High Priest
White, Purity…
Blue, Heaven…
Gold, Majesty…
Purple, Royalty…
Scarlet, the Blood…
The bells I hear as he walks by…
Pomegranate seeds full of life, fruit, supplied…
High Priest sacrificed,
The lamb died…
Veil torn,
Now the presence of God
Inside…
Each one,
When you decide…
To walk in the presence of God!
–Marla Shaw O’Neill May 15, 2017
Hebrews 2:17-18 New International Version (NIV)
For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
I wrote this poem, with the colors of the High Priest’s garments in mind. The pomegranate symbolizing lives by the hundreds of seeds they contain and the sustenance they provide as a fruit. I thought some clarity was needed.
Show Me Your Glory…
I’m over taken with tears of thankfulness this morning…God will do anything and everything to show us His glory…He loves you! He loves me! His love is inconceivable to our mind, more compassionate than any human heart, and absolutely tangible to our souls. He’s tenderhearted towards his beloved…and to prove it, He died a painful, merciless death, to prove His love for you and me!
Moses said to God, “Please show me Your glory!
Oh God, show me your glory…
Let me draw near to that place beside you…
To stand upon the rock and watch as you pass by
The Rock of Horeb, where the water is brought
From Christ I’ll stand, and all is wrought
Safe at your right hand…
There is no greater glory than your presence
On the rock I will stand…
One small glimpse is all I ask
Favored by your grace and mercy
Come on child, I’ll remove my mask…
And you will see My goodness pass
I AM, is before you…
My glory will pass by you, as I hide you in the cleft of the rock
I will cover you with my hand and as I pass by
You will see the back of me…
But my face you will not see…
For my brightness would overtake thee
My mercy is the glory of my goodness…
And as you seek to know more of me…
I’ll open your soul to the mysteries…
Of depths and heights far beyond this world
To live with me eternally…
I AM is with thee!
–Marla Shaw O’Neill May 12, 2017
And he (Moses) said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
Then He(God) said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.” Exodus 33:18-23 New King James Version (NKJV)
Peace! Be Still!
It was in the evening and the disciples were out on the sea…a storm rose up and they were afraid…
You’re living life when a storm comes up, you’re being tossed around like a boat in the middle of a hurricane out on life’s sea…
You can rebuke your storm just like Jesus and say, “Peace! Be still!”
The winds cease, the waters calmly rest and the sky turns from darkness to a bright, calm starlit night…
When you are in the midst of the storm you can’t see the moon shine or the stars…all you can see is fear and the imminent destruction that is upon you…
But Jesus slept through the storm without any concern. Why?
Because, He is peace! And because He wants us to recognize we have the very same peace inside of us, if we will just stop looking at the tempest and focus on Him, the Prince of Peace, and say to the storm, “PEACE!” “BE STILL!”
After many years of reading those words in Mark 4:39, the words seem to run together, peace be still. This morning when I read them they jumped out at me and I saw them differently…Peace, Jesus our peace, The Shalom; our Healer, our Rescuer, Deliverer, Wind and Sea Commander, the one who lives inside of us, giving us the authority to say, PEACE! And all becomes still and calm.
Get this, it is evening, Jesus is sleeping peaceably in the boat as it is being tossed about in the rain and the wind, and it is dark… He is not afraid, he is not weary or frightened, no, he is sleeping.
To have that kind of resolve with complete assurance that nothing, not even a hurricane can touch his sweet sleep…understand you have the Prince of Peace IN YOU. You have that complete assurance and you too can sleep. You can rise up and rebuke the wind and the sea, and it must obey…Peace…be still…
The thing is, Jesus got a little irritated at his disciples because they had the peace with them the whole time…but they were afraid of the wind and the storm. They didn’t recognize they had the power to also speak to the wind and the waves and they would have obeyed them too!
Don’t be afraid when the storms in life rock your world (easy for me to say, but I’m learning this too)…Jesus is inside of you and with you in the storm…you don’t have to yell, “Jesus wake up, don’t you know we are about to perish?” Instead, speak His Words…”Peace! Be still!” And the same peace that he spoke to the wind and the waves that night, will obey, because Jesus’ Spirit is in you and he has given you and me the same power when we use it in faith!
Jesus is not sleeping, He arose, and when you truly understand this; Your spirit will rise up and take courage, you will speak to your storm, PEACE, be still! And the storm will lie down…the waves will cease and be calm, your thoughts will be light and unafraid…and in the center of the turmoil, the tossing will turn to steadfast assurance…and there will be a great calm.
Storm, I rebuke you right now…Peace! Be still! The wind and the waves obey in Jesus name. And there is a great calm. Amen!
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Mark 4: 35-39 NKJV
–Marla Shaw O’Neill May 12, 2017
God Makes Me As Surefooted as a Deer
While at the doctor’s office today a couple came in, they were older than me…LOL…the lady’s phone rang and I heard her talking to her daughter…I was trying not to ease drop but it was a small room so I had no choice.
She said, “Your dad is fine, nothing to worry about. We have two speeds, slow and stop…”
I laughed to myself…they were so cute…
And then I had an eye opener…
No matter how big we think our faith is…and no matter who we have praying for us…when you are faced with the possibility of receiving news of a terminal disease…it’s like you are holding your breath until it is confirmed one way or the other…
I have Faith in God…I know what he said is true…I’ve read story after story of how he heals and has healed me many times…and others I know he’s healed…why do we doubt?
Jesus asked Peter, “Why did you doubt me?”
I thought about this question a lot and in my heart and in my spirit I’d hear the Holy Spirit say, “You are not going to die now. You are going to be alright…” and I’d respond “I trust you God! You are my healer…and I thank you for my healing…”
And yet there’s that amazing relief when you hear the doctor say, it is not cancer…
Confirmation…relief and joy…
Why didn’t I feel that way before I got the news…?
Do we really believe God?
I had to repent…and say, “Jesus, I believe you, but help my unbelief.”
I believe he smiles and says, “It’s OK daughter, but go and sin no more! Your faith has made you whole!”
I also learned during this trial…that faith comes from the heart not your head…
Jesus wants our heart…
Search me O God and know my heart…
And he does…and what he finds there he reveals to us so that we can change…
His gift to me today, was life…but it is no different from any other day…He IS LIFE!!
And even when I die…I have His life!!!
But it sure is good to know that he’s not calling me home yet…
He is my deliverer and my healer…Jesus is, The Great Physician!!!
Child, have faith in me…trust me…I will never forsake you…don’t follow me for what you can get from me…follow me so that you can learn from me so you can know me…I will not lie to you…I will not abandon you…open your heart and you’ll see me, there, leading, guiding and directing your path.
When the road looks dark, and you feel alone…
When everyone seems to have deserted you…look full in my face and know I am right here with you…sing a new song of praise. I am closer than your heartbeat…keep your eyes on me not the circumstances…I love you ~~God
Let me add this today, for those who did receive the fatal news and you were told it is cancer…don’t give up, don’t despair…there is a reason for everything…Only God knows what it is…but I can tell you this from experience watching my mom bear that news with grace and hope in her God, even though she believed and had faith that he would heal her one way or the other…when it came time to accept what God had for her, she said, “I’m in your hands God…your will be done.” And God took her home. We are all going home one day…but how we live right now, with the time we have left, use it to glorify God…use it to encourage and strengthen others who may not be as strong in their faith…God bless you and give you grace every step of the way…take heart little one…Jesus is with you right now and he is carrying you all the way home.
–Marla Shaw O’Neill
Habakkuk 3:17-19 New Living Translation (NLT)
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.
Jesus, the Bread of Life
John 6:20-39
The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”
They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ “
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.
Why are You following Jesus?
The Angel Song
God gave me this song in 2011, I was living with my mom at the time. The pain of the loss of a loved one, loneliness, depression set in and life was dark. God is always with us even in the dark. I wrote this for my first book, ‘Sing Sarah Sing.’ I want to share it with you today. God never lies, He never changes, and He never leaves us…
We will face many battles in life and loss and hurt will always be there…but there will also be joy and happiness and new life and new opportunities for good…it rains on the just and the unjust…
My hope is not in things or people…My hope is in the Lord! I will trust Him, no matter what and one day I will be going home on Angel’s wings….
When life gets too hard to bear…than Sing child, sing!!
If you can’t sing, hum, and if that doesn’t work, then turn the radio on and turn it up all the way and let the music lift you higher and higher…
Music has healing…You are going to make it!!
Though times are hard
I’m by your side
Your tears I hold within my hand
No matter what I’ll hold you close
Look to the one who understands.
Though fear may come, and tears may fall
Be still and know, that I am God
Let perfect peace restore your heart
And know my love we’ll never part
Chorus:
I walked the road of trials and torment
I sat with those who love me still
But on the cross
I felt the suffering of all the ones who love me most.
The birds they sing a nightly chorus
Of joy and peace to all they bring
So lift your voice and head toward heaven
And learn their song, their song and sing.
He gives me peace, He gives me life, the angels sing be glorified
Praise to the King our mighty King
We’re going home on angels wings.
When in the stillness now at midnight
I see the star of love so bright
I’ll never ever doubt my Savior
For He will lead me through the night
And on the breeze I hear Him whisper…
Press on my child and do not weep
For at the dawn you’ll have your answer
So close your eyes and go to sleep.
Chorus:
I walked the road of trials and torment
I sat with those who love me still
But on the cross
I felt the suffering of all the ones who loved me most.
The birds they sing a nightly chorus
Of joy and peace to all they bring
So lift your voice and head toward heaven
And learn their song, their song and sing.
He gives me peace, He gives me life, the angels sing be glorified
Praise to the King our mighty King
We’re going home on angels wings.
I wake at dawn and have my answer
His peace I sing to all who wait
And then He gives me sweet assurance
I’ll never, ever be alone
These souls I bring to heaven’s harvest
They are the ones who overcome
And now my love
You have your answer
Your journey’s only just begun!
By: Marla Shaw O’Neill 2014©
His Love, is, the Light
In my prayer time yesterday I was asking God to show me more of Jesus…to fill me with more of Him and I also prayed for those he had placed on my heart…
But…it was as if my prayer was not getting any higher than the ceiling. So I pulled out the big guns…and I asked the Holy Spirit to pray for me…and BAM…supernatural power took over and my prayers went straight up, with full force from my spirit right through the ceiling into the portals of the heavenlies…supernatural power into the very heart of God…whew…thank you LORD!
Before I knew it I was in the spiritual realm of the throne-room of God and boldly declaring the needs of the people, to find help in this hour of need, in the name of Jesus…
Then falling to the floor, because I was overpowered with the Love of God…it was amazing…I couldn’t say anything except, “God you’re amazing!!!!” He revealed to me something about His brilliant LIGHT…He said, “It’s not the brilliance of my light that over powers and is blinding to the eyes of humans…it’s not the light that keeps them from seeing my face for no one has seen God and lived….It is, MY LOVE…my love is what is so brilliant, my love is what transforms you, my love is what gives life, my love is what saves you and it is my LOVE that lives right inside of you!!!
Even now I can hardly write these words because of the over powering sense of the Love of God…Because GOD, IS, LOVE!!! (I John 4:8)
The enemy of God is the absence of Love…darkness has no love…
Lucifer rejected God’s love…therefore because GOD is LOVE…he could no longer stay in Love’s presence…it is impossible…
And so, Love, sent Jesus in human form, full of love for mankind…and when he ascended to heaven…he said Go wait in Jerusalem for I’m sending you another comforter not only will he walk with you but he will be, IN YOU!!
A tiny spark of Love is what lives inside us when we accept Jesus into our hearts as the Lord of our lives…It’s love…God’s love…that’s why we feel such peace and joy and freedom from the burdens of sin when we open our hearts to receive him in…Just as God breathed life into Adam and gave him a living soul…
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that we would become alive again no longer under the curse of the law of sin and death. Love would come into us and we would again be united in Love with the Father!!
It was Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, who appeared to Mary and said, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the Power of the Most High will come over you, Mary, and Jesus the son of God will be born…perfect love, perfect sacrifice, God’s love…making it possible for His love to live in our very own hearts… (Read Luke 1:35)
God’s love grows and grows and grows…as we draw closer to Him, and dwell in him and let him dwell within us…
Oh that I could tell you, if I only had the words to express what I know in my being…the Love of God is Amazing…his love heals, and transforms us into his imagine which is LOVE!! That’s why there are no wars, or pain or sin or death or any putrid thing in heaven…because that light that is talked about, the light that blinded Saul on the road to Damascus and changed him…the light of the World that is Jesus, it is his Love…
Faith, hope and Love…I Corinthians 13:13, says, “But the greatest of these is Love….
Because He is, Love!
God’s love forgives…His love redeems, His love will sanctify us, set us apart for His glory, His love delivers us from death and the grave…His love shuts the mouths of lions, His love walked on water, His love quenches all the fiery darts of the enemy, Satan.
God’s love hung on a cross, His love died for you and for me, and His love rose, ascended and he sent His love to us so that we could have His love in us…the light of His love, brilliantly glowing through us, for the world to see, and know, that they can have his Love too!!
God’s love will enable us to walk through the storms of life, to pray without ceasing, to love beyond persecution, to forgive every offense, it will heal our wounds and be a sweet-smelling savor to him and as we walk in his heel prints… when our time here is over His love will take us all the way to our heavenly home…
His love is not abuse; his love is pure and steadfast. His love never fails or changes.
I’m not talking about the sensual kind of love of our nature…
I’m talking about the very nature of God…in him there is no sin, no hate, no disease, no lie, for He cannot be any of those things…because His very essence is LOVE!! His love is a covenant and cannot be broken…
I pray you get this even if it’s just a spark…because a spark can cause a blazing fire…
Let LOVE, set you on supernatural, spiritual fire, for Him today!!!
May it burn and spread within your hearts to everyone you encounter…
Like the two, who as they walked along the road with Jesus…and didn’t recognize him…but after he left them they said, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us?” (Read-Luke 24:13-35 New International Version (NIV))
I pray the Holy Spirit will burn within you today and you will be overcome with the Love of God and that it will change you forever…and you will love everyone you meet until His Love, changes the whole world…Amen!
All you have to do is ask God for Love…He is more than willing to give it to you!
–Marla Shaw O’Neill May 10, 2017
Our Mothers
Mothers are not perfect
Mothers sometimes are unfair
Mothers make lots of mistakes
Leaving their hearts vulnerable and bear…
Mothers are leaders
Of their children whom they hold dear
Mothers are strong and brave and cheer
For their children all their lives…
Mothers teach by example; you will survive
Mothers cry and Mothers laugh and Mothers always clap
For their children’s achievements
No matter how big or insignificant…
To Mothers, theirs are the best…
Sons, daughters, honor your mother and love her…
From a baby, to a teen…to adulthood
Our Mothers are misunderstood…
One day, darling girl, loving boy…
When you’re holding your baby, in your arms…
Then you will know the heart of your own dear Mother
Was made of love like no other…
–Marla Shaw O’Neill May 9, 2017
“Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 5:16-18 New Living Translation (NLT)
Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: Ephesians 6:2New Living Translation (NLT)
I Know What it is…
