Category Archives: inspiration

No Such Thing As A Counterfeit…

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If you aren’t a writer…be the story.

image via makems.com

 

If you aren’t an artist be the paint.

image via extreme-couponing-tips.com

 

If you aren’t a sculptor be the clay.

image via instructables.com

 

If you aren’t a singer be the song.

image via star4laughs.blogspot.com

 

If you aren’t a dancer be the moves.

image via freepik.com

 

If you aren’t an athlete be the fan.

image via georgeprice.net

 

Discover “YOU”… the real version.

Because if you aren’t “YOU”…there is no such thing as a counterfeit!

“In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.” Eph 1″ 111-12

Wholeness Lived…

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We have been gifted with WHOLENESS…RESTORATION…PEACE  through the Wounds of Christ.

image via flickriver.com

 

WHOLENESS given is now WHOLENESS lived out in our earthly life.

Sometimes there seems so much messy brokenness in the WHOLENESS…

image via flickr.com

 

Let not doubt have a room under your roof!

Glory is your foundation…Built sturdy to withstand the messiness!

image via inkity.com

 

The power of LOVE is the mortar that builds the temple of God who you are…

image via zippycart.com

 

yes, WHOLENESS given is WHOLENESSs to be lived…

in the here and now….step by step by step,

image via barnabasanglicans.com

 

HOME.

“Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; But upon you theLlord shines, and over you appears his glory.” Is 60:1-2

His Eyes Meet Yours…

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Jesus looks down from the cross…

Scans the crowd…

image via journeylikenoother.com

His body racked with pain and drenched with blood.

His eyes meet yours…

image via newsgather.com

What does His gaze say to YOU?

Die with Christ…so that you may LIVE with HIM.

(We know the end of this story don’t we, and we rejoice in the knowing!)

“Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted, but he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.” Is 53:4-5

Peace Be With You…May I Wash Your Feet?…

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“When the Lord of the world comes and undertakes the slave’s task of foot-washing…

which is an illustration of the way He washes our feet all through our lives…

image via theheartofpastormatt.wordpress.com

We have a totally different picture.

God does not want to trample on us, but kneels down before us so as to exult us.

image via turnbacktogod.com

The mystery of the greatness of God is seen precisely in the fact that He can be so small…

image via coloribus.com

Only when power is changed from the inside, and we accept Jesus and his way of life, whose self is there in there in the action of the foot-washing,

image via divinemercyforourtimes.blogspot.com

Only then can the world be healed and the people be able to live at peace with one another.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

image via news.va

“If I therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash another’s feet.  I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” John 13:14-15

Lay Down Your Cloak….

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Palms waving…”Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.”

image via ibtimes.co.uk

 

Cloaks laid down to honor the King.

image via vermontgear.com

 

The King up on a lowly donkey entering Jerusalem to do His Father’s will…

image via ubdavid.org

 

Ascending upwards to His throne…

His throne up on the Cross.

image via yourcrossdaily.com

 

Will we too in gratitude and humility lay down the cloaks of our lives?….

                      And follow Him who chooses the Cross as His throne?

“Rejoice heartily, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, Meek and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass.” Zech 9:9

“I Will Draw All”…

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image via abundantprophet.com

“Look at this cross,

So much bigger than the man whose body will be stretched to fit it.

So much bigger than the height of the man who will be lifted up above the earth on it and who,

being lifted up, will draw all peoples to himself.

image via 123rf.comimage via 123rf.com

Christ receives it with joy because he knows that this is the dead weight that must have crushed humankind had he not lifted it from their backs.

This is the dead wood which at his touch is transformed to a living tree.

image via malcolmxpark.org

 At His touch, the hewn tree takes root again, and the roots thrust down into the earth, and the tree breaks into flower.”

Caryll Houselander (+1954) British poet and spiritual teacher

“And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” John 12:32

Silly for Saturday #8…

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And so I was walking in the park….

Rounded the bend and ran into…

A SMILING duck! And he looks a bit mischievious too!

Have you ever had an animal smile at you?…you can’t help but smile back!

image via cyburbia.orgimage via cyburbia.org

image via mrspeeksfarmhouse.blogspot.com

image via panoramio.com

Charles de Lint, Canadian author and folk musician, said, ” I want to touch the heart of the world and make it smile.”

May your weekends be filled with smiles given and received!

Blessings on you and yours, FromtheheartofJ

When We Forget…

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When we forget to worship….

image via apologos.com

we forget who we are.

When we lose sight of God…

image via telioscorp.typepad.com

we lose sight of what we are.

His Image and His likeness.

(this is what I am listening to today : )

Take Me into the Beautiful by Cloverton

“Then God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Gen 1:26a

Your Name is Safe…

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There was a study done a few years ago when professionals asked children ages 4 – 8 years old , “What is love”? The answers given from the “mouths of babes” were insightful and inspirational. One of my favorites…

image via hartyboys.blogspot.com

“When someone loves you the way they say your name is different. You just know your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy age 4

Scripture tells us that there is power in the name of Jesus…”that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil 2:10-11

Names are important. Your name is important as well.

image via scottkim.com

Have you heard the Lord speak YOUR name in the depths of your heart?

For our heart has ears to hear the Lord call our name.

image via traciecarlos.wordpress.com

And there is peace, and love and affirmation when the Lord calls us by name.

In the chaos of your day….in the busy-ness of life…in the din of the everyday…

Make time to sit still and listen and with the ears of your heart hear the Lord speak YOUR name. And rest in the wisdom that “YOUR name is safe in His mouth”.

image via informedfarmers.com

“The gatekeeper opens it (the gate) for him (the shepherd), and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by  name and leads them out.  When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.  But they will not follow a stranger, they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” John 10:3-5

Sifting Sugar…

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Have you ever had one of those weeks when you felt like you were a human experiment tested to see how much could possibly be thrown at you, how much would stick like velcro and you could keep walking?

image via aaron.sanders.name

Yes, it was one of those weeks…and so in the random way “fromtheheartofj” thinks…

I thought about making frosting.

image via healthycakerecipe.com

When you make  homemade frosting it’s very important to sift the powdered sugar.

image via foter.com

Why?

If not you will end up with hard bits of sugar in your frosting making it gritty…

And who likes gritty frosting?

So it is in the journey of the heart.

Often God has to sift us…shaking us out of our comfort zones or out of our hiding places.

He sees all the hard bits of potential sweetness within us.

So ever so gently he sifts us…

And then when added to all the other sweet souls in this body of Christ we blend together smoothly.

image via maes-seekgodfirst.blogspot.com

We become the icing on the cake…God’s crowning glory of sweetness.

image viagalleries.weddingchannel.com

(can you read into this some serious sugar cravings? Ahhhh…Lent is half over!)

“Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32