God's Everlasting Love

Walk By FAITH, NOT By Sight!

Jeremiah 31:2-6The Message (MSG)

2-6 This is the way God put it:

“They found grace out in the desert,
these people who survived the killing.
Israel, out looking for a place to rest,
met God out looking for them!”
God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.
Expect love, love, and more love!
And so now I’ll start over with you and build you up again,
dear virgin Israel.
You’ll resume your singing,
grabbing tambourines and joining the dance.
You’ll go back to your old work of planting vineyards
on the Samaritan hillsides,
And sit back and enjoy the fruit—
oh, how you’ll enjoy those harvests!
The time’s coming when watchmen will call out
from the hilltops of Ephraim:
‘On your feet! Let’s go to Zion,
go to meet our God!’”

See Matthew Henry’s Commentary it is amazing!!!

Chapter 31

This chapter goes on with the good words and comfortable words which we had in the chapter before, for the encouragement of the captives, assuring them that God would in due time restore them or their children to their own land, and make them a great and happy nation again, especially by sending them the Messiah, in whose kingdom and grace many of these promises were to have their full accomplishment. I. They shall be restored to peace and honour, and joy and great plenty, Jer. 31:1-14. II. Their sorrow for the loss of their children shall be at an end, Jer. 31:15-17. III. They shall repent of their sins, and God will graciously accept them in their repentance, Jer. 31:18-20. IV. They shall be multiplied and increased, both their children and their cattle, and not be cut off and diminished as they had been, Jer. 31:21-30. V. God will renew his covenant with them, and enrich it with spiritual blessings, Jer. 31:31-34. VI. These blessings shall be secured to theirs after them, even to the spiritual seed of Israel for ever, Jer. 31:35-37. VII. As an earnest of this the city of Jerusalem shall be rebuilt, Jer. 31:38-40. These exceedingly great and precious promises were firm foundations of hope and full fountains of joy to the poor captives; and we also may apply them to ourselves and mix faith with them.
1 of 2

Come Up Higher

 

My heart was grieved this morning and I don’t know why. I always feel like I’m out of sync with others…they don’t see what I see in the spirit. And I feel like I just don’t fit.

God said, you’re going to go a little deeper… I’m taking you up a little higher…you’re not going to peck with the chickens I’m taking you higher to soar with the eagles in heavenly places…

Don’t be concerned that you walk a little different and talk a little different and others don’t seem to grasp what you’re saying…

I’ve called you to be a warrior of prayer an intercessor…you won’t fit…

Rejoice daughter/son…this is your destiny…this is your calling…its lonely being alone but you are not alone…I’m giving this gift to you; you are going to sit in the very throne room with me!

The war rages but that’s OK because you have the power in my name, you have your sword which is my word…and you have my Spirit the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you. Keep your eyes and ears tuned into me…in the spiritual realm you are a general…and you get your orders directly from Me, says the Lord.

Don’t cry, rejoice! Demons tremble…souls run to me because of your prayers…don’t stop…don’t quit…keep going!!!

Put on the Helmet of Salvation-Keep your eyes and your mind stayed on me

Shield of Faith-Dispels the darts of the enemy

Breastplate of Righteousness-Being right in God

Girdle of truth-Jesus is the Truth

Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace-My Shalom total and complete peace, in death, in life, my peace is in you and surrounds you.

Prayer…the Key to heavenly places…Ask and it shall be given you, Seek and you will find, Knock and the door will be open to you.

The greatest of these is Love…My Love…just keep giving it…sow it…you will reap a harvest…

February 9, 2016

Marla Shaw O’Neill ~Abba, Father God!

ARE YOU WHEAT

 

 Are you Wheat?

I’m been following him at a distance. I’m poor, not in the best of health and I’m a girl. I don’t want to bother him, I know he’s very busy and there are others who need his attention more than I do.

He’s in the city today, crowds are gathered all around to hear him. I’m standing alone, with the donkeys. No one will shew me away here, and I can still listen to what he has to say.

My name is Miriam, a common name, with no real significance. My parents sold me to a merchant when I was ten. Then he died suddenly. My parents had also died; no one needed a servant girl so I was thrown into the streets. I live in a nearby cave on the outskirts of the city. I’m now sixteen. I pedal fruit, but people say I’m just a beggar. I only want to hear this man’s words. They call to my heart and maybe just maybe he’ll help me understand how to be a blessing to others. Maybe he will show me, this kingdom he talks about.

I’ve heard he’s kind. I’ve never gotten very close but close enough to see with my own eyes that there is something different about him.

Oh, he’s leaving…the donkey’s shift, I’ve got to follow him, but I’ll keep my distance. I hear someone say, he’s headed for the seashore.

They call him Yeshua.

There are too many people I can’t get up close; I’ll try to squeeze in closer.

“Excuse me, what did he say?” I asked.

“Sh, be quiet. I’m trying to hear him, myself. He said something about wheat and tares.” The man next to me looked at me with contempt and held his nose. “You need a bath.” He said.

I cower down and try to stay invisible.

“And while men slept the enemy came at night and sowed tares in with the good wheat and then he left, so that no one could see who he was.” Said the master.

“The wheat grew up and with it, tares also. The servants of the house came and said, “Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did these tares come from?”

“The enemy did this.” The master of the house said.

The servants answered and said, “Then we should go and dig everything up.”

But the master said, “No, if you root up the tares you’ll also root up the wheat. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then, gather the tares first. Tie them up and put them in bundles to be burned, and then gather the wheat for my barn.”

Oh my, I want to be wheat for the master. I don’t want to be burned up like the tares. I wish…Oh that could never happen, still, I wish I could meet him, this Yeshua.” I think to myself.

A week later I’m in the market place there’s a big commotion going on down the street. I run to see what’s happening. There he is, Yeshua, he’s riding on a donkey. Everyone is singing Hosanna and laying palm branches on the street before him.

Yeshua stops, gets off the donkey and looks straight at me. I’m frozen in time. My heart fills light and I just stare back at him. Then suddenly, he calls my name. “Miriam.”

At first I think I only imagine it, because he said it so softly, almost a whisper. I point to my chest, and asked, "me?”

He nodded, “Yes, you!”

I smooth out my dirty dress, run my hand over my hair and slowly take steps towards him.

Everyone clears a path, almost as if I’m royalty. As I make my way to Yeshua, the only thought I have is, He called me! The dirty little beggar girl, unloved, invisible and alone.

“I’ve seen you from far away, but I felt your heart's longing, beckoning me, seeking me. Today I have called you to come follow me. You will no longer be alone. You will not wander in the streets or beg for food or lodging. You are healed and set free from bondage. You are my daughter.” Yeshua smiled and held out his hand to me, then gave me a tender embrace.

I heard the gasps all around me, as, his light engulfed my heart. I felt clean, pure, and free. Joy filled my heart and I began to cry tears of hope, of love and of freedom.

I am, wheat, I am a child of the King.

A woman from the crowd takes my hand and says, “Miriam, I am Mary, come with me. I'm taking you to your new home."

For the first time in my life I am visible, I am loved and I am a child of the Messiah.

Parable of the Wheat and Tares is found in Matthew 13:24-30

By Marla Shaw O’Neill February 4, 2016©

A Sower Went Out to Sow Seed

Good Ground

I breath in the fresh sea air…I look out over the water, and then, land, and watch the gulls circle once, as if in respect for him. Everything becomes still and quiet. I stand among the people who have gathered here by the sea to hear him. They say he’s the Messiah…

Thousands of people are here as far as the eye can see. Some want to kill him…others just want to see what he’ll do next…some are sick and diseased. Women and children, who normally wouldn’t hear the scriptures, listen intently. He is different; he doesn’t speak like the rabbi’s in the temple. His countenance is peaceful and gentle. Yet he has authority and power but with humility and meekness.

I saw him heal a man who was blind. That got my attention. Today I just want to hear his words. I’ve never heard anyone speak the way he does. His words make me want to be different. I believe, he is, the Messiah.

I notice there are no scribes or Pharisees here…I guess it would be beneath them to come to the sea-shore. I’m glad they’re not here, they’re always causing division and confusion. Although it doesn’t seem to bother this man, this man called Jesus.

There in a ship he sits and begins to speak. A sower went out to sow seeds…some fell on by the way side; birds came and ate the seeds that had fallen. Some fell on stony places, there wasn’t much soil, they sprung up but because there wasn’t much soil, when the sun came up they were scorched; they had no root, they withered away.

Some of the seed fell among thorns but the thorns grew and choked out the seed. But some fell in good ground and grew strong and produced fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold and some thirtyfold.

As Jesus talked I began to see exactly what he was saying. He is the sower, his word is the seed, we are the soil. He’s talking about people…I have the feeling that only those who are enlightened by him can understand what this story really means. The man next to me is irritated and wants to leave he’s hot and tired and his little boy is beginning to be restless too. The words of Jesus mean nothing to him.

But the woman on the other side of me is crying; Jesus’s words are touching her heart.

And me, well I’m ready to follow him wherever he goes…His words are seed that are being planted in my heart. Praise the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, my heart is good ground, the roots grow deep. He is the Messiah! I will follow him.

This Parable is found in Matthew 13:1-23

By: Marla Shaw O’Neill February 3, 2016©

A Woman Goes to the Well

 

 

 Woman at the Well

How many times have you gone to the well of life so to speak, and all you got was muddy water, hateful stares and a sore back from carrying the water pitcher?

You get up day after day, week after week, then months turn into years and all you get is the same old thing. You’re on your fifth relationship and that one isn’t working either…the women in the community won’t have anything to do with you. They whisper when you walk up and they call you a half-breed. You’re a Samaritan, the lowliest of the low. What beauty you had, has faded and that was more of a curse than anything else; you’re simply worn out by life from making wrong choices.

So, after all the other women have left, you go to the well…you don’t want to hear their gossip and see their accusing eyes. You’re over it!

Its noon time, it’s hot but that’s nothing new you’re used to that. You notice a Jew sitting by the well. What now? You wonder. Jews don’t usually come through Samaria. You try to ignore him. But he speaks to you.

 

"Give me a drink of water."

Sometimes when we least expect it…we have an encounter with someone who is the least likely to speak to us and it surprises us.

Today this is what happens to the Samaritan woman. She’s going to have a well-drawing experience, which will change her life forever!!

You know the story, if not you can read it in John chapter 4:1-42

If Jesus asked you for a drink of water, what would you do?

He was a Jew, she was a Samaritan…

The Samaritans worshiped Yahweh, but on a different mountain. They were mixed breeds. The Jews looked down on them and despised them, but not Jesus. He was constantly turning the customs of the day upside down.

Jesus was no ordinary Jew, Oh no; he was the son of God!

She had no clue.

That day the water she drew was not from Jacob’s well…cloudy, unfulfilling water…No she received pure, clean, fresh, everlasting water from the Well of Jesus… she would never thirst again…and not only did she receive this water…but she ran to her village and told everyone what Jesus had said to her.

 

“Come see this man that told me all about my life…”

 

Because of her testimony they also believed! They didn't want him to leave. He stayed there for two days.

This story has been told for over two thousand years…

It doesn’t matter your race, or gender Jesus is sitting at the local well, waiting for you to arrive. He wants to give you living water!

What will you do?

Will you believe me, a woman, who is telling you about the Messiah? Or will you come and hear him for yourself?

He is the Messiah! The Savior!

Are you thirsty? Are you broken and weary? Are you tired of the struggle, the lies, and the empty life that never satisfies? Are you tired of the treadmill that never ends? Spinning around and around but never getting anywhere?

Come to the well…

Jesus will give you living water and you will never thirst again. 

DO YOU PRAY TOO MUCH

1 Thessalonians 5:17King James Version (KJV)
17 Pray without ceasing.

Someone said something to me recently that just made me shake my head in amazement. “Is it really necessary for you to pray that much?”

Are you kidding me? Really?

I’m not offended, but I am shocked, because this person is a Christian.

Mother Teresa said this about prayer…To love as God loves, meeting daily with Him through prayer is essential. Without it love dies. Mother Teresa stressed its importance by saying, “What blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul.”~

Without blood we die. Without breath we die…without prayer we die…

Prayer is communion with the living God…

I love God so much I want to know him more…I talk to him constantly…and you know what…he talks to me too…

Now some may say I’m a fanatic…well praise the Lord because that just means I have a passion for him more than others may have…I like something more than you do. Yes I’m a fan of God!

God loved me so much, he sent his little boy to die for me…I wouldn’t do that for anyone…

He pulled me out of a deep, dark, dirty, pit…he put joy in my heart, gives me a peace that I can’t begin to explain…and an abundant life I never dreamed I’d have. He gave me a huge family of brothers and sisters from all over the world and filled me with grace, His HOLY Spirit and gave me life forever…

He protects me, and surrounds me with Love and goodness…instead of death he shows mercy…and forgiveness…Yes I do talk to him constantly…I always will!

"Lord, teach us to pray." –Luke 11:1

"After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed." –John 17:1

"They all joined together constantly in prayer." –Acts 1:14

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." –Ephesians 6:18

"Pray continually." -1 Thessalonians 5:17

The Good Father

The Father is Looking for you!

Luke 15:20
20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
 
Father of the Prodigal…

Every day I stand at the window and watch…

Looking for my son, and wonder...

Is he alive? Is he well? Will he ever come home?

For ten long years I’ve waited and watched
Is he lost to me forever…
I will never give up hope…

“God wherever my boy is, whatever he has done, protect him, bring him to the end of himself, and bring him home.” Amen.

It is dusk, the sun is setting. A gentle wind blows the wild flowers in the field…standing at the gate looking out to the east…a bent, dark figure approaches…He’s leaning on a staff, limping as he makes his way over the rocky path…rags cover his body, dust covers his feet.

I squint to see in the distance someone, a man walking…

Can it be…can it be…

My heart begins to pump faster, strength enters my body and joy floods my soul…

It is…It’s my son…

Darting out across the field…In a full run, I grab him and kiss him…the stench is ignored … he’s thin and dirty…that does not matter…my son…my son…

Thank God, thank God, it’s you…

God loves us with an everlasting love and rejoices when one of his children was lost then returns to him.

He’s a good, good father!

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Matthew 7:7-11