A Treasure in the Earth

"There was a treasure in the earth which the Lord loved."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

In the Parable God showed Julian, there was a treasure in the earth. A  treasure by definition is something rare, precious, valuable and greatly desired. This precious, greatly desired treasure is humanity, who has fallen into the depths of earthly existence with its pain and death, not fulfilling the full potential it was created for. It has become covered in the dirt and mud of sin and delusion and not visibly glorious. Yet the treasure remains beautiful even when covered over with dirt and grime; the treasure remains the treasure and never becomes the dirt. The treasure only waits for Someone to bring it out of the mud and remove the dirt to reveal its original beauty. This is the treasure Christ came to lift up, redeem and restore. He came to wipe humanity free of grime and dirt and death and not only bring it back to its original glory but fill it with even more glory, filled with Christ's own fullness of life and flourishing, and bring it up to heaven to present to the Father in beauty and splendor! We are what greatly pleases the Lord, what He loves and adores, what He considers precious and beyond price, the treasure He would do anything to have back in sweet relationship with Him, safe in eternal life with Him. Christ is the One who has done all the work to bring God's dear treasure home to Him, in glory and honor!

“The kingdom of heaven is like a [very precious] treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field [securing the treasure for himself]."

Matthew 13:44 (AMP)

A Prayer: Thank You for seeing me as a priceless treasure in Your eyes, so that You would do anything to have me with You! 

Rejoicing for the Worshipful Restoring

"He hath, beclosed in Him, all Heavens, and all Joy and Bliss: and this was shewed .... I saw Him highly rejoice for the worshipful restoring that He will and shall bring His servant to by His plenteous grace."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

Heaven is in God. Heaven is found in Him, for being in Him in a total way, fully experiencing the bliss of His presence, is true Heaven! In His presence there is no pain, sorrow or fear; there is only love, joy, and bliss. He has within Himself all the joy and bliss that is possible to know. To see Him fully, know Him fully, experience Him fully, is the highest joy, the deepest bliss, that is possible! His joy is in knowing that He will and shall bring His servant (Adam, all humanity) to 'worshipful restoring' by His abundant, all-surpassing grace. He knows that all will end well for us all. He knows that we will all be home with Him enjoying perfect love and endless joy in His presence. He knows that Christ's work was sufficient and restored all to wholeness and glory, and that all will experience that. It will happen, it shall happen, it has already happened in the eternal will of God, and we shall all see and experience it! Christ has made this a 'sure thing,' and what a relief it is to know this story has a happy ending only God could dream up!

"For the grace of God has appeared, saving all."

Titus 2:11 (NABRE)

"For God had allowed us to know the secret of his plan, and it is this: he purposes in his sovereign will that all human history shall be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in Heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfilment in him."

Ephesians 1:9-10 (PHILLIPS)

"God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ."

2 Corinthians 1:21 (MSG)

A Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for Your 'worshipful restoring' of us all!

God's Dwelling Place

"He made man's soul to be His own City and His dwelling-place: which is most pleasing to Him of all His works. And what time that man was fallen into sorrow and pain, he was not all seemly to serve in that noble office; and therefore our Lord Father would prepare Himself no other place, but would sit upon the earth abiding mankind, which is mingled with earth, till what time by His grace His dearworthy Son had brought again His City into the noble fairness with His hard travail."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

Humanity has always been God's favorite dwelling place, the place He most wants to be. We have lost sight of that and not realized our value or the great purpose God had for us to just be His home, radiant with His glory. But God never lost sight of this! Christ came to bring the royal city of God back to its true radiance in all its glory. Now through Christ's work in the incarnation, death and resurrection, that vision of God for us is realized. We are the royal city of God, the seat of His throne. His glory radiates out from within us through His Spirit. Death is defeated, tears are wiped away, sorrow and pain are done away.  God's dwelling is with humanity not just in essence or spirit but also in earthly human experience. In God's eternal view, this is fact and reality, something already true for us. We are simply becoming more and more aware of what Christ has already done, of God already dwelling within us, of the victory over sin and death that is already accomplished. Heaven has been brought to earth, and it's within us. It will manifest more and more till all see the glory of the Lord here on earth, in His beloved humanity!

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

Isaiah 40:5 (KJV)

I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride dressed in beauty for her husband. Then I heard a great voice from the throne crying, “See! The home of God is with men, and he will live among them. They shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more, and never again shall there be sorrow or crying or pain. For all those former things are past and gone.”

Revelation 21:2-4 (PHILLIPS)

A Prayer: I am radiant with Your glory that shines from Your presence within me!

He Shows Himself

"Man is blinded in this life and therefore we may not see our Father, God, as He is. And what time that He of His goodness willeth to shew Himself to man, He sheweth Himself homely, as man."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

Living in this mortal existence, humans cannot fully see who God is using our human senses and faculties. We are limited in our understanding, also, and have been confused by false information about God. But God wanted us to know Him for who He truly is, so we could experience deep and meaningful relationship with Him. The second Person of the Trinity, the only-begotten Son, who is God and exists in the bosom of His Father, in closest and equal association to Him, took on flesh and blood and became human. Now we can see God right in front of us in the man Jesus Christ. God has revealed Himself, God is with us, God has spoken to us the final and truest word about Himself, in His Son! Everyone who came before had limited information about God, but the Son is the perfect and exact representation of God. All the thoughts and words that we heard before were incomplete; the Son is the final word about God, the perfect truth about Him. He shows us who God is, and we see that God is unlike some of the older pictures of God that people have had, even pictures found in the Old Testament. We can see now that even though these pictures had merit, they were incomplete pictures. Jesus shows the complete picture, being God in the flesh. Jesus shows us a God who is tender-hearted, gentle, forgiving, compassionate, and kind, who is all love and nothing else. He shows us a God who forgives His enemies, does good to those who rail against Him, and blesses those who hate Him. Every past revelation, every word that was said or written about God before, must cede to the final revelation of God, the Son Jesus Christ. If we don't see a trait in Christ, it is not in God. If we do see a trait in Christ, it is truly in God. He is the face of the Father to us, and we see it is a good, accepting, nonjudging, welcoming, understanding face. It is the face of pure love. God has appeared in human form to walk and talk among us, to show us the true nature of God, to experience what we go through as humans, to meet with us and relate to us in a way we can understand, to call us home to where we belong, home to His Father and our Father, too!

So the word of God became a human being and lived among us. ...It is true that no one has ever seen God at any time. Yet the divine and only Son, who lives in the closest intimacy with the Father, has made him known.

John 1:14,18 (PHILLIPS)

"In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."

Hebrews 1:2-3 (NIV)

A Prayer: Jesus, thank You showing me the Father!

His Lovely Look

"And the lovely looking wherewith He looked upon His Servant continually,—and especially in his falling,—methought it might melt our hearts for love and burst them in two for joy. The fair looking ...was marvellous to behold: the one [part] was Ruth and Pity, the other was Joy and Bliss. The Joy and Bliss passeth as far Ruth and Pity as Heaven is above earth: the Pity was earthly and the Bliss was heavenly: the Ruth and Pity of the Father was [in regard] of the falling of Adam, which is His most loved creature; the Joy and Bliss was [in regard] of His dearworthy Son, which is even with the Father."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

If we could see the way God looks at us, especially when we fail or sin, it would melt our hearts and fill us with happiness. We cannot even begin to imagine the love and tenderness and sweetness of that gaze, which is upon us at all times! It is a look of compassion, feeling for us in all our troubles, but even moreso it is a look of pure bliss. God is so happy with us, so pleased and proud of us, so filled with awe and wonder at His beautiful little children. Just as a parent is with a small child, He adores us. Our failings don't change His attitude toward us or His expression towards us one bit. His tender heart is filled with joy over us, and the look of love He gives us always is just the same look He gives to His Son Jesus! In just the same way, with just the same intensity, as the Father loves the Son, He also loves each of us. It seems too good to be true, yet it is. 

As church father Hilary of Poitiers said in his book, On the Trinity, "God can never be anything but love, or anything but the Father." He has nothing but love to give us. He has no other attitude towards us than compassion and delight. Just as He would treat the Son, that's how He is treating us. Can we see Him now, smiling at us? Can we relax into that gaze of love and let it melt our cares away? Can we just stay for a moment in the embrace of that look, and forget our failures, realizing we are perfect to Him? What wonderful love is this, and what a wonderful God who is all love!

"His love for His Son is His love for us."

Ephesians 1:6 (MIRROR)

"Jesus, looking at him, loved him.."

Mark 10:21 (ESV)

A Prayer: One look in Your eyes, and I know I'm loved!

God Doesn't Punish

"Only Pain blameth and punisheth, and our courteous Lord comforteth and sorroweth; and ever He is to the soul in glad Cheer, loving, and longing to bring us to His bliss."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

One of the most life-changing things we can find out is that God does not punish us! Though some Old Testament verses seem to say that God punishes, Jesus came and gave the fuller picture of God. Jesus never punished a single person, whether tax collector or Pharisee. And on the cross He prayed for all who harmed Him to be forgiven. He showed that God's way is forgiveness and release, not punishment. He showed us God is grace, not law. He gave us the true picture of God, a God of compassion, mercy, forgiveness and love, a God who does not judge us but saves us. It is not God who causes us pain and suffering. It is not God who punishes or harms us. It is pain itself that hurts us, evil and death that do us harm. It is fear and loneliness and depression and tragedy that hurt us, not God! These things are brought on us through the presence of evil, not the presence of God. God comes to us not to cause  pain but to relieve it. He comes not to punish sin but to remove it. What a relief to know that when we fail, God isn't looking on us harshly with judgment, ready to beat us or make us suffer to learn some kind of "lesson." Instead, He is looking on us with compassion, tenderness and kindness, suffering all our pain with us and being so moved in His tender heart that He wants only to comfort and encourage and heal us, or rather to show us Jesus already healed us! He has only one look towards us, the loving look of joy! He is bringing us into joy, the joy of heaven, and He doesn't think, talk or get concerned about our sin. It's not on His mind at all; it is already dealt with and removed by the cross anyway! He is only thinking about how happy we make Him just by being His kids. He always has a smile on His face for us. He is only thinking about the joy He wants to bring into our lives. For God only looks at what is, not what isn't. Sin and punishment are what ISN'T. Sin is gone, and there is no condemnation, shame, judgment or punishment at all coming to us, never from God anyway, but not from any other source either! It was all taken away by the death and resurrection of Christ! God only looks at what IS. He only sees new creations in Christ, perfected and holy, pure and clean, flawless and beautiful, beloved and honored! He is always seeing this reality and is bringing us to get our eyes off the sin we already died to with Christ, so we can look at the resurrection reality we have been brought into by Christ! What a glorious thing to know, that God doesn't punish us, He has simply healed us by love through Christ!

"The Lord lifts up all who fall, and he supports all who are bowed down."

Psalm 145:14 (EHV)

A Prayer: When I fall down, You always pick me up. You never shame or blame me. You just encourage and help me. Thank You!

Seeing Through His Eyes

"For neither doth he see clearly his loving Lord, which is to him full meek and mild, nor doth he see truly what himself is in the sight of his loving Lord. And well I wot when these two are wisely and truly seen, we shall get rest and peace here in part, and the fulness of the bliss of Heaven, by His plenteous grace."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 51)

Humans ask certain "big questions" to find meaning in their lives. Two of the biggest questions are "Who am I?" and "Who is God?" If we can find good answers to these questions, we can find meaning, joy and peace in our lives. One of the effects of the Fall is that these two truths, of who we are and who God is to us, are in a sense forgotten by the human race. We have suffered a memory loss or blindness regarding these most important things. We have been deluded into believing ourselves and God to be different than the truth. We have mistakenly attached the attributes of evil to both ourselves and God, thinking that we are bad, selfish and hurtful, or thinking that God is vengeful, angry or destructive.  These false attributes don't belong to God or to us, His children! We have been deluded and have mistakenly lived under these delusions, living out a false identity and beliveing a false identity of God.

Christ came to show us the truth. Being both God and Man, He shows us the face of God, for He is one with the Father; He shows us God is loving, meek and mild.  He shows us the face of man, for we are considered Jesus' siblings and part of His family; He shows us we are in the image of God and precious enough to die for. He gives us His eyes to see, His mind to think clearly, freeing us from confusion and healing our blindness. And He simply asks us to side with Him, to align with His viewpoint about us and God. Let's dare to believe in who He says He is: humble and lowly of heart, compassionate and nonjudgmental, kind and all-forgiving, wanting nothing more than to give us His whole kingdom. Let's dare to believe what God believes about us, too: that we are His dear ones, for whom He has great compassion, forgiven of any and all our wrongs, welcomed into His arms like little children. Knowing these truths gives us freedom to love ourselves as basically good people, as well as the confidence to be ourselves before God without fear, opening us up to a wonderful relationship with Him. And we start experiencing the peace and joy of heaven right here on earth!

 "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." 

John 14:9 (NIV)

"Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters."

Hebrews 2:11 (NIV)

A Prayer: Let me see who You are clearly, and let me see myself through Your eyes. 

Seeing Our Good Will

"This man (Adam) was hurt in his might and made full feeble; and he was stunned in his understanding so that he [was] turned from the beholding of his Lord. But his will was kept whole in God’s sight;—for his will I saw our Lord commend and approve. But himself was letted (hindered) and blinded from the knowing of this will.."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

When Adam fell, it wasn't that he suddenly became a bad person. His God-given nature or identity was still intact. But he was made weak in might and lacking in mental clarity. He was hindered from living out His good nature. He was in an environment and trap of sin and death that kept him from fulfilling his natural God-given potential. So we humans have been born into a world where we are subject to sin, corruption and death. In this broken world humans are weak and lacking sight of spiritual reality, so that we are not able to see God or see ourselves clearly. 

But God sees us clearly, He sees that our good will that He created us with is intact. In fact, God Himself is keeping it safe and whole in Himself so that it is undamaged and never lost. Yet we cannot see this clearly, and sometimes we may wonder what our true will or motivation is deep down. We may wonder if we are basically bad or basically good. But God never forgets or loses sight of who we are as good creations made in His image. And He seeks to show us this truth about ourselves. Christ came to show us our inherent created goodness and value. He is like a mirror showing us who we are, for we were created in the likeness of His nature, meaning we are like Him by nature. We see in Christ the very blueprint for human nature, for we were created in and through and from Him, and we see that human nature is inherently good with the very goodness of God. God never lets go of that good inner nature and He wakes us up to see it, too. 

We can confess that we are basically good. We don't have to put ourselves down or hate on ourselves. We have inherent goodness and value that will never change, no matter what our confused attitudes or actions. We naturally want what is good and right, and choosing that is most fulfilling to us and most comfortable. We are "love beings" deep down, even if we cannot see this truth! It's true that humans have been weakened and lost in confusion and could not live out that truth. But Christ has freed us so we can see this truth and live according to it, having lives full of love and fellowship with God and one another.

"Deep within my true identity, I love to do what pleases God."

Romans 7:22 (TPT)

A Prayer: I love knowing my will deep down inside is aligned with Your will. I love knowing that is my real, true self. 

One in Adam, One in Christ

"The Lord that sat stately in rest and in peace, I understood that He is God. The Servant that stood afore the Lord, I understood that it was shewed for Adam: that is to say, one man was shewed, that time, and his falling, to make it thereby understood how God beholdeth All-Man and his falling. For in the sight of God all man is one man, and one man is all man."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

In the Parable of the Lord and the Servant that God gave Julian, she sees that the Lord represents God and the Servant represents Adam, and in a sense, all of us. For in God's eyes we are all one in Adam and he stands for all men. Adam is seen as head of earthly humanity. So how God sees Adam when he fell tells us how He sees us when we fall. Yet we also know that we humans are created by God in God's image and thus have our source in God Himself. So in one sense the head of humanity is Adam, when speaking of our earthly, bodily existence. But in another sense, the head of humanity is God in Christ, who is the source of our spiritual nature. What happens to Adam affects us, but also what happens to Christ affects us more. And even though we have an earthly, fleshly connection to Adam, we have a prior, heavenly, spiritual connection with Christ. Christ took on human flesh in the incarnation, and as He has a prior claim on us before Adam, all that He did affects us in both a spiritual and a bodily way and trumps all the effects of Adam's fall. Christ's salvation extends from our spiritual and mental state even to our bodies that die, saving us from death and the grave! In the Parable, the Lord is sitting in rest and peace. God is at rest and peace about us and about what Christ did on our behalf. He knows the work is finished, complete, and perfect. It is a perfect salvation that has perfectly saved us, for just as all were affected by the fall of Adam and suffered corruption and death, all were affected by the work of Christ through His death and resurrection and given eternal life! How wonderful that He thought of everything in this great salvation work. Sin may have been devastating in its consequences, but it was no match for God. His grace and love did a work in Christ that far outweighed the effect of sin. It abundantly saved us and gave us overpassing grace and life. So before, sin reigned and brought death, but now grace reigns and brings life through Christ our Lord! 

"Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right."

Romans 5:18-19 (MSG)

"But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 5:20-21 (NKJV)

A Prayer: Thank You for Your salvation work that overrules and erases all the effects of Adam's fall!

Reward for Our Suffering

"The Lord’s meaning descended into my soul: in which I saw that it behoveth needs to be, by virtue of His great [Goodness] and His own worship, that His dearworthy Servant, which He loved so much, should be verily and blissfully rewarded, above that he should have been if he had not fallen. Yea, and so far forth, that his falling and his woe, that he hath taken thereby, shall be turned into high and overpassing worship and endless bliss."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

We are God's dearworthy ones - precious and highly esteemed - that He loves so very much! He sees all the suffering we go through just living in this world, all the brokenness and hurt from the corruption, trouble and wrong that is in the world. He hurts for us, He hurts with us, and because of how good and loving He is, He says that it must be so that we be rewarded for all our suffering and hurt down here! He rewards us far more than if we had never suffered from the Fall. He rewards us far more highly and greatly than our trouble and sin has brought us down. Christ has turned every wrong into right by pure grace. Yes, it is by pure grace and love that Christ has come and healed us, saved us, and repaid us for all our loss. What He gives more than makes up for all we have lost through sin. You can be sure that every pain, sorrow, and hurt we've known here through the brokenness of this world is already healed and recompensed through Christ and will be brought to us in our experience. Every pain will be wholeness, every hurt will be wellness, every broken relationship will be reconciled, every sin will be goodness, every condemnation will be honor. It's already that way in heaven and Christ will bring that heaven to earth and we will know it, live in it, experience it, and be filled with joy because of it! There will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more evil, no more wrong! Joy is coming and peace will reign, and we will be happy in the happiness of God, happier than we could ever imagine. And all shall be well!

"Though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God his grace is wider and deeper still! The whole outlook changes—sin used to be the master of men and in the end handed them over to death: now grace is the ruling factor, with righteousness as its purpose and its end the bringing of men to the eternal life of God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 5:20-21 (PHILLIPS)

"In my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us.... in the end the whole of created life will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and have its share in that magnificent liberty ...[of] the children of God!"

Romans 8:18,23 (PHILLIPS)

A Prayer: Thank You for turning all the bad times we've had here into the most amazing good times with You!

Resurrection Life

"And not only this, but falleth it not to me to give a gift that [shall] be better to him, and more worshipful, than his own wholeness should have been?—or else methinketh I should do him no grace."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

God has given us a precious gift in Christ, the gift of eternal life, life that is found in the resurrection life of Christ Himself. This life is far better than anything Adam knew, even better than life in the Garden of Eden, even better than life when there was no Fall.  

The resurrection life we've been raised up into with Christ is beyond the reach of death. It goes on forever and cannot ever be extinguished. We have life forever with God! This resurrection life is beyond the reach of sin and evil. Those things don't and can't exist in this life! We are in a place where those things are already conquered. We are already victors over whatever struggles or sins that are in earthly life. We are in a whole different realm now, the realm of sinlessness, pure love and holiness. For everything is new here. Whatever of the old life that pulled us down, hurt us, made us feel ashamed or gave us regret is gone - it has passed away and all is totally healed and well, totally right and pure. We are in the place of ultimate peace and joy, for it is God's own peace and joy that we experience here, which can't be stolen away or lost! We have ultimate security in this resurrection life, because with Christ we have already been raised up to heaven. We don't have to worry about whether we will get there because we have already arrived! So there is perfect security, knowing we are already safe in heaven and thus, can never be lost or perish. We are reigning in heavenly places in Christ. That means we are not underneath any circumstance or problem; instead, we are already reigning over it with Christ. We have relationship with God the Father that is beyond wonderful, because it is more than just a human's relationship with God: it is Christ the Son's relationship with the Father! In Christ we have been brought into the perfect relationship with our Father and have a bond with Him that can never be broken, because it is the secure bond between the Father and the Son! This resurrection life is beyond our wildest dreams, and it is already ours in Christ! 

What a wonderful reward and gift the Father has given us, which more than makes up for the difficulties we have here on earth. Where sin once abounded, grace truly super-abounded! Where once all seemed lost, now all is found. Where once there was sin and death, now there is light and eternal life! And we don't have to wait till later to experience this resurrection life with God, because it has already started for us. We are experiencing eternal life right now, in fellowship with the Father and the Son, and there is nowhere to go but up from here! This is the life we were always meant to live, in union with Christ. For He Himself IS resurrection life, our true life, eternal life inside of us right now, endless life that we take partake of in the heavenlies right now! Isn't He so wonderful?

"And the testimony is this: God has given us eternal life [we already possess it], and this life is in His Son [resulting in our spiritual completeness, and eternal companionship with Him]."

1 John 5:11 (AMP)

"Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life."

Colossians 3:3-4 (MSG) 

A Prayer: Show me the reality of the eternal, resurrection life I have in You!

A Gift for All Our Woe

 "Then saith this courteous Lord in his meaning: Lo, lo, my loved Servant, what harm and distress he hath taken in my service for my love,—yea, and for his goodwill. Is it not fitting that I award him [for] his affright and his dread, his hurt and his maim and all his woe?" 

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

In the Parable God showed Julian, she saw that the Lord had pity on His servant because of the harm he suffered when he fell in the ditch, and that the Lord had joy because He knew how highly He would raise up the servant in helping him. He even says it is fitting that He reward the servant and give him a gift for all his pain and trouble! We so often think our falling deserves anger and punishment. But God looks on our falling and sees all the pain and suffering we go through here on earth because of the presence of sin or evil, and He wants to not only raise us up but also reward us and give us a gift for all our troubles. It seems crazy to be rewarded for sin! But God sees our sins and failings as a trap we get caught in, or a slavery we suffer in, rather than something we truly want or choose with our deepest heart of hearts. And He wants to make it up to us for all the pain and sorrow and suffering we go through in this world because of sin. Jesus came and not only entered into our death due to sin, but He also raised us up into His life due to righteousness! We have been raised up with Him into His very life, endless, eternal, resurrection life, the God life! This is far better than Adam ever had it in the garden. This life is far better than any great life we could have here on earth physically. This is endless spiritual life, life in the heavenlies!

"Even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus."

Ephesians 2:5 (NLT)

A Prayer: Thank You for raising me up with Christ into a life far better than I could ever imagine! I love You!

God's Response to Our Sin

"His loving Lord full tenderly beholdeth him...now with a double manner of Regard: one outward, full meekly and mildly, with great ruth (compassion) and pity,... another inward, more spiritually,... highly rejoicing for the worshipful restoring that He will and shall bring His Servant to by His plenteous grace.."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

What happens when we fall into mistakes or sins? What is God's response? According to the Parable God showed Julian, His response is not blame, anger, condemnation, or in any way pointing out any fault with us. Instead, His response is firstly compassion, feeling for the difficulties we have in this world due to temptation, evil and sin, sorrowing with our every sorrow and hurting with our every hurt. And His response is secondly great rejoicing! Why would He be rejoicing? He rejoices because He knows and focuses on the finished work of His Son and how He has already turned every sin that we fall into and every shame that we feel into restoration, righteousness and honor by His marvelous, abundant grace! He rejoices that His grace trumps sin every single time and has already done away with all sin, guilt, shame and lostness through the work of Christ, which work is already finished. When a work is finished it means we need to add nothing to it. It is simply done and over. Any dealing with sin is already over and done by Christ. That means there is nothing left for us to do about our sin at all! Let's simply respond as God does to our failings and shameful feelings: let's have compassion on ourselves for all that we're going through and let's rejoice at the completed victory of Christ over all sin and shame at the cross where He took away the sin of the world forevermore! Let's not call ourselves sinful or dirty or guilty or bad. Let's call ourselves holy and clean and forgiven and purified because that's what Christ has made us through His finished work! We are not identified with sin but with Christ. We are not full of sin or guilt but full of Christ's righteousness and honor. That's reason to be compassionate with ourselves and every other person here on earth who sometimes fails. And that's reason to be joyful and affirming of ourselves and every person on earth who has been cleansed already and made perfect in the perfect obedience and righteousness of Christ the Savior of the world!

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

John 1:29 (ESV)

"One good act that Christ did makes all people right with God. And that brings true life for all."

Romans 5:18 (NCV)

"God has shown me that I am not to call any person unholy or unclean."

Acts 10:28 (NASB)

A Prayer: Every time I fail, help me remember Christ already took care of that one and I am still righteous before You by His finished work!

Not Bad, Just Wounded

"For only his goodwill and his great desire was cause of his falling; and he was unlothful, and as good inwardly as when he stood afore his Lord, ready to do his will. And right thus continually his loving Lord full tenderly beholdeth him."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

Julian saw in the revelation from God that mankind had a good will or nature both before and after the Fall. She could see no fault that would cause man to be blamed. Mankind remained unloathful and inwardly good even after the Fall. So we see that even though humanity sinned or had a fall into delusion and believing lies, the true inner nature of humanity as God's children created in His image and likeness never changed. People remain basically good, just as God made them, it is just that with the effects of death and confusion and temptation and the broken environment in the world, it is very hard to live according to our true nature as God made us. It is like we have a wound or a blindness we cannot heal or an enslavement we can't get free from. But the nature God created us with is still there. He still holds us in His hand and is still present with us. We are still His creations, His children. We still bear the image of God and have worth, dignity, and honor. Our basic natural drive is still to love, to do good, to seek God. Sin has devastating effects, but no sin or evil can destroy the image of God in a person. No sin or evil can destroy a person's basic dignity. No sin or evil can alter or destroy the nature God created us with, which is just part of our makeup and part of who we are as humans. There is still good in people. There is still God in people! 

Christ came to rescue the good creation of God, to heal the wound we couldn't heal, to heal our blindness and restore our sight, to bring us back to ourselves and back to experiencing the relationship with our Dad that is our birthright. He came to break the hold of sin, lies, corruption, evil and death. He came to show His very good creation how loved, accepted, beautiful and good they always have been and always are to Him! He reminds us of the flawless inner person we truly are within. He came to show us He doesn't fault or blame us for our falling. He simply rescues us from our falls, lifts us up, binds our wounds and makes us whole and healthy again, hugging us till we believe everything is ok!

"The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], to proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound].

Luke 4:17-18 (AMPC)

A Prayer: Thank You for assigning no fault or blame to me but instead healing me of all my wounds and bondages!

Affirmation, Not Accusation

"I marvelled how this Servant might meekly suffer there all this woe, and I beheld with carefulness to learn if I could perceive in him any fault, or if the Lord should assign to him any blame. And in sooth there was none seen.."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

In the parable God showed Julian, the Servant fell while on an errand for the Lord. And Julian saw that the Lord did not find fault with the Servant or blame him in any way. It seems so amazing to think in light of this parable that God did not see any fault or blame in Adam when he fell, nor does He see fault or blame in us when we fall. He is not a God of fault-finding or blaming. He is not in the business of shaming, condemning or looking to find things wrong with us. He is a God of who constantly uplifts, accepts and affirms us and points out what is right with us. He is not law but grace. He is not a Judge who points out and punishes wrong but a Friend who points out and supports what is right. His stance toward us is gentleness and love and acceptance. He works by love rather than judgment. He overcomes evil with good. He strengthens us by grace instead of law. He makes us holy by His love. He makes us greater by gentleness, not harshness. The enemy accuses us, the law condemns us, but God saves us and builds us up! It is wonderful to think that God is not accusing us, finding fault with us, or blaming us for sin. He is truly always on our side to support us and affirm us. He is there to remind us of the positive about us, the fact of our belovedness, the truth about our good nature, and His love and support call out the best in us and free us to live up to the good He sees in us always!

"There is no need for you to think that I have come to accuse you."

John 5:45 (PHILLIPS)

“God did not send his Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it!"

John 3:17 (TPT)

A Prayer: It's almost unbelievable to think You will never find fault with me, blame me, or even judge or accuse me. Thank You for always building me up and seeing what is right with me!

Saved by His Life

"In which woe he suffered seven great pains. The first was the sore bruising that he took in his falling, which was to him feelable pain; the second was the heaviness of his body; the third was feebleness following from these two; the fourth, that he was blinded in his reason and stunned in his mind, so far forth that almost he had forgotten his own love; the fifth was that he might not rise; the sixth was most marvellous to me, and that was that he lay all alone: I looked all about and beheld, and far nor near, high nor low, I saw to him no help; the seventh was that the place which he lay on was a long, hard, and grievous [place]."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

Adam's fall affected humanity by the introducation of confusion, corruption and death. Humanity suffered physical, mental and psychological troubles in a broken world that tended towards death. People struggle with self-hatred, sickness, depression, anxiety, and a sense of alienation from God and others. We can feel and act blinded, weak, confused and lost. We succumb to many temptations and then find ourselves trapped in cycles of sin. We cannot overcome the reign of sin and death in this world. We need a Savior or Rescuer. How wonderful that Jesus came and rescued us from all those effects of the fall! Christ gave the very best He could give to solve our problem - He gave Himself. Into our sense of alienation from God He brought the knowledge of His presence and union with us. Into our sickness and weakness He brought His own wholeness and strength. Into our anxiety and turmoil He brought His peace. Into our loneliness and depression He brought His companionship and joy. Into our addictions and self-absorption He brought His freedom. Into our legalistic rituals and self-condemnation He brought His acceptance and grace. Into our doubts and confusions He brought the truth of His love. And into our death He brought His resurrection and eternal life! We could not cure our wound, but Christ could. Though the wound of sin and death was deep, Christ's power and love and life is deeper, greater, stronger. The Great Physician healed us, saved us, brought us back to life, wholeness, freedom and union relationship with God. We are saved by His life, given so freely for and to us!

"Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this."

Titus 3:6-8 (MSG)

A Prayer: Thank You that You have shown Yourself stronger than any sin, evil, problem or trouble. Thank You for Your great salvation that covers every area of my life!

Believing a Lie

"The most mischief that I saw him in, was failing of comfort: for he could not turn his face to look upon his loving Lord, which was to him full near,—in Whom is full comfort;—but as a man that was feeble and unwise for the time, he turned his mind to his feeling and endured in woe."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

What is the main thing about sin? It is believing a lie, a delusion. In the first sin, humans were tempted to believe a lie about God - that He wasn't good, that He was not satisfied with them, that He was keeping Himself back from them - and they were tempted to believe a lie about themselves - that they were not good enough, that they were lacking, that they needed by their own effort to become better or get something that would make things better. The truth all along was that God was and is good and always satisfied with us and always present with us, and the truth all along was and is that we are good, and we have all we need from God and that we are always with God.  The big lie was to try to get us to believe we needed to become like God or close to God when we were actually already like God and close to God. Falling into these doubts and confusions has a terrible fallout, because we can withdraw from God in fear or shame, feel we are on our own to make life work, or look at ourselves in self-hatred and try by the knowing of good and evil to 'fix' ourselves.  This is the effect of following the law. But grace is still present and still the ultimate truth, not law!  No matter what lies we have been led to believe about God or ourselves, the truth still stands! God is good, loving, kind and always with us, always for us, always helping us.  And we are good by nature and always in God's presence, always loved by God and always accepted by God. Christ came to remove the lie and all its effects in our lives so we could stop living according to the lie of who we are not, struggling to measure up by law or self effort, and begin to live and thrive in the truth of who we are, and the truth of God's presence, love, grace and life that has always been our birthright as God's dearly loved children!

"God cannot get [mankind] out of His thoughts...He has made man all but equal to Himself, He crowned him with His own glory and dignity.."

Hebrews 2:6-7 (MIRROR)

"His mandate was to rescue the human race from the regime of the law of performance and announce the revelation of their true sonship in God." 

Galatians 4:5 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: Thank You for being the Truth that dismantles every lie that I have believed about myself or about You!

Accidental Fall

"The Lord looketh upon his Servant full lovingly and sweetly, and meekly he sendeth him to a certain place to do his will. The Servant not only he goeth, but suddenly he starteth, and runneth in great haste, for love to do his Lord’s will. And anon he falleth into a slade (ravine), and taketh full great hurt. And then he groaneth and moaneth and waileth and struggleth, but he neither may rise nor help himself by no manner of way."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

In the Parable of the Lord and the Servant that God has shown Julian, the servant is eager to go on his way to do the will of the Lord. The Lord is looking on the servant with love and sweetness, and when he sends the servant out to do an errand, he doesn't harshly command him or act fearsomely. He sends him out with a gentle voice, and the servant quickly goes out to do all his Lord says. But then he falls into a ravine and is hurt. We see in this parable that the servant is ready and willing and delighted to follow his Lord's will. In his eagerness though, he trips and falls into a ravine and can't get out. 

From this simple story, we can see something about how God sees the fall of Adam or humanity. From this story, we can say God sees the fall as an accident, not something done on purpose by evil or malicious intent. After all, we call the sin of Adam "the Fall," not "the Jump" or "the Rebellion." The servant doesn't choose on purpose to go against the Lord's command and thus intentionally jump in a ravine. No, the servant is intent on doing the Lord's will and accidentally falls in the ravine while running to complete the Lord's assignment. To see the Fall as an accident is a comforting way to see what happened to Adam and Eve. After all, they were dwelling in innocence in the Garden of Eden and had had no experience with or wisdom about handling temptation, lies, confusion, or wrong. The early church father Irenaeus said that Adam and Eve's thoughts were "innocent and childlike." Of Adam, he said, "The man was a babe. He had not yet the perfect use of his faculties [he was not yet mature through experience or learning]. Hence he was easily deceived by the seducer." God would then see Adam and Eve as innocent and naive children who were easily duped, not as rebels bent on consciously planning or willing evil. So God would see us the same way when we fall into sin, or "stumble," as the Bible says. To stumble is to accidentally fall down, not to maliciously rebel. Deep down we are kids who don't know everything, get tricked and confused, and fall down. God, like any good parent, treats His kids with love and care when they fall down; He goes and hugs them and picks them up and soothes any wounded places they have. Yes, the Fall was tragic and brought many terrible effects, but it is reassuring to know that God is a loving Father who sees us as basically good little children in need of help and rescue, not punishment and anger. 

"For we all stumble in many ways."

James 3:2 (ESV)

A Prayer: Thank You for having compassion on me and for helping me up when I fall!

The Lord and the Servant

"I saw two persons in bodily likeness: that is to say, a Lord and a Servant; and therewith God gave me spiritual understanding. The Lord sitteth stately in rest and in peace; the Servant standeth by afore his Lord reverently, ready to do his Lord’s will."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 51)

Julian is given a parable or story by the Lord to help her understand how God sees us. In this story she is shown a lord and a servant. The lord is representative of God and the servant is representative of Adam, or humans. The initial view of the lord is that he is sitting in rest and peace. This speaks of God's attitude towards us. He is at peace with us, at rest with the human creation He made. He is not agitated, disappointed or upset with us, but is content with us and pleased with who he made. The initial view of the servant is that he is standing before the lord with respect or reverence, and that he is ready to do as his lord asks. This speaks of our attitude towards God. We are created very good and in God's image. By nature we naturally reverence God and long for His ways, long to please Him. We were not made naturally rebellious, suspicious, sinful or uncaring with respect to God. We are by creation naturally aligned with Him and wanting to do His will. This is the basis of our relation with God and this foundation has not changed, no matter what mistakes or confusions have come throughout our history. God is still at peace about how He made us, knowing what He put within us and knowing our true good nature even when we forget or don't live according to it. And we still find deep within us a longing for God and a longing to do what is right and loving and pleasing to God. What peace it brings to know that our basic makeup as beings created in God's image is good and even godlike, even if we don't always live that out. And what peace it brings to know that God is never against us but always believes in the good in us, for He knows how He made us and knows that inner goodness is still there inside of us, no matter what!

"People...are made in the likeness of God."

James 3:9 (ESV)

A Prayer: Thank You for always believing in me, and always being at peace with me!

Not Sinners, Not to Blame

"We be no sinners and not blameworthy."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 50)

Even though we are taught that we are sinners that deserve blame and condemnation, and even though we can look at our lives and think that we are sinners that deserve blame and condemnation, God sees us differently. God sees us as He created us, with a nature that is good because it is in His own image and likeness. God sees the essential truth about us, even when we or the world around us cannot see it. To God we are not sinners but holy children of God. To God we are not worthy of blame but worthy of love and honor. Yes, we think, say and do things that are wrong, but those things don't define us and they are not the deepest thing about us. The deepest thing about us is our creation in God. He made us His good children in His image and that never ever changed. It never ever can change. We can see ourselves as good deep down, not sinful. We can see ourselves as appreciated and honored,  not blamed or condemned. He has only ever known us as innocent little children who don't know what they are doing. He has only ever seen us as good little ones that are trapped and in bondage to sin, rather than evil ones responsible for sin. Good little children trapped or enslaved by evil need rescue and help and liberation, not punishment or blame. Jesus came and destroyed the sin that bound us, freed us from the tyrant that held us captive. Christ paid the ultimate price to show us who we really are and to free us from any and all evil and confusion that held us captive to sin and death. The children of God are rescued, they are freed, they are saved! We are not sinners, we are not blameworthy; we are good, we are innocent, we are precious, we are loved! And we are freed from the sin that was unnatural and foreign to us, free to be who we have always been - holy children of God!

"The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death."

Romans 8:2 (MSG)

A Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for rescuing me from bondage to sin and death!

Sin Is All Gone

"In God that sin was all done away."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 50)

Christ didn't come just to forgive sin, pay our debt for sin, take our punishment for sin, atone for sin. He came to take sin away! It is gone, doesn't exist anymore, is not on us or part of us. It has been annihilated and destroyed in our lives. We have been brought over to resurrection life, the heavenly and eternal and invincible life of Christ Himself, for we are part of His body and are in the realm of resurrection with Him, sharing in His victorious, endless, sinless life! We are truly in a realm, in a  place, where sin does not and cannot exist, the realm of being in the risen Christ. For there is no sin, blame or death in Christ, and that is where we are. We are beyond the reach of sin, shame, blame and death. We are in Life now and we are never going out! For in Him "sin was all done away!"

"He came to eradicate sins, that there is not the slightest bit of sin in Him."

1 John 3:5 (VOICE)

A Prayer: Thank You for putting me beyond the reach of sin, blame and death - in You, in Your risen Life!

Holy as the Angels

"Then was this my marvel that I saw our Lord God shewing to us no more blame than if we were as clean and as holy as Angels be in heaven."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 50)

Guilt, blame and shame seem to plague us sometimes, with feelings not just of guilt for things we have done but even shame for just being who we are. We can feel not only wrong in our behavior but wrong in our very identity. Yet God does not show any blame, condemnation or accusation towards us. He never shames us for what we've done or who we are. In fact, God doesn't see anything wrong with who we are at all. He sees what we often cannot see: the good, noble person He created. No matter what our behavior, thoughts or feelings, our identity remains unchanged. We are simply His children made in His good image and therefore, good. God even called us "very good" when He created humankind. So while we see ourselves as messed up, shameful or bad, God keeps on seeing the truth about us, seeing us as pure and clean as the angels in heaven! This is how He has always seen us and always will, simply as little children who are innocent and sweet, who get in messes but really don't know what they are doing, who are essentially good by nature, who are beloved and valuable. Christ came to take away the sin and death that plagued us and to bring us righteousness, but this was all for us, so we could feel clean and pure before God and be able to enjoy relationship with Him without fear or shame. For our Father God has never lost sight of our true innocence.  He has held onto our true identity all along. He has seen us as innocent kids all along. He has called us pure and holy as the angels all along! He is holding us in His arms right now as a Father would hold his little child, rocking us to sleep and singing over us a lullaby of innocence, goodness and belovedness. We are His very own darling children who are perfect in His eyes. Nothing could ever change that!

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"

1 John 3:1 (NIV)

"He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn."

Psalm 37:6 (NLT)

A Prayer: Thank You for never shaming me but always affirming me!

How God Sees Us

"By the tempest and the sorrow that we fall into on our part, we be often dead as to man’s doom (judgment, decree) in earth; but in the sight of God the soul that shall be saved was never dead, nor ever shall be."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 50)

Here on earth man and man's law judges us all guilty sinners worthy of the punishment of death. Man's justice tends to say that wrongdoing must be punished or paid for. The payment required for heinous sin is death. The Old Testament law of the Bible highlighted this type of justice and showed man's desperate need for mercy and grace in the midst of the law's decrees of guilt, condemnation and punishment.

Yet God's way is so different and is seen in the New Testament. The law only brought condemnation and death, and increased the amount of sin. Yet God's way of grace eliminated condemnation, freed us from death and took away sin! The law considers us dead because of sin, yet God never does. God only sees a pure child of His very own, who has needed healing and help in all its suffering, and who Jesus came to seek and to save. To God we have never been too far gone, wretched dirty sinners, willful rebels, or as good as dead. To God we have always been good-hearted souls who have been trapped by evil delusions and needing of rescue and liberation.  Even when we did the worst thing and killed God's only begotten Son, Jesus said we didn't know what we were doing. Christ conquered sin and death for us and brought us to new life with Him in the resurrection, life beyond the reach of sin and death, life in relationship with Him forever. God has seen us in Christ all along, has seen us as new creations in Christ all along. He has seen us pure and innocent, clean and holy, alive and free. He has always seen us in Christ's resurrection life, running freely and joyfully with Christ, vibrant and victorious. He has never seen sin on us or seen death holding us. He has always held us in light, in love, in life! He has always known sin and death weren't the truth about us. He has always known purity and life were the truth about us. He has always known us as His good children, and He has always known He would bring our true identity to light and expression through Christ!

"You are not under law but under grace."

Romans 6:14 (ESV)

"Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people."

Ephesians 1:4 (CEV)

A Prayer: Thank You for always seeing the truth about me - righteousness and life in Christ - even when I could only see sin and death.

Already in Peace

 "Contrariness is cause of our tribulations and all our woe, and our Lord Jesus taketh them and sendeth them up to Heaven, and there are they made more sweet and delectable than heart may think or tongue may tell. And when we come thither we shall find them ready, all turned into very fair and endless worships. Thus is God our steadfast Ground: and He shall be our full bliss and make us unchangeable, as He is, when we are there."

Julian of Noriwch (Ch. 49)

Right now we are changeable in our thoughts and behaviors. When we see God's love for us, we find it easier to relax and love ourselves and others, and we find ourselves to be more at peace within, which is in alignment with God's own nature of love and peace. But other times we may lose sight of God's love for us or suffer tribulation so that we may temporarily see only through our physical senses, and we may find ourselves in turmoil, frustration, tension, struggle and even anger within. Yet we are still aligned with God's peace and love within, even if we can't always see or feel it. And all those feelings and even behaviors that come from frustration, anger or unpeace have already been taken by Christ, who absorbed all our pain, sin, suffering and wrath on the cross, and brought up to heaven transformed into righteousness and purity!  So every negative emotion or even sinful thought or behavior we may go through here on earth has already been taken away by Christ and turned into righteousness, peace and beauty. On the cross He became our sin and we became His righteousness. That is an eternal event that is applicable for all time. All the struggle, anger and strife within us has already been pacified and transformed into love and peace by Christ through His finished work. 

So how do we handle those irritated or tense feelings? Maybe we can treat them the same way God does, for He always extends love and peace, and Christ in His love and peace embraced us at our worst moment and melted away all the angst of the world, making us all clean and pure and alright. So we can extend grace to ourselves, just as Christ always does. We can love ourselves in our dark moments, knowing that's not the deepest thing about us, but that the deepest thing about us is the peace of God. We can know that in Christ we have actually already won over any negative thought with the truth of His peace, knowing that all that anger and hurt has been healed in heaven and we will see it manifest visibly, either here on earth or when we arrive in heaven.  But either way, we have been made unchangeably good, calm, peaceful, victorious and sweet by Christ, and that's heaven's reality right now!

"When I was upset and beside myself, you calmed me down and cheered me up."

Psalm 94:19 (MSG)

A Prayer: Your peace is already reigning over my restless mind.

He Ministers Peace to Us

"God is our very Peace, and He is our sure Keeper when we are ourselves in unpeace, and He continually worketh to bring us into endless peace."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 49)

He is always ministering peace to us, the peacefulness of His own presence. That means God's peace is always dissolving any and all struggle, tension, anxiety and stress within us, and it will keep on ministering to us till we come to rest. His peace is like the gentle waves of the sea lapping continually onto the shore, caressing the sand and soothing with rhythmic sounds, like the rocking of a baby to sleep. In His presence we find perfect peace that this world cannot give and cannot take away. We find the peace of heaven, eternal peace, the peace of knowing God has everything in His hands and everything will be okay, everything is okay somehow. He is constantly leading us by the still waters of His heart, constantly restoring our soul, constantly filling our cup with His perspective, His calmness, His own Spirit. He quiets all the clamoring voices, saying "Peace, be still," till we hear only His whisper to us and know only His presence with us. Nothing can reach us here to disturb or challenge this calm place we are in with Him, in His arms, in His strength, in His peace.

"It is My own peace that I give you."

John 14:27 (GNT)

"He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul."

Psalm 23:2-3 (NKJV)

A Prayer: You are my peace.

The Work of Goodness

"(We are blissfully safe:) that is to say, full pleased with God and with all His works, and with all His judgments, and loving and peaceable with our self and with our even-Christians and with all that God loveth, as love beseemeth. And this doeth God’s Goodness in us."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 49)

What does it mean to be experiencing the bliss of our salvation? It is to be pleased with God and His works, understanding that He is all love and never harms or does violence. It is to be pleased with all His judgments, knowing that His judgment is positive, calling the whole world innocent and clean. It is to be loving and peaceful with ourselves, accepting ourselves just as we are and seeing ourselves as God's good children, because we know God loves and accepts us just as we are as His good children.  It is to be loving and peaceful with all people, because we know that they too are all God's children, loved and accepted by God and therefore we are all one big family of God. We don't have to strive to be like this or work at it. God's goodness naturally produces this effect in us. His unconditional love and grace naturally softens our hard edges, eases our tension, dissolves self-hatred and calms any anger. We find ourselves relaxed and able to enjoy God, ourselves and others. We love as Christ first loved us. This is the beautiful result of God's grace and love within us. This is what true Christianity is all about: not judging and harshness and rules and punishment, but love and grace and peace and unity! This is the birthright of every child of God, this is what it's like to be in God's family, this is God's love goal and promise that He will fulfill in us!

"We love because He first loved us."

1 John 4:19 (NIV)

A Prayer: Because You love me, I love myself and other people.

Securely Safe, Blissfully Safe

 "Though we, by the wrath and the contrariness that is in us, be now in tribulation, distress, and woe, as falleth to our blindness and frailty, yet are we securely safe by the merciful keeping of God, that we perish not. But we are not blissfully safe, in having of our endless joy, till we be all in peace and in love.."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 49)

We can rant and rave, get in trouble, lash out at others and hate on ourselves, yet all the while God holds us in His arms and loves us unconditionally. No matter how we blow it or mess up, due to our weakness or simply being blind to how loving God is and how He is always with us as a Friend, it doesn't matter. We are still securely safe in His arms. Nothing can take us from Him or His love, even our own mistakes, ravings, weaknesses or blindness. Nothing! We don't really enjoy that safety, though, till we hear the good news of Christ being in us and us being in Christ, in perfect love no matter what, as innocent children of God free from all our sins. When we hear this wonderful Good News, that we are safe with God no matter what and always will be His innocent children held in His arms, then we can relax and begin to find peace with ourselves and with others. We are then blissfully safe, enjoying more fully all the safety, belonging, love and harmony that is already ours in Christ. It's like when a scared, upset child wakes up from a bad dream to find themselves safe at home, and they relax and are able to smile, play and enjoy family life. They were always safe at home, they just needed to wake up and realize it. So we are always in God and securely safe whether we know it or not, and when we do realize and experience that and it affects our lives, we are blissfully safe in God's endless joy, peace and love.

You are my hiding place; You, Lord, protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance.

Psalm 32:7 (AMP)

A Prayer: To know I am safe with You -  no matter how I act or how I feel - fills me with joy! I just want everyone to know they are safe with You!