"Ought Is Not Enough"

Once again from "Ransomed Heart Ministries"

Ought Is Not Enough12/01/2007
When the going gets rough, we’re going nowhere without desire. And the going will get rough. The world, the minions of darkness, and your own double-mindedness are all set against you. Just try coming alive, try living from your heart for the Sacred Romance and watch how the world responds. They will hate you for it and will do everything in their power to get you to fall back into the comfort of the way things were. Your passion will disrupt them, because it sides with their own heart which they’ve tried so hard to put away. If they can’t convince you to live from the safer places they have chosen, they will try intimidation. If that fails, they’ll try to kill you—if not literally, then at the level of your soul.Jeremiah lived the struggle of desire. He knew the deep ambivalence of living for the Sacred Romance. His decision to trust in the love of God and join the battle for the hearts of his people made him an outcast, a pariah. Like the Master he served, he was “despised and rejected by men.” After years of opposition, getting tossed naked into the bottom of wells, plots against his life, the shame of false accusations and the loneliness of isolation, Jeremiah has had it. He is ready to throw in the towel. He lets the passion of his soul forth, directly at God:O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived;you overpowered me and prevailed.I am ridiculed all day long;everyone mocks me. . . .So the word of the Lord has brought meinsult and reproach all day long.But if I say, “I will not mention himor speak any more in his name,”his word is in my heart like a fire,a fire shut up in my bones.I am weary of holding it in;indeed, I cannot. (20:7–9)He says, in effect, “You put this Romance in my heart, you drew me out on this wild adventure—how could I keep from following? But now that I have, it has only brought me the fury of my community. And what’s worse, I cannot walk away. I’m trapped by my desire for you.” Jeremiah may have become a prophet initially out of a sense of duty, but now he is caught up in the Sacred Romance because he can’t help it. When the going gets rough, ought is not enough to keep you going.(The Sacred Romance , 198, 199)
From The Ransomed Heart, by John Eldredge, reading 335 Ransomed Heart Ministries www.ransomedheart.com

"Waiting"

I had lunch with one of my dearest friends today before she heads out west with her husband Tommy to spend the next month with their daughter Fallon, and son-in law Justin,(who I love so much:) and the two grandbabies in Prescott Arizona, where Justin is worship leader at a church there. We all just had the most wonderful reunion and dinner together with Nina's mom and dad about two weeks ago at their beautiful home up on the hill here in Franklin. As I drove up the hill to the house that night I reminised about all the good times...I remembered the big white tents when Justin and Fallon got married, and all the evenings with all the kids and writers and singers sitting around the bonfires and all the good music, when the road was not paved and it was hold on for your life as we would climb the hill with all of us piled up in Tommy and Nina's SUV and all the laughter. I will miss them very much during this season. The holidays can magnify so much when you are alone, without family, or children, and waiting on the Lord for the next step in your life. Nina and I were talking about all the varying vicissitudes in my life....we talked about waiting, and how it always seems we are all waiting on something at different times in our lives, and how God can be silent at times.
Those are the times that he wants us to just wait on him. I thought quietly. Nina looked at me and said "Patricia, we can't be sad in the waiting.." Nina can definately read me. I somehow felt all the lights go on! Nina said "What is the scripture Patricia... "Be strong and of good courage" And I do need to be strong right now and courageous! We talked about the fruits of the Spirit...Peace, Joy, Love,....Don't you want to show up for someone you love like that? It is the desire of my heart to show up for the people that I love like that. Maybe we can all gain some encouragement from these scriptures....while we are waiting.

Mr. Websters dictionary defined the word "wait" for us..."in waiting.... in attendance as upon a royal personage"......To remain or rest in expectation...to remain or be in readiness....serving, or bring in attendance.....

Here are some scripture verses....

Hebrews 6:15 "And so after waiting patiently Abraham recieved what was promised."

Psalm 5:3 "In the morning Oh Lord you hear my voice in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in anticipation."

Psalm 27:14 "Wait for the Lord..be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

Psalm 38:15 "I wait for you Oh Lord...you will answer Oh Lord my God."

Psalm 130:16 "My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning."

Habakkuk 2:3 "For the revelation awaits an appointed time it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers...wait for it...it will certainly come and will not delay!"

"Eve Is Essential"

From my Daily Readings... "Ransomed Heart Ministries" John and Stasi Eldredge

I just recieved this and wanted to share the beauty of it. This is so powerful and opens up a whole new view. If you really" get this" it will make your heart sing. I so pray for men and women who will really "get this " together, and experience a taste of heaven on earth. God bless you John and Stasi Eldredge.

When God creates Eve, he calls her an "ezer kenegdo". "It is not good for the man to be alone, I shall make him a "ezer kenegdo." (Gen. 2:18). This phrase is not notoriously difficult to translate. The various attempts we have in English tend to be "helper" or "companion" or the notorious "help meet." Why are these translations so incredibly wimpy, boring, flat...dissapointing? What is a help meet, anyway? What little girl dances through the house singing "One day I shall be a help meet?" Companion? A dog can be a companion. Helper? Sounds like Hamburger Helper. Hebrew scholar Robert Alter is getting close when he translates it "sustainer beside him."

The word ezer is used only 20 other places in the entire Old Testament. And in every other instance the person being described is God himself, when you need him to come through for you desperately.

God is your only hope. Your ezer. If he is not there beside you..you are dead. A better translation therefore of ezer would be"life saver." Kenegdo means alongside, or opposite to a counterpart.

You see, the life God calls us to is not a safe life. Ask Joseph, Abraham, Moses, Deborah, Esther-any of the friends of God from the Old Testament. Ask Mary and Lazarus, ask Peter, James and John, ask Priscilla and Aquila-any of the friends of God in the New Testament. God calls us to a life involving frequent risks and many dangers. Why else would we need him to be our ezer? You don't need a life saver if your mission is couch potato. You need an ezer when your life is in constant danger.

That longing in the heart of a woman to share life together as a great adventure-that comes straight from the heart of God, who also longs for this. He does not want to be an option in our lives. He does not want to be an appendage, a tag-along. Neither does any woman. God is essential. Eve is essential. She has an irreplaceable role to play.

"Thanksgiving"

I need to take this walk in the woods
And sit by the fire's warmth
The battle has been long and hard
But the ship is headed right on course
For healing...
For two hearts healing
Last night at midnight it began to rain
God knew I needed a release
So He opened up the skies for me
And together, the sky and I began to weep
It is still raining
And for right now
It is a gift so sweet

At this place on the journey
There is a chasm so wide and deep
That refuses my passage
Through any self effort
And it is God's intention
To use this place
To erradicate my heart's walls and any obstacles
That might separate
I will lay this love on the altar
Totally committed
To sink or swim
And give what is most precious to me
In complete consecration
Back to him
And trust him in its safekeeping
I need His revelation
In this place I have never been
Holy Spirit bring your comfort
I'm so in need of consolation..
In this lovers torment of separation

This curious paralell
For here is where we are stripped of the
Protective clothing of fig leafs and roles
I keep hearing "Baby shoot straight from the heart"
Faith and trust are called for in ways
That I have not previously known
I must have an abandoned, ruthless trust in God.
This is not a journey for the faint of heart
For this is the way of The Sacred Romance
To get to "the state of the art"...

There is a damsel captive in a tower
From which she cannot break free...
But when the winds blow cold...
And there is no one to hold her..
She knows and truly believes....that
Still.....God has something up his sleeve.
For it is never one's place to make His promise come to pass...
All he requires is for me to believe.

"All For You"

The skies of blue
The fields of green
Are all for you

The silver moon
The shining sea
Are all for you

For you the wind blows
For you the river flows
And everything you ever dream about

Even the love you dream of too...
Is all for you

By John Smith & Lisa Aschman

"I'll Still Be Loving You"

Changing my life with your love
Has been so easy for you
And I'm amazed everyday
And I'll need you
Till all the mountains are valleys
And every ocean runs dry
My Love

I'll be yours until the sun doesn't shine
Till time stands still
Until the winds don't blow
When today is just a memory to me
I know
I'll still be loving
You
I'll still be loving you

Never before ...did I know
How loving someone could be
Now I can see
You and me..for a lifetime
Until the last moon is rising
You'll see the love in my eyes
My Love...

I'll be yours until the sun doesn't shine
Till time stands still
Until the winds don't blow
When today is just a memory to me I know...
I'll still be loving...
I'll still be loving you
I'll still be loving you
I'll still be loving...I'll still be loving you.
Ill still be loving you

by Todd Cerney for Restless Heart

"Deep Unto Deep"

There dwells a light behind his skin
And a light within his eyes
Every gesture so kind and gentle
Every word spoken low and wise
And I , so blessed to see his smiling face
Blessed, to feel such redeeming grace
Looking back at me
So unexpected....
This love
In the deepest degree


I was caught by suprise
One summer's eve
Never knowing what the day would bring
He walks in realms where the angels dwell
And they smile when they hear him sing
And I , so blessed because I can see
He walks in beauty and I believe
I hear the music of heaven when he speaks to me
So unprecedented to the likes of me....
So unexpected...
This love... in the deepest degree