New Website!!

hello friends!
for any of you who have subscribed and follow along,
my new blog website is
www.rememberthesparrows.com

I will be discontinuing writing on this one,
and picking up where I left off over on the new one!!

And there's a new post there just waiting to be read ;)

There's also a place to subscribe by email at the bottom of the homepage!

<3

of abiding and resting and hoping--never despairing in our dormancy.

snow-laden earth.
every branch, every tree, every surface.. weighed down.

when the world outside your window reveals the reality of your season inside.
and when what the eye sees is actually explaining what the heart feels.

heavy-laden soul.
every inch of you.. weighed down.
every hope, every dream, every desire.. seemingly hidden and laid dormant.


but beloved,
there's always two ways to see things.
through the lens of what you see and feel.
or through the lens of what you believe and hope for.

one has the foundation of your circumstances.
the latter has the foundation of His promises.


because, dear one,
sometimes it's those hard winter seasons, those barren places, where everything looks so-- bleak.
that He's actually teaching you to rest.


and what may look like the opposite of what we want and desire and dare I say, need--
is actually exactly what is necessary.
to truly learn to abide.
because when you can't change the external on your own,
there's no striving-- and there's room for learning to remain. in Him. through any season.


be encouraged today, friend.
that in that season of feeling barren-- a spiritual winter.
outwardly so un-fruitful.He's actually covering you,
cleansing you and purifying you.

there's rest for you in this place.

and a lesson in remaining.

because it's easy to abide when our lives are colorful and full of LIFE
but oh, beloved,
the secret is cleaving, continuing to be present, remaining as one with Him-- not becoming another or different, faithfully waiting--
in every season,
especially the barren ones.

because to remain faithful and abide, pregnant with hope, through the dormant seasons that are temporary,
comes with the promise--
unwavering and sure--
of [much fruit] come spring,
and fruit that remains.
for eternity.



and who knows these truths better than the One who tasted and felt and experienced the fullness of death, in every way,
yet clung to the promise of LIFE as His body, the very Light of the world and Bread of life-- lay in the ground-- dormant.

Hope for humanity was buried.
and to the natural eye-- dead.

oh, but He knew that upside-down Kingdom principle--
"I assure you, most solemnly I tell you,
unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone.
But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest".  John 12:24

what appeared and felt like death-- was actually producing life.

He knew the secret of abiding in His Father's love,
and resting in His promise.

and the words of the Son of Man, spoken right before He purposefully laid His life down-- entering a the ultimate season of bareness and death,
are loud and clear for you and me today,

I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me].  John 15:9


"but I will hope continually,
and will praise You yet more and more" Psalm 71:14

for in it's truest form, 
we hope for what we do NOT see yet.
what we do not FEEL yet.

and beloved, it takes faith.

"now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]." Hebrews 11:1

So lay aside what you feel,
and even what you see today, friend.
and take on fresh perspective to see as He does.

because the only way to really hope is to abide,
and the only way to really rest is to hope.

so put off discouragement,
cast down those burdens,
take up His yoke--which is easy and light--
and find the dormancy as a place of purification and rest--an opportunity to abide.
and see it as He does--
Him beautifully covering you.


and if you hold on and press in to the One acquainted with grief, sorrow, loneliness and loss, yet always abounding in hope and never losing sight--

there is always the promise of spring.
a harvest of fruit.
that will only be that much more valuable and precious.
because what we sow in tears-- and persistently, faithfully, patiently wait for even when we do not see it--
we will surely reap with joy.

and even more than that,
we'll know and live in that secret, sacred place--
abiding always in His love.

be of good cheer.

it’s the beginning of a new year.
and with it.. comes new hope,
new expectations, resolutions, goals, intentions.
we stop and reflect on what the past 365 days have brought, and purpose to work harder and do better and make our fresh, empty calendars full of only the good—for some that means doing less, for some that means doing more.

and don’t get me wrong, there’s wisdom in stopping and reflecting and pausing—asking God where we’re at and where He wants to bring us in this next season.
and there’s reason to refocus and regroup and recharge—resetting our goals and reorganizing our priorities all in realigning with His Word and heart for us.

but as we step into this next year, hopeful and expectant, purposeful and well-intentioned..

the Lord is highlighting and speaking two promises from John 16:33.
“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]!
For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you].”                  John 16:33 (amplified)                                                                                                       
 
we will have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration. 

2016 will not be just smooth-sailing, beloved.
There will be storms.
there will be waters and rivers and fires.
There will be desert seasons 

and wildernesses.

but
Church, He has also promised perfect peace and confidence.
He has promised we can be of good cheer [full of confidence and courage—certain and undaunted].
and dear one,
He has promised that He has ALREADY overcome the world—depriving it of its power to harm us and conquering it, along with its trials and stresses and pain, for us.




In Isaiah 43:2, He promises that when—not if--we pass through the waters He will be with us, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm us. When we walk through the fire, we will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon us.

Beloved,
there will be mysteries this year. There will be pains and trials that catch us off guard—things that we might not understand, and certainly not like.
but there’s a truth that needs to sink deep down into the very core of our being, wherever we are at today..

>>that running from Him will not bring the comfort or relief that we seek and desire.<<

[[ I hear Him calling, beckoning,
for us to settle it in our hearts that no matter what comes, no matter what circumstances—we’re going to stand on His Word and on the truth of His love for us. ]]

“I have told you all these things, so that you should not be offended (taken unawares and falter, or be caused to stumble and fall away).
They will put you out of synagogues; but an hour is coming when whoever kills you will think and claim that he has offered service to God.
And they will do this because they have not known the Father or Me.
But I have told you these things now, so that when they occur you will remember that I told you them.” John 16:1-4a