Man Down, Man Down
Shouts pierce the night air…
Man down! Man down!
Rushing about as bullets penetrate everywhere…
The enemy surrounds us
No way to escape, No way out…
One lies bleeding, one pinned beneath debris
One with weapon empty…
That one is me…
Adrenaline surges the mind, the body alert and quick
Heart pounding, the sweat on my neck is thick…
Who will save us? Who will rescue us from defeat?
Sounds of feet running, men crouching in the street…
A final prayer is heard, softly whispered under someone’s breath
Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…
Knowing that our time has come, soon we will be changed…
Then shouts of voices thundering, and my ears cannot believe…
Rescued and delivered, saved we’ve been reprieved…
Man down for a moment all seemed lost
Resolved to die in battle that is our solemn cost
Standing true and standing fast…no matter what, God, will last
We will not give up the fight, never will we retreat,
We know why we are fighting, it’s for God, and family…
Man up, we will be faithful, it is our destiny.
The enemy attacks, he is cunning and deceitful
Mighty soldiers, ready your stations take aim…
Prayer is your weapon…Victory remains
The Battle belongs to The Lord God Almighty…
He’s at the lead press on to see…
Don’t give in to fear and do not be afraid…
Be courageous and be brave…
Through the blood and through the war,
Hear the battle cry and roar…
“The Lord fights for us…
Praise Him forever more!!
We are Victorious…We are the Lords!!!”
–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 15, 2017
Silence Then Revelation
When a speaker is talking to an audience he pauses and waits…until the audience leans in and is straining to hear what he will say next…
Silence, then revelation…
For some time now, early in the morning before I am fully awake I hear the Holy Spirit whisper to me…something he wants me to write…but for the last few days he’s been silent…I strain to hear but there is only quite. “Where are you God? Have I done something to offend you? Have I taken for granted that you would speak to me every morning? What’s going on, Papa God?”
And I wait for an answer…
He’s spoken to me through a book or something someone has said throughout my day…but, the still small voice I’ve been used to hearing is silent…
I search my heart and mind…I get into His presence and pray…still silence…
So I trust Him…and I wait…I lean in and strain to hear his voice…not being anxious to hear…but just loving Him anyway…For He is God…If he chooses to be silent then I will understand…I will wait patiently and lovingly on Him.
I ordered a book the other day and when it came it wasn’t the book I had ordered. It was the same author but the book was different. It’s a tiny book and for a few days I let it sit…I’d pick it up to read but I’d get distracted and put it down again. This morning I began to read it…and it said, “I believe God has lovingly directed you to this little book.” I believe it too.
Jesus has little secrets he wants to share with His family, you, his faithful disciples who have followed him here to this specific time and place the place of awakening, the place of the garden where he can speak openly and tenderly what He longs for most…He loves for our hearts to grow and flourish so that we will in turn reach out to other seeking souls and reveal what He is saying.
Lean in close and listen…He is about to speak! Silence then revelation.
He is the author of a great book…in this book is His very own words…open the book and let Him reveal His most precious secrets to you…His very heart to you…lean in close… listen to what he wants to reveal to you.
He is, speaking…
–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 9, 2017
John 15: 1-17The Message (MSG)
The Vine and the Branches
“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.
“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.
“You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
“But remember the root command: Love one another.
An Angel Wrapped in God’s Love
Little angel growing, wrapped in God’s great love,
You’re tiny with a soul, brand new…
A hidden treasure undetected by those who carry you…
You’ve never seen a flower grow or a rainbow big and wide.
You’ve never tasted food that’s grown in a garden or walked by a seaside
Deep inside your mother’s womb is all you’ve ever known
The love and protection provided by God alone…
Sometimes not so perfect are the ones who come to live
In an imperfect world…God will give…
The child of blessing, for those special ones to mold…
Not always seen in our eyes, is the child, broken, we behold…
Love beyond measure is in the heart of these special ones…
Teaching us to love, more than we ever thought we could…
This precious gift that’s given is a gift of unexpected love…
This baby no one wants to have but he’s come willingly from above…
To test the hearts of his parents, will you love me even though…
I may not be like all the rest but I need you so…
I don’t want to be a burden…but if you don’t take care of me…
No one else wants the burden, oh please can’t you see?
I may be imperfect, defected most would say…
But my soul is bathed in God’s great love; he created me this way…
I may not live for very long, but I’ve come just the same…
Will you love me even though I’m maimed, please believe me, there’s no one to blame…
It’s just the way it is…I’ve chosen you to be…
My mommy and my daddy…will you take care of me?
Even if just for a moment let me feel your love complete…
And when my eyes are closed, and my soul takes its flight, I will have known your love, and that life was sweet.
–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 8, 2017
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13New Living Translation (NLT)
It Rains on the Just and the Unjust…
Two men sitting in the rain one is a sinner and one is a saint…
Two women working side by side, one lives for Jesus while the other wants to hide…
Two stubborn mules, they won’t move nor budge, the farmer is the owner, but God is the judge.
We all fall down sometimes…we all make mistakes…the thing is, we need to give each other a humble-break…
You never know, when the table turns, and you’ll be on the other side and have
To make…
Decisions hard and difficult, choose love, not hate…
Choose forgiveness not revenge…
Choose life not death…
Choose peace not war…
So, when you’re standing in the rain, whether sinner or saint, you both get wet, so bring an umbrella and share it together.
–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 8, 2017
The Message Bible says…
“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” Matthew 5:44-48 The Message (MSG)
All I Know Is…Grace
You may ask me, “How I know what I know.”
How do you know what to do…?
When life smashes your deepest, most precious, dreams?
When all you want to do is dig a whole, crawl inside, and scream?
How do you know what will be?
When the thing you wanted most is lost, shattered and no one, or nothing…
Can console you, in your lost dreams?
You stand in a desolate, deserted place…numb defeated, knocked off your feet…
How do you know? How will you ever feel the same, when all around you, everything is totally and completely insane…?
I can’t tell you that life won’t hurt. I can’t tell you the why of things. I can’t give you all the answers you seek…but this one thing I know….
God, is, love! He does not change!
We must not grow bitter or let anger seize our hearts or rearrange, what we do not understand.
How can you say, God is love? When the most horrible thing in the world strikes at your heart and leaves you crumpled and wasted inside…?
I can’t tell you that…but I can tell you I’ve been there. I’ve been to hell and back again…I’ve felt the despair of hopelessness, cried endless tears like grains of sand…covering my pillow, there was no end…I’ve seen death and disease…take lives I’ve loved…the only help came from God above…
God reached out and took my hand and led me to a peaceful land…a peace that no one understands, unless you’ve been there…
Cry, my darling, cry. For tears are bottled in God’s special place, where love and truth gives amazing grace…to fill the heart that’s broken to be mended when we look full in God’s gracious face…
Grace is the only thing that saved me, when no answers of why, came…
Grace, unmerited favor, God gives to his children in this place….
Grace is the balm that soothes the heart, broken, and crushed…
When life is full of horror and we can’t even speak…
God’s strength becomes our back-bone when we are lost and weak…
Let His Holy Spirit carry you at this time…
All I know is that God is in control and by faith he will make us strong and whole…
The choices we make will either carry us to victory or carry us to defeat…
All I know is… God is the giver of life…Trust that He knows best, this life is sometimes bitter and sometimes it is sweet…
God is the answer, even when we face defeat…
And if his answer is to carry us home…accept it with grace for you are not alone!
Marla Shaw O’Neill – March 7, 2017
How Does Your Garden Grow
Standing in my garden I come to realize
That part of the process is how big, how wide
How deep, what size…
How do I decide, on the things I want to grow…?
So I take out my shovel and I lean upon my hoe…
Scratching my head, I rub my nose…
Digging in the dirt, that’s all I know.
Sun’s hot today…trees stir in the breeze…
The dirt is warm and rich;
“Ah-chew”…I sneeze…
Turning the ground, earthworms move about…
Oh, this earth is fertile; my flowers will all burst out…
Pink fragrant Roses, periwinkles, and tulips too
Daisies and Sunflowers, and Morning Glories, blue…
Love, Hope and Joy I’ve planted them for you…
In the garden of a fertile heart, the flowers will come to bloom…
I’m glad I took the time to plant my garden with you…
“How does your garden grow?”
If you plant peace, than peace will grow in abundance…
And when you plant love…oh what fragrance…
Water them with wisdom, fertilize with grace, prune them vigorously and
You’ll never see disgrace…
Blooms of happiness will explode all over the place…
Your garden is your children and your children a treasured race…
Never let the world be the soil your children embrace…
They’ll know you, because of the time; you spend in the garden with them…
And when someone asks you, “How does your garden grow?”
You can tell them, it took patience, and long suffering, and diligence and perseverance, faith and time, and lots and lots of love…spent on bended knees and bent back, but in the space of time it’s all worth it just to hear…
Daddy, Mama, I love you for being here.
Thanks Papa God for my beautiful garden!
Marla Shaw O’Neill March 6, 2017
Psalm 127:3-5 The Message (MSG)
Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you;
you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep.
Jesus Loves Me This I Know
My cell ring tone, plays a little song I learned as a child in Sunday school. It’s called, “Jesus Loves Me.”
It’s a reminder to me every time someone calls me on my phone that, Jesus, love, me. And when someone hears it, they become the, me. Jesus loves you! He really loves you. We are weak but He is strong. There is no one on this planet that loves you more. Not your mama, or your papa or your children…or your grandma or grandpa…It’s Jesus…Jesus loves me/you.
For God so loved the world that He gave, His only begotten son, that whosoever,(that’s you and me, our neighbor,) believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life! John 3:16
Jesus had a Prayer Meeting on the Cross
Did you know that Jesus had a prayer meeting while hanging on the cross…
He prayed, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
He saved a soul while on the cross…He saved a thief, “this day you will be with me in paradise…”
He preached a funeral from the cross, when He said, “It Is finished!” John 19:30
“Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands.” Then he breathed His last breath. Luke 23:34
Upon the cross at Calvary,
A prayer of forgiveness was spoken for humanity…
A thief asked Jesus, “Will you remember me?”
Jesus said, “This day in paradise with me you will be.”
In the final hours of Jesus’ life He made sure His mother was taken care of by John this was very important to Him. And from the cross He confirmed it. John she is now your mother. Mother he is now your son.
Jesus said, Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing…it wasn’t just for the ones standing there crucifying him, oh no, it was also for you, and me. He knew we’d all come later…forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing…we don’t know what we are doing when we reject His love and forgiveness…but like the thief that asked him to remember Him that day…my prayer is that we will also ask Him to remember us. I pray souls will realize that Jesus did nothing wrong, he did not deserve that punishment, but the ones that are lost and in sin need to be forgiven. We can’t save ourselves that’s why Jesus died for us. He is the savior. And when we ask Him, He will remember us and save us this very day.
Certainly if the son of God can do all of that after being beaten beyond recognition, and spat upon, and I mean a big-slimy-wad-of-mucus-kind-of-spit, not just once but by many that day. They (the crowd, no doubt there were people he had healed, ministered too, loved.) People mocked and humiliated Him by saying, If you are the son God save yourself… They (the soldiers) stripped Him naked. He hung on that cross His flesh, bloody and bare…they gambled over His clothes, the cloak he wore was seamless therefore it was of value so they didn’t want to tear it. They laughed and scoffed at Him and sarcastically called Him the king of the Jews…when He cried, “I thirst,” They gave Him vinegar to drink, as His blood flowed out…and all the while His thoughts were for you and for me. This is the Son of God we are talking about. The precious lamb of God, The Good Shepherd, The Lion of Judah, The Bright and Morning Star, The Messiah, King of kings and Lord of lords, The healer, the Way Maker, The Truth and Life…and yet spikes were driven into the hands that once prayed for souls, feet that walked the Hills of Jerusalem, who cast out demons and raised the dead. The head that once bowed in adoration for His heavenly father, now bowed with a bloody crown of thorns…His smile for children and a heart for people was broken, now tears and pain scrawled upon his face, Yes He was battered and broken for man-kind. He did all of this with a willing heart. If that’s not love, than brothers and sisters I don’t know what is.
But that is not the end of the story…Oh no…
Death was swallowed up in Victory…the keys to Hell he took back from Satan and the Son of God is ALIVE!!!
Somebody shout, Hallelujah!!!! Do you get it!!! He is alive!!!!!!
Forty days after His resurrection He ministered to people. He ate with the disciples. The last thing he said to His disciples was to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise He was sending another comforter…The Holy Spirit would now dwell within them. To wait there until they received the Power from on High…then to go out and make disciples, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons…baptize in the name of the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. And He is still telling you and me that today. The Holy Spirit Woo’s us unto Jesus and when we ask Him too, He will come and make his abode within us too. He loves us so much…don’t reject Him, don’t turn Him away…open your heart to him…and say, “Lord will you remember me?” And Jesus will answer, “I will write your name in my Book of Life and I will always remember you. And when you come into my Kingdom I will be there waiting with open arms for you.”
Acts 1:8-19 New King James Version (NKJV)
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.”
Jesus Ascends to Heaven
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.”
Brothers and sisters…He is coming…be watchful…be ready…for in an hour when you think not He will come!!!
Therefore you too must always be ready, for the Son of Man will come when you are not expecting him. Matthew 24:44 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
But the story doesn’t end there either…
Marla Shaw O’Neill March 2, 2017
Getting Through The Night
Down in the valley; valley, so low…
Deep calls to deep…
O longing soul, please do not weep…
For joy comes in the morning…
But while you wait for the night to pass
Lie quietly in your slumber and bask
In peace and try to rest…
Be still my love and do not wrestle in your thoughts
Take each thought captive and know you are not alone…
O I know the trials and tests that beset you…
I know the heartaches and the things that you face
Peace be still in this hurried place; for I have given you my perfect grace…
You are the one I’ve longed to hold close…so snuggle up to the Holy Ghost…
Receive my comfort in your tormented mind; let it all go, for you are mine…
I’ve been in the fight and I’ve conquered it all, stand up strong, stand up tall…
And in the morning when all is bright…my joy will lift you to a brand new call…
A call to rejoice and not to despair…a call to be brave and bold without a care…
Throw all your worries and sickness and pain to the four winds, never to remain…
In my blessed presence, sing let it rain…upon your happy heart…regain…
The trust of my Love is a perfect domain…
Rejoice my child for I know your name…
And I will carry you each step of the way…
If you will put your trust, in me, today!!
Psalm 42:7-8The Message (MSG)
When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you, From Jordan depths to Hermon heights, including Mount Mizar. Chaos calls to chaos, to the tune of whitewater rapids. Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers crash and crush me. Then God promises to love me all day, sing songs all through the night! My life is God’s prayer.
