Returning to Life

To A Sleeping Generation: 

I release this plea. I decree an anthem. Nothing less than "Resurrection" can be our portion. Let us return to the Living.

Amen.

res·ur·rec·tion 

n.

1. The act of rising from the dead or returning to life.

 returning to life.

2. The state of one who has returned to life.

3. The act of bringing back to practice, notice, or use; revival.

4. Resurrection Christianity

a. The rising again of Jesus on the third day after the Crucifixion.

b. The rising again of the dead at the Last Judgment.

"Silent. I am so silent. Sitting here with a heart that refuses to stop loving. Sitting here with a passion for Christ. But...sitting here, face to face, with my great lack of courage. Sitting here with mountains of disappointment. I am not as strong as everyone thinks! The truth is found in my longing. How I wish I could wear my vulnerability explicitly. Maybe then someone would rescue me? Like a color. Like a banner. Or is the rescue to be found inside of me? There's a disconnect. Faith without works is dead. My heartbeat is slipping. Jesus, what will it take?! Make me BRAVE again." -Melissa Haskin

returning to life.    

as a man thinks in his heart... so is he. prov. 23:7

"With You, Most Merciful Father, may my desire, be what is truly desirable. And my courage be the praise of triumph."

-St. Thomas of Aquinas 

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. - John 10:10

My passivity and fear will triumph, if my faith will not quickly displace and dispel; cause the slipping heart to GRIP again. Grip on, hold fast, rise up and BELIEVE. Do not doubt, but instead: Faith, Hope & Love. These three remain.

"For the Kingdom of God is not of talk, but of power." 1 Corinthians 4:20

"My favorite scene in that book, is the night that Aslan sacrifices his life, and the two children are watching. And the dark night comes, and the hopelessness creeps in. They wonder 'What is going to happen?' And all of a sudden, the Resurrected Lion appears! And he looks at the children in the eyes, and he says, 'Come! Jump on my back! We are going to ride together, out into battle.' So, they ride out into battle, but first to the enemy's castle, where the good army has been 'frozen.' Aslan begins to BREATHE ON THE ARMY AND WAKE THEM UP, ONE BY ONE. His breath wakes them up. It shakes off 'the witch's spell.' They ride out into battle on the Lion's back. And that's our position in warfare. To sit with Him in Heavenly Places. And go and breath on an army that is sleeping. To see the Sons and Daughters WAKE UP." -Jonathan David Helser (on Narnia)

returning to life.  more abundantly...
Nothing is between us. The veil has been torn.

Standing in the Chasm of Reciprocation

Standing in the Chasm of Reciprocation 

 by Melissa Haskin

Leaning into whisphers.
Almost breathless, hanging upon every Word that is said.
Wait. Wait for it. Just a little longer.
It is always darkest before the dawning of the brightness of the day.
Lovers must love. There is no other way.
Dancers must dance. There is no other way.
Contextual data replicating convergence.
It will not always be icons; only.
Every reformation was birthed from hunger.
Dreams are the harvest of the desert place.
It will not always be the idealism, of the "almost."
Soon and very soon, promises will sing.
Without faith it is impossible to please God.
If I prophesy with tongues of men and angels, but have not love...I am just a noise.
So fill my rhetoric with the Living Hope, the Living Word. The Living Love.
Tearing off perimeters, set by backlashes. Tearing off perimeters, set by woundings.
Breaking boundaries of an old way.
Unstung the stinging. Unstung the doubting.
Like Mother Theresa, who "Loved Anyways," I stand in the chasm of the unrequited.
It is in this place, new life has sprung.
I am Free to Love. -mmh

"It's on the line I've waited for a sign,I see it in your eyes, I, I know you really feel the same.I need to know if I should raise or fold, my heart is stuck on hold, I, I wanna know which way to go.I can't love alone, I can't love alone.
I tried not to fall so far for you, now I can't get away from anything you say.You make me feel nervous and stupid whenever I tell you I'm tired of playing games.I don't wanna tell a lie, I don't wanna have to hide.
It's on the line I've waited for a sign,I see it in your eyes, I, I know you really feel the same.I need to know if I should raise or fold, my heart is stuck on hold, I, I wanna know which way to go.I can't love alone. Oh, I can't stay here wonderin' if you want me.If you don't take me, you should leave."  -Katelyn Tarver

I still believe in Love.

Wheel Within a Wheel

"And I looked and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling chrysolite. And as for their appearance, they four looked alike, as if a wheel had been within a wheel..." Ezekiel 10:9-11

E T E R N I T Y 

Eternity; the Elusive. Humanity; the Gritty. Resurrection Life...the Beauty. The merging and wholeness, ever-intended from the beginning.

"For I am God, and there is no other;       I am God, and there is none like Me,       Declaring the end from the beginning,       And from ancient times things that are not yet done,       Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,       And I will do all My pleasure,’ "- Isaiah 46:9-10

Eternity is written upon our hearts. The nature of planet earth even builds hidden ice cathedrals to the Fame of God. The depths of the ocean are His playground. Each whale He holds as His own. He takes pleasure in the sparrows. Not one falls to the earth, without His knowledge. The High and Lofty One. Yet! We, His people and His Bride have become the apple of His eye!

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” -Psalm 19:1-2

There has been a question toggling at my heart in the world of the secret place. The question being; of the worth of the totality, the sum of my being, as I stand before the very Ancient of Days. His scales. His value system. His eyes of Fire. Will my heart survive that flame? Will I find that anything I have done on earth, gives worth to the Lamb who was slain? For perhaps, it is not in the asking or the assessment, but in the peace of knowing which passes knowing? The Love of God, which is greater than even our feeble hearts (which condemn us.) What is the weight of my fruit in the eyes of eternity? Truly, it is a game of pride, to try to quantify and qualify one's thoughts, motives, and actions, even through the lense of Christianity. For we do not discern as God sees. Only God knows the heart of a man. 

Time; man's invention? Or God's redemptive linear tool; leading chronologically to the cataclysmic dawning of a brighter day! Jesus, the Morning Star. We await your coming light!

We shall inhabit eternity with God. If we believe upon His sacrifice. What depth and heights of love. To explore the brightness of the Holy. Inexhaustible Light. What joy awaits us, if we will not give up. If we will, but OVERCOME.

For God is the foundation. God is the Fountain. In His light, we see light. He inhabits eternity. He is the very Ancient of Days. He quantifies my fruit. He is the one to say, "Well done, Faithful Servant." He sees the sum of my days, the weight of my actions, good and bad. What is done in love, will remain. That which stands the test of His all-consuming flame of Love will forever glorify His name. Antiphonal crescendo of praise!

So, that is my prayer. A wheel within a wheel. Time within eternity. Humanity and fragility held in the expanse of LOVE. Melissa living for the Fame of His Great Name. For all of my days.