Never Shall Be Lost

"In which endless Love we be led and kept of God and never shall be lost."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

What is the center of it all? What is it that everything revolves around? It is Love. God is Love. This whole universe, all of our history, is founded on Love and upheld by Love. Love is what ties us to Him, ties all things together. Love is what makes us up and sustains us. Love is what it is all about. God is this Love. And God, Love Himself, keeps us. He has always been bonded to us in love and and He always will be. He gives us eternal life, His life, and we will never perish. He holds us in the palm of His hand, His being, and we will never be lost. Through all the crazy, mixed-up things that happen in our lives, through all our mistakes, through all our sorrows and struggles, through the highs and the lows, the victories and the failures, He is keeping our souls whole and safe in Him. He is leading us, He is keeping us, from eternity past and to eternity future. There has never been any doubt whose we are, never been any danger where we would end up. For our origin is heavenly and our destiny is heavenly, and everything earthly in between has been upheld by heavenly arms of love. 

This is an endless Love that is holding us. It never runs out or gets tired of us or fails us. This is what endless love is all about; it is truly unconditional. It holds onto us no matter what. This Love is keeping us whether we keep ourselves or not. This Love is leading us whether we make all the right choices or not. This Love never lets go of us whether we let go of it or not. This Love is saving us whether we even know it or not. We are held, we are kept, we are safe, we are loved, for always. It was never up to us to save or keep ourselves. It was always up to Him, the faithful and true One, and because of that, we have always been secure. Our future with Him has always been assured. 

We never shall be lost. We never shall be lost from life. We never shall be lost from love. We never shall be lost from God. We never shall be lost!

"I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost."

John 10:28a (CEV)

A Prayer: I am held in Your endless love...I never shall be lost!

Kept Whole

"And in this endless Love man's Soul is kept whole.."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

We may think we have made too big of a mess of our lives for them to ever be okay again. We may feel so broken from trauma and suffering that we feel like only a hollow shell of who we were before. We may be so crushed by sorrow that we feel we can never regain our old carefree self again. But we are not lost, we are still there deep inside,  whole and safe. This life, though it sometimes seems to be about slowing losing ourselves through the sins, sorrows and sufferings of life, is really about being kept safe in God no matter what sins, sorrows or sufferings happen to us. Christ holds us in His love, His endless love. And nothing and noone can snatch us from His hand. Nothing will ever pull us away from Him or His keeping. No matter what happens to us in this earthly existence, He holds onto our true self, our inner carefree  child, innocent and sweet, whole and beautiful. So no matter what we go through, how low we stoop or how low we are crushed by life, our inner true self is kept whole, complete, safe and sound in Christ, untouched by evil and harm. No matter how broken and lost and wounded we feel we are, deep down we are safe and whole and free, kept pure and alright in Christ.

And not only is He keeping our real self safe in Him at all times in His wholeness and peace, but He will also cause that wholeness and completeness to permeate all the broken and hurting parts of our outer life into wholeness and peace. Christ says to cheer up because He has already overcome the world. It has already happened, and He will bring that victory of love, that overcoming, to permeate every area of our lives and existence. All the broken parts will be made whole, all the sad parts will be happy again, all the wounded parts will be healed. We will experience the joy of our inner child self again, consciously and physically. We will run free and laugh and sing again. This is the joy of new creation life, and it has already begun in Christ. We are already in this life right now, and Christ will make sure we experience it completely. And all shall be well!

"God will be right there with you; he'll keep you safe and sound."
    

Proverbs 3:26 (MSG)

"He keeps you from all evil and preserves your life."

Psalm 121:7 (TLB)

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]"

John 16:33 (AMPC)

"Nothing or no one can steal them from My hand."

John 10:28b (VOICE)

A Prayer: Thank You for keeping me safe and whole in You. Thank You that Your wholeness overwhelms every brokenness.

Nothing Between Us

"And therefore it is that there may nor shall be right nought atwix God and man's Soul."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

God has breathed the breath of life, His very own Spirit, into humanity to give us life. Thus, God's Spirit is the deepest thing about us, our deepest and true identity, making us who we are. If God's own Spirit is the ground of our being, the substance making us a person, how can we be separate from God? That would be like saying we could be separate from our own person or self. The way God has set up creation, creating our bodies from earth and our souls from His own Spirit, means that we are never separated from God. Our spirit comes from His Spirit as its source just as a tree branch grows out of the main tree trunk or root. The branches are one with the tree and are an expression of the tree, yet the branches are individual branches with their own unique shape. We too are expressions of God's being and creativity, made in His image and likeness, yet at the same time we have our own unique personality and shape. We grow out of God, in a sense. We are branches on the tree of God. There is nothing between us at all. We are in unity. We are one with God in our inner person, our spirit and God's Spirit, just by the fact of how He created us.

We may sometimes feel there is a wall or separation between us and God, but it just isn't true. There is nothing between us and God. Our feelings don't change the fact of our oneness with Him. Our actions don't separate us from Him, either. Nor do our wayward and doubtful thoughts, our angry or selfish words, remove us from His presence. Nothing we could think, say, believe or do could ever separated us from Him. He is here to stay. He set up our creation in such a way that He is permanently invested in His created children, permanently present as our inner source. We could not even exist without Him inside us as our life source and "root." We could no more separate ourselves from God than we could separate ourselves from our own DNA. He is part of what makes us human. A human is a being that has God's own Spirit inside. That's just who we are; we are "God-based" or "God-inside" beings. We can know we have God within us just by existing, just by being a created person. It is just the way He designed us. He is part of our very makeup as humans. He isn't going anywhere. We have Him upholding us, living in us, supporting us, accepting us, no matter what. This is real Love! This is the real God! He is "all in," committed to be with us forever.

"There is in humans a Spirit, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding."

Job 32:8 (GW)

"Spirit can be known only by spirit - God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion."

1 Corinthians 2:14 (MSG)

A Prayer: I love knowing that there can be nothing between us, ever, because You are the innermost part of me, making me who I am.

Created Nature, Uncreated Nature

"And thus is the Nature-made rightfully oned to the Maker, which is Substantial Nature not-made: that is, God."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

Our nature is made, is created. But what is our nature made out of? It is made out of something not-made, not-created: it is made of God, of God's own substance, of God's own essential nature, of God's own Spirit breath. And because of this origin, we are innately connected to God always with a connection that can't be severed. Just as we can't be separated from our own cells or our own DNA, we can't be separated from God of whom our very souls are made. We are innately one with God always, and it is impossible for there to be anything between our souls and God. We are "rightfully oned" to God; that is our normal, natural way of being and our permanent way of being. It is just the way we are made, a fact or characteristic of our creation. One of the attributes of our soul, then, is that it is "rightfully oned" to God.

We are not God, but our soul is made of God's substance or essence. The relation between us is deep and intimate and permanent. Our souls are made of God's own being; thus, our souls are God-like. We have a basic and innate goodness, beauty and dignity. We have a basic similarity to God. We are more like God than we are unlike. We are more holy than sinful. We are more heavenly than earthly. It can be so easy to forget our innate beauty and goodness, especially when looking at the outward words and actions that we or others express. But these wayward behaviors don't change the inward beauty of God's creation. Nothing can alter who we really are deep down, because nothing can alter who God is, and He is the deepest thing about us, the One we are "oned" with, from whom we are made. We are made of God-stuff. That is good stuff, loving stuff, beautiful stuff, eternal stuff! We can look at ourselves and every person as the beautiful expression of God on this earth, full of dignity and glory!

"You have crowned us with glory and honor."

Hebrews 2:7 (CEV)

"Discover God Himself as your inexhaustible inner source."

Philippians 2:13 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: You made a beautiful humanity, dear Father, from Your own being and splendor! I want to treat with dignity and honor each person You have made!

Made of Nought That Is Made

"And thus I understand that man's Soul is made of nought: that is to say, it is made, but of nought that is made. And thus: - When God should make man's body He took the clay of earth, which is a matter mingled and gathered of all bodily things; and thereof He made man's body. But to the making of man's Soul He would take right nought, but made it."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 53)

When God made our body, He made it of created matter. He made it out of something. But when He made our soul, He made it out of nothing, that is, He made it not of created matter but of His own uncreated substance or being. Our soul is made of God, sourced in God, and comes from God! God breathed His own Spirit into us to bring us life. We have His own Being as part of our life and who we are. In one way we can say that we are flesh and bones, clay and mud, of lowly and simple earth. And we can feel truly little and humble. But we are also spirit and soul, glorious and honored, holy and divine. And we can feel magnificent and marvelous. God knit us together in our mother's womb. What did He knit us out of? He knit us out of matter and cells, yes, but He also knit us out of Himself! We are made by God and made of God. We have a glorious origin, God Himself.  We are innately godly always, and we are innately splendid always. There is something special, beautiful, and magnificent about humanity, being made in God's image and from God's own substance. We are not simply humankind; we are the Godkind! We are not simply children of men; we are children of God! We were always meant to be an expression of God, a vessel of His glorious presence, in these earthly bodies. We can say, "I may be flesh and bones, lowly dust, but I am also luminous beauty, divinely glorious. I may be little and weak, but I am also splendid and magnificent. I may be of earth, but there is something of heaven within me. I may be in this temporal existence, but there is a part of me that is eternal. I may be like any human but I am also like God, too. There is nothing ordinary about me. I am a glorious creation made by God and made of God! I express the beauty of God as His masterpiece on display in this world."

"Then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit]."

Genesis 2:7 (AMP)

"For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Psalm 139:13-14

A Prayer: There is no way to demean myself or put myself down, since I am made of You, the most wonderful Being of all! 

Knit to God

"And thus is Man's Soul made by God and in the same point knit to God."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

How are we one with God, knit to God, from our creation? It is God's very breath that He breathes into us to give us life. It is God's very image that is the basis of our creation. It is God's own substance that we are from, God's own love that is the core of our nature. It is God's own love bonds us together. For He is our true Father, the true Source of the human race, the endless Lover of our souls. He is so much in every part of our creation that we are truly knit to Him and entwined with Him from the very beginning of our existence. So we can see that we have never been alone in this life, to fend for ourselves. We have always had an inner Source of peace, strength, hope and companionship. We have always had a Friend along the way, a Friend going with us through every situation in our lives, a Friend closer than a brother and dearer than the person dearest to us in this world. He was always there, the One we could turn to and share our deepest hopes and fears, the One who would listen without judgment and always accept us, the One who would never let us down. He has been the Friend in the background of our lives all along, supporting us, sending beauty and help our way, smiling at us through the sunrises, caring for us through the love of a pet or a family member, doing all those numberless things to bring joy to our lives. He was here all along, inside us, and we are so knit and entwined together in love that we are one forever. It is just as He planned it long ages ago, to be within us as our Friend who would always be there for us no matter what and never fail us, never let us go.

"You will be there to guide me; Your right hand will embrace me, for You are always there."

Psalm 139:10 (VOICE)

"God has said, 'I will never leave you or let you be alone.'"

Hebrews 13:5 (NLV)

A Prayer: Thank You for all the times You have loved and helped me, even when I was not aware of it. Thank You for always being there for me, inside. You are the Friend I have always wanted!

A Love That Is Made

"And this is a Love that is made, [to our Kindly Substance], [by virtue] of the Kindly Substantial Goodness of the Holy Ghost; Mighty, in Reason, [by virtue] of the Might of the Father; and Wise, in Mind, [by virtue] of the Wisdom of the Son."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

The love that we have and are by nature is a love that is made by God. We are created as love beings, made as those who are naturally loving. That is the truth of our substance or essence, the truth of our being. At the core of our person, in our spirit, we are love. This love is made of God's own love, and since God IS love, another way to think of it is that this love that is our nature is made of God Himself. This love that is natural to our kind (humankind) is made of the goodness of the Holy Spirit, mighty with the might of the Father and wise with the wisdom of the Son. This Love comes from the Trinity themselves, full of goodness and strength and wisdom. We are one with God in our spirit, full of God's perfect and wholly complete love that is capable of loving in any situation and of loving any person. We are made of God, made of His love, deep down in our depths. Our core is love, is God. This is what kind of beings we are, love beings, children of our Father God who is love!

"Love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God."

1 John 4:7 (GW)

"Fully grasp the reality of the indwelling Christ. You are rooted and founded in Love. Love is your invisible inner source just like the root system of a tree or the foundation of a building."

Ephesians 3:17 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: You are the love inside me.

He Loved Us, We Love Him

"For ere that He made us He loved us, and when we were made we loved Him."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

Sometimes we may say to ourselves that if our friends really knew all about us, they wouldn't want to be our friends. Yet God is the Father and Friend who truly knows all about us, knew every failure we would have throughout our lives, knew every secret struggle or hangup we would have, and He loved us. He loved us and knowing all that we would do, He chose to create us. There was no question in God's mind about us. He couldn't bear to be in this universe without us. We have the joy of knowing that Someone knows everything about us and still loves us, still accepts us, still rejoices over us. He has already known about our whole lives in advance and embraced us in love with all our messes. His love came before any of our behavior and is not tied to any of our behavior, so our behavior could never alter that love. So we never have to worry that God does not really love us or will stop loving us if we do a certain wrong.

As wonderful as it is that God loved us before He even created us, it is also wonderful to find out that when we were created, we loved God. This love is a created love that God made or put within us. While God's love is uncreated, our love is created by God, who is Love, Himself. So our love for God flows forth from His own love for us. God has created us with a natural love for our Creator and our fellow humans. Just as little children naturally want their parents' affection and care and naturally reach out in love for them, so we naturally want our Father God's affection and care and naturally reach out in love for Him. We haven't always expressed it, and it has gotten trapped under other negative emotions, but it is still there. Christ came to release and free this love and He succeeded. So we don't have to worry that we are uncaring or rebels at heart; we by nature have a love for God within us. 

"We love Him, because He first loved us."

1 John 4:19 (KJV)

A Prayer: Thank You for loving me so completely!

We Come From and Return to Christ

"Out of Whom (Christ) we be all come, in Whom we be all enclosed, into Whom we shall all wend (go), in Him finding our full Heaven in everlasting joy, by the foreseeing purpose of all the blessed Trinity from without beginning."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

We originate in Christ. He is our origin point. And not only that, we return to Christ. He is our destination point. Like waters tend toward the sea or a foggy cloud invariably rises upward, we tend invariably toward our Maker, looking toward our home from whence we came. Maximus the Confessor spoke of all that God created being in motion, with movement that ultimately seeks and tends towards God, till every being finds its rest in God, needing to seek no more. And Augustine of Hippo famously wrote in his Confessions, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You." It is a comfort to know that no matter how far we may wander, we cannot ultimately be lost, for our whole existence is wrapped up in Christ and we naturally tend back toward Him who is our source. And in a very real sense, we have never been out of Christ, and thus it is impossible to be away from or lost from Him, for all of existence exists in Him and all of life lives in Him and all that happens happens in Him.  What assurance and security there is in knowing that He begins all things, He upholds all things, He wraps up all things, and all things find their ultimate fulfillment in Him. Christ, who is Love, holds us, wraps around us, and will never let us go. He will make sure we reach full enjoyment of our destination and rest in Him forevermore.

Julian of Norwich (ch. 53)

We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.

Romans 8:29 (MESSAGE)

Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him.

Romans 11:36 (MESSAGE)

All humanity will come to You.

Psalm 65:2 (HCSB)

A Prayer: Thank You for the assurance that we will all find our rest in You.

Ground and Head

"By the endless assent of the full accord of all the Trinity, the Mid-Person willed to be Ground and Head of this fair Kind (Humankind).."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

Christ is our Ground and our Head. He is our beginning and the ultimate reference to our identity. He is the foundation on which our we exist and the source of our nature. He heads up the human race as the "firstborn of all creation." All that we are we owe to Christ, in whom and by whom we were created. We originate in Him and thus we are inherently like Him in nature. We are of the same kind as Christ, the God-kind. We are not God but are in the image of God. We are thus in the family of God, and siblings of Christ. He is the template for our human nature and shows us what we truly are meant to be. God designed us to be in the likeness of Christ, formed from Christ as a blueprint. And though we tended to lose sight of our origin and connection to Christ, Christ Himself continued unchangingly to show the true and original nature of humanity.  For the Head is always one with the Body. Wherever the Head goes, the Body goes. Whatever the Head chooses, the Body follows. We are ever in union with our Head, Christ, the Head of all humanity. He brought us with Him through the cross and into resurrection, defeating all that didn't belong to us and revealing the truth about us in union with Him. He restored us to our true and original design by ridding us of any and all sin and shame that covered over the truth of our nature as Christ-like.  In union with Him, our nature as those in His image shines and we are freed to be who we were always meant to be, royal sons and daughters of God and co-heirs of Christ!

"The Logos [Christ] is the source; everything commences in him. He remains the exclusive Parent reference to their existence. There is nothing original, except the Word! The Logic of God [Christ] defines the only possible place where mankind can trace their origin." 

John 1:3 (MIRROR)

"He already knew his people and had already appointed them to have the same form as the image of his Son. Therefore, his Son is the firstborn among many children."

Romans 8:29 (GW)

A Prayer: Thank You for creating me to be in Your family! Thank You that I share the family likeness with Christ!

From Without Beginning

"For right the same that mankind shall be in endless bliss, fulfilling the joy of God as anent (concerning) His works, right so the same, mankind hath been in the foresight of God: known and loved from without beginning in his rightful intent."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

Just as we will be in endless joy, with God rejoicing over us for all eternity future, so we have been God's joy for all eternity past. Before we even existed, we were already seen by God in His foresight, and God was already delighting in us forever in the past. And in the future after this earthly existence, God will be delighting in us forever in the future. So we see that we are not a mistake or unwanted or ordinary. Each of us is special, is wanted, is meant to be. God has had us in His mind and in His heart forever, and we will always be treasures in His heart and mind. He has always known what He intended for us, to be in a relationship of delight and pure joy with Him, and there has never been any doubt that He would bring about His "rightful intent." For all He has ever been or ever will be is our Father, and all we have ever been or ever will be are His children. 

We may have been worried that He would be sometimes love and sometimes something else towards us, sometimes a father and sometimes something else, but He is always the same, yesterday, today and forever, and in His eyes, we are always the same to Him, yesterday, today and forever. Our relationship has always been secure and unchanging, as dearly beloved children of the most wonderful and loving Father we could ever imagine. Nothing we did or will do could ever alter it, for it has been set in eternity and for all eternity it stands. Our Father knew all the choices we would make, and all the mistakes we would make, long before time began, and He still rejoiced in us and chose to create us. And no mistakes or wrong turns in our lives could ever change His intent for our future from coming about, for He rejoices in us right now wherever we are at in our journey and He chooses to keep on rejoicing in us long after time ends. God has known us as His children forever, known everything about us and delighted in everything about us. We are completely understood and known, and every part of us is completely embraced and accepted. We can say, "I have always been loved. I have always been wanted. I am special to God. God has known me from before I even existed. He cares about every detail of my life. God delights in me. I am perfect to Him. God embraces me. I am God's dearly loved child. God rejoices over me. And I rejoice in being God's very own. God will fulfill His plan for me to be with Him forever. I rejoice in knowing I will spend eternity with my dear Father, filled full of God's joy!"

Lord, you know everything there is to know about me.  You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind. You are so intimately aware of me, Lord....You know every step I will take before my journey even begins. You've gone into the future to prepare the way, and in kindness you follow behind me....You saw who you created me to be before I became me....Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought!

Psalm 139:1-5, 16-17

A Prayer: It's amazing to think You have always been thinking of me with love, and embracing me as Your very own child. I love You, Daddy!

Never Began

"I saw that God began never to love mankind.."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 53)

He never began to love us; He simply always has loved us. From before eternity even began, God was loving us. Before creation, before time, before anything at all, God was loving us! His love for us is truly everlasting, eternal, without beginning or ending, outside of time and also filling every moment in time. At every moment, we have been cherished, we have been loved. He has been adoring us, delighting in us, loving us forever with an unstoppable, unconquerable, unquenchable, unchangeable, unconditional love. He loved us before we ever did or thought a single thing to try to earn or deserve that love, so we can know for sure that we don't have to earn or deserve it. He loved us before we even existed, before there was anything done or accomplished in our lives, good or bad. This shows that His love is completely outside of any performance on our part. It simply IS. And it has always been. Nothing we do could ever stop the flow of this love to us; it is like an endless waterfall pouring over us in abundance, soaking us in tenderness and joy. 

He has always been in love with His human family. He always planned and knew that He would have us for His very own children, and He brought us into existence with such joy and delight. The Trinity has dreamed about us from before time began, dreamed of the wonderful family life we would all have together. We are God's dream come true! And He could not imagine a universe without us in it. In fact He loves each and every one of us individually, personally, passionately, with all the love He has to give in the whole of creation. 

The cry of the human heart is to be loved and God's answer echoes from before time and throughout all eternity: "You are wanted, cherished, loved! I have always been loving you and I always will be loving you. I adore you! You are so precious to me just as you are, yourself, as my beloved child." As long as God has been God, God has been loving us!

"We are His dream come true.."

John 1:13 (MIRROR)

A Prayer: Remind me of Your love for me!

Redemption is Needful and Speedful

"But notwithstanding this rightful knitting and this endless oneing, yet the redemption and the again-buying of mankind is needful and speedful in everything.."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 53)

We were created in God's image and thus created as "very good." Our inner substance or spirit is kept one with God and pure in motivation and will. This is our true identity as God's created children. Yet our minds were led astray by lies about God's identity and our own identity. We began believing lies such as "I am separated from God," "I am not good enough for God," "I am lacking in some way," "God doesn't love or accept me," "God is judging me and displeased with me," "God is angry with me or will punish me," "I must do something to get to God and get His favor." Because of these lies, we fell into the trap of sin and death. Sin and death are present in this world and pull things down into corruption. People's minds have become darkened and it makes relating to God so difficult. He is right here, yet we can feel He is a million miles away and we are all on our own. We needed to be freed or redeemed from the lies and traps of sin and death, so we could know and live out our good identity, so we could know and relate to God without fear. He dismantles the lies we've believed with His truth, telling us wonderful messages like: "I do not judge anyone," "I did not come to condemn but to save," Your Father is compassionate," "The Father Himself loves you," "I am with you always," "I am in you and you are in Me." Christ brings us back to knowing ourselves and knowing God in a love relationship. He clears away the darkness in our minds with the light of His presence and grace. He casts away our fears with His love. He frees our hearts from the traps of sin. He frees our bodies from the trap of corruption and death. He rescues and releases the good inner self that had gotten covered over with lies, confusion, and darkened thoughts and beliefs. He does all this by taking us with Him through death to all that was hurting us and into resurrection to all that will help us and bring us to thrive. Joined with His resurrection life, we are also in life, and we can never be trapped in lies, sin and death again! Our redemption is needful and speedful, necessary and good. How wonderful to be redeemed and set free to really live as we were always meant to live, according to our God-given good nature, out of our inner oneness with the God who loves us, filled with His Spirit and thriving in His Life!

He gave himself for us; he died to free us from all evil. He died to make us pure people who belong only to him—people who are always wanting to do good things.

Titus 2:14 (ICB)

A Prayer: You freed me from the lies and sin that trapped me. I can live as I was always meant to, a life of real relationship with You, a life of love.

Good Substance

"For that same Kind that Heaven shall be filled with behoveth needs, of God's rightfulness, so to have been knit and oned to Him, that therein was kept a Substance which might never, nor should, be parted  from Him; and that through His own Good Will in His endless foreseeing purpose."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 53)

We have been so knit and united or oned to God in our creation, that there is a Substance in us that is in permanent union with God and cannot be separated from Him. And if this deepest substance of our being is created in oneness with God so that it is kept always one with God cannot be separated from God, this deepest substance of our being is holy and good through its oneness with the holy and good God. This beautiful work of oneing and keeping was done by God through His good will, and we thus by our oneness with God have in our substance a good and godly will, too.  We see that our substance is good because it is one with and sourced in God, for our inner substance is our spirit that is one with God's Spirit. We don't have to feel that we are rotten or bad or that the only good thing in us is God, with everything else in us being bad. This inner created substance in us IS us, and it IS good with God's goodness. We can truly say that we are good in our depths and that God is keeping our inner goodness safe in Him always through the beautiful oneing He has made between us and Himself. Even if we forget who we truly are or act contrary to who we are, God never forgets who we are and always holds onto our inner substance, our true identity, keeping it safe and unchanged in oneness with Him. What a relief to know that even if we get lost from knowing or living out of our true identity, God never loses us, God is always keeping us. We can never be lost from the One we are joined to forever!

"But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives understanding."

Job 32:8 (NCV)

A Prayer: I love knowing the deepest part of me is one with You always and good in You always!

A Godly Will that is So Good

"In every soul that shall be saved is a Godly Will that never assented to sin, nor ever shall: which Will is so good that it may never will evil, but evermore continually it willeth good; and worketh good in the sight of God. Therefore our Lord willeth that we know this in the Faith and the belief; and especially that we have all this blessed Will whole and safe in our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Julian of Norwich (ch. 53)

We can make mistakes and fail miserably. We can think bad thoughts and live bad lives. Yet no matter what wrong turns we have made in life or have much we have fallen into ruinous behaviors, there is a part of us that has never willed or done wrong. Yes, we do many wrong things and are weak and feeble and fall into temptation, yet we are not truly bad deep down. In the depths of our soul is something pure and innocent and good that never goes along with those wayward outer thoughts and words and acts but is always willing and wanting the good. It's a relief to know the deepest part of us isn't turned naturally towards evil but towards good, is not oriented away from God but ever towards Him. Julian calls this inner something that is always willing good the "godly will." This godly will is so good it actually cannot will evil at all. This godly will is kept safe and whole in Christ always and forever. We do not have to maintain our inner goodness. It is just who we are. It is our true identity. It is found in Christ and kept in Christ at all times, complete and pure and good. Deep down we always will good and never evil. Deep down we always work good and never evil. Christ has been preserving our true identity in Himself all along, and He always will preserve that identity. For our true identity is ever linked to and sourced in Christ, and is at its deepest, actually Christ Himself in us. Since the deepest part of us, our very core, is God Himself, willing and working His "godly will," there is no way that could ever be bad!

"I want to do good."

Romans 7:21 (PHILLIPS)

"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

Philippians 2:13 (NKJV)

A Prayer: You are my constant inner goodness!

Innocent and Without Fault

"For our Lord is so good, so gentle, and so courteous, that He may never assign default [in those] in whom He shall ever be blessed and praised."

Julian of Norwich (ch. 53)

God isn't standing over us looking to find fault, critically judging our performance to condemn the first wrong move. He is looking at us with delight and love, with joy and pleasure. How is this? It is because God is not judge but Father, and He is such a good, kind and gentle Father with us, his sweet little babies. God sees us, His little children, innocent and pure. He sees us fair and lovely and fresh as a new Spring morning. He sees us clean and pure and unsullied, like the summer afternoon after a cooling rain. This great God is our Daddy, who holds us in His arms in gentleness, looking on us with the love that a new parent has towards a newborn baby. We are simply His babies, pure and sweet. We are perfect in His eyes, without a single flaw. We couldn't be more lovely or beautiful to Him. He is the Perfect Dad, so gentle and good to us. He is so overwhelmed with love for us, His dearworthy babes, that He could never see a flaw in us, never see a fault or defect anywhere. We can do no wrong in His eyes. We can never be a failure. We look at our lives and see all the ways we have shipwrecked our faith, our relationships, our expectations. We see all the ruin we have made in so many areas. But God sees His perfect innocent children, His little toddlers who "don't know what they are doing." 

There is such an innocence about you. No matter what you have done or where you have ended up, there is a little child still there within, and you will always be that innocent little child of God, held in His arms like a tiny infant that He is always rocking to sleep, always singing a lullaby to, always looking at with awe and wonder, saying, "You are My beautiful baby, My very own, and I love you with all the love I have to give. There is nothing I wouldn't do for you. You mean everything to Me. And I will never stop loving You. You will always be my sweet little child."

"The Holy Spirit makes God's Fatherhood real to us as He whispers into our innermost being, 'You are God's beloved child!'"

Romans 8:16 (TPT)

"Because of His great love, He ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in His eyes with an unstained innocence."

Ephesians 1:4 (TPT)

A Prayer: You are the Perfect Daddy. And I am Your innocent child.

Resting in Love and Joy

"For in the lower part are pains and passions, mercies and forgiveness, and such other that are profitable; but in the higher part are none of these, but all one high love and marvellous joy: in which joy all pains are highly restored."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

Outwardly, we can be struggling, failing, hurting and doubting. We can feel the need to be reminded of and experience the reality of mercy and forgiveness. But in the depths of our inner person, our spirit is always at peace with God, gazing on the face of God in awe at His love, full of the joy of the Father that He has in His own child. No matter how many times we fail or crash and burn on the outside, our inner spirit is held by God in steadiness and trusts in God, loves God, looks upon God. No matter how many times we forget or get confused about God, our inner spirit remembers God, knows God, and is at one with God. No matter how scared or lonely or hurt we feel, no matter what emotional or mental turmoil we experience, deep inside God keeps our spirit at rest, quiet and safe, enjoying God and experiencing His love. God is bringing that inner experience to our outer awareness, and He will do it as often as needed, as often as we get in trouble or forget. He will continually bring us to the stillness of that inner union we have with God. It is always true, even if we don't always see or feel it. It is a permanent union, and that union with God in Christ upholds our whole life, even the parts that forget or struggle. And it is the joy of that union that has already healed every forgetfulness, dissolved every struggle, by grace. So no matter what, we cannot be shaken. We stand before God righteous and perfect, one with Him and pleasing to Him. No matter what, we are upheld in "one high love and marvelous joy" by the power of His indestructible life in us!

I am at rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken.

Psalm 62:2 (CSB)

A Prayer: I am at rest in You.

Life in the Spirit

"For the life and the virtue that we have in the lower part is of the higher, and it cometh down to us [from out] of the Natural love of the [high] Self, by [the working of] grace."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

We can see weaknesses and things lacking in our thoughts, words and actions. These are all part of the outer life of the self. But in the deep or high inner part of the self, there is no lack, nothing amiss, no struggle. Our highest part, our spirit, is one with God's Spirit, and is naturally full of His love, goodness and strength. We sometimes feel we need to try somehow to "get" the love and goodness and strength of God to flow into us, but it is already in us, by His very presence united with our spirit. And from that holy and sacred place of stillness and union, all the goodness, love and strength we could ever need are flowing into our whole being and through our whole being. We are to "be" filled with the Spirit, because in the deepest sense, we already are. We are full to the brim of the fullness of God and nothing can keep that fullness from flowing into and through every part of our life. We may be weak outwardly, but He is strong inwardly and we are strong in Him. We may be lacking outwardly, but He is whole inwardly and we are whole in Him. And that wholeness and strength and love of God's Spirit are what carries us through and will carry us through to victory, for that Spirit of life within us has trumped the law of sin and death that has trapped us. Like the law of buoyancy keeps one afloat on the water, Life continually buoys us up and death cannot pull us down. We may falter at times or even feel as if we are drowning in confusion or failure, but the law of the Spirit is always there pulling us up and we pop right back to the surface and breathe the fresh air of life once more. That is the power of the Life in us; it is the power that raised Christ from the dead and it raises us up in life forevermore, and it happens fully and completely by grace, meaning God does it all and nothing is required of us. We are floating in life and nothing can sink us!

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Romans 8:2 (NASB)

A Prayer: Thank You for filling me with Your Spirit!

Sin Doesn't Change our Relationship with God

For it belongeth to man meekly to accuse himself, and it belongeth to the proper Goodness of our Lord God courteously to excuse man....And right thus willeth our Lord that we accuse our self, earnestly and truly seeing and knowing our falling and all the harms that come thereof; seeing and learning that we can never restore it; and therewith that we earnestly and truly see and know His everlasting love that He hath to us, and His plenteous mercy.

Julian of Norwich (ch. 52)

Grace doesn't ignore sin, it simply puts sin in its place as nothing compared to the love and goodness of God. We humans tend to accuse ourselves. We can shame ourselves and hate ourselves for the wrong things we've done. But God always excuses our sin! It is all completely forgiven, forgotten, take away and gone! God isn't seeing the sin that we are seeing. God is only seeing His innocent and perfect child held in the life of Christ. God never wants us to look at any of the wrongs we've ever done in our lives without in the same moment looking at His grace and love that have already overwhelmed and erased those wrongs. It is wonderful how grace lets us know we will never be rejected or punished by God no matter how we fail, for we are not under a law system with judgment and punishment but under a grace system with the free gift of life and righteousness in Christ and the security of knowing that our place in God's family is permanent. 

So because grace lets us know that we don't have to measure up or be perfect, we are accepted as we are, we can be real and honest about the times we fail. We can admit we are not perfect, for we don't have to try to wear a "perfect" mask to cover up our flaws. But even in those moments of being able to be honest about our mistakes, God wants us never to think or speak of them without in the same breath thinking and speaking of His grace and love. When we fall on our face, He wants us to look not at the failure (which was already taken away by Christ) but at His love that holds us and accepts us no matter what. He wants to remind us in those moments especially, that nothing has changed in our relationship with God. No sin can undo the grace that is over our life. 

It is ok and a relief to admit we sometimes fail. It is ok and a relief to realize we don't have to be perfect to be loved. And it is most important to remember that we are safe in the grace of God and never under the pressures or condemnation of law. No matter what we do or don't do, there is no condemnation for us in Christ. There is only love and acceptance! We are not to be down on ourselves or shame ourselves, because God never does. We can simply feel joy that we don't have to "measure up" or "be sinless" to live this life with God. This life with God is all by grace, never by performance.  We are not being judged or scrutinized, condemned or punished. We are only being loved and embraced and delighted in! God delights in us, those who mess up and fail. God sees us as perfect, even when we blow it. God calls us righteous, even if we never change or improve. God is in perfect friendship with us, even at our worst. That is the wonder of grace! It is love that we don't have to earn and that we cannot lose. It is love for those who can be unlovely at times. It's unconditional love, it's what Jesus and the gospel are all about, and it's ours forever!

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1 (NIV)

They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.

Hebrews 8:12 (MSG)

Praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One he loves.

Ephesians 1:6 (NCV)

I am sure of this. Nothing can stop God from loving us.

Romans 8:38 (EASY)

A Prayer: Thank You for always accepting me even in my failures..especially in my failures! I feel safe with You because I know I can't ever sin my way out of Your arms!

Weak but Kept by His Strength

"Acknowledge our feebleness, finding that we may not stand a twinkling of an eye but by Keeping of grace."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

If it weren't for God's grace, we would fall and not be able to stand in righteousness at all. This is not because we are evil, rebellious, always wanting to sin, or naturally sinful. It is because we are feeble, or weak. We are just humans, just "dust." Christ came to save us, the weak and feeble humans who needed rescue from sin and death. Christ called us poor, brokenhearted, captive, blind and weak, not evil or rebellious. He knew that we had been captured by sin and lies and had been blinded to the truth of God's love and His indwelling. We are weak and easily swayed by sin and lies, and we are not powerful enough to live rightly or perfectly. God doesn't expect that of us. We are under grace, not law, which means we are not being judged on our performance, and thus we can make mistakes, we can fail, and we're still with God, still accepted by  God. We are not expected to live a perfect life or measure up, by our strength or trying, to some impossible standard of conduct. We are not the strong ones, God is. We are simply humble, weak earthen vessels, but we hold in our human containers the presence and glory of God Himself. 

God lives in us! By His keeping of grace, Christ within us keeps us in righteousness and life at all times. So even if we fail or fall, we are still right with God, still righteous, because Christ who is in us hasn't changed, Christ is still righteous in us and for us. And He is the One who lives the Christian life in us. This is sensible, since we are not Christ, so how could we live the Christ life? Only Christ can live it, and He will live it in us. We are off the hook to produce anything or do anything. Christ is our keeper, and He will keep us in His life and His life will prevail in and through us. Our failures will not stop this. Our failures will simply remind us that this life is really not about our perfect performance but about His. The focus isn't on us at all but on Him. He has taken over our case. He is the One responsible for being perfect and righteous in us and living this Christ life through us and He cannot fail!

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised..

Luke 4:18 (NIV)

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.

Jude 1:24 (NLT)

A Prayer: I am weak but it doesn't matter because You are strong on my behalf!

Seeing and Feeling Love

"And therefore the creature that seeth and feeleth the working of love by grace, hateth nought but sin."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

Seeing and experiencing the grace of God, the unconditional love and acceptance of God, has a beautiful effect on us. When you find out that God is not judging or condemning you, you find that you don't feel judgmental or condemning towards other people. When you find out you are accepted, just as you are, with all your mistakes, you find yourself less irritated with others and more likely to accept them even if they aren't perfect, either. When you find a love that is permanent, that you can't lose no matter how badly you act, you find yourself extending love and kindness towards others who act rather badly. When you find that there is no measuring stick, no impossible standard you must live up to, that you are allowed to be real and honest and even fail and still be okay in God's eyes, it makes you feel more sympathetic to those who feel burdened by high standards they can't keep. When you find God is loving everyone equally and bringing everyone home, you start to see the all people as one big family of God, rather than dividing people into "us" versus "them." You find yourself loving the whole world, hating only one thing - unlove towards others. 

Law could never have such an effect within us, for Law only brings brings frustration and condemnation. But grace, the unconditional Love that asks for nothing in return and can't be offended, no matter what we do, that Love naturally brings out love in us. Love naturally brings out love because Love is the strongest thing there is, and Love never fails. It always wins out over every negative attitude. With grace, all you want to do is love, because all you are is loved with no possibility of being unloved.

"We love because He first loved us."

1 John 4:19 (NIV)

A Prayer: Your love and acceptance melt my anger and hatred and make me just want to love everybody!

Christ Did All

"And thus in the Servant was shewed the scathe (injury) and blindness of Adam's falling; and in the Servant was shewed the wisdom and goodness of God's Son. And in the Lord was shewed the ruth and pity of Adam's woe, and in the Lord was shewed the high nobility and the endless worship that Mankind is come to by the virtue of the Passion and death of His dearworthy Son. And therefore mightily He joyeth in his falling for the high raising and fulness of bliss that Mankind is come to, overpassing that we should have had if he had not fallen.—And thus to see this overpassing nobleness was mine understanding led into God in the same time that I saw the Servant fall."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

In the Parable of the Lord and the Servant that God showed Julian, we see Adam in the Servant's falling, but then we never see the Servant Adam again. Instead, the focus shifts to Christ as the Servant who succeeds in rescuing Adam, bringing Adam to a place of nobility higher than if Adam had never fallen. So we see that humanity's part in this Story is simply to fall and get hurt. We don't have any part or work after that. Christ has the main role, the only role. Christ does all the work of saving and restoring and blessing and glorifying. We do nothing but fall down and need rescue. This salvation is all up to Christ, not us at all. That means this salvation is secure and perfect. If it were up to us in any way, there could be doubt over whether it was good enough or done well enough. But it is all up to Christ. Therefore, it is perfect, it is complete, it is well done! 

Christ has already saved us, delivered us, raised us up to the heights, brought us to high nobility, and brought us to fullness of bliss. It is finished! And this high nobleness that humanity was raised to by Christ was seen in God from the very moment Adam fell! For He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. When humanity fell, Christ already fell and retrieved Adam and did all that it took to bring Adam back and raise him higher than ever. Salvation has been ours, secure in Christ the dearworthy Son of God, from the foundation of the world. God has left nothing in doubt. We have never really been lost from Him. We have always been in His care. And we always will be!

[Christ] was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

1 Peter 1:20 (KJV)

The Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

1 John 4:14 (GNT)

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to completely finish His work.

John 4:34 (AMP)

A Prayer: It is a relief to know that I don't have to work for my salvation. It is a relief to know that You did all the work to save me and "it is finished!"

Holy Assent

"We assent (agree with, consent) to God....truly setting our will to be with Him, with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our might. And then we hate and despise our evil stirrings and all that might be occasion of sin, spiritual and bodily....by virtue of Christ which is our Keeper, we assent (agree with, consent) never thereto, but we groan there-against..."

Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)

Our God-given inner will is good, but we are not strong enough to live on this earth according to good intentions, to live as we know we ought to, as we truly want to deep down. We often fail to love, often get caught in negative emotions, often struggle with selfishness, often find ourselves judging instead of accepting others. But Christ preserves our holy intent inside us, that goodwill that agrees with and consents to God's way of love, that goodwill that doesn't agree with or consent to sin and hatred. Even if we don't always act right, think right or talk right, deep down we are choosing right every time and choosing against wrong every time. We are choosing to and intent on sticking with God and His way of love. We don't have to worry about that intent ever faltering, because it is the holy intent and goodwill of Christ Himself in us, as our intent, and thus it is never going to lapse or fade away! Christ is living in us, and Christ always chooses God in us, always chooses love in us. And even though we don't have the strength to carry out that inner intent of goodness, Christ has the strength in us and Christ will carry it out in us. So God has made us good deep down and this goodness is Christ Himself in us. You cannot get any more perfect goodness than that!

"I have the will to do good."

Romans 7:18 (PHILLIPS)

A Prayer: It is a relief to know that deep down, I only assent to God's will of love and never to sin.