Hey you guys! I want to share with you a snippet of how much fun it is to live life according to what you hear from God. It’s always an adventure and I hope you are already along for the ride too! If you like what you hear, I hope you will enjoy the book and maybe share a story with us here or on our YouTube page, Wholehearted You. Checkout this video and here is the link to buy the audiobook too!

https://bit.ly/Obed-edom

The other night in exuberant worship with fellow believers, the Father gave me this love note.  I hope it blesses you in the truth of His love for you:

My children,

I am the delight of nations, I am the Sun toward whom every face of every flower turns, I am your Father by my choice, I am the dew of the morning, I am the seasonal rain.

But you are my delight. The lightning bugs are for you; I watch as you capture each light in your jar. I cherish your laughter, I cherish your adventure, I delight in your delight. Draw near to my heart. I am all you need, I have all you need.

I am the splendor of the nations. (At this I saw His face toward me sparkling, covered with gold flecks.) I am the salve for your country, the joyous report. In me you have no concerns. In me is your healing. I am all you need, I am all you need, and you are my delight.

Love, Papa

When I was three, my parents took me to Six Flags over Texas.  I got lost among other things, but the thing that defined the trip was the log ride.

It was the first water log ride ever made, and my dad insisted we go on it.  All my adult life when I have envisioned that ride in my mind’s eye there is a huge lumberjack with legs spread apart at the top of the flume where the log goes through and then plummets. He is dressed in a red and black checkered flannel shirt with big brown leather boots.  He holds a large axe in his hand as he threaten to chop the wood.  This has always been the image in my mind, so much so I described it to friends that way.

We recently went to Dollywood and I knew I was to get on the log ride with my husband.  The ride is called Daredevil Falls, because they drop you down a sixty feet free fall and you hit 50 miles an hour on the way down.  As a teen, I had already conquered the fear,  but here it was again, and I knew what I had to do.

As we approached the ride, I literally thought I might pass out before we got there.  “Well, if I die, there are worst ways of going,” I thought.  Here I am: a brave, couregous intercessor warrior princess.  Yep.  That is me.

So, I put one foot in front of the other and thankfully there was very little line.  Something about a virus going around prevented people from coming, and hardly anyone was in the park.

A strange thing happened when I sat down into “the log.”  The fear began to subside.  I did keep breathing deeply though just in case.  We began the ascent straight up to the top and at first I could feel my head begin to swim.  I shut my eyes, but then thought, “No Lord if you told me to do this I’m doing it all the way.”  So I forced them open.

As we rounded the bend at the top to the edge of our plummet, a thrill of excitement went through me.  This sudden shock of anticipation surprised me.  It actually felt good. I made the decision to throw my hands in the air in the face of fear and yell like a baby all the way down.

Over the edge we went, and all the way down, my hands were thrown up in a victory wave and with all my might, I screamed as loud as I could.  My husband said at some point on the way down that He was smiling.  I think I may have embarrassed my kids who were watching below.

When we got off, I jumped like a jack rabbit clapping my hands. “I did it! I did it!” I exclaimed.

After the fact, I decided to go look up the infamous first log ride I had ridden at Six Flags to see if it is still there.  It is, but what’s more I found pictures of it from when I would have ridden it.

There was no lumberjack at all, no axe hanging above my head.  All there was was a small control shack out of wood at the crest the ride.

Then I remembered what had really happened.  My father had lied to me.  He had told me the story of the lumberjack that lived in the shack and that he would chop the wood as we floated by.  That we might get chopped up.  He told that to me, his three year old, who believed him, and created the whole senerio in my mind.

And that my friend is the power of lie.

Now, more than ever we need the truth of who God is, and who He has called us to be.  The enemy of our souls, the Father of lies, is working overtime to fill us with lies, fears, and images of destruction.  Only the truth will set us free.

May we lean back into the everlasting love of our Heavenly Father, and enjoy the ride, because He’s got us, and He is far greater than our enemy.

Perfect love casts out all fear.  1 John 4:18

In rest and confident trust is our strength. Isaiah 30:15

“Just then a religious scholar stood before Jesus in order to test his doctrines. He posed this question:

“Teacher, what requirement must I fulfill if I want to live forever in heaven?” Jesus replied

“What does Moses teach us? What do you read in the Law?” The religious scholar answered,

“It states, ‘You must love the Lord God with all your heart, all your passion, all your energy, and your every thought. And you must love your neighbor as well as you love yourself.’” 

Jesus said, “That is correct. Now go and do exactly that and you will live.” 

Wanting to justify himself, he questioned Jesus further, saying,

“What do you mean by ‘my neighbor’?” Jesus replied, “Listen and I will tell you.

There was once a Jewish man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when bandits robbed him along the way. They beat him severely, stripped him naked, and left him half dead. Soon, a Jewish priest walking down the same road came upon the wounded man. Seeing him from a distance, the priest crossed to the other side of the road and walked right past him, not turning to help him one bit. Later, a religious man, a Levite, came walking down the same road and likewise crossed to the other side to pass by the wounded man without stopping to help him. Finally, another man, a Samaritan, came upon the bleeding man and was moved with tender compassion for him. He stooped down and gave him first aid, pouring olive oil on his wounds, disinfecting them with wine, and bandaging them to stop the bleeding. Lifting him up, he placed him on his own donkey and brought him to an inn. Then he took him from his donkey and carried him to a room for the night. The next morning he took his own money from his wallet and gave it to the innkeeper with these words: ‘Take care of him until I come back from my journey. If it costs more than this, I will repay you when I return. So, now, tell me, which one of the three men who saw the wounded man proved to be the true neighbor?”

 The religious scholar responded, “The one who demonstrated kindness and mercy.” Jesus said, “You must go and do the same as he.” Luke 10:25-37 TPT

Flannel graphs images of a man bleeding beside the road, the arrogant priests walking by on the other side, and the kind Samaritan with his donkey coming to help the man in need: these childish pictures flash through my mind when I think about the story of the Good Samaritan. Yet, as I read it last week, much more jumped out at me.

Consider this. The Jews throughout history have been probably the most hated culture ever. They were subjected to hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, and every time they turned around, they were being conquered again, over run, tortured, hated. Why?Because they were Jews. Not so long ago, Hitler tried to exterminate them. Even today, countries surrounding them want to wipe them off the face of the earth.

At the time of Jesus, they struggled under the oppressive rule of the Roman thumb, which was a cruel, harsh regime. Read the story of the Maccabees to get a better understanding.

What did the Jewish people do then? They turned around and despised their neighbors, the Samaritans. There’s a ton of history I could go into here, but basically the Samaritans came from the same lineage, but broke off because of where they chose to worship and their intermixing with cultures around them. They became a mixed breed. They were considered lower than dogs to the Jews.

Jesus has a way of getting to the heart of the matter with the religious leader. In a matter of moments, he pulled back the curtain on this man’s heart. The beat up man was a Jew, and the religious leaders who chose to overlook their brother’s brokenness, by conveniently crossing to the other side of the road so as not to be bothered, were also obviously Jews. Maybe this was even a story that this leader knew about. However, the compassionate man, the one who came to the aid of the Jew, was the despised one that the Jewish man would have spit on and cursed.

Jesus looked at the religious leader and asked him, “Who proved to be the good neighbor?” He was dealing with a ton more here than what I learned in Sunday School. He was dealing with the religious leader’s prejudices, his hatred of Samaritans.

Dear friends, racism and prejudices have been around since Cain killed Abel. It’s brother against brother. Neighbor against neighbor. Slavery, clan against clan, one people group against another, one person’s skin color against another. It is a part of all our histories, all our generations, all of our stories.

I don’t say this to belittle the current state our country is in, in dealing with racism. By all means, it’s about time the roots and organizations that have fed this monster be brought to the light and dealt with in truth and justice.

Jesus always looked past the surface and dealt with what was in men’s hearts. The answer to racism is not more laws or violent protest or defunding the police.

The answer is Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength. The answer is Love your neighbor as yourself.

So, when we see someone different than us hurting, bleeding, beat up, we take the time to stop, to care for them, to bandage their wounds, and get them help, even when it costs us time, money, and resources.

We stop ignoring the pain, the hurt. We stop conveniently looking the other way, which the church seems to be notorious for doing. We stop wagging our fingers at each other, judging the others differently than ourselves.

We look in the eyes of our brothers and sisters, we see their pain, and we comfort and help them however we can. We stand up for justice, for making things as right as we can. We choose to forgive and release the pain of the past, so that we can move forward. Together.

However, this goes both ways, for there is pain on both sides. There was pain on the Jews side and the Samaritan side, even the Roman side. Jesus knew this. That’s why, in telling this story, He made all men our neighbors.

The answer is love. Not human love through humanitarian efforts. It’s the unfailing, unending love of God through Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is where true reformation begins. This is where true unity begins.

A house divided against itself will fall. This is why the enemy is fighting so hard to divide and conqueror. We can, we will, we must choose into love if we are to continue as a great nation. It is the only solution for a broken world. “For God so loved the World, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever will believe in Him, will have eternal life…” John 3:16. This is the radical group I want to align with. They will know we are Jesus followers by the way we love one another. We all have choices to make. Choose love.

The other morning after a run, I felt like I needed to record a video.  I apologize for no makeup, but sometimes when Papa says to do it now, He really means NOW!!!😩  Hopefully content will bless you and make you consider what you are hearing from our Father for your own heart cleaning journey.  ☺️ Bless you guys!

“After this I let my devotion slumber,
but my heart for him stayed awake.
I had a dream.
I dreamed of my beloved—
he was coming to me in the darkness of night.
The melody of the man I love awakened me.
I heard his knock at my heart’s door
as he pleaded with me:

The Bridegroom-King

Arise, my love.
Open your heart, my darling, deeper still to me.
Will you receive me this dark night?
There is no one else but you, my friend, my equal.
I need you this night to arise and come be with me.
You are my pure, loyal dove, a perfect partner for me.
My flawless one, will you arise?
For my heaviness and tears are more than I can bear.
I have spent myself for you throughout the dark night.^[b]

The Sleeping Bride

³I have already laid aside my own garments for you.
How could I take them up again
since I’ve yielded my righteousness to yours?^[c]
You have cleansed my life and taken me so far.
Isn’t that enough?
⁴ My beloved reached into me to unlock my heart.
The core of my very being trembled at his touch.
How my soul melted when he spoke to me!
⁵ My spirit arose to open for more of his touch.
As I surrendered to him, I began to sense his fragrance—
the fragrance of his suffering love!
It was the sense of myrrh flowing all through me!
⁶ I opened my soul to my beloved, but suddenly he was gone!
And my heart was torn out in longing for him.
I sought his presence, his fragrance,
but could not find him anywhere.
I called out for him, yet he did not answer me.
I will arise and search for him until I find him.
⁷ As I walked throughout the city in search of him,
the overseers stopped me as they made their rounds.
They beat me and bruised me until I could take no more.
They wounded me deeply
and removed their covering from me.
⁸ Nevertheless, make me this promise, you brides-to-be:
if you find my beloved one,
please tell him I endured all travails for him.
I’ve been pierced through by love,^[d]
and I will not be turned aside!”  Song of Songs 5 TPT

These scriptures have been ruminating in my heart for weeks now.  As I’ve read these scriptures over and over, I’ve seen them in a bit of different light than before.

It seems to me that the church in the west, especially, has seemingly been asleep, and her beloved has been knocking at the door, pleading with her to wake up, to come and allow Him to come in again.

The call is to shake off her slumber, allowing herself to get uncomfortable, as she takes up her cloak of righteousness again, and open the door to the Bridegroom Jesus.

So many things have kept the Bride from answering the request, to even hear the knock on the door.  So many, many distractions have kept us running here and there, doing things that seem “good”, “needed”, but in reality hold little to no eternal value.

Now, we find many of those things stripped from us as we have had to “shelter in place”, and many of our entertainment and distractions, busy activities, have been halted.  Are we now listening?  Has it gotten quiet enough to hear the call for more intimacy, for allowing Jesus past all those things, so that He can woo our hearts into deeper places in Him?

For possibly five years or more now, the idea of the bride being asleep has been on the forefront of my mind.

It began on an anniversary trip, when my husband woke up from a dream about a man being in the bed with another woman, but the man wasn’t even aware until he truly “woke” up.  My first response to the dream had been “That dream is about the church.  The church has been asleep and in bed with other lovers and not even known it.”  That was not my normal first response to a dream like that by the way.

Throughout the past few years, the Lord has brought it back up again and again.  He is wooing and pleading with His Bride, the true church, to wake up, to arise, and let the King of Glory in.

The other thing that really jumped out to me out of these scriptures is that when she finally does get up and He is gone, her heart longs for Him, and won’t be deterred from finding Him, the only one who will truly satisfy her longing.  As she is searching for Him, the “overseers” find her in the night and beat her.

When the true Bride does wake up, and gets to the place where she has to find the Bridegroom at all cost, I believe it will be the “overseers”, the “religious leaders” who come against the Bride, beat her, and remove their covering.   The “religious overseers” in Jesus’s day were the ones who came against the true “Bride” then. Many times today, those truly seeking after Jesus are deterred by the very ones who should be leading them to Him.

Was it their “covering” she ever even needed?  What she needed was the robe of righteousness of her Beloved.  Many are coming out from a false covering into the true covering of Jesus, their lover.

In prayer recently, the Holy Spirit began to shout in my spirit.  This is what I feel the Spirit is saying.

Oh my Bride, Oh my dear love, how asleep you have been.  Asleep at the wheel.  Bent on destruction of your own.  You have not given heed to my words.  You have become warm.

Wake up! Wake up! Rise from the dust, my Bride, while there is still time.  Take your place.  Take your place by my side.  We will war together.

You will be made pure again.

Let go of your programs, your petty, petty littleness.  Lay down your distractions.  Receive me.  Receive me.   Receive your husband, your lover, your King.

Will you even know that I’ve been knocking at your door?  Won’t you get up and answer it once again?

Throw off your deceit, your pride, your arrogance.  Will you yet arise and let me in?

I see your nakedness, and I long to clothe you.  I’d love to wrap my robe of righteousness around you, but you have chosen other lovers, and you have not even known.  You have devoured your young with your words, and not even given thought to it.

Take up my robe.  Humble yourself.  I will yet forgive you, heal you, and restore you.  Oh my love, my Bride, I am here, knocking.  Won’t you let me in?  I love you, Your Bridegroom

May we all answer the call, and let Him in.

This is a little different for me. The Lord has really been stirring up some things in me and I have really felt pressed to share them. It is intended to bring life and peace to you. I had to do it in two parts because I had been enjoying a bit too much of our beautiful and pollen-filled weather here in South Carolina and started to cough as a result. 😁 Let me hear from you about it. If you want to see more content like this, please like it and subscribe to our new YouTube page, Wholehearted You. More will be coming soon. Much love!