Ebb and Flow

I have a theory that, as believers, we go through an ebb and flow in our relationship with God. I also think this ebb and flow is specific to each person. Some of us are closer to God when everything seems right in the world, we are on top of everything, and nothing seems to be able to get us down. That is when we worship the loudest, pray the most, and find ourselves in the Word the most.

Then there are those of us who move closer when the going gets tough. When everything goes wrong, our car breaks down, our finances seem to be coming up short, the whole world becomes a scary place and sends us running back under the cover of our Father. We seek Him out to make sense of the world and our problems. We read the Word trying to find solutions and we pray constantly, asking for answers and help and giving thanks when we feel the need to remember that things aren't so bad.

While being closer to God is good, why don't we stay close all the time? When we are at our most thankful and also when we are at the bottom of the pit and need a hand? Why do we struggle to see God in the good? Or struggle to seek Him in the dark?

More Pearls and A Bit on Beauty

Fear is faith in a lie.

The World doesn't read the Word, they read Christians.

Being a Christian means you are set apart from the world (Ephesians 5:1-2)

It is foolish to you, it is possible to me. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

You can't move forward when you are looking back. A tightrope walker never looks down.

Man's love is of man's life a thing apart
'Tis a woman's whole existance ~(Don't remember!)

The bible is a love story between God and His people. Christianity changes dramatically when we discover that it is a great romance. ~Captivating

Nature is not primarily functional, it is primarily beautiful.

Addictions are lovers of the heart. They are what we turn to instead of God. (Cigs, alcohol, facebook, internet in general, TV, etc) Our lovers have so intertwined themselves with our identity that to give them up feels like a personal death... we wonder if it is possible to live without them (The Sacred Romance)

These words are razors to my wounded heart- Shakespeare

We are not living in the world our souls were made for.

You are passionately loved by the God of the universe. You are passionately hated by His enemy.

God and Jesus thwart our plans for self-redemption. Or else we'll never turn fully to Him for help. (Hosea 2:6-7)  Captivating

We don't need to defend ourselves anymore. That's God's job. He is our Defender and Advocate. ~Captivating

We have to ask Christ to come and heal places in our hearts. He is a gentleman. If we still have them locked away....

For all the root of holiness is Romance.

Our changing relationship with God
             Clay-Potter
             Sheep-Shephard
             Servant-Master
             Child-Father
             Friends
             Bride-Bridegroom

If there is a space in our heart that only God can fill, there is a space in God's heart only I can fill, only you can fill.

Women are a mystery. Not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to enjoy.

Forced, striving beauty is no beauty to behold.

To let your defenses down is to let beauty step forward.

Do not give way to fear. (1 Peter 3:6)

A garden's beauty doesn't diminish with age; rather it takes years for it to become all that it can become. Such is with a tree, and with a person. ~Captivating

Beauty is a quality of the soul that expresses itself in the visible world.

Restoration has begun.

True femininity calls forth true masculinity.

If you would be loved, be loveable. ~Ovid

It is one thing to suffer. It is far worse to walk alongside one you love who is suffering intensely and be unable to do anything about it.

The heart is deceitful above all things. Jeremiah 17:9

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (Col 3:2)