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.
–Marla Shaw O’Neill – March 2, 2017
Flame Held High
The Torch is lit perpetually…
It stands above for all to see…
The light given, guiding the city.
Within the clutched hand of Lady Liberty,
A flame held high in celebration…
Standing, never faltering, as we the people see,
Our Country’s independence and citizen’s free…
Ship to ship, bringing foreign and to be American born
From upon the sea…
Entering the harbor of New York City…
“Liberty Enlightening the World” a proud, distinguished Lady…
She stands forever in our company…
Saying to all, “Come rich or poor, strong or weak,we welcome you with an open door…
Guests in our home…some come to stay…
Remember, if a citizen you become…
That we are all living together and should all, become one!
Let the light of freedom shine, never disgrace the beauty and grace
Of our home on these blessed shores,
Blood and flesh was given for thee, brothers, and sisters together are we.
Stand strong, stand true, with Lady Liberty!!
All across these United States take heed and watch for this Lady…
See the flame she holds stays lit…
Be true, be diligent…
Whether foreign or American born…let our Lady’s light shine bright…
The only ones that we should fight are the ones who try to destroy her light!
For we are a proud yet humbled race…
Bearing the light of her strong and constant gaze…
God’s given us freedom, let us never forget
How the flame of Victory stays ready and set…
When you see her standing there day and night…
Look full in her flame and never take flight…
Stay unified, glorified, in love and in truth stand…
For all the world both far and wide to see and understand…
We are a country shining with the light of Freedom and Liberty.
–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 1, 2017
The Runner
I’m going to be very transparent today…
There was a time in my life that I was a runner. Oh not the kind of runner who runs in marathons or sprint races…No, not the honorable kind where you train for hours and at the end of the race you win a medal or a ribbon. I ran because I was scared.
I was scared to stop running because if I did I didn’t know where I’d end up; and so I ran and ran and ran. I’d go to one place, hang out for a few months and then off to the races I’d go again…each time I stopped, I thought, this is the place I will settle down. This place will be home and I can finally get my life together and begin to live again. For fifteen years I ran. In fact I moved so much people told me I needed a house with wheels so all I needed to do was hook it up to my car and go. I was so tired of running…but I could not stop.
I cried, I prayed, I begged, I pleaded…but I could not find peace or rest for my weary soul. I couldn’t go back to anywhere because anywhere was no longer there. I couldn’t go forward because forward was not there yet; and I couldn’t stay in the present because it was too painful to be still in one place for very long…so I ran.
I ran from one miserable place to another…but what I discovered was that the place was not miserable, I was.
My heart had been broken and it could not be mended. No matter how much Church I attended, no matter how utterly profound the message I heard was…no matter how I begged God to forgive me and help me I could not find peace…until one day…
I began to say… “God, I forgive myself”…I knew God loved me. I knew I was His child…but I could not forgive me…maybe it stemmed from childhood upbringing…dysfunctional living…abuse…abandonment…all the ugly things we think are reasons…I don’t know…all I know is that God forgives us when we ask Him too…but He also tells us to forgive others and that includes ourselves.
You see, I didn’t love me. I didn’t think anyone else could love me either…not even God. As years went by I began to understand that God’s love isn’t based on how good I am or how bad I am…His love is unconditional and He forgives and forgets…He doesn’t hold grudges, He doesn’t judge, He loves totally and completely with all His heart, mind, and soul…God, IS, Love!
Are there things inside of you that keep you running away? Oh maybe you don’t change your physical address, but you are running just the same. One job to another…one person to another…one habit to another….Are you tired of running to nowhere? When you get there you still have not arrived?
When you get sick-and-tired of being sick-and-tired…and you come to the end of yourself…and you see yourself…that you are the mess that needs restoration…then if you humble yourself before God, the running will end.
We all have a story. We are all flesh and blood. We have hurts and pain and heartaches and shame and guilt. I will tell you, at the end of the race there is a finish line of peace and grace and wholeness…it is in the arms of Jesus, where He holds us, that we can receive true love. No matter how far you run, how fast, or how slow, you will never find contentment until you run to Him.
When I finally gave up, looked at myself and really saw me…and that Jesus really saw me…no pretense, I couldn’t hide from His eyes…and He loved me in spite of me and who I was and what I’d done…the hurts I’d received, and the hurts I’d caused, and He still loved and accepted me…the running stopped. And the blessings of His grace came flooding into my heart and He gave me a brand new life and a brand new home…I had finally gotten to somewhere. A place of love and happiness, I’d never experienced before.
Stop running to nowhere…just stop! Jesus is right before you, with arms stretched wide. Let Him hold you. Let Him wipe away the tears and all the pain. Then love Him totally and completely and love others and love yourself.
Forgiveness brings peace and rest…it lets you breathe, clean, fresh, living air…it frees you from chains of guilt, shame, hate, lusts, discontentment…when you forgive others and yourself your lungs fill with good, wholesome joy that cannot be contained and you are FREE!!! Free to love, free to give, free to embrace what seemed just out of reach. Forgiveness brings healing. God knows that when you forgive you are forgiven!!!
Jesus said, Love your neighbor as you love yourself…
Mark 12:30-31Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
“The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
–Marla Shaw O’Neill March 1, 2017
For God So Loved the World
Love the Lord your God…Matthew 22:37
Greater Love hath no one than this than to lay down your life for his friends. John 15:13
Faith, Hope, Love, but the greatest of these is Love…I Corinthians 13:13
God is Love…I John 4:8
There is no fear in love; but perfect love cast out fear: because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18King James Version (KJV) (God’s love is perfect.)
If you Love me keep my commandments. John 14:15 (KJV)
For God so Loved the World… John 3:16
Nothing can separate us from God’s love… nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39New King James Version (NKJV)
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:35King James Version (KJV)
Today the Holy Spirit woke me up with this on His mind… “Love”
We’ve all heard it many times before; someone tries to describe what Love is…
Love is not a what, Love is a Who…and it doesn’t matter if you know or not, believe it or not, understand it or not…what we think does not determine Who Love is…because God Is, Love. It is His essence…His nature…Love is Who, He, is…there are no words to even begin to try to express this Love. God is unexplainable…but for our peanut brains…God has shown us who He is…by the Love he gave when He gave us His son…(Jesus/Yeshua)
I know, I, can’t explain Him…but I know Him…He is revealing more and more of who He is to me every day…and Oh the blessing of Him…I cannot begin to tell…but when you have that encounter with Him…the personal, intimate, undeniable Love, of the Father, touch you…you will never ever want to be without Him…His love is like nothing of this world…it’s not sensual or lustful or perverted…it is Good and healthy and restores the soul…He is fresh and new every single day…Each day a new adventure opens with Him…Oh let Him come into your heart…Let Him show you new depths and heights and insurmountable Love He has for you…real love that does not diminish in time or space or death or life…He is Life and He wants to give His love to you…don’t turn away…don’t break His heart…don’t leave him hanging on the cross…but open the tomb of your heart and let him come in and live with you. Let His light dispel the darkness and let it shine in every corner of your life…I promise, you will not be disappointed.
For, God, Is, Love!
This says it best…I Corinthians Chapter 13:1-13…
The Way of Love
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. The Message (MSG) Bible
Philippians 4:8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. The Message (MSG) Bible
I love you God. ~Me
I love you more! ~God
–Marla Shaw O’Neill February 27, 2017