Open the Heavens and come down... Let Your presence fill the skies...
Open the Heavens and come down... Let Your glory fill my eyes...
Higher and Higher, You carry me Higher
Fire and Fire, You fill me with Fire!
Open the Heavens and come down... Let Your presence fill the skies
Open the Heavens and rain down... Let Your Glory fill my life!
From Glory to Glory, I see Your Glory
Fire and Fire, You fill me with Fire!

Where I'd rather be... walking with my Beloved.

I think the difference between Bono and Jesus is that Jesus doesn't think he's Bono.

Beautiful Dreamer Flower

Beautiful Dreamer Wake unto me...
So goes the beginning of the popular song written by Stephen Foster more than a century ago. It reminds me of a verse in a much older, more loved work, Psalm 139.
"How precious are your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You." (vs's 17-18)

To me, this sounds like an open invitation from Heaven to lay down and explore the thoughts of God... to inquire of His Spirit and Mind, to day-dream (i.e. meditate) in the chambers of the Father's heart... to get lost in the whispered words of His great Love... and to wake up with Him, to wake up TO Him, to become aware of Him all around and even more so, to be conscious of Him *inside*.

I've often heard that if you lay down with dogs, you wake up with fleas! Well, what happens when you lay down with the Beloved? What do you wake up with?
Dreams.

My quiet time offering for today... I enjoyed writing this, but I can see I need to simplify my posts so I enjoy it more and get frustrated with the html less! :)

His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written which no one knows except Himself. Rev. 19:12

The Blaze in Your bright eyes
Lit up the heavens and shocked the skies
And filled my heart with deep desire
To embrace Your beautiful Spirit-Fire.

Eyes of Fire Day Lily, Hopehill Gardens

Oh! Sacred Dove of love, stretch thy wings, and play the eagle now. Come! open wide thine eyes, and look full in the Sun's face, and soar upward, upward, upward, far above the heights of this world's creation, upwards, till thou art lost in eternity. Remember, that God loved thee from before the foundation of the world. Does not this strengthen thy love? Ah! what a bracing air is that air of eternity!
--Spurgeon

Good Morning, Glory...

For the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end... they are new every morning, new every morning... great is Thy faithfulness, Oh Lord... Great is Thy faithfulness.
We used to sing this song at a retreat and Bible Study center called BASIC, in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Kentucky. Those were fun days with lots of good memories. I met my best friend and sister there, Jessica. A lot of our college friends would go there on Tuesday nights for Bible study with Bob, who was like a dad to us all. We studied Romans with a microscope! Jessica got married there. So did another friend, Sally who married Joe. They used to do the worship together at Basic... Joe on the guitar and Sally changing out the overheads. My soon-to-be husband and I went to a weekend retreat there for married couples (it was an amazing learning experience! Lots of couples who'd been together for decades gladly imparted their best advice to us, and it was fun, because there were only womens' dorms and men's dorms, so it was like a huge sleepover. )

I lived at Basic for a time or two, never more than a month, but it was when I had no place else to go. Those were wonderful, peaceful days. I got to spend a lot of good time with God, and the sweetest retriever ever, a jet black dog named Light. We waded in the creek and day-dreamed deeply.
A bunch of us would sometimes drive up to Basic late at night and watch meteor showers on the hill, or just sit back and stare at the stars... great grape clusters of diamonds in the sky.

I appreciate Bob and Basic so much for so many reasons, but I think it's on my mind this morning because it reminds me of a time when I had more time. Time to reflect, time to meditate, time to swim deeply in the River and float away to my secret hiding place in the Father's heart. I miss that. I miss having woods to wander in and paths to meander down, a great big sky overhead with every passing cloud shimmering with meaning, and every light breeze a caress from Him.
We live in a gorgeous place, with beautiful weather, amazing vistas, incredible views. But what is missing here is solitude. There is no easy or safe place to "lay me down" and soar into the heavens. There are retreat centers, a far cry from Basic, usually crowded with church group after church group. I wonder though, maybe one of them has a special for a woman who just wants to be alone with her God?
...and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD...ex.16:7a

The Glorious Destiny

Quiet times are such important things, yet, I've been struggling to find time. There's so much going on, with construction, interior repairs, children to homeschool, a baby to rock, a husband to cook for, friends to relate to, and so on, that I think I need to carve some time and space out for the most important thing of all... intimacy with Jesus. So I'll start here, and now, with a verse from my sister.

You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Psalms 73:24 (NLT)
(Glorious Destiny Flower - Marietta Gardens)

In the NAS version, it reads like this:

With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory.

One version seems to be talking about life here on earth, the other one seems to point to the hereafter. I haven't looked at the Hebrew to see which is correct, but what occurs to me is that it really doesn't matter. Our life is meant to be "On earth, as it is in heaven." I can count on being guided by the counsel of my Father, and He will lead me into a glorious destiny, a wonderful adventure with a very, very good outcome, both here on earth, and into the forever after. He never fails, and He always comes through on His promises... it's a nice, safe feeling to know that His plans for me are so very good!

Welcome to the Blog Less Traveled.
Join me on the Journey.
Lisa-Anne