What You Mean to Me

~Taken from my book, Visions of Celestial love <3

My toes sink in the wet crystal-like sand of this beach whose sculpted jade waters rushes over my ankles and laps at the hems of my dress.

I’m thinking about You,

And how much You mean to me.

God, You are to me my true home.

Like a cottage surrounded with shrubs and berry plants with floral vines dangling over the windows like curtains.

You are the smell of fresh-baked buttered bread out of the oven on a cold frosty night.

You are sweeter than sugary hot coco to my lips.

You are more elegant than the finest wine and champagne poured into expensive glasses.

You are tender arms around me when I’m sad and in need of nourishment.

You are my mother’s breasts when I was an infant, my El Shaddai.

You are my father’s protective body in the midst of a torment.

How can I describe all that You are?

I invite You to come into every area of my life as my only source.

I welcome You to my dreams and I pray all of them come from You.

You are my pine and coconut love.

The refreshing breeze I need after a hot day of working in the sun.

The cool glass of water I pine for when I’m sweaty from exhaustion.

You are light in my eyes when I’m surrounded by darkness.

You are radiance in the midst of dullness.

You are beauty when only ashes can be seen.

You are more to me than I will ever know on this side of eternity;

on this side of my Father’s vineyard.

I desire to soak in the divine light of Your favor.

I desire to be the object of Your affections.

I desire to be precious to You.

And You call me beautiful.

See my fair Bridegroom, how I want to be lost in Your arms that wrap around me.

See how I want to lean against Your chest as it rises and falls in breath.

See how I want to be taken up to new levels of Heaven.

How I wish the heavenly veil was all but torn from my life that I may experience You on this side of eternity like few have.

Oh let Your children go deeper.

Let our experiences be sweeter.

Let our love be purer.

You are my pool of abundance.

My morning longing,

my night cry.

And I was made to delight and savor You.

Oh let me taste samples of Your wonders from the feast You are preparing for Your bride.

Let me eat your Word like I would an apple.

Let me be satiated in the rivers of Your romancing.

Take me to new heights in You.

Take me up in Your Spirit.

You are to me a gleaming emerald ocean in the sun above a clear sky.

A vastness of glory I cannot comprehend.

You satisfy my eyes’ thirst like a dewy field of honey wheat surrounded by white lilies.

Like gold encircled by pearls.

You are most beautiful.

You are the filling of my soul.

You fulfill my hunger and thirst.

You are my daily bread and my life-giving water.

I sit in the aromatic room of my kitchen, with the sunlight dancing on the lemon-yellow walls shining like amber besides a flame.

The moist savory fragrance of mixed spices tickles my nose.

I’m thinking about You,

and how much You mean to me.

“Ashley presents us with a true cornucopia of modern psalms, personal testimonies, and short stories. She has set out to reveal and unravel some of the most complex heart issues mankind faces in our quest of understanding what true intimacy with God really looks like. Prepare to have your soul massaged and worked on as you read Visions of Celestial Love.” — Jeremy Minard, Founder of Servant King Apparel, Active U.S Navy

Created for Heaven’s Blisses

The room changed and suddenly I was clothed in a scintillating white robe. Jesus stood beside me and we were on a beach. Gentle waves lapped the shore. The sand was a beautiful color and were almost as smooth as sheets on a bed. Mountains lush with vegetation stood like emerald diamonds along the shoreline. Tropical flowers and fruit glittered along the mountains like polychromatic gems. It was almost unbelievable beautiful. Everything here was made from peace, love, joy and righteousness. The Father’s Spirit was tangible in everything. The waves were like jade glass with aquamarine splashed inside. Every time a wave rose to meet the sun before lapping down a sweet laughter like wind flutes ticked the air.

“What are you feeling beloved?”

I saw everything yet it was like an invisible wall was around me preventing me from truly indulging in all the magnificence of the wonderful beach I was in.

When I didn’t respond Jesus responded for me.

“I created you to be surrounded by wonderful beauty. Your soul was created for heaven’s blisses.”

“I don’t feel like I belong.” I murmured.

I reached out and took Jesus’s hand. I felt like I would almost faint.

“No beauty is too great for you.” Jesus reassured me and held my hand, “nothing in all the world is lovelier than you. No sunset, no ocean, no natural wonder. The world is a gift to man… Ashley, we created you in our image.”

When He said “we” I knew He meant Abba and Holy Spirit as well.

“Well, yes but…”

“Do you think this place is too beautiful for me?”

“No,” was my immediate response. I knew nothing was too good for Jesus.

“I live in you.”

A small and unexpected gasp escaped my lips. A sense of worth came into my soul from my spirit.

Jesus knew and quoted Romans, “The Spirit bears testimony with your spirit that you are a daughter of God.”

I paused and gazed at my surroundings again, slowly spinning. Such beauty was so lavish I couldn’t imagine gulping it in…such wonder would cause my heart to burst from fatness (the profuseness of spiritual joy). Perhaps I could sip it in…and slowly allow my tongue to savor the taste.

“You are not a beggar my daughter, my Bride, my treasure…”

The sweet air intoxicated my imagination like shimmering translucent rainbows. The heavy scent of aged wine rose on the wings of the wind.

I felt the Presence of peace nearby me and reached my hand out, expanding my fingers as if to lace them around the Holy Spirit.

“Sweet friend,” I whispered, deep affection welling from the roots of my soul, like soaked soil, “I love you.”

I wished I could lean my head on His shoulder.

My sweet Friend.

…to be continued.

~For stories like these, check out my book Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul. May your heart be ushered into the deepest romance with Jesus.

“The stories in this book will invite you into a marriage relationship with Jesus showing you what it looks like to be loved without condemnation. Ashley brings you into personal conversations with the one who’s very name is Love. Sometimes life just gets so busy and I grow distant from the Lord that I don’t hear His gentle voice wooing me, calling me to His side. As I read this book, Jesus was reminding me of His great love for me, reminding me that He actually longed to spend time with me. If you are longing to know what it means to be loved and romanced by your creator, read this book and allow Jesus to romance you like only He can!” – Rachel Sklenicka, Licensed Minister, Graduate of CBC, Former Missionary to Russia