Dwelling in Us Happily

"For it is His good-pleasure to reign in our Understanding blissfully, and sit in our Soul restfully, and to dwell in our Soul endlessly.."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 57)

It is a pleasure to Christ to live inside of us. He is perfectly comfortable and at home with us. He takes care of us inside, being and doing all that we need. 

He reigns in our understanding, for His good and sound mind is stronger and wiser than our often confused and fearful mind. He is always bringing His thoughts and perspective to our understanding, giving us His own mind to be our mind. 

He also sits in our soul in perfect rest. He sits because He is satisfied and the work of our salvation is already done. Sin is already conquered. Death is already defeated. So whatever struggle we are facing, Christ isn't worried about it. He is sitting in perfect rest because He knows all is well already and we are already victors over everything in Him. And He makes us to remember, believe in, experience and stand in that victory. 

He dwells in our soul endlessly. He wants us to know He isn't going anywhere. He is in His permanent and eternal home - in us! No matter what we do or how many faith lapses or failures we have, Christ is dwelling in us. He won't leave us for any reason. How wonderful is this Savior and Friend who happily, peacefully, victoriously, faithfully lives in us forever!

"The closeness of the embrace of His presence sustains you."

James 5:8 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: It makes me happy to know You are happy to live inside of me!

New Creation

"Our Saviour is our Very Mother in whom we be endlessly borne, and never shall come out of Him."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 57)

It is wonderful that God made us in His good image. And it is wonderful that Christ joined with our earthly humanity and redeemed and restored it, giving us His righteousness in place of our sins. And it is even more wonderful that Christ made us totally new creations in Him, full of resurrection life! Christ is like our Mother who gives birth to us in the resurrection. We are born in Christ to a whole new type of existence that is beyond this earthly life and is instead heavenly life. This life is beyond the reach of death, being resurrection life. This life is not temporary life but is eternal life. This life is not simply our human life but is God's life! 

We are a new creation. This new creation is holy and beautiful and perfect. It is fresh and clean and pure. We are born from Christ into this resurrection life and never shall go out of it. In fact we are endlessly new in Christ and never shall be out of Him. A newborn baby is the most pure, perfect, pristine little being we could imagine. It is fresh and new and innocent. It is untouched by evil and also has never done any evil. This is the new creation that we endlessly are. We are endlessly innocent and perfect and new in Christ, continually fresh and clean, perfect and pristine. We cannot be ruined or damaged, ever. We are always in that place of innocence and freshness with Him! Whatever hangups or failures we had in the old life are just gone; here all is clean and new, pure and perfect! Sin just doesn't exist here. Life and love exist here in fullness! This is the God life, and in God's life there is no struggle, pain, sin or brokenness. In God's life there is simply fullness of joy, peace, love and communion. For Christ has brought us into His life, a whole new realm, a whole new way of existence. It is truly heaven on earth!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

A Prayer: With You, everything is fresh and new!

Virtues in Christ

 "For the same virtues that we have received of our Substance, given to us in Nature by the Goodness of God,—the same virtues by the working of Mercy are given to us in Grace through the Holy Ghost, renewed: which virtues and gifts are treasured to us in Jesus Christ."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 57)

We can see that God made us in His good and loving image, but it can be difficult to see ourselves as good and whole when we think, say and do many things that are not good or whole. It can be hard to look past the often messed up exterior to see our good and holy core self. But Christ has brought us such a wonderful gift - His own Person, with all the virtues He has and is, to live inside us through the Holy Spirit at all times. Christ's righteousness, beauty, holiness, kindness, patience and sweetness are ours as a gift. So we can say that even though we fail in many ways, God has made and kept our inner core good, and even more, Christ has redeemed and restored our outer person. He has wiped away all the sin, brokenness and failure and has filled us with His own Person, His own righteousness, His own completeness. We may keep on failing, but Christ keeps on being perfect righteousness in us. We may sometimes be broken, but Christ keeps on being whole in us. So even if our behavior isn't perfect, we are still perfect in Christ and through Christ. We are one with Him, and He has made His wholeness and holiness our own!

"You are united with Jesus the Anointed. He is God’s wisdom for us and more. He is our righteousness and holiness and redemption."

1 Corinthians 1:30 (VOICE)

A Prayer: Thank You for being my permanent righteousness and holiness! Even though I fail, I am perfect and righteous in You always!

Whole and Complete

"And thus in our Substance we are full, and in our Sense-soul we fail."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 57)

Our spirits are always complete and perfect in God, even if our outer thoughts and actions fail to be complete or perfect. In other words, we are complete in Christ even if we are broken, and we are perfect in Christ even if we fail. For our identity doesn't come from our behavior, which is changeable from day to day. Our identity comes from who God made us, from our true nature, from our spirit, the core part of us that is of God and in union with God. When we act out, we are really acting according to who we are not, rather than who we are. For who we really are is perfect and complete, whole and good. Even when we feel we are at our lowest and have failed too much to be salvaged, God still sees the best in us, still sees His image in us! Even when we are seemingly damaged beyond repair, He still calls us whole, never giving up on us, never failing to believe in us! He just keeps reminding us who He made us, who we really are. We can truly never fail or be failures in His eyes!

So when we sometimes make mistakes, let us not call ourselves bad or evil. Let us keep calling ourselves good and complete, for that is our true self. Let us see ourselves and everyone around us not as the words or behaviors they sometimes exhibit, but as the whole and good creations of God that they truly are. Let us not judge or reject ourselves or other people but instead give the benefit of the doubt and welcome them, looking for the good rather than the bad. Let us see the best in ourselves and other people, for that is what God does!

"Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."

1 Corinthians 13:7 (AMPC)

A Prayer: Thank You for always reminding me of my true identity as Your child, made in Your perfect image of goodness and love! Let me see every other person for who You made them, too, and build them up in love!

Noble Substance

 "And anent (with regard to) our Substance He made us noble, and so rich that evermore we work His will and His worship....We are that which He loveth, and do that which Him pleaseth, lastingly without any stinting (ceasing).." 

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 57)

God made our substance, or spirit, as beautiful, good and wonderful as could be. We are noble and rich, full of God's gifts and virtues that He blessed our spirit with in its creation. As our spirit is of God's own Spirit, it follows that our spirit is noble, beautiful, and good, for it is in the image of God and of God. This is our true nature: noble, beautiful and good. In our spirit we are oned to and aligned with God, moving always in concert and harmony with Him, and so are lovely and well-pleasing, always wanting, willing and working what is good. Sometimes it is difficult to believe such good things about ourselves, but this is who God made us, in His image and likeness, reflecting His nature, and radiating His own love and beauty. It is true that this lovely spirit in humanity has often been covered over by many wrong thoughts, words and actions, but it is still present. We can look around us at the beautiful people God made and know that deep down in our spirits, humanity is pure and lovely, that there is a basic goodness about people.  We can look around us at people, even the broken and troubled ones, even the ones trapped in hurtful beliefs or actions, and see the goodness of God and the presence of God. Every person is a beautiful little light of God, no matter how dim that light sometimes becomes. God never gives up on His little lights. Christ has come to free us to truly shine with God's light from within us, as we were always meant to and made to by nature. Let us see the best in people, and affirm and foster that good and holy light within everyone we meet!

"Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

John 1:3-5 (NIV)

A Prayer: Let me see the light of Your face shining out from every person I meet!

Rest, Strength, Love

"For our soul sitteth in God in very rest, and our soul standeth in God in very strength, and our Soul is kindly rooted in God in endless love."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 56)

Sometimes we feel so upset, anxious or stressed, but then God brings us to quiet down and causes us to rest. And it is His own presence in us that is rest and peace to us. Other times we may feel so weak, failing and vulnerable, but then God rises up within us in strength and might and we know that He will make us to stand against anything. For it is His own presence that is our strength and support. And in those times when we feel so lonely, forsaken and unworthy, He gently reminds us that He loves us just as we are with a love that never fades or runs out. For He is the love that truly fills our hearts. So we see that we don't have to work up peace, strength or love by our own efforts or even faith, because God is already here being all those things inside us. Nothing is required of us to have God's presence, or His peace or power or love. We just have it, already, right now, by grace. We are at rest in God, right now. We are strong in God, right now. We are loved by God, right now. That's who He is in us. He is all we need Him to be, as He freely pours Himself out in love to us at every moment! 

"I find rest in God."

Psalm 62:5 (EXB)

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart."

Psalm 73:26 (NIV)

"You have been rooted and grounded in love.."

Ephesians 3:17 (NET)

A Prayer: Thank You for being the peace, and strength and love I need in every situation!

God Tells Us Who We Are

"God is nearer to us than our own Soul."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 56)

God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. He knows us better than we even know ourselves. He is the authority on our true identity. So let's hear His word to us, telling us who we are. We don't need to listen to other voices telling us who we are when His voice carries the most weight and gives us the most accurate picture of our identity, even sending His Son to earth to show us what we look like, the blueprint we are made from. So all we need is to listen to God and let Him tell us who we are. And He says that we are just like Christ in this world. He says we are beautiful, we are beloved, we are innocent, we are good. He says we are perfect, we are pure, we are precious, we are special. He says we are complete, we are whole, we are holy, we are worthy. He says we are sweet, we are valued, we are acceptable, we are righteous. Let us say what God says about us: "We are children of God. We are one with Christ and Christ is our true identity. We are more than conquerors just as Christ is. We are as righteous, holy and perfect as Christ is. We are as dearly loved and wanted as Christ is. We are as complete and whole as Christ is. We are the sons and daughters of God, in whom He is well-pleased."

"Live your life overwhelmed by God's opinion of you!"

1 Corinthians 10:31 (MIRROR)

"As He is, so are we in this world."

1 John 4:17 (AMP)

A Prayer: You know me.

We Are In God

"For our Soul is so deep-grounded in God, and so endlessly treasured, that we may not come to the knowing thereof till we have first knowing of God, which is the Maker, to whom it is oned."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 56)

We really can't think of ourselves apart from God or think of God apart from ourselves, for we are oned to God and IN God our Maker. We exist only and always in God, treasured and loved, always embraced in God's loving presence. We don't face anything alone, for we are in God, and God faces everything together with us. In fact, nothing comes to us in our lives without coming to God first.  Every lack or need we have is already filled because we are in God, and God is full and lacks nothing. If we want to know who we are we can only truly know ourselves as being IN God. Our whole identity is wrapped up in Him.

So we can say with assurance: "I am in God. It is a fact of my existence. I cannot think of myself apart from God. I don't live anywhere else but in God. I don't do anything apart from Him. I don't face anything apart from Him. There is not "me," there is "we."   I am accepted and I am embraced. I am protected and I am safe. I am filled and I am blessed. My whole life is wrapped up in God. My whole identity is in Him who is Love. I am held by Love, I am wrapped up in Love, I am sustained by Love, I am one with Love, I am identified in Love!"

"Whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit."

1 Corinthians 6:17 (NIV)

A Prayer:  It is a relief to know that I cannot be apart from You. It is a relief to know we have always been together!

All the Gifts

 "And all the gifts that God may give to creatures, He hath given to His Son Jesus for us: which gifts He, dwelling in us, hath enclosed in Him.."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 55)

He has given us all He has to give, and He has given it to us in His Son. The Father holds nothing back from the Son, and He holds nothing back from us, for in Christ we are co-heirs with the Son. He already gave us all He could possibly give to His human creations, every spiritual blessing, not a few or some blessings, but all. And they all in Christ, and Christ is in us. There is nothing that is missing and nothing more that is needed. He shall supply all our needs through Christ in us, not a few needs or some needs, but all. He shall do it, not may or might, but shall. We are not in lack or deficient. We are not having to beg and plead with God to help us. We are not having to work and labor and wrestle to try to get God to open His hand and give to us. He already gave us everything by giving us His own Son, and everything else in Him. Christ is not lacking in any way. He is not missing out on any blessing. He has and is an infinite supply of everything that we could possibly need. An infinite supply means more than enough, filled to overflowing, in absolute abundance! We have all the love and joy and peace we could handle for we have Christ's own love, joy and peace. For every situation, we have more than enough strength and wisdom and victory, for He is all that in us right now.  We have flowing through us all the patience and understanding and kindness we could ever want, for it is Christ Himself living those things out in us. All the wholeness and completeness and perfection of Christ is in us, as well. Christ gave His own life for us, so of course He would give us and be for us anything else we could ever need after that! 

"Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer."

Ephesians 1:3 (GW)

"My God will richly fill your every need in a glorious way through Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19 (GW)

A Prayer: You are truly more than enough in any situation I face. I have more than enough and am filled to overflowing with blessing because I have You!

Never Out of the Soul

"For God is never out of the soul: in which He dwelleth blissfully without end."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 55)

God is always in us. And He is blissful about being there! No matter where life takes us or even how badly we feel we mess up our lives, He loves being in us and He isn't going anywhere. He is always there inside, truly enjoying being with us, no matter how lost or alone we may feel, no matter how much we may doubt His presence. None of that matters to Him. He simply loves being in us, and it's a permanent commitment! We are where He wants to be, where He likes to be, where He enjoys being. God enjoys living our life with us. He enjoys going with us through our day, laughing with us at the silly things we find funny, meeting the people we meet, watching the beauty of a sunset, hugging a pet, playing with a little child. God loves living in us and radiating love and support to us at every moment, being all we need in every moment. We might see ourselves as messed up or unlovable, but He simply sees us as beautiful and worthy of love. He wants us to know how happy He is with us, how happy He is to be here with us, sharing each and every moment. Right now, in this ordinary moment in time, in the midst of whatever we are going through, in whatever state we find ourselves, He is happy to be here with us, in us. For we are each His favorites, and every moment with us is priceless to Him. He wouldn't miss a single one. He loves loving us and He will always be our biggest supporter and friend. God is never ever out of our soul.  He never has been and never will be. How dear each of us is to our wonderful loving God!

"I am with you."

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

A Prayer: Remind me how special I am to You.

Full Assurance

"For I saw full assuredly that our Substance is in God, and also I saw that in our sense-soul God is." 

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 55)

Sometimes we can feel that we are far from God, that God is absent, that there is a barrier between us and God, or that there is something separating us from relationship with God. But deep inside, Christ is saying to us, "I am here. I never leave you or forsake you." We are one with God. We are in Him and He is in us. This is the truth of our being, of our existence. The deepest reality of our lives is that we are in union with God in a love relationship that is perfect and whole and that can never be changed, no matter what we do, no matter what happens to us, no matter what! There is nothing that could ever come between us and God. Our relationship is perfect and complete right now and it always will be. We are bonded together. We are family and family is permanent. We belong together. We are in a place of complete acceptance and love with no conditions. We are safe. We are home. This is our full assurance!

"Be happy, because God has said this: ‘I will never leave you; I will always be there with you.’"

Hebrews 13:5 (EASY)

A Prayer: Thank You that there is never anything between us. 

More in Heaven

"And notwithstanding all our feeling of woe or weal, God willeth that we should understand and hold by faith that we are more verily in heaven than in earth."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 55)

We walk around here on earth, but we are really in heaven. We were raised with Christ up to heavenly places, where we now sit with Him as He reigns over all. We may not see it, feel it, or believe it, but we are more in heaven than on earth, and we are already reigning with Christ. No matter what we are going through, no matter how we feel, no matter how we're doing, we can boldly say: "I may have trouble here, but Jesus has already overcome this world for me. I may have struggles and failures, but I am the righteousness of God in Christ and perfected forever. I may have problems, but Jesus always makes me to walk in triumph. I may have things against me, but God is for me and so nothing can really be against me. I may be a broken person in many ways, but I am whole and complete in Christ. I may feel sickness or pain, but in Him I am well and healthy. I am safe in the Father's arms. I am unconditionally loved and accepted. I am in the perfect heavenly family. I am an heir of God and royalty. I am living a heavenly life. I have already won. I am enjoying the happy ending already in Christ. I am at rest with Christ on His heavenly throne. I am basking in glory. I have fullness of joy. I am more in heaven than on earth."

"As Christ himself is seen for who he really is, who you really are will also be revealed, for you are now one with him in his glory!"

Colossians 3:4 (TPT)

"God raised us up with Christ, so that we now sit with Christ in heaven."

Ephesians 2:6 (EASY)

"Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One, who grants us every spiritual blessing in these heavenly realms where we live in the Anointed—not because of anything we have done, but because of what He has done for us."

Ephesians 1:3 (VOICE)

"We don't focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:18 (TPT)

A Prayer: Let me see things as You see them, from heaven's perspective, not earth's.

Enjoy in This Joy

 "And of all things that belong to us [to do], it is most pleasing to our Lord that we enjoy in this joy which is in the blessed Trinity [in virtue] of our salvation."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 55)

We can sometimes think that the Christian life is about what we must "do" for God, and we can wonder what He wants of us or expects us to do. We can worry we are not "doing" enough to please Him or make Him happy with us. But the thing God wants most for us to do, the thing that pleases Him most, is when we celebrate with Him that we are back home with Him, free and safe, alive and well! Salvation is His gift to us, and when someone gives a gift to another person, the main thing they want is to see the person be happy with the gift, enjoy the gift. So God loves seeing us enjoy that gift of salvation and eternal life He gave us through the Son. He wants to see a smile on our face and see us relax and break out in laughter just knowing that everything is ok and we are home free and can just enjoy being home with God. Jesus has done it, we are rescued from anything that could hurt us and we are joined to the resurrection life of Christ forever, and nothing can ever take us from Him! There's such a party atmosphere in heaven right now. There's such a celebration going on, for all God's children are brought back up to heaven in Christ and are safe in the Trinity forever. Let's celebrate with Him, let's share in His joy, for everything that was lost in our lives is found again, and everything that was dead in us is alive again. We're in life and we're never going out, because Christ is our life and we're in Him, in His resurrection life forever. Nothing could please God more than seeing His kids relax and have fun and be happy right now, because our Dad has taken care of everything for us and all is well!

"The Father said....'Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate."

Luke 15:22-24

A Prayer: I am so happy with the gift of salvation You gave me!

Presenting Us in Heaven

"Christ in His body mightily beareth us up into heaven. For I saw that Christ, us all having in Him that shall be saved by Him, worshipfully presenteth His Father in heaven with us; which present full thankfully His Father receiveth, and courteously giveth it to His Son, Jesus Christ: which gift and working is joy to the Father, and bliss to the Son, and pleasing to the Holy Ghost."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 55)

Christ brought us all up with Him as He rose and ascended to heaven. He presented us all to the Father with great joy, so happy to bring up to heaven the newborn children He had birthed through the resurrection, the pure, sweet, new creations in Him. The Father received this gift, this bundle of joy, from the Son so happily, then gave the gift of reborn humanity right back to the Son. And all the Trinity rejoices over this wonderful work of the Son in rebirthing us, and rejoices over the ones who are birthed - all of us! The atmosphere must feel like that of a family who is thrilled to be home with their newborn baby, with all the family members "oohing and aahing" over the little baby and passing the baby from person to person, enjoying that little bundle of joy! Just like a newborn baby, we are so sweet, adorable and perfect to the Trinity. We bring the Father, Son and Holy Spirit such absolute joy and bliss, for we are dearly beloved children in the family circle of God!

"You are God's children and he loves you very much."

Ephesians 5:1 (EASY)

A Prayer:  Thank You for rejoicing over me like a new parent rejoices over a newborn baby.

Christ's Working in Us

"Christ's merciful working is in us, and we graciously accord to Him through the gifts and the virtues of the Holy Ghost."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 54)

At times we can feel doubtful, troubled, anxious, angry, stubborn, fearful or forsaken. Yet Christ is mercifully working in us, with all the compassion it is possible to have towards us. Thoughts and feelings can be so loud and strong, circumstances and troubles can be so troubling, yet still Christ is working in us. Someone is in us, a Loving Presence that is loving all the hurting, scared, confused parts of us, loving us in our problems, loving us in all our emotions and mental troubles. That love is the strongest force in the universe, stronger than any emotion, than any trouble. Love bathes us inwardly, love accepts us as we are, love completely and wholly embraces us in this moment, whatever we are thinking or feeling in it. Love loves all the negative emotions into peace and rest. Christ, who is this Loving Presence, works to bring us to stillness, bring us to just gaze on Him inwardly, to just rest in His arms. And the Holy Spirit within starts to graciously align us with reality, align us with Christ's thoughts, Christ's perspective. And things become clear again, things become peaceful again, things become okay again, because He has reminded us of the truth: Christ is here, and all is well. He takes care of everything. He has already overcome all the negativity. He has already brought us into peace. We are already safe on the other side, resting in Him. We are already one with Love, one with Life. We are in perfect accord with Him. We are well and whole in Him. And all is well! How wonderful is His work on the inside of us!

"[Be] letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

Philippians 4:6-7 (MSG)

A Prayer: Thank You for working in me to bring me back to seeing You and Your love in my life. Thank You that You have already taken care of whatever worry or problem I am facing today.

Faith Knows the Truth of Our Being

"It (faith) is nought (nothing) else but a right understanding, with true belief, and sure trust, of our Being: that we are in God, and God in us, Whom we see not."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 54)

We are in God and God is in us. There is no separation. There is no barrier between us. There never has been and there never can be or will be. How could we be separated from the God who fills every nook and cranny of the universe, including our own selves? Everything we go through in our lives happens within God. Our failures and sins, our doubts and struggles, have happened IN the family circle of God. We have not been kicked out of the family for our failures. We have simply been hugged tighter in love. We have thought we were separated from God, far from the family circle, that either we or God was now "enemy," and that we needed to do something to get back our place in the family or get God to accept us back. Yet we have never been away! Our Trinity family has never been angry or rejected us! We have always been home with them, even if we were "out of our mind" with worry, confusion, shame and condemnation. We have felt separated, but we have never been separated. We have believed lies of rejection and condemnation, but they were simply lies, not true. The truth is we have been wrapped up in God's love, sitting on the Father's lap all along. He has been stroking our head and whispering "I love you, my dear little darling."

Our faith is simply the inner knowing of this reality: "I am in God and God is in me." That is true whether we feel it or not, whether we always remember it or not. Even if we don't always realize or sense it, deep inside we know it. Deep inside we know it is true, the most real thing about us. We are in God and God is in us. And since God is love, another way to say that is that we are in Love and Love is in us. We are in a place of permanent belonging, of complete acceptance and unconditional love. This is the foundational truth of our lives.  There is no separation. There is only union. There is only love. We can be blind to it sometimes, we can imagine there is a separation between us. But still God upholds the truth within us, being our faith in us, filling our deepest being with the truth. We can hear what God Himself is saying within us, and what our own inner being echoes: we are in God and God is in us!

"You....were sometime alienated and enemies in your MIND.."

Colossians 1:21 (KJV)

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?"

Psalm 139:7 (NIV)

"Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love."

Romans 8:38 (NLT)

A Prayer: I cannot be away from You. What a relief! Thank You that there is never any separation between us! Thank You for being right here with me, even when I don't see it.

Faith Comes by the Holy Spirit

"Our faith is a Virtue that cometh of our Nature-Substance into our Sense-soul by the Holy Ghost; in which all our virtues come to us.."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 54)

We can sometimes feel that we don't have enough faith, that we have too many doubts, or that we don't know how to "get" more faith. We can see faith as a thing we need, a work that we must do, an elusive quality that we can't seem to grab hold of. But faith is about rest, and faith is already in us, deep in our spirit. Our true essence or spirit believes in God, looks to God, trusts in God, is at rest in God. This deepest part of us, our very substance or true nature, is grounded in God, and is one with God. In fact, its deepest inner core IS God. This inner self is an innocent inner child that is simple and pure and trusts in its Father easily and normally. For it is natural and built-in for a little child to trust the parent and rest in the parent to provide care and love. God has built in this trust and faith into us that is as natural as breathing. In fact this trust and faith in us is at its deepest core, Christ the beloved Son trusting and having faith in the Father in and through us. So faith doesn't come from us but from Him. It is His own faith that is knit into us by His oneness with us, Spirit with spirit so close they are one. And the Spirit not only has faith and is faith in us, but also the Spirit releases that faith and trust into our outward experience. So faith is not a work or struggle but a rest. God creates faith in us, is actually that faith, and releases that faith through us. So we can rest. We have faith. We have Christ's faith knit into us and flowing through us. And that is more than enough!

"The fruit of the Spirit is....faith.."

Galatians 5:22 (GNV)

A Prayer: I have perfect faith because I have Your faith inside of me!

Enclosed

"We are enclosed in the Father, and we are enclosed in the Son, and we are enclosed in the Holy Ghost. And the Father is enclosed in us, and the Son is enclosed in us, and the Holy Ghost is enclosed in us: Almightiness, All-Wisdom, All-Goodness: one God, one Lord."

Sometimes we just need to melt away from the world and be hidden and safe somewhere. We may feel battered and worn out and just need to wrap ourselves in a blanket and rest awhile. God wants us to know that we are always enclosed or enveloped safely in the Trinity, wrapped in the blanket of His loving presence. We have a wonderful Trinity family, for God is like Father, Mother and Brother to us. Our Trinity family has always got our back. Our Trinity family is always surrounding us in a holy huddle, keeping us safe, supporting us, and embracing us with hugs and kisses. Anytime we feel worn out by this world, we can melt into their arms on the inside and know that they surround us always on the outside. We are in God, so we are safe, kept and held; God is in us, so we are empowered, supported and invigorated. We are taken care of inside and out, in every way. Whether we always feel it or not, it is true, and God will bring us to fully know this wonderful reality. He will keep reminding us He is there for us till we really experience it, so we can truly rest in Him. It's His work and He will do it. He will make His presence known. Deep down in our spirit we already know it. And in our outer life, too, we will know that we are in Him and He is in us. And we will be at rest!

"You will know that you are in me and I am in you."

John 14:20 (EASY)

A Prayer: Remind me where I am today - safe in Your arms of love!

All We Need

"For the Almighty Truth of the Trinity is our Father: for He made us and keepeth us in Him; and the deep Wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother, in Whom we are all enclosed; the high Goodness of the Trinity is our Lord, and in Him we are enclosed, and He in us."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 54) 

He is everything we need a God to be. He doesn't just have might, wisdom and goodness; He IS might, wisdom and goodness, and He IS that might, wisdom and goodness to and for and in us. He is the strength that surrounds and protects us and gets us through difficulty, so we can say, "I may have troubles, but I have with me the One who has already overcome the world." He is the wisdom we need in confusing times, reminding us of truth, guiding us in the way we should go, so we can say, "I may not understand everything, but I have with me the One who makes me know the truth that has set me free." And He is the goodness and love that we so desperately need, the acceptance and unconditional care that we long for, so we can say, "Even if everyone else gives up on me and everything seems against me, I have with me One who is for me, who will keep on doing good for me and will never let me go." He is the strength we need, so we don't have to be strong or handle anything on our own. He is the wisdom we need, so we don't have to have it all figured out or know all the answers. He is the love and goodness we need, so we don't have to be perfect to be loved and we can  know we always belong no matter what. Even if we think of the most positive kind of God we could ever have, He is infinitely better and more wonderful than that. He is everything we need a God to be!

"My God shall also abundantly fill every nook and cranny to overflowing in every area of your lives."

Philippians 4:19 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: You are more wonderful than my wildest hopes and dreams! You are everything to me! 

A Creature in God

"Yet mine understanding took that our Substance is in God: that is to say, that God is God, and our Substance is a creature in God."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 54)

We are indwelt by God. We come from God. We are made of God. We are one with God. Yet we are not God. It is true that there is no difference between our substance or essence and God, because we are made in our depths of God Himself. Thus we are expressions of God. Yet we are individuated, we are individuals, we have distinction from God. And we are created, not Creator. We are made, not unmade. We are not divine life, He is. We are like vessels and He is the wine. We are not the life, we simply contain it and are invigorated by it. 

So we can say that our substance is one with God but is not God; instead our substance is a created being that is in God.  We exist only in God. We are of God's own being and therefore good and godlike. But we also realize that we are not God but creatures made by God, creatures that have being within God.  Thus we are never outside of Him. Nothing in this universe is, in fact. Everything that is made and everything that happens, all of creation, space, time and history is within God. There is no outside. So we don't have to worry about being apart from God and needing to somehow get to God or overcome some barrier to union with God. We are always in Him. That is a fact of our creation. We are creatures in God and there just isn't any "out of God." So we are safe. We will always be in Him. We always have been and always will be. There is simply no other place to be!

"Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him." 

Colossians 1:16 (MSG)

"In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind."

Job 12:10 (AMPC)

A Prayer: I am always in You!

Expressions of God

"I saw no difference between God and our Substance: but as it were all God."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 54)

Not only does God dwell in us and we in God but we are also of God, of the very Substance of God. We are made of God and there is no difference between our substance and God because it is all one Substance. It is all God. Thus we are simply shoots growing on the vine of God, parts of the one loaf of Christ, one Spirit. If we are part of God like that, there is no way we could call ourselves bad or evil. Instead, it is only right to see ourselves as good and holy. If all of creation, and especially and to the fullest extent, all of humanity, is the expression of God's being, the extension of God's own Self, then we never have to worry about being separated from God. This language becomes meaningless because you cannot be separated from your own DNA your own self. We are simply the expression of God existing in these human bodies in individuated selves. We are in the flow of God like water molecules in a river or waves in the sea. There is no separation! There is only union, there is only oneness!

"He is before all things, and by him all things consist."

Colossians 1:17 (KJV)

A Prayer: I don't have to worry about losing You or somehow getting separated from You. I am made of You in my inner being!

We Are Of God's Substance

"Our soul, that is made, dwelleth in God's Substance: of which Substance, God, we are that we are."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 54)

Of God's Substance we are what we are. We dwell in His Substance, and we are made of His Substance. How can that be? Well, children are, in a real sense, "made" of their parents. Cells from the parents form the new cells of the child. The DNA of both parents is in the child. You could say that a part of each parent is in the child, that the child comes from the parents' own being or substance. So are we with our ultimate Parent and Creator, God. Our souls are made of God's own being. He is the Source of our soul, the Origin of our being, the One our being is made from. The soul is made of a "substance" that is unmade. Created humanity is made of uncreated God. 

Our substance or essence, the true depth of our being, is of God and even is God. This presents a unity that is deeper than just God dwelling in us and we in God. This presents a unity of being, a unity of our creation. We couldn't escape God if we wanted to, for we are made of Him. He is the fabric of our being. This is the deepest meaning of being made in the image and likeness of God, and it is truly very good!

"We all have the same God and Father who is over us all and in us all, and living through every part of us."

Ephesians 4:6 (TLB)

A Prayer: I love knowing that I come from my parents but I also come from You as my Ultimate Parent. I love being your child!