High Praise…
Papa…
Papa…
Oh Papa…Jehovah…Elohim…
El Shaddai…
I adore you. There is no one like you…
Your love surpasses the depths and heights and widths of the universes…there is no limit to your love…and your mercy… is for always and forever…
No dead ends…straight and narrow…all the way…
How can I praise you? I don’t have the words; so I will praise you with the Spirit…
I will speak heavens language the one you taught in the garden…
You will understand…
I will lift my heart’s soul to embrace you… You and I are one…
You flood my life with good things so that I am renewed and transformed into the likeness of the living one…you are each breath I take… you’re my hope…my dreams…my life… you are…you are…you are…
Holy Papa…the one who placed the stars in place….the one who named them all, one by one…. billions and trillions of stars singing your praise…the galaxies bow before you…orbits spin upon your finger… there are unknown dimensions…life flowing from every molecule…every being you created… and there is nothing that is made that was not made by your hands…
Papa…I exist because of you…and I will exist always in your presence
When my body turns back to dust…it does not end there…the instant my soul leaves this tabernacle…I am with you…I am with you even now…I know you and you know me…I have nothing to fear…I love you…I praise you and adore you…
I am in the realm of the unknown… it can’t be comprehended by human minds…that realm is more real this one…only by your precious blood I become born new…
That unknown place is where you dwell…and one day, any day we don’t know the hour, but…I will leave this shell and become instantly transformed and I will enter into life city…
City of light…city of peace…city of grace…city of living…breathing…abundant joy that never ends…continues on and on and on…
Because…
I am connected to the life source, my Heavenly Papa…
There will be music I’ve never heard and I will sing a new song, sung by The Song of Righteousness, The Song of Redeemed, The Song of Life. I will sing because, I will be home!
To Him who sits on the throne and unto the Lamb…
Be blessing and glory and honor and power forever…Amen!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 30, 2018
Revelation 5:13-14 The Message (MSG) I looked again. I heard a company of Angels around the Throne, the Animals, and the Elders—ten thousand times ten thousand their number, thousand after thousand after thousand in full song:
The slain Lamb is worthy! Take the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength! Take the honor, the glory, the blessing!
Then I heard every creature in Heaven and earth, in underworld and sea, join in, all voices in all places, singing:
To the One on the Throne! To the Lamb! The blessing, the honor, the glory, the strength, For age after age after age.
The Four Animals called out, “Oh, Yes!” The Elders fell to their knees and worshiped.
Hello My Name is God
Hey you…yeah you…the one reading this. You thought it was by accident that you came across this blog but it’s not…someone has been praying for…someone has seen your struggle and your hidden pain…
You thought no one cared…that you are just here by chance and that there is nothing in this life for you, that you have no purpose and when you die there is nothing more.
But someone has prayed for you. Someone does care. You are not here by chance and you do have a purpose. When you die there is so much more. But before you die, God wants to give you a full life right here, right now.
I want you to know that God knows you. He knows every hair on your head and he knows every thought you think and he knows the intents of your heart. He’s seen your tears your failures and your accomplishments…no matter how small or big and he’s been with you the entire time…
You may not know Him, yet…but he definitely knows you and He is calling you right now.
Don’t get freaked out…don’t run…don’t shut me out…I want to tell you about someone who loves you unconditionally and wants to meet you. He loves you and wants to help you.
God doesn’t sit up on a cloud waving his magic wand and everything bows to his demands. He’s not evil and He will never lie, he can’t lie. Yes he is worthy to be praised because He is love. Don’t you cheer for your favorite sports team? Don’t you applaud for someone when they achieve magnificent goals? Well God is worth so much more…
God is with you. He is present. But you can’t hear him or see him or touch him…because you don’t know him…you’ve never acknowledged him, because you didn’t know he was real.
God is real, he knows you, and he wants you to know him.
God this is my friend, the one you’ve been waiting to meet. Friend let me introduce you to God.
God: Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I am God. I’ve been waiting to get together with you. I formed you in your mother’s womb and I’ve been with you all your life. I want you to meet my son, Jesus. Jesus has something he wants you to know.
Jesus: Hi. I’d like to give you a bit of my back story. My mother’s name is Mary. Joseph is my earthly dad. But God is my father. I have a book for you to read, it tells you all about me and my family. It’s a number one best seller, full of interesting people and places, and I think you will enjoy what you read. Or because of modern technology you can even listen to an audio book or watch it on a DVD. Not only that, this book is alive and when you study it amazing things begin to happen. It tells you about my father and the wonderful things he made just by speaking words. It tells about kings and armies and wars. It tells all about my relatives and how I came to be born. It also tells you what the future holds. There are lots of secrets and mysteries but Papa wants to share every detail with you.
I was born in a little town called Bethlehem. My crib was actually an animal troth. Mom and dad weren’t wealthy and they had to go to Bethlehem for a census. This all happened about 2000 years ago. All the hotels were full so there was no room for my parents to stay in when they arrived there. But a hotel owner offered them a place in his barn. Oh and something I know you will really like is that there were these angels, messengers from my homeland, heaven, that showed up in a field and told some shepherd’s that I was being born and so they came to see me in the barn. It’s all in the book I was telling you about.
But don’t be overwhelmed by the size of the book you can read it a little at a time and if you get confused about anything it says, just ask Holy Spirit to help you understand, he will be your best friend and teacher. So there’s God the father, then Me, I’m the son, and there’s the Holy Spirit, he’s the one I promised to send so that he could live inside you and help you on your journey. He’s pretty cool. He won’t bully you or embarrass you. He’s gentle and very kind. He doesn’t show off and won’t intrude on your life if you don’t ask him. So don’t be afraid when He speaks to your heart. He’s Holy and will never brag on Himself, but He will tell you all about me. We are all part of each other but we also work on an individual basis with you to help you. Oh and by the way, you will have lots of brothers and sisters and people who have already met me and have been walking with me a long time, the faithful ones, they can also explain things you don’t understand. They meet on a weekly basis and sometimes during the week just to have fellowship with me and with each other. No pressure though. You learn at your own pace. I’m not here to judge you or condemn you. I’m here to help you and I will never push you or make you do anything you don’t want to do. It is totally your choice. I just want you to know that I love you and I want to give you a full, peaceful life.
Being your friend though I have to tell you, life is not easy and it gets real messy at times there will be heartache and pain that’s just part of life. I suffered a lot while I was there. But it was for a reason and that reason was to restore fellowship between God and his children. That’s where I come in, when you accept me as your Savior, the one who saves you. ‘You may ask saves me from what?’ I will restore the break in fellowship between you and the father. I restore life and take away death. It’s all in my book. We never intended for you to die…you were created to live. But our enemy Satan, tempted Eve in the garden; and Adam and Eve fell for the temptation. They disobeyed God and death entered into them and into every living thing. A way had to be made to restore life. So, I was sent to restore life. I know it gets a little complicated but if you will trust me and accept me, pretty soon you will understand. I want to give life back to you. Your body is made out of the dust of the earth and it will return to dust. But your spirit will live forever…if you accept my redemption you will live forever, you will not die. It’s difficult to understand with the natural mind…Holy Spirit opens your spiritual eyes when you ask me to come into your heart. He comes in and the light comes on. The secret is, but it isn’t really a secret…it’s done by having faith in me. Faith is a substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. When you believe and have faith in God…everything becomes crystal clear…it’s as if you were walking around blind, in darkness and when you say yes to Holy Spirit He floods your heart and mind with my light, then grace and life are restored.
It’s simple really…but you won’t know until you say yes and really mean it with all your heart.
So you’ve met me today, you’ve heard a little bit about me the question is…
Will you accept me as your best friend? Will you become part of my family? Do you want to see the light? The decision is yours…I hope you will, because I want to be your best friend…I want to show you so many wonderful things that you will never see or know if you reject me. I want you to be part of the family. I will love you anyway…but I won’t be able to save you unless you say yes!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 30, 2018
John 10:9-11 New King James Version (NKJV) I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Romans 10:9-10 New Living Translation (NLT) If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
John 15:15 New International Version (NIV) I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Hebrews 11:1 King James Version (KJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Ephesians 2:8-9 New International Version (NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
The Perfect Rose
Image by Marla Shaw O’Neill
(The Perfect Rose is written by my Aunt Rose. She writes beautiful poetry and stories that I’ve come to love and treasure over the years and I want to honor her and share them with you. I will be sharing, “Writings by Aunt Rose,” frequently and I hope you will be as blessed as I have been. Aunt Rose is an octogenarian. She has a beautiful heart and loves to share Jesus with others. She doesn’t use the computer, so all of her writings are sent to me hand-written which makes them even more precious. I hope you will come to love and admire her as well.)
I would like to tell you about the power of God shown to me through a beautiful, long-stemmed rose. When I first received the rose it was vibrant and beautiful. It stood straight and tall in its glory.
The beauty of the blossom represents the beauty of a new born believer, who has just come to Christ. It’s beauty declares, “Look at me, I’m a new creature in Christ, the old is gone, I’ve been made new!” It’s a wonderful reminder of the joy of the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit when God first drew us to Him.
The stature of the rose, reminds us that it’s only through God’s strength that we may stand straight and proud and know who we are in Christ. It is Christs’ righteousness that enables us to stand tall and beautiful. We cannot do this within ourselves.
I put the rose in a vase of water and set it on the table to be admired. I enjoyed its beauty for a few days, and then I noticed a change.
The water the rose was in, represented the Holy Spirit. The beautiful rose had not taken advantage of all of God’s benefits. The bloom was fading and losing its strength. A day or two passed and the bloom began to wilt and droop. The wilting and bowing of the bloom represents the new Christian who is weighted down by trials and circumstances of life that come to us all.
As I looked at the rose, I wondered what I could do to revive it. This is the attitude we should all have toward one another. We should ask God to use us to minister and encourage. We should approach each other with love and tenderness, not with condemnation.
With gentleness and love I took the once beautiful rose and laid it on my counter top to survey the problem. In God’s Word there are solutions to specific problems. Jesus Christ is the solution.
First, I noticed the tip of the stem was black. This represents the sin that we let creep back into our life~ God still loves us through our failures. The sin separates us from the “Living Water.” This Living Water needs to be soaked up into our very being in order for us to have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Otherwise we would only have “religion.”
I cut the tip-off, representing the pruning of the bushes and trees in order for new growth and the multiplication of *good fruit. God periodically prunes the dead branches from us so that we may grow stronger and bear better fruit. The dead branches represent the root and decay that stunts our growth in Him; decay also represents sin.
I put fresh water in the vases which represented the refilling of the Holy Spirit. We may be renewed and refilled as often as necessary, Jesus said, “Once you receive this water I give to you, you will never thirst again.” Next, I added two aspirin which represents the nourishment from God’s Word which we need daily in order to grow into more productive Christians. Jesus stood on His father’s Word against Satan and so should we. We need the “Bread of life.”
I did all I could for the blossom, now God would give the increase.
*Galatians 5:22, 23, 25 ~ but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace longsuffering, gentleness, goodness faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
I set the rose on the window sill to draw strength from the sun and away from any disturbance. This represents us placing ourselves away from any distractions that prevent us from being in His presence. We must give God our undivided attention to be able to hear what he wants to tell us.
As each day passed, a miracle was taking place. The flower was receiving warm and tender mercies from the sun and began to lift its head. This represents the new and tender mercies we may receive from the S-O-N, daily, no matter what our failures are or mistakes we make, He is there to lift us up to higher ground because He loves us.
The bloom was able to raise its head and be proud of how it was in the beginning; realizing God is the source of life. This represents God’s love for us. No matter how low we’ve become, through Him, we may be revived. We may become strong like the mighty oak, rooted in God’s Word.
Once again the rose can become like the perfect rose God planned it to be~
~Rose Gandy March 22, 1998
God I Surrender
Life is hard
The road often steep and rocky
Up and down and all around we go…
And even though
We know…
We do not walk alone…
Often the circumstances cause us to long for home…
Heavy heart and heavy load, God I know you walk this road
With me, even when I cannot see, you are here…I will not fear
I know that this too shall pass…
I know you have a good future for me, I need only to let go of the past…
And so I lift my head and heart and open my mouth with a shout…
I WILL WALK BY FAITH, NOT SIGHT…
Though evil surrounds me with the darkest night…
Though you slay me, I WILL TRUST YOU, even if I lose sight…
I know that You will guide me…
For LORD where else shall I go?
What shall I do?
You have the words of eternal life…
I choose you!
Victory comes through obedience
Praise, makes away…
Into the Presence of the Living God
From age to age
I will be brave…even when I’m afraid…
For I do not walk alone
I’ll keep a grateful heart in thankfulness
Even when I face the abyss…
God you’ve promised this…
That as I walk in holiness with you
I will live and not die…
You are by my side…
I need only to abide…
With you!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 25, 2018
John 6:64-69 The Message (MSG) Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, “Does this throw you completely? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from? The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen. Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this.” (Jesus knew from the start that some weren’t going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”
After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”
Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.”
Presence of God
I bless you God…I thank you for loving me and giving me life…
I thank you for Jesus…my friend, my savior, my King…
You are everything…
Such peace…sitting in your presence….I breath in your fragrance…there is no myrrh…no bitterness… only refreshing and contentment…
Oh father…father…you are so good…so kind…there is no place I’d rather be at this moment than with you…
There’s no sadness…no longing….no loneliness…there is only sweet and complete peace….
And as I write these words…I am engulfed in you…
I cry, but my cry is for more of you…O more of you…
Papa…Papa…the only word I can say is, Papa…
Divine Breath, you have breathed on me and I am full and content…
I am basking in a new dimension…a place not known to this world…
A place with my Papa…such peace…
If I could bottle this and give it out to all those who are hurting and broken…
If I could pour it out as a tonic and an ointment to bring them comfort and ease…
Oh I would in a heartbeat…
But I don’t have to…because you already did that…
All we have to do is enter into your rest…
You are here…you are now…and you always will be!!!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill July 24, 2018
Revelation 1:8 Amplified Bible (AMP)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega [the Beginning and the End],” says the Lord God, “Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all].”
Spirit and Truth
Image by Marla Shaw O’Neill 7/24/2018
I haven’t doodled for a while but still listening to Lisa Mitts song, Divine Breath, I felt compelled to do this angel…God has been speaking to my heart about praise…when we praise Him in total surrender and in Spirit and Truth…He is delighted… strongholds are broken, the devil runs from us, and God is in our midst…Praise opens doors for victory and closes doors of defeat…
Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together! Amen! (Psalm 34:3)
I Am Yours
This song, Divine Breath was written and performed by my dear friend Lisa Mitts and it inspired me to write the poem. We hope it blesses you.
You can purchase the album by clicking the link below.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/divine-breath/1375016494?i=1375016496
