In A Garden – The Love Story of Resurrection Day

Jesus is Risen
“It is true!”
Luke 24:34

Death could not hold onto Life any more than the grave could hold onto Jesus. At dawn in a garden cemetery, Life swallowed Death once and for all.

“I am the Resurrection and the Life,” Jesus had once said. Now He proved.

An angel rolled back the giant stone and sat on it, waiting for Jesus to come out. By the time Mary from Magdala arrived, things in the garden looked normal, except the soldiers had run off and the stone was rolled back from its opening. The tomb was empty but for the burial cloths.

In that quiet, little garden, God was walking around!

And, at first, He passed as a gardener.

Mary! Don’t you want to shout at her? It’s Him! It’s Jesus!

“Why are you crying?” He asked her, pretending, savoring the moment, ready to burst with the surprise of Himself. But because of her sorrow, He ended his tender charade. He said her name: “Mary.”

His voice. Surely His heart was heard in the sound. Loving . . . inviting . . . tender.

At once, Mary knew Him. So what does she do?

She throws herself at His feet—in possessive worship. She clings to Him like she will never let Him go! And, indeed, she never will.

But He has plans for her, plans for the two of them, plans for each of us.

Soon she would “cling” to Him in a whole new way—in Spirit and Truth. She would forever and ever cling to Him. But, just then, in the garden, she must let go of Him. His voice, loving and kind, said, “I have not yet risen to my Father.”

He surely laughed softly to Himself, blessed by her show of affection. She must have been clinging to His feet, weeping and crying from sheer happiness.

She must let go, but not for long. He promised her that.

And so He said, “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.”

His own beloved ones, from then on, would know the Father on the same intimate level as the Son. Jesus couldn’t have been more delighted in the telling of that news.

Here we see a human and divine Lord Jesus enjoying Himself. While Jesus is in the garden with Mary, it seemed He didn’t know just what to do with Himself. First, He tells her to go and tell His disciples He will see them in Galilee. Then He shows up in the upper room wanting to be with them, asking them to touch Him, proving He is not a ghost, and enjoying their surprise.

Humanly speaking, can you imagine how Jesus felt after His resurrection? Surely, Jesus’ heart felt ecstatic, bursting joy. He had made the way open for His friends to call His Father their Father, His God their God. He revealed the love of the Father to them—He had redeemed humankind back to God. He wanted to return to Heaven but He was not ready to leave them just yet. Jesus loved them so much He wanted to show Himself to them and share His joy with them. He wanted, more than anything, for His own to see and know Him in reality, as their God.

 

In a Garden

It began in a garden, long, long ago
When the Creator gave Life and walked with His own
Now, here in a garden His holy Seed lies
Sown in the earth, for love, He has died

In a garden, the Creator had always foreseen
In a garden, to walk again, with His redeemed

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Two New Books Just Released

Yay!  You can read all about them if you go to “Books by Margaret” on the left menu bar just beneath my photo here on this web site.

Please help me spread the word about them. Glory to Jesus~ It’s all about HIM.

 

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Kissed by God

Besides dying for our sins and ending our separation from God by doing so, Jesus showed us God’s heart: God WANTS us.

Many years ago, when I was on a private retreat, I was listening to tapes on experiencing a close relationship with God. The teacher had this prayer exercise: “Ask the Lord what He likes about you.” I wrote the question in my prayer journal and waited for an answer. God’s words immediately bubbled up within me: “I love how you think of Me as a person.”

This amazed and delighted me. Yet how often have we heard the words that God wants to have a personal relationship with us? Of course He’s a person.

Imagine, this is what He yearns for, to be known by each of us. Once we know Him, we know we are His beloved. The closer we come in our relationship with Him, the more we realize His individual favor towards us. We discover our uniqueness and how special, in a particular way, we are to God. This understanding, this God-perspective, becomes our true identity.

There is no one else like you and no one can love God the way you can, in the expression and manner that you might choose to love Him. This loving is actually an art, and it is very individual. This goes both ways. God, the GREAT ARTIST, loves no one else the way He loves you. God is continually watching you, doting on you, causing things in your life to help you become you. The person God is creating you to be is a lifelong process. He is very involved with your “coming of age” and will be until you come home to heaven.

I’ve used a prayer journal to document my journey, and to write down words from God and to record what God is doing in my life. I just finished rewriting Writing from the Fire Within and in this book I described an experience related to my prayer journal. Even though it happened a long time ago, I learned how delighted God was in the very paper of my prayer journal.

The day the butterfly appeared, I had re-lived the experience because I had just finished writing about it. Then the Lord surprised me again with the same message: He still loves my prayer journal. I was on my way for a day of babysitting and thought to take along my prayer journal so I could pray and journal during my grandson’s nap time. As I was about to get into my car, a butterfly landed on the top of my prayer journal, pictured here. I noticed how its wings matched the design in the cover of my prayer journal. It was as though God kissed me on the cheek and said, “I still love your prayer journal.” The butterfly stayed long enough for me to fumble around in my purse, pull out my cell phone and take 3 pictures of it. Then it flew away. I knew immediately that God had sent it. I guess God not only loves the paper of my prayer journal, but He also loves the covers, too.

I think God often orchestrates things like this to show us His affection; you could say they are coincidences, but they are not that. Often we miss them because we aren’t noticing or looking for God in the events of our lives. I was thinking about prayer and journals, and how God loves any means we use to commune with Him. So, on this occasion, God sent a little messenger to remind me that He’s still watching closely for me to notice little favors, kisses,

He sends my way. He wants us to know His heart.

Soon, I’ll have two new books published:
1) The Gardens in God’s Story: Avows Divine Romance
2) Writing from the Fire Within: A Prayer & Writing Workshop

I’ll keep you posted when they are available.

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The Genius of Jesus

I saw this bit of a plant in the grass while walking my dog yesterday.  Whatever it is, it captured my attention. I brought it home and took this close-up picture of it with my cell phone. Look at the beauty and engineering, the artwork, that went into the design of it. It goes without saying—the Creator is full of wonders and all we need to do is “see” them.

If you click on the image a couple times you can see an enlargement of it. Wow!

Do you know what this is? A flower, weed, from a tree? It blew in from someplace and I’ve never seen anything like it. Please send me an email if you know because I am curious: [email protected]

 

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The Art of Loving God

I’ve considered writing a book by this blog’s title: The Art of Loving God. It sounds rather mystical and religious. I don’t think I’ve grown too worldly, however I know I’m more down to earth than I’ve ever been. Maybe it’s our culture. We western Christians, especially in America, are practical, dress comfortable, and speak directly and plainly.

We keep pace with our changing world  while keeping close to God. He’s made me tech-savvy. I lost my cell phone last night and realized how dependent I am on it. One can feel lost without it–without the ability to connect with others. There most certainly is a parable here.

We change with the times and seasons as God relates to us differently as we to Him. I’m in my sixties, so I’ve experienced a lot.  I’ve passed through many seasons with the Lord, and Holy Spirit movements that not only affected me, but the Church. The Kingdom of God is here and still coming.

Evangelism was the main focus going on worldwide during much of my childhood years. Christian missions translated languages into written form and spread the Gospel I believe to every nation during my life. As a child, I grew up in a traditional church and adopted what my family had for generations been born into. When Jesus showed Himself to me personally at age 30, that’s when my heart became new and alive in God. These were the days when Jesus swept through our families, churches, and communities. The Jesus Movement.

The printing and production of Bibles and translations exploded to peoples and tongues. God was reawakening the church in my young adult years, and all kinds of denominations and traditions of Christian faith caught the fire. Yes, surprise! The Holy Spirit began baptizing people anew. Speaking in tongues and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, with the manifestation of spiritual gifts, became a sweeping movement across all denominations. I was in it. I think it rather unified us but not without some controversy. For me, it was about 36 years ago–right at the height of what God was doing to many.

Soon after, I discovered the Lord’s love for His people, the Jews, and I dove head first into the Messianic “movement” that included trips to Israel, Davidic/Israeli worship dancing, and I learned much about the early church and the roots of our Christian faith. This was a worldwide movement of the Holy Spirit and Messianic congregations popped up in most major cities wherever Christians gathered, not to mention many in Israel. This was strategic in God’s eyes because now the church was coming full circle–at last!

That was not all–God had more for me and the Church. There began a rebirth of mystical love. This is best described as His revelation of a deeper relationship with Him and involved the prayer of love, devotion, contemplative meditation, and a rather mysterious, wonderful bridal love for Jesus, the Great Bridegroom. Many of us came to know Him as the Lover of our souls and of the Church–and it was, and still is, blissful and beautiful.

These days now, what is God doing? Well, I think He is giving us time to grow in faith, to realize we’re part of a larger Story, to be wise in Him, steady in patience, ready for the second coming of Jesus. I mean, the world is spinning out of control. Mega churches are coming to life globally. I’m in one and it is all God! See www.elevationchurch.org. God is using our talents and our passion for Him more fully than I’ve ever witnessed. Also, persecution and martyrdom is rising. The dark grows darker while the light grows brighter. We need to seek first God’s kingdom now more than ever.

Communication technology is reaching the far ends of the earth with the Word of God. Surely we are living in the end-time harvest and the days of the preparation of the Bride.

Jesus told us to be aware of the signs of the times. So, when I look what He’s done in my lifetime, including the birth and gathering of the Jews to Israel, and the ways He’s revealing Himself to us, well, we must be nearing the last days and his return. We are at last becoming a Bride in love with Jesus, knowing all God has done to win our hearts.

God is the Artist of our lives, the Author of our days. But it is also a collaboration; we need to respond to Him. I guess if I could describe the Art of Loving God it would be to pay attention and let God love us the way he chooses and return love for love.

As A.W. Tozer beautifully put it: “God is a Person, and in the deep of His mighty nature He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, desires, and suffers as any other person may. In making Himself known to us He stays by the familiar pattern of personality. He communicates with us through the avenues of our minds, our wills and our emotions. The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thoughts between God and the soul of the redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.”

God reaches out to us individually, strategically, globally, spiritually, supernaturally, naturally, and continuously. We are the object of His desire and purposes. Let’s be aware and respond. That’s the Art of Loving God.

 

***

I’m finally on Chapter 31 in the writing of Come and See.  I’ve reached the last days of Jesus’ earthly life. I’ve posted the current manuscript on a page here if you wish to read it. I’d love any feedback.

 

 

 

 

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Once Upon A Time – The Fullness of Love was Born

At first sight, Miriam shares her joy . . . 

I loved Yeshua so much I cried. He was mine. He came from God, and he was mine.

I studied his fingernails, each one so tiny and delicate. I marveled at his eyelashes, so beautiful against his face. His nose, his chin, everything about him was perfect. Curled little fists, I easily opened them to examine baby-soft palms. His mouth, a flower bud, puckered while he slept.

How many times I kissed his head I don’t know. I couldn’t deny my lips from his crown of fine hair.

His newborn smell was like no other scent. I had heard my women relations speak of it, of how a new babe’s smell steals the mother’s heart and binds her fast. I was his long before this. But, by all that is holy, holding him in my arms, well, I never knew love could feel so wonderful and strong.

He brought his finger to his mouth and began sucking it so hard it made smacking sounds. This thrilled me and I realized I should nurse him. When I tried, he preferred his finger. This, too, amazed me; he had a mind of his own, even while he slept, and only minutes old.

I thought to wake him so he would properly nurse. “Come on, little one! Come on, precious, open your eyes! Come on.” I moved him this way and that way until he began to stretch his small body, arms reaching above his head. His voice squeaked and he squeezed his eyes tighter, all of this part of the stretch. Then his eyes fluttered open and he was awake.

Are you looking at me? I gasped with delight, but the words were silent in my head. “Shalom, little one. Shalom. I’m your mama.” I touched the tip of his nose with my finger. He blinked.

My mind filled with joy. Adonai, Elohim, he is straight from heaven, straight from heaven! You are the Holy One of Israel and you have done a wonderful thing to me.

I brought him to my breast and his head trembled in search for the nipple. Then, with sudden discovery, he hungrily latched on. I was been made for him. I gazed at him and listened to his sucking sounds. I held more than a miracle close to my heart; he was Heaven’s surprise and promise.

He – is – wonderful.

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Scriptures to Meditate upon this Season of the Year:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him,
and without him nothing was made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 1:1-5

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with
justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:6-7

“Do not be afraid, Miriam; you have found favor with God.
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Yeshua.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Luke 1:29

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