Be Courageous Be Bold Hebrews 4:16

Life wouldn’t be worth living without you in it

I stop, look around and count the minutes

When you are away, I bow my head and pray…

Lord, keep my sweetheart safe and sound

Let him know that until I found

Him…I was incomplete

Life was bitter, not sweet

I’d think…

If only I could meet that special someone

I would dance like there’s no tomorrow

I would sing loud and strong

For when he came into my life, I sang a brand new song

Our eyes met, and how we set

For hours all day long talking on the phone…

It was, as if, I had been born again…

Lightening flashed…as thunders blast…

True love came to me at last…

Your eyes glistened

My heart listened

No other one could fill the place

Reserved in my life but you my love…

In a thousand years there could never be

Anyone else I’d rather see

Than you staring back at me, for all eternity…

I love you, my precious one…no one else will do, but you!

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 16, 2017

Matthew 19:6Darby Translation (DARBY)

so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

 

Mary had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow…

Seven eclectic dwarfs off to work they’d go

Jack-and-the-bean-stalk…Fe-fi-fo-fum

Tittle dee and Tittle dum

Mother Goose and her Nursery rhymes

Travel through the hour-glass-of-time…

Two, three, or twenty-three, forty-three or sixty-three

All young at heart in fantasy…

Living ever after…happily…

In make believe and children’s dreams

But life is not a fairy-tale

For under the bed lurks the Big Bad Wolf…

Taking little children to Neverland…

There is no Peter Pan…

Mothers and fathers beware…

Evil lurks everywhere…

Be watchful, be prayerful…never let down your guard…

God gives us wisdom to protect

Those temporally within our care, never neglect…

Let the sword of the Spirit be swift to cut…

Slaying dragons; opening them up…

No golden egg or gambles make

Not when our children’s lives are at stake

Be wise as serpents; make heaven your goal…

Babies are treasures to love and to hold…

Now I lay me down to sleep…

I pray the Lord my soul to keep…

Pray without ceasing to see another day

Follow the truth, the life and the way.

No magic wand will ever do…

When God’s spoken word has been proven to you…

Be diligent, be bold

There is no fairy god-mother to grant your little ones wishes

It’s more important that you bestow kisses…

No Prince Charming could ever do this…

Love unconditional and with tenderness

For God is the one who grants beauty for ashes

No ring around the rosy…or pocket full of posies…

With God in our heart, we will not fall down…

Triumphantly we will wear a crown…

And live eternally.

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 16, 2017

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in [the due] time; having cast all your care upon him, for he cares about you. Be vigilant, watch. Your adversary [the] devil as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist, stedfast in faith, knowing that the selfsame sufferings are accomplished in your brotherhood which [is] in [the] world. 1 Peter 5:6-9Darby Translation (DARBY)

Every word of God is tested and refined [like silver]; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him. Proverbs 30:5 Amplified Bible (AMP)

Enter into the Holy of Holies…

God is there

His presence pure and Holy, illuminating, sustaining…

Grace, Mercy, Hope and Love…

He ripped the veil.

Travels into the depths of hell…

Jesus took the keys…

No longer captives, redeemed…set free…

Full access to the Holy place

Where God’s amazing grace…

Shows us his brilliant face…

Holy Ghost and Fire promised our desire

To come into the Holy of Holies…

No more lock out

Full access

The password, His Blood …

We enter

Where only High Priest had trod…

We are able now to speak to God

Face, to, Face!!!

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 16, 2017

Ephesians 2:18 New Living Translation (NLT)

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

Hebrews 9:1-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

Old Rules about Worship

That first covenant between God and Israel had regulations for worship and a place of worship here on earth. There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out over the Ark’s cover, the place of atonement. But we cannot explain these things in detail now.

When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room as they performed their religious duties. But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.

This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.

Christ Is the Perfect Sacrifice

So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity.

Kings searching for the one who the heavens declare…

Messiah, Yeshua, the perfect holy lamb…

Seeking til I find Him…

No woe will stop my search…

I’ll seek Him with my whole heart

I’ll find Him in this earth…

Through days and months of steep terrain

Cold nights and pouring rain…

Starlit nights to guide me there

I’ll seek until I find Him where…

Wells of living water quench my longing thirst

When I find the one, whose birth

Will save the world and set men free…

Driven by the Spirit in me…

I will seek Him and find Him, until life is what I see…

The face of Messiah sent from YHWH

My soul will not rest until I behold Him…

I will journey night and day…

Consumed every moment

I’m the seeker of the Lord…

Now, beholding Him, a small child

The search worth every moment, every mile…

Seeing Him face to face; He smiles.

I’ll follow Him with my whole heart…

The journey only begins…

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 16, 2017

Psalm 42 Living Bible (TLB)

As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. Where can I find him to come and stand before him? Day and night I weep for his help, and all the while my enemies taunt me. “Where is this God of yours?” they scoff.

Take courage, my soul! Do you remember those times (but how could you ever forget them!) when you led a great procession to the Temple on festival days, singing with joy, praising the Lord? Why then be downcast? Why be discouraged and sad? Hope in God! I shall yet praise him again. Yes, I shall again praise him for his help.

Yet I am standing here depressed and gloomy, but I will meditate upon your kindness to this lovely land where the Jordan River flows and where Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar stand. All your waves and billows have gone over me, and floods of sorrow pour upon me like a thundering cataract.

Yet day by day the Lord also pours out his steadfast love upon me, and through the night I sing his songs and pray to God who gives me life.

“O God my Rock,” I cry, “why have you forsaken me? Why must I suffer these attacks from my enemies?” Their taunts pierce me like a fatal wound; again and again they scoff, “Where is that God of yours?” ¹¹ But, O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God!

 

 

Standing at a crossroad

On the road to nowhere

Alone and tired

Caffeine wired…

How’d I get here?

Which road should I take?

Doesn’t really matter either ones a mistake…

Turn around; go back the way you came…

No one cares which way you go,

There’s no one to argue with, and no one to blame…

Take the sure road you know where it goes…

Why’d you leave anyway, do you even know?

Sometimes you just want to go…

To nowhere…

Dead end streets…

Stopping to weep…

Stories deep…

Chimney sweeps…

Needing sleep…

I’ll just keep…

Driving, get out of my way

Beep, beep, beep

Where’s my map?

Taking a power nap…

This too shall pass…

Headed back…

To nowhere fast…

Fill the tank with gas…

Circles, traveling in circles…

Arrived in nowhere at last…

Sometimes you need to ask…

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 15, 2017

 

The dead man listened, but how can a dead man hear? But there he is walking and talking, but he is in darkness, and blind until a tiny light is revealed and he begins to see…

Dead ears come alive to words he hears spoken

I breathe and sleep and function fully, yet, I am in darkness

I do not realize it as being dark; I do not know I’m dead

Suddenly

My eyes are open and I see a brilliant light

Heart pounding

Someone speaking, “Do you want to accept…?”

My nerves are tingling

My senses heightened… “What is this?”

I hear the words spoken, “Dead in trespasses and sin…”

Time stands still…and again I hear, “Do you accept Jesus the son of God into your heart?”

A tug of war rages within my mind

Death and life are fighting

Darkness tries to snuff out the light…but the light is too strong…

I try to speak, my mouth is dry, then I cry… “Yes! Yes I do!”

A gust of wind blows into my dead heart, and instantly God breathes new life into me, and I become a living soul…

New Birth~

First heartbeat, felt…pulse begins to beat…

I burst forth in exuberant joy…all the darkness vanishes and light comes pouring in from all directions…

I am no longer dead…I, am, alive!

God has redeemed me. Bought me back from the stone cold fingers of death. Bought me back with the blood of His son Jesus…more precious than gold or silver, that blood…

His blood poured out on Calvary now flows within me and I am no longer a…

Dead man…

I am ALIVE!

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 New Living Translation (NLT)

And when my body is laid to rest, I will not be in a cold dark grave, Oh No!

I will enter into heavens portals alive, vibrant, singing the song of the redeemed, alive forevermore!

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 15, 2017

   

In the Animal Kingdom there are many species…and sometimes I wonder about their personalities and behaviors and I relate them to humans…

There’s the sneaky squirrel, alert and cautious as he looks about coming down from the telephone wire onto the oak tree, runs along the branch and out onto a pole, where the bird feeder is stationed with seeds to feed the birds….He doesn’t care about the birds, what he wants is the food…and he will do all his amazing tricks to get to that food…after all, He is of the Animal Kingdom, Sir Squirrel, of Dudley!

Then there’s the sly fox. He waits until all the humans are out of sight and makes his way into the farm-yard and into the chicken coop…there he steals a chicken no one will miss this one, no one will even know the fox was there. Every fox for himself… “I am The Fox, mysterious and sly, no one can catch me.” Or so he believes…until there is a “fox hunt.”

Well I can’t forget the peacock, he’s majestic and serene. Prancing around in all his glory as he spreads his tail-feathers wide and says, “Look at me, I am something grand to behold…I’m beautiful, am I not?” Pride and arrogance he wears in a pompous display of color. King of the yard he struts.

Of course there are the peasants of the kingdom…the ducks and geese and chickens…the work horse and the oxen and the mules…

Oh we can’t ignore the mule. They are stubborn and rebellious… “You will not make me move one inch if I choose not too!” says the obstinate mule. “I do all the work around here and who says thank you, no one. So I will pout and sit until I feel like moving. Heehaw…heehaw!”

You could be a finicky cat, barking dog, pig, monkey or water buffalo…sheep, lion, dolphin, wolf…

Thousands of animals in the kingdom…

But my favorite in this kingdom is the eagle…He is the hunter…a loner… King of the skies…

He soars above the storm; he takes one mate for life. He goes through a deep depression and lives on the floor of the valley, for a season or so I’ve been told this may or not be true. (I heard this story many years ago.) His fellow eagles, which have also gone through this process, fly over the valley and drop food for him to eat. When the time comes, he has to decide if he wants to live or die. He will have to climb out of the valley, it’s difficult because his claws have grown and curled up making it hard for him to walk, little lone to climb. If he decides he wants to live he must drag himself up the mountain to a rock and beat his beak onto the rock, and scrape his claws, so he can survive. He lets out a cry so powerful he can be heard for miles. Then he dives off the mountain and flies straight up into the sky until he sees the stars…and shouts, “ CAW…CAW…Just he and God alone…Thank you God for giving me wings…thank you God for taking me through this trial and thank you God, for I know, I am not alone…I fly with you in the heavens, and I rest with you in my nest, you supply for my house-hold, my young ones, and my mate…Thank you God you made me this way…I am free…I am alive…I will soar! I have seen you with my eye and I have heard you speak my name…I am yours and you, God, are mine!

Yes the Animal Kingdom is prolific and magnificent…but more than all the Animals that God designed…It was man who he made in His image. When the light of Jesus comes into a man/woman’s heart…there is absolutely nothing more beautiful to God’s eyes. He loves you, and me, without measure…

Which animal personality do you see in you?

God sees you just the way you are…but loves you too much to leave you in darkness…that is why he sent the light…His son, Jesus! It’s time to climb out of the valley of despair and soar…let your cry be heard in the heavens…THANK YOU GOD FOR GIVING ME WINGS…

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 15, 2017

 Psalms 103:2-5 – Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (NKJV)

Isaiah 40:31 – But those who wait on the Lord  Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (NKJV)

 

Tip-toeing into the room, I watch as the tiny chest rises and falls

In perfect rhythm, a breath; signs that life is sweet…

This one is mine…

Eyes closed in sleep…

Face pure and innocent, no cares, no worries, a part of me lying there

A sign that life is complete…

What will you do my little one? What journeys will you seek?

I bend and tenderly kiss the cheek…

Of this child wandering in dreamland who does he/she meet?

My love goes beyond the stars, affection limitless, tremendous, endless…

On loan for a millisecond, then gone, time does not stand still…

Sleep, little one, sleep…

Just as we love our children and want the best for them, our loving heavenly father feels the same way about us.

Sometimes when we do not hear him speaking, or we don’t feel him near. It’s not that he has left us; for he said, he never would…he is just tip-toeing into our room and watching us sleep. Tears of joy filling his eyes, his heart so full of love for us, that he is speechless.

Rest, little one, rest! ~Papa

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 14, 2017

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31

I am my beloved’s, And my beloved is mine. He feeds his flock among the lilies. Song of Solomon 6:3 New King James Version (NKJV)

“And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.” Isaiah 59:21

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Psalm 112:1-2

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 2 Corinthians 13

• I’d like to recommend a book to you, it’s called, The Singing God by, Sam Storms. This book is amazing. Sam will open your eyes to the wonderment of God’s love and how he sings over his children. It has blessed me beyond words. You will love it!

 My maiden name is Shaw  which comes from: The English surname was also established in Ireland in the 17th century. Scottish and Irish: adopted as an English form of any of various Gaelic surnames derived from the personal name Sitheach ‘wolf’. Americanized form of some like-sounding Ashkenazic Jewish surname. (Ancestry.com)

I was born in Northern Alabama in Etowah County, in the city of Gadsden, 1954. My Dad was born in Cherokee county. I’m told that my Grandpa, “Paw Shaw” as he was known, could throw a rock and kill a rabbit. I was also told that he was a great baseball player and they wanted him to play professional baseball but he wouldn’t leave Alabama. He lived to be, I believe, 97 years old, I know he was in his nineties when he died. My grandma Shaw was in her nineties, as well, when she died. They were married for 75 years. I can hardly imagine that…SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS MARRIED. Some people don’t even live to be that old and yet they stayed married, that is something to ponder. Of course in those days that’s what you did, you stayed married for life.

My dad is 89 years old. I just talked to him he sounded good but he’s not as strong as he used to be…age has a way of doing that…we laughed and discussed a few things…Life sure is strange…but it goes on…

I didn’t grow up knowing my dad on a day to day basis, but I love him, and every time I call him and we hang up the phone I say, “I love you dad.” He says, “I love you too dar’lyn…I always have and always will, I love you dearly…”

No matter how old we get…there is nothing like talking to your mom or your dad…time slips away when we aren’t looking.

If your parents are living…call them…tell them you love them…even if they don’t say it back…some just don’t know how!

Love as if there is no end…

Forgive like there is no tomorrow…

And live as long and courageous as you can!

It’ll be gone too soon…so make the moments count!

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 13, 2017

I want a heart like His…

I want a heart like this, full of…

Love and compassion for the lost

To give at all cost…

My life totally spent, poured out, completely used up

At the end of my days…

Giving God praise,

Let me…

Touch the leper, so he will know that God loves him so…

Cast out demons so they will flee, setting the captives free…

Let the world hear my shout…Father I forgive them!

I want a heart like Him…

I don’t need to walk on water…

But I do need faith…

Or turn water into wine…

But I do need the Holy Spirit within

I don’t need shiny things

What I crave, is a heart that brings

Honor, glory, praise,

Worship, life, grace

Redemption, salvation, wholeness,

Freedom, peace

Joy, gentleness,

Friend of God,

Love…

Don’t let me miss

Having a heart like Jesus!

~Marla Shaw O’Neill June 13, 2017

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7 New King James Version (NKJV)