Be Courageous Be Bold Hebrews 4:16

Father God, are you there?

I’m always here child…

Child, are you there?

Silence…

We go about our daily lives, things are hectic, but everything is running smooth…

Nothing happening out of the ordinary…

Busy, doing the mundane things of life…

Go to Church, sing songs, and listen to the message… “That sure was a great message this morning. I’m even going to post the video on Facebook. Let every one know about how awesome the message was that we heard…”

Do ten minute devotionals…Jesus really spoke to me in that passage. Say a little prayer. Thank you Jesus, then rush out the door…

If you have children and they are, let’s say, all grown up with busy lives of their own. And let’s say you don’t live close by. (I’m not talking about anyone in particular, it’s just an example.) And you come for a visit. At first everyone is excited to see each other and you hug and catch up on a few details. I’m so glad you came mom, dad, but I have this thing, I have to do. I’ll see ya later, Love you. And they rush out the door.

How does that make you feel? I’d say not so loved, not a priority. Of course you want them to go on with their lives and enjoy themselves and do what they need to do. Of course. But really?

That’s what we do to our heavenly Father…and when we really need something…then He’s important…isn’t He?

I don’t want to cause condemnation, I don’t want to cause guilt or embarrassment…I just want to give a little reminder…

God’s a person too! In fact He is the most important person you’ll ever know. God is love. God is not man. God is faithful and patient and merciful. God is ever lasting, He never dies, He never lies and He goes beyond Heaven and Hell to show you how very much He loves you.

God is forgiving, God is transparent in so many ways…God is Spirit, God is ever present, all knowing, all consuming, God is fire and life…God is creator and God is always near…

Even when we don’t feel him or see him or smell him or desire him…even when we say He does not exist…God is…

When I’ve been at my worst, God picked me up and held me and loved me through every ugly thing I’ve ever said or done. It took my mom dying to make me realize how very much God does love me, and how very much I love Him…

And when my unborn granddaughter died…I thought I would die with her…not only did I cry and lament for her, but I cried for my son and my daughter…knowing, Jesus, wept too.

God was right there with all of us…giving grace and mercy…I can no longer just rush into His presence and say, Hi Pop’s…good to see ya…love you…I’ll see ya later…and rush out.

Oh no…now I sit and weep and laugh and I talk to him about all the things that are going on in the world and people’s lives that I love, and those I barely know and ask him to help them…and then I wait…there is no silence, so loud, as the silence I hear in the waiting, just before he begins to speak…

You may think me silly or even crazy…I do not care…because what I’ve found through the mourning…is more precious than anything this world has to offer…

God is my best friend…Jesus is my savior and I love him with all my heart…The Holy Spirit is also a person, not the flesh and bone kind, the Spirit kind, even more real, and He feels and grieves right beside me…then He lifts me up and shows me the face of Jesus…in love and compassion with a fullness I’ve never known before…

Nothing can take that from me…Not death, nor life, nor things seen or unseen, not sickness or health or wealth or peril or darkness or raging sea…My God has shown himself to me.

If you don’t know this love I am speaking of…then go to your secret place, bow before the Living God and ask him to show you…It’s going to take more than a ten minute meeting…So make sure you have lots of time to wait…

This is my heart today…God bless you in your seeking…

–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 23, 2017

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

The Lord’s strength is Joy…

Crying in the night…

Joy comes through the mourning…

Trials come,

No pain, no gain…

Spirit weak…

God gives His strength…

Give Him ALL the glory…

Tears in the night…

Joy in the light…

For joy comes through the mourning…

–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 22, 2017

 

Psalm 30: 4-5 The Message (MSG)

 

There are two trees in the Garden

One you may eat freely…

One you must not touch or eat…

It is forbidden…

Not heeding what the Father said…

They ate the fruit and now are dead…

Forever the knowledge of good and evil

Dance inside their pride held heads…

Banished from the Garden to live…

Slaves to lust, who will forgive

This vile deed they’ve done…?

Too late to grieve, disgrace received…

Cherubim with flaming sword…

Comes to guard the Tree of the Lord…

No longer can the two freely eat thereof…

Now they simply survive…

Forever tempted by the forbidden fruit…

Lusts and death are companions now,

These two made of flesh…

Live in tortured temptations, soon to return to ash and dust…

Until all heaven sings the song, Salvation in God’s Son is sung…

Now rest in peacefulness…

Do not partake of the forbidden fruit…

It’ll leave you barren in regret and mute…

Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, the pride of life…

Now lies within the forbidden fruit…

For all who eat of the burning coals

Will never taste the fruit of life…

Only death will be their reward.

Cherubim with flaming sword, standing at the Garden door…

Only one way to enter there…

Jesus, hear my whispered prayer…

Take my heart and be my Lord!

Repentance, turn and bow before the Lord

Forbidden fruit eat no more!

Cherubim with flaming sword, guards the Garden door.

The only access is through Jesus the Lord!

–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 22, 2017

Genesis 3:24 New King James Version (NKJV)

So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

When David faced the giant…he didn’t run away from him…He ran toward Him…with a sling and a stone…

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. I Samuel 17:48-50New International Version (NIV)

When Shad rack, Meshach and Abednego, three Hebrews, were told to bow to an idol or be burned alive in a fiery furnace…they would not bow. They didn’t run from the fiery furnace they went into it knowing that even if their God did not save them, even if they died they would not bow and worship the idol…

Not three men but four men were in that furnace, The Lord was in there with them…and when they came out, they didn’t even smell of smoke…even though the fire was made seven times hotter. (Read Daniel 3:16-27 New Living Translation (NLT))

Moses didn’t back up from Pharaoh, Daniel didn’t run from the lion’s den, Joseph didn’t run from Egypt he stayed true to God, Esther didn’t run, Ruth didn’t run, Noah didn’t run, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob remained true to God, John the Baptist didn’t run from Herod the king, there are many more throughout the Bible who didn’t run from the fire…and Jesus the son of God, didn’t run from the cross, He embraced it…

We are not to run from the fire…but…run to the fire…God’s fire is more fierce than any fire people of the Earth can even imagine…you think of the powerful weapons that are on the earth today…it is nothing compared to God’s fire…

The Holy Ghost and fire is powerful…but today we’ve diminished him to ash and a few tiny sparks…why because the enemy, Satan has told lies. “Surely it’s not for today. That was done long ago. Look how silly those fanatics look…Holy Rollers…sensationalism, speaking in tongues was for the disciples of old it is not for today. You are gods.” He is still hissing in the ears of men and women today and they are listening…But Jesus said, “Go, I am sending you another comforter.”

Why are there wars, why are there murders and rape and addictions and immorality and perversion and ungodliness everywhere…because people have forgotten Who God Is!!!

*God does not change…Jesus told the disciples to go and wait in Jerusalem until they be endued with power from on high…I am sending you another comforter to live inside you and teach you and guide you. Wait for him to come. And he told them to go and teach these things to others…If you see Jesus, you see the Father for what the Father tells me to do that is what I do.

If you see the Father and Jesus you see the Holy Spirit for the three are one yet they are individual persons. You may not believe me. That’s OK. Search the scriptures and you will find the truth. But don’t search them to prove someone wrong. Search them to prove to yourself that God does not lie and he does not change.

Below are scriptures that go along with what I’ve said. If God can fill unlearned men and women of old and he can go to Gentiles of the Italian band and fill them with the Holy Spirit then who are we to say that it is one time and only a one time experience. O please understand I’m not trying to convince you. All I’m trying to do is serve God in the way he has instructed me too. And He has instructed me to write this today. If you truly desire to know Him…then search the scriptures for they testify of Jesus, God’s son.

The only way back to God is through the cross of Jesus and His blood and resurrection…God showed me something this morning as I was worshiping Him…I fell to my knees weeping…and I heard the Holy Spirit say, “People don’t bow down anymore.”

I thought about that…in churches people all stand…they want a new way of worshiping they don’t want to “offend” anyone…I’m not saying there is anything wrong with how we worship God as long as it’s from the heart and that it’s true worship…for of such the father seeks…

But where is humility? Where is adoration? Where is total surrender to the Almighty, All knowing, All Majestic God…where is down-on-your knees worship of the Only Begotten Son of God…lying prostrate, knowing WHO GOD IS…He IS…The Essence of ALL! He is Spirit…yet we dare to shake our fist at him and tell him, that He does not exist…Why? Because people, don’t, know who He is!

Philippians 2:8-11New King James Version (NKJV)

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Job 26:5-14 The Greatness of God

“The departed spirits tremble Under the waters and their inhabitants. “Naked is Sheol before Him, And Abaddon has no covering. “He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing. “He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them. “He obscures the face of the full moon And spreads His cloud over it. “He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters At the boundary of light and darkness. “The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke. “He quieted the sea with His power, And by His understanding He shattered Rahab. “By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent. “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?”

Bible References:

*God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19 New International Version (NIV)

*You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. Luke 24:48-50 New International Version (NIV)

*Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do. John 14:9-11 New Living Translation (NLT)

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

The Upper Room Prayer Meeting

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. Acts 1: 8-14 New King James Version (NKJV)

Coming of the Holy Spirit

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit

Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God.

Then Peter asked,“Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days. Acts 10 44-48 New Living Translation (NLT)

 

Kneeling in the presence of Almighty God

I cannot stand or dare to look at thee for…

I am a sinner, unworthy to be…

Anywhere near thee…

I am humbled by your Holiness…

I am undone; cast me far away from your presence for I cannot bear the thought of the Host High God, looking at me. O wretched woman who I am…

Shield me seraphim, let me melt away in my sackcloth and ashes…let me repent and turn away from the sin before my God…

I cannot even begin to speak with a mouth that’s vile and unclean…how can I praise thee

With lips that utter unjust things and cry with a heart that’s marred by evil that waits just beneath my breath…and people that I dwell among they too have unclean lips…and hearts far from thee…

O Holy One…I am undone let me hide and run from thee…

Then the angel took coal of fire from the altar and placed it on my lips…

Sanctifying and consecrating my mouth to speak the words of God, to God, without the stench of sin upon my breath…

Then I heard the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

But LORD, I am a woman, who will listen to me? I don’t have a degree or money, I am just me.

You are exactly who I want…

The scares, the wounds, and the marks of a life broken…your heart is true, you are who I have sought. I created women too…

And with humble adoration I spoke to my LORD and said, I’m old, and I’m weak, I can’t offer much but what I have I give to thee…

“Here I am. Send me!”

And He said, “Go tell this people.”

Isaiah 6 New International Version (NIV)

Isaiah’s Commission

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

Make the heart of this people calloused;

make their ears dull

and close their eyes

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”

Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined

and without inhabitant,

until the houses are left deserted

and the fields ruined and ravaged,

until the Lord has sent everyone far away

and the land is utterly forsaken.

And though a tenth remains in the land,

it will again be laid waste.

But as the terebinth and oak

leave stumps when they are cut down,

so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

In the stillness of the morning, as dawn breaks through the night…

There’s a quiet to the soul, seeking, waiting for the light…

Busy day a waiting…as I step out of my bed.

Yawning and stretching, scratching my head…

Lord, am I to walk all alone today?

This is what I heard Him say,

You do not ever walk alone; I’ve been with you all your life…

Even in your mother’s womb, I’ve been with you…You never walk alone…

I’ve seen your birth and heard you cry. I’ve watched you learn to walk…

I’ve kissed your head when sickness came, I’ve carried you and I’d talk…

I’d tell you of mysteries far from this world’s woe…Child I want you to know…

You do not walk this road alone… 

It may seem that you are lost at times…but child please know that you are mine…

When storms rage and your strength is spent…when life gets hard, you wonder where life went, when the road stretches far and wide…remember this…

You do not walk this road alone…I AM WITH YOU… 

In the stillness of the morning, as dawn breaks through the night, I hear my Shepherd calling…

Come to me, the light…

The road before you may be lonely, but you will not walk it alone. Even though you cannot see me…I’ve been here all along. But I know that you can feel me, it’s my joy that keeps you strong, and by faith, I will lead you, all the way home.

–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 20, 2017  \i/

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, Isaiah 44:24 English Standard Version (ESV)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 New King James Version (NKJV) 

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:20 King James Version (KJV)

 

The luck of the Irish I’ve been told

Is a life worth living, it’s a life we hold

Dear to our hearts, dear to our soul…

We’ll not be part’n with our pot o’gold…

Gold is not money to throw about

Gold is not honey to be tapped and lapped

Hidden in the heart, is our pot ‘o gold….

It is never to be wasted; and never to be sold…

Rare are the times we’ll let go of our stash

You’ll be blessed indeed when our gold we lavish…

Upon true love it is given freely

To find it, your heart, must seek it sincerely

No selfishness, and without deceit…

Love can be bitter, but it is always sweet.

We tell you the rainbow tis where it is found

But Lass and Laddie, it is only seen,

When you plant it yourself beneath the ground

And watch a mystery as it unfolds…

For love is gold when you spread it around!

Some never find it, for their motives are wrong…

True love is sung, in a heart that’s strong…

So I’ll kick up me heels and dance about…

Me gold is golden, and there is no doubt…

I’ll be keep’n me gold hidden, til true love abounds!

–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 17, 2017

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. I Corinthians 13:4-8

Hebrews 5:7-9 New International Version (NIV) During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Many times in life we will suffer…

We will suffer great loss, and we feel lost…

But God promises to be with us in every trial, every heartbreak, He will not leave us or forsake us in the storm alone.

If you don’t know Him, then you won’t realize that it’s not God’s fault…

God is a God of love and truth…

Jesus walked the road of suffering, the Via Dolorosa…called the way of suffering…

He knows what it is to suffer…that’s why He came…

That’s why when we suffer He carries us…and comforts us…

He told us we would have trouble in this world…but to be of good cheer because He overcame the world…and through him we can overcome too…

If you are suffering, receive His grace; let Him carry you to the place of His peace…

Rest in His loving arms…because there is no where I’d rather be than in the arms of Jesus.

Simply be still and rest!

You will get through whatever pain you’re facing…you will come through this…One moment at a time…

I know because He’s carried me many times down that road…and every time I have come through stronger, I’ve received more grace and love than I ever imagined, to share with someone else in their suffering, His infinite love and grace. Don’t give up…when you are in the ocean and the waves want to overtake you…lay back and float on the water…don’t fight against the waves…ride the waves…all the way to the shore…

I recently watched a show where this tiny baby a preemie, died…an angel was standing by waiting for his suffering to end…someone standing by could see the angel and asked, if he was there to help the baby and the angel said, “Yes, I’ve come to carry him home.” The person asked why the baby was born that way. The angel said he was never intended to survive. His only purpose was to be born then die.

The angel took the little soul in his hands and took him to heaven.

We don’t have the answers…we never will…we are not God. We don’t see the ripple effect that each life plays in the life of others throughout eternity…we are not meant too. But believe me have an impact either for good or for evil.

We each have a purpose and we each have a choice in how we live our lives and…at the end of our days those choices will determine where we go and how we live in eternity…

I believe that suffering is the way we learn obedience that’s what the Bible says about Jesus…He learned obedience through the things he suffered. Suffering is a part of life.

If the Via Dolorosa is the way to Calvary…than Lord I pray this for every person who will ever live that they will walk that road of suffering, but not alone…

For at the end of the road we will meet Jesus.

He is there waiting to walk us all the way home.

Hear my song O God…

I love you, I love you Lord…

My song of praise, I sing to thee

There is no other who I love more than You O God…

I may sing my song off-key…

The words may not come to me…

But my song is true and pure and I sing it with all my heart…

O most Holy God…you are higher than the heavens…

You are light and life and love…

Hear my song O God…

Sung from a heart that longs to stay with you forever…

You are my song O God…

I trust You with my life and the life of my children…

I will walk with you O God No matter what may come…

I sing and keep on singing…

You have given me your song, it’s a new song I sing to thee…

A song of peace and joy in every trial, yes, I will sing…

For you are everything, O God, my father, my life, my song!!

Through death, or life, or sickness, or peril, I will sing my song to thee…

Forever…

It’s a song of trust, a song of love, a song of healing, a song of victory, a song of life that reaches all the way to heaven…

You O God are my song…

I will sing, I will sing to thee…

Hear it loud and clear…Sha la, Sha la, My Sweet Sha la,

Over oceans deep, or valley’s low, I will sing…On top of the mountains and over streams, in happy times and times of despair, I will sing my song to thee…it is a song of faith and hope…I put in you, O Favored One…my love, my strength, my joy, my song…I sing to thee!!

I wait and listen, then, I hear you sing back to me.

I am my beloved’s and my beloved’s is mine…

I rejoice over you with singing…

Sing with me little sparrow…sing with all your heart

Your song brings great joy to me…

It brings deliverance and sets the spirit free…

I will sing forever to thee!

 

–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 16, 2017

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great  delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”  Zephaniah 3:17 New International Version (NIV)

When the darkness overtakes you and you can’t see anyway out…no peace, only darkness…

Remember Jesus is the light and will lead you through the darkness…

Sometimes life gives us challenges that put us between a rock and a hard place…

Sometimes there is no “right answer” no matter what you decided it will not be a good turnout.

Someone is going to suffer maybe even die but you must make a difficult choice…

At that time all you can do is trust…

And, if you don’t know who to trust…the pain will be unbearable, and the cost too great to bear.

But I am telling you now, there is someone you can trust…there is someone who has suffered more than anything we can imagine or have ever gone through…

There is someone who says…My grace is enough for everything you face in life.

There is someone who says…I will carry you, when you can’t walk or even speak because the pain you are in crushes you and paralyzes you and you are left numb and empty with a big hole in your heart, mind and soul.

He says to throw all your cares on Him because He cares for you. And do not let your heart be troubled. Take my yoke, my bonds, upon you, for my bonds are carefree, easy and light…you don’t have to carry the burden; He will carry them for you. He already took them long ago. You just have to give them to Him.

His name is Jesus…He is the Son of God…He died for you and He rose from the dead and He lives and prays for you every moment of every day.

Lay your weary head upon His chest…let Him caress you and hold you in your deepest pain…He will, if you let Him…

If you have children, you know when they are sad and when they fall down and scrape their knees and they come running to you for comfort? You pick them up and hold them in your lap and tell them everything will be alright…and they are soothed and become quiet and rested. Your loving heavenly father does the same for you. There is solace in His words of grace and mercy. Like an ointment it heals the wounds of life.

Run to papa, let Him hold you and kiss you and tell you everything will, be, alright.

In time the pain will lessen the wounds will heal, there will always be scars but those will remind you that pain is real but there is someone who understands and will love you no matter what…No, Matter, What!

You are loved.

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39 King James Version

–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 16, 2017