  Savor the moment, even if you are standing in line for a gift or in the coffee shop taking a sip of sanity.

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Historical Background:
“See Amid the Winter’s Snow” was first published in England in 1871 under its alternate name “Hymn for Christmas Morn.” Words by Edward Caswell, music by Sir John Goss.

Your choice

Karla Lees

I was struck at the thought this morning that God leaves much in our hands, but nothing astounds me more than…

The ability to choose.

Choice. To head left or right. To move or stay. To say yes or no. To give or take. To forgive or hold s grudge.

Most of our life happens as a result of our combined choices.

And God, in His plans, leaves the choices up to us.

You see, He made His choice.

The cross and resurrection didn’t just happen. They were His deliberate choice to show us a better way. To reveal His heart for all humanity. To give us an option to choose real life versus being stuck in survival mode. To overcome and defeat sin, instead of being led by it.

His choice was us.

All of us.

His choice sets everyone free who chooses Him.

And there is the crux of the matter.

We need to choose Him in order for His choice to apply to us.

Without welcoming Him in, His choice hovers above without ever landing within the open hearts and spreading the Good News that we are His.

Our choices can block us from fully living as His.

And this free will was His choice.

You see, He loves us so much He wants our love freely given in return.

He wants to be our choice as much as He chose us.

Who wouldn’t want the one they love to return their love?

He made His choice when He laid down His life for you.

Now the choice is yours.
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PS. Tomorrow, unpacking our choices….

come Home

Karla Lees

Come home, hope-filled prisoners!
-God

He is always calling us back to Him.

This invitation is constantly being whispered to, sung over, insinuated as God reminds us, over and over, how much He longs for us.

Not just because He wants to be with us, in the romantic sense.

But because He wants us free.
Filled again with hope.
Rebuilt with His love as our foundation.
Putting His gifts within us to use for his Kingdom.

All of which primarily benefitting us.

Did you catch that, Beloved?

When we make it Home, He makes us whole.

The way we were always meant to be. The way He designed us to become.

Our part is to come Home.

Home is where our heart lives

.

And until our heart longs to be with God, we can be easily swayed by earthly pleasures and settle for trivial pursuits.

Imprisoned in a false home of our making.

Today, His heart is reminding you He is your true Home.

His arms wait for you to return, draw close and connect with Him.

The areas of bondage within us will stop at nothing to try to keep us bound, because there couldn’t be more than survival and the way things always are, could there?

I believe this verse gives us the clue.

Come home, HOPE FILLED prisoners.

We may even have to ask Him to stir up that very hope within us to be able to believe there is more than we can see, sense or feel right now.

He will.

He waits.

He loves.

He’s Home.

#songfortheBeloved

Sunday Psalm: heart cry

Karla Lees

I hear you
Beloved
My heart hears
your heart’s cry

I’m with you
Beloved
My heart beats
with yours

I am drawing you
deeper still
I am waiting here
for you
Come as you are
broken wounded
for nothing will
hold You back
from all I have
for you

So I will sing
over you
my Beloved
come as You are
as I sing
over you
You’ll draw near
even closer to me

I will never
stop singing
My love song over you
I will always
keep calling you
with all the longing
in my heart
Beloved
I am Yours
& you are Mine
forever

-God

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Sunday Psalm: Renewed Capacity

Karla Lees

The enemy likes to try and suck the hope and joy out of us, and diminish You in our eyes, O Lord.

Last night You spoke so clearly as You lovingly reminded Your Beloved that You are unchangeable.  Never fickle. Always loving. Forever good and holy.

Your capacity to pour into Your people is not the issue here.

Our holding on to You and not letting our hope fizzle out and our joy wither is.

Because if we are allowing enemy lies to be counted as truth, the hope and joy we have in You will begin to fade.

Only You cause our gifts to grow.
Only You can restore our Hope when all is dark.
Only You can bring joy when we have been long in the season of waiting.

But you don’t just leave us where you find us, God.

You take us beyond to the next beyond as the love You have for us becomes deeper as it unfurls.

You don’t just restore us, You add an increased capacity to hold even more of You!

I give my “But God,” “Why me,” and “How long” into Your hands. and in a beautiful exchange, You pour out increased faith, love, joy and a fresh wind of hope to enter the empty spaces left within by my feeble doubts and insecurity.

All I have comes from Your hands.

I believe You have more in store for Your Beloved.

There is a release of sweet grace entering this space reserved for You.

There is a heightened awareness of Your love, the fragrant aroma of Your heart beating for me.

The capacity to hold truth is being enlarged as You increase my ability to hear, sense, taste and see You.

No looking back over my shoulder except to review the ways You have blessed me and rescued me.

Onwards towards all You have for Your Beloved!

#SundayPsalm

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Sunday Psalm: Renewed Capacity

Karla Lees

The enemy likes to try and suck the hope and joy out of us, and diminish You in our eyes, O Lord.

Last night You spoke so clearly as You lovingly reminded Your Beloved that You are unchangeable. Never fickle. Always loving. Forever good and holy.

Your capacity to pour into Your people is not the issue here.

Our holding on to You and not letting our hope fizzle out and our joy wither is.

Because if we are allowing enemy lies to be counted as truth, the hope and joy we have in You will begin to fade.

Only You cause our gifts to grow.
Only You can restore our Hope when all is dark.
Only You can bring joy when we have been long in the season of waiting.

But you don’t just leave us where you find us, God.

You take us beyond to the next beyond as the love You have for us becomes deeper as it unfurls.

You don’t just restore us, You add an increased capacity to hold even more of You!

I give my “But God,” “Why me,” and “How long” into Your hands. and in a beautiful exchange, You pour out increased faith, love, joy and a fresh wind of hope to enter the empty spaces left within by my feeble doubts and insecurity.

All I have comes from Your hands.

I believe You have more in store for Your Beloved.

There is a release of sweet grace entering this space reserved for You.

There is a heightened awareness of Your love, the fragrant aroma of Your heart beating for me.

The capacity to hold truth is being enlarged as You increase my ability to hear, sense, taste and see You.

No looking back over my shoulder except to review the ways You have blessed me and rescued me.

Onwards towards all You have for Your Beloved!

#SundayPsalm

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Sunday Psalm: Hope’s Anthem

Karla Lees

The song lyrics to Hope’s Anthem is resounding through my heart this morning.

Its been a rough emotional week as I have been wrestling down discouragement & renewing my walk with Hope. 

This song is my new anthem, for my Hope is alive & arising within me from new depths today. 🙂

Sometimes what He has already spoken to another’s heart can become our anthem too.  This song encompasses where I have been and where I am headed. Straight into Hope’s embrace!

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Hope’s Anthem – Bethel Music

He’s awakening the hope in me
By calling forth my destiny
He’s breathing life into my soul
I will thirst for Him, and Him alone

He has come like the rain
That showers on the barren plain
So my heart and tongue confess
Jesus Christ, the hope of man

My hope is in You, God
I am steadfast, I will not be moved
I’m anchored, never shaken
All my hope is in You

He’s bringing hope to the hopeless
And giving His heart to the broken
And sharing His home with the orphan
He is the joy, He is my joy

He is the hope of the nations
The Father’s heart we’re embracing
He is the song we’re declaring
He is the joy, He is my joy

Why so downcast oh, oh my soul
Put your hope in God alone