It’s a faithful song with rays more golden than sunlight.
It’s the sweet singing of a bride awaiting her bridegroom.
This song twirls through the windpipes of heaven and strums from the stringed instruments of eternity.
It’s the beckoning smile of a beloved’s face.
It’s more melodious than birdsong in early Spring.
There is no deeper intimacy than sharing breath and body with this holy Lover.
He lives inside of my spirit and my heart pulses with the warmth of his presence even as I long for the tangible warmth of his physical skin. (John 1:14)
This holy Bridegroom who has stolen my heart and keeps it safe inside his chest as if I were within the lock and key of a vault.
His whispers enter my mind as He shares his thoughts with me.
They are always thoughts that bring me peace and life when the storms, troubles or worries of life are present.
His Holy Spirit kisses melt more sweetly than sugar on my hearts’ tongue. (Romans 5:5)
I crave His company more than all others.
I desire everything about Him.
No one from the outside looking in can truly understand or know this love without experiencing it.
This is the most faithful love, because it will never die.
This love has conquered death.
My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses to the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer. You are the most handsome of men; grace has anointed your lips, since God has blessed you forever. -Psalm 45:1-2 BSB
~This excerpt is taken from the revised version of my new book, Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul:
“I became a man just like you…except male and without sin. But make no mistake, my body was like unto yours.”
The scripture of David sweetened my mind like fine sugar—dusting my thoughts with saccharinity. Was this truly how David felt when he confessed that he wasfearfully and wonderfully made?
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you… —Psalm 139:14–16a MSG
“You were made for me and for my Father’s good pleasure,” Jesus said.
I gazed toward him and I saw he was looking out at the waves with me. His warm brown eyes aglow like amber by a fire drew me in. My breath caught and I was being lulled into him. Slowly and yet quickly I was sucked into him. Graced with wings I began to fly into his ocher eyes and soar upon the aromatic winds of his soul. Suddenly I was towering over lush, emerald-green mountains carpeted with jade spring grass. Polychromatic flowers like melted rainbows splashed across the mountains like glinting, colorful diamonds. The sky was more expansive than a thousand planets and stretched forth like gleaming still waters of opal blue. The clearness of it was like glass. Cumulus clouds formed puffy hills like burning peach marble and mirrored the hazy autumnal colors of the morning. Jesus’ eyes were more majestic than thousands of waterfalls brimming with translucent waves. In those eyes I saw eternity, and streets of shining gold like transpicuous fire. I beheld oceans of the most pristine blue. Foamy waves swelled, rose, and then splashed down, releasing whimsical laughter with each eye-catching crash. The heart of Jesus arrested me with beauty.
“Do you see it?” Jesus asked.
“Yes,” I barely managed to whisper.
Everything within him was full of life. All of creation seemed diffused with light from an otherworldly presence. Not only was it beautiful, it was alive. It wasn’t alive apart from him, but it was alive with him. It was as if his DNA was in the genetic makeup of everything. Creation took on a new form. It was cloaked with a brilliance that mirrored moonlight. There was a glow around the animals, the blue whales, the flimsy spiders’ webs, the fluttering butterflies, the legs of speeding cheetahs.
“Do you think that is amazing?” he asked.
I nodded. “More than I’ve realized. What did I just see Lord?”
“You saw a little taste of the restoration of all things. The glory in which creation dwelt before the fall—a glance at redemption—the way the Father and I originally intended the world to be: without sin, without killing, without sickness or disease and without fear. But full of my Father’s glory. This is what my Father will do again when he creates the new earth.”
The emancipated world was more breathtaking that I could have imagined. Passages from Isaiah 11 mirror the reality of the glorious goodness that await the redeemed sons and daughters of God.
I took a few thoughtful breaths for measure and tried to reimagine what I saw. I wanted to live in it now. Everything in my body pined for such a world.
“The world came through me. For by me were all things were made and I hold everything together.[i] The Holy Spirit, the One you call your best friend, saw what was in the Father’s heart before he spoke his Word out. For who can know the thoughts of man except the spirit that dwells within him?[ii] The same is true for God. The Spirit took what was in us and when he brooded over the waters, he gave power to the Word, to the heart of God. He went to work. He is the Father’s life-giving Spirit.”
“Wow,” I voiced quietly. An incoherent sound came from my lips as a new thought caused my eyebrows to lift.
“If you think what you’ve seen is amazing then imagine how amazing it was when we fulfilled the Father’s desire when he said, ‘Let us make man in our image and after our likeness.’”
My eyes flared open as a spark of light was seen in Jesus’ body. It was more brilliant than any light I had ever seen.
“You see, when God made the heavens and the earth, the Spirit gave life to his Word—Me—and creation was made the way God intended. But when God formed you and all of his children, he took from out of himself personally. He spoke to himself. He molded a child from the clay of the earth and breathed his Spirit into his child, Adam. Instead of just speaking out, he hand-formed Adam like a potter does with clay and breathed the breath of life into man until Adam became a living soul.[iii] And then he designed Adam in a way that was extremely special. He gave Adam the intellectual and emotional properties for a father-child relationship. This is what the soul of man was created for. By placing his Spirit in man, he put his inner thoughts and heart in man. This has always been our Father’s will. For an everlasting family relationship with man. This is why even after they sinned, Father pursued man. His plan has not changed. He still writes his law, his thoughts and heart, on the heart of men who come to him.[iv] He still gives his Holy Spirit in the new covenant. He has never stopped being good to man and he has made a way for the original relationship that he had with Adam and Eve to be the same for every man through my sacrifice.”
The way Jesus’ tone changed when he spoke Adam’s name alarmed me. There was a thickness and a weight when he breathed the name.
Clear trails began to gather in Jesus’ golden-brown eyes, shimmering like pools made of quartz. To my surprise he started to silently weep. The compassion in him was coming off like healing waves from a hot spring. The sweetness of it was like honey and the pained desire of it was almost devastating.
I remembered his tears when he agonized with moans from a breaking heart.
“Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me!” —Matthew 23:37 NLT
In a split second, I felt the tiniest fraction of his deep compassion and longing for his sons and daughters. It was a sacrificial love, a love that laid everything down and spared no expense. I could hardly bare the strength of it.
“My dear, if you really knew how much my Father invested himself in you, you wouldn’t gape at creation the way you would gape at man. You would look in the mirror and never feel self-doubt again because you would know that I dwell within you. You saw a foretaste of redeemed creation in my eyes. The wonder of redeemed man through my eyes is infinitely better. Every man was made to be fully alive in me.”
~To purchase a copy of Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul, click here:
“As I read, I quickly became enthralled with this book, so beautifully written in the language of love. Each of these short stories so accurately reflects the romantic and wooing heart of the Bridegroom which draws you to Himself into a deeper place of love and intimacy. If you have not yet experienced romantic intimacy with God, I’m confident that this book will set you on course. It’s bound to warm your soul and whet your desire for your own heart-to-heart conversations and experiences with God. The author creatively ministers to the soul, bringing truth to light in the most tangible ways; you will feel that God is speaking directly to you, and He most certainly is! Some stories caused me to be drawn away into remembrance of my own experiences and conversations with God that have freed my soul; others caused me to reevaluate my heart’s commitment to my first Husband and cry out for forgiveness; and yet others simply took me on a delightful and exciting adventure of what the beginning of a holy, unadulterated love looks like – so refreshing to the soul! I commend the author for using her creative gifting to share personal reflections and heart intimacies which I know could only come from the deep well of Father’s heart. I highly recommend this book as a must read!” -Marina Garcia, Worship Leader
~A vivid snippet from the revised version of my book, Romantic Rendezvous for The Soul. May you come to understand and experience the rich and faithful love of Jesus as He dwells in His new glorious temple…your recreated heart. He will never leave you, He will never forsake you. He lives in you. (Colossians 1:27)
My beloved one, both handsome and winsome, you are pleasing beyond words. Our resting place is anointed and flourishing, like a green forest meadow bathed in light. Rafters of cedar branches are over our heads and balconies of pleasant-smelling pines. —Song of Solomon 1:16–17 TPT
He stood and extended his hand for me to take.
I felt like the woman caught in the act of adultery. Mercy washed over me in silky light, like the waves from his robe. He didn’t condemn me. There were no accusations. There was no stone in his hand. (John 8:11)
In fact, his hand seemed like an extension of his heart—promising to heal me even before I vowed to commit myself to him in the way he desired.
There was no cost for his healing. He freely offered to make me whole, with no hidden stipulations. Such grace empowered me and I felt my bones were stronger somehow. I felt like spring grass soaking in solar light from the sunshine of his presence within me. (Hebrews 13:9, 2 Corinthians 5:19)
The seeds within me pulsated with life. (Galatians 3:16, Luke 8:11)
I took his hand and he pulled me up to my feet. All the other guests in the room rose as well. Their presence was tangibly felt. They carried a weighty air about them that was holy and priestly. When they saw he meant to escort me away, they returned to their dancing.
Many things crossed my mind as Jesus and I crossed the dance floor into a more private corridor with a balcony view, namely I wondered why none of the saints pursued Jesus?
A banner hung from the room’s entryway. In Aramaic it read:
Strengthen me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am weak with love. (Song of Songs 2:5)
The small elegant room featured a three-dimensional mural floor of a blooming vineyard blushing under a hazy sunset. The painting was so lifelike, even the dust kicked up in the air was illuminated like grated gold by the imaginary sunrays. The emerald leaves were silhouetted in basking glory and turned into a yellowish jade. Rows and rows of vines lacing around each other made me catch my breath.
Rosy marbled walls formed an arch in the center of the room before giving way to a chandelier that resembled a flourishing desert rose. Diamond-shaped light bulbs hung from the chandelier and sent shafts of prism light pirouetting across the walls. In the corner of the room was a large bed, hidden behind transparent curtains.
“It is lovely in here,” I breathed, admiring the splendor.
A lamp stand table made of polished gold held woven baskets with embroider cloths set beside them. Inside the baskets were marble bowls heaped with fresh fruit. The fragrance of ripe strawberries, dates, pomegranates, figs, and honey-painted cakes teased my nose. I saw blocks of cheese and nuts beside the fruit.
“Eat some,” Jesus offered, finally releasing my hand, “You haven’t eaten anything all night.”
…
I took a plump strawberry and popped it in my mouth. A refreshing, tart flavor with just the right amount of sugar burst in my mouth. I hummed in delight, imaging that only Eden carried such delectable fruits.
I took up another, and then another before trying a fig and a date. They were equally good but distinguishingly unique. I plopped several blocks of different colored cheese in my mouth until my cheeks swelled like a chipmunk’s. I had difficulty chewing but managed more easily after the first few bites. The rich flavors blended together like cream and salt. Afterward, I went for the nuts in handfuls. When I finished with those I took up a half slice of a pomegranate and plucked some seeds coated in red wine gel. I cupped my hand to my lips and let the seeds fall in before chewing. The tart taste reminded me of the best sherbet punch.
We ate for several more minutes before my appetite was satiated. Afterward, I felt the stickiness of dried fruit juices and honey on my hands. I rubbed my fingers together wondering how I would wash them.
“Is there a bathroom?” I asked.
“I have a jar of water and hyssop out here,” Jesus said, extending his hand toward the balcony.
We walked on the elevated porch, the sky canopied over us. I noticed a hard, blue clay pitcher in the corner. Beside it was a pink potted hyssop bush aflame with brilliant flowers, the color of nectarine skin.
I cupped my hands and Jesus poured some water between them before taking some flowers from the bush. He set them in my hands and I rubbed them together feverishly. He rinsed my hands again and I lightly dried my wet hands with an embroidered cloth beside the baskets. When I finished, I brought my hands to my nose and inhaled deeply the fragrant scent of hyssop plant. I took up the jar and poured water over Jesus’ hands. Afterward, I plucked up a few flowers before putting them in his hands. He repeated what I had done, and I fell silent.
I leaned my torso across the balcony and rested my head in one of my hands. Despite the snow that crested the mountains, I was warm. I looked out and admired the scenery before me. Everything seemed so expansive that I felt a little bit swallowed up in the grandeur of it all. I let my eyes linger over the glowing city, savoring the physical beauty of it like I savored the food I had eaten. Beauty fed my soul like nutritious food nourished my body. Jesus leaned his elbows on the railing of the balcony and also looked upon the terrain before us.
“How come nobody has come in here yet to seek you out?” I asked, finally voicing the question I had tucked away inside when he had whisked me away to the private room.
“What do you mean?” Jesus asked, unassuming.
I shrugged and then my eyebrows fell until they hovered over my eyes.
“Well, I’m just confused as to why we haven’t been crowded yet? I mean, didn’t you deal with that constantly after you began your ministry on earth?”
“I did.”
“So why, if these people know who you are, do they not love you?”
“They do.”
“But they aren’t trying to be near you?” I countered, slightly nonplussed.
“Because they know that I’m near them.”
“Even though you’re in here with me?”
“Yes. They understand that I live within them. That my promise is true. I will never leave them nor forsake them. They don’t need me to appear to them in this way in order for them to be content with me or with themselves. They converse with me all the time.” (ex: John 20:27)
My eyes fell to my cinnamon brown hands. An almost undetectable sense of failure came over me.
“They understand what I don’t fully comprehend,” I said lowly.
Just as quickly as the sense of failure had come, an inner quickening rose within me like a heater being turned on in the dead of winter. It came like a skilled soldier, swiftly combating the negativity that wanted to seize territory. I felt as if a seed had sprouted under the soil of my consciousness. Suddenly an assurance came up, and with it a loving caress that chased away all notions of shame.
I didn’t feel the need to compare myself to the couples on the dancefloor anymore. The precipitous change in my emotions puzzled and pleased me at the same time. I touched my stomach and easily discerned the presence of my Holy Friend (John 14:17).
I heard a soft chuckle from Jesus and refocused my attention on him.
“He’s amazing, isn’t he?” I asked, knowing the answer.
“He’s the Father’s gift to you and to all those sealed for me. You need not fear anything, beloved, not even death. Because of my Father’s Spirit, you will always be with us. He has sealed you forever and he isn’t going anywhere.” (Ephesians 1:!3)
“I think I know that now,” I said. Emotion caught in my throat. My mind traveled to precious instances in my past where the Holy Spirit had comforted and rescued me. There were many nights when I had cried myself to sleep on my bed and felt a warm arm around my heart.
“I love his faithfulness,” I whispered, and again touched my stomach, this time as if I were trying to embrace a friend.
“He will help you comprehend what the others understand. It’s his joy and delight to do so. He has much patience with you. There is peace in his mind toward you. You need never be frustrated with yourself, because it’s the opposite of how he feels about you.” (John 14:26, Hebrews 8:2)
I nodded and the breeze kicked up. The wind carried the fresh fragrance of spikenard, which diffused the air like a perfume bath. The dust of powdery snow lifted and swirled around in the breeze. A few frozen droplets touched my cheeks and I shivered. Some flakes of snow rested and then melted in my hair once the air stilled. I felt as if I had been touched by starlight.
“He would like to take you someplace as well,” Jesus said.
I reflected for a few seconds and then uttered, “Yes. I’m happy to go anywhere he wants me to.”
“Okay.”
Jesus turned toward me. I stood still as he placed his fingers on my temples. Instinctively, I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, anticipation building in me…
~I hope you enjoyed this preview of my revised version of Romantic Rendezvous for The Soul (Tasting the Bridegroom Love of Jesus). To purchase a copy of the 1st version, click here. As an author, the sincerest way anyone can thank me is through writing a review of my book(s) on amazon. If you’ve been blessed by my work, I would love to hear from you! Your review reaches out to other women and invites them into this ministry of words…and more importantly, into the tender love of Jesus inside the pages.
“Ashley Thompson’s Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul is simply wonderful. Deliciously descriptive, it nourishes the soul with fresh revelation of God’s love for humanity. This collection of short stories may challenge your thinking about what true intimacy looks like, while making your heart yearn to daily experience the Perfect Love described within its pages. Romantic Rendezvous invites you into a world created by Love Himself, where there’s no mistaking that His love for every individual is not only unconditional and never-failing, but also deeply personal and precious to Him. Get ready to experience the purpose, pleasure, and power of real love!” -Danielle Sanders, Worshiper, Songwriter, Licensed Minister, Former Highschool teacher
~For my book on returning to the liberating and strengthening grace of our heavenly Father, Visions of Celestial Love, click here.
“Ashley McClelland 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, Servant King Apparel
Blessings to you as you learn how to journey through this life walking closely with the truest Lover of your heart!
I fall to my knees from His radiant light…simultaneously I cry even as my heart explodes with joy; rejoicing resounds in my inner man at the sight of the greatest Lover in all creation.
He causes me to cry and laugh at the same time.
There are only two things that pierce the human soul: beauty and pain.
He is both.
He is the greatest beauty, the most radiant light, the highest joy, and yet those eyes of fluid love like liquid lava burns the one it meets.
In His eyes I see an all-consuming fire; I see a deeper knowledge of myself than I have, I see Heaven, I see grace offered at a great sacrifice.
I see His pain.
I see His joy.
I see His passion.
I see the One who created me from a desire to love every part of me.
I see a redeeming love.
I see His wrists, knowing blood dripped from them like a river.
I see the eyes of eternity loving my ethereal form and my spiritual inner person.
I see a Man who pursued me at the highest cost.
I weep, I sob, I am ruined and saved in His arms.
He tells me He loves me.
He tells me, “Everything I have is yours, and everything you are is Mine.”
I walk on a distant hill in the cool of the morning. The sky glows a deep blue and I realize I am married to the greatest King.
He is no ordinary King. He doesn’t own a nation; He doesn’t own a country; He doesn’t own seas of gold; He doesn’t own a thousand rolling mountains on miles and miles of land…no…
He owns it all.
He owns the oceans.
He owns the world.
He owns every speck of dirt on the ground.
He owns every tree, every seed, every beast, every insect.
He owns justice.
He owns time.
He owns all wisdom.
He owns all riches.
He owns all goodness.
He owns…everything.
I look up and see the stars, glistening above my head, and He tells me, “They are yours.”
I think of them like wedding rings gifted to me.
The galaxies, infinite.
My mind tries to wrap around eternity.
My heart understands His love when my mind doesn’t.
I know because over the years the greatest gift He’s ever given me wasn’t my initial salvation…no, it was loving me day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year faithfully, despite my brokenness, despite my unfaithfulness, despite the times I fussed angrily at Him, despite my weakness, despite my flight, despite my disobedience, despite my incapability to believe His love.
He loved me in my mess, in my dirt, in my blood, in my sin.
He’s seen the worst of me, and He proclaims the best anyway.
He calls me a princess.
He calls me beloved.
He shocks me time and time again when He says, “I commit myself to you. Receive my love.”
I look upon Him, all beautiful, so holy, so pure, so glorious, so powerful, so rich, so loving, and I weep.
His love drives out fear from my veins and floods me with living water.
He loves me so much He puts His Spirit in me.
He puts His very heart in me.
He says, “We are no longer two but one. I am inside of you.”
I cry.
How could He?
He, so pure and holy, put something so precious and eternal in my body?
No human lover, no matter how much passion, no matter how pure or fiery their love for a spouse, mother, father, or friend was, could ever give them their own life on a spiritual level.
It’s so much more than going to die for a person.
It’s permanently putting yourself in another no matter what the cost.
It’s sharing breath, sharing thoughts, and sharing emotion at the deepest conscious and subconscious level.
Only He is powerful enough to do that, only His love is that beautiful.
He tells me “I love you” daily and His whispers of passion erode the wall round my heart like the waves of an ocean against rock.
You love me, and all I want to do is worship You.
“His voice and speech are exceedingly sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely [the whole of him delights and is precious]. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!”
—Song of Solomon 5:16 AMPC
~This worshipful sonnet is taken from my book about Jesus’ bridegroom love, Romantic Rendezvous for The Soul. To purchase a copy click here. Thank you for your support! <3
“As I read, I quickly became enthralled with this book, so beautifully written in the language of love. Each of these short stories so accurately reflects the romantic and wooing heart of the Bridegroom which draws you to Himself into a deeper place of love and intimacy. If you have not yet experienced romantic intimacy with God, I’m confident that this book will set you on course. It’s bound to warm your soul and whet your desire for your own heart-to-heart conversations and experiences with God. The author creatively ministers to the soul, bringing truth to light in the most tangible ways; you will feel that God is speaking directly to you, and He most certainly is! Some stories caused me to be drawn away into remembrance of my own experiences and conversations with God that have freed my soul; others caused me to reevaluate my heart’s commitment to my first Husband and cry out for forgiveness; and yet others simply took me on a delightful and exciting adventure of what the beginning of a holy, unadulterated love looks like – so refreshing to the soul! I commend the author for using her creative gifting to share personal reflections and heart intimacies which I know could only come from the deep well of Father’s heart. I highly recommend this book as a must read!” -Marina Garcia, worshipper.
“Unbelief is rooted in lovelessness—the lack of accepting the full measure of my love. Without love there cannot be faith, for faith works by love. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. You cannot receive what we yearn for you to have…what I paid a dear price for you to have.” Jesus sighed heavily.
His words bit at the philosophy in my mind, and thus damaged my pride with health-giving grace.
We were nearing the lake. As I looked ahead, I discerned glimmers of its moonlit waters behind the tall pine trees.
I began to be thirsty, and without verbalizing my desire, Jesus reached in the back and grabbed a cold bottle of water. “For you, love.”
I took it with a small “thank you.”
Inside, I mulled on his words and felt like the watery surface of my soul was being stirred by an unfamiliar wind. I knew his presence was causing the stirring and I wasn’t sure I was ready to uncover what was masked underneath the water.
“Don’t be hurt by my words. They are only meant to heal you and set you free.” He extended his arm and stroked my cheek with his right hand. “I love you just as the Father loves me. You mean more than the world to us. What I am saying to you now is the same thing I dealt with my disciples about. They too were often fearful. Think of when I walked on water and they imagined I was a ghost, or when they feared after my death and hid? Even after I told them I would rise again. What has tempted you is common to man. But I Am the door of escape.”
There was a great inflection of hope in his voice. “You will see great things. I will perform wonders in your life.”
My heart lit up with warm joy at his words. It was as if the Spirit of God inside me poured a cup of warm oiled water over the table of my heart’s imagination, scenting everything with hope. I was so awed by the deep intimacy of having the very Spirit of God indwell me and bear witness to the words of Christ.
However, without warning my reverie was soon interrupted by the accusatory thought that miracles could never be performed in my life or by my hands. My emotions began to sink.
Jesus’ face wrinkled as he sensed the enemy. “What’s this?” he asked, prying for me to confess a truth he already knew.
I stammered, “I…I…”
“This is the real enemy love. Not the devil. He is already defeated. But the entertainment of thoughts that are not of faith is the enemy. It’s the only enemy that has the possibility of stealing what is rightfully yours by grace. It’s the only enemy of physical and emotional healing, salvation, deliverance, and wholeness. Don’t you see? You already have everything in me. You are blessed with every blessing. How could Father spare not even me from you…yet deny you anything else? He has graciously given you all things for life abundant and godliness. You are not your own righteousness, you are not your own salvation, you are not your own qualification for our blessings. You will never be your own deliverance. Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from our Father. He is light. He doesn’t change his mind. These promises do not shift. They are a constant reminder of our unshifting grace and unmovable love for you. Faith for the promises is based on your understanding of Father’s goodness and my finished work.”
I started to sense that my soul was knit to his, and that I couldn’t hide in any way. I became aware of his presence within me like concentrated love attempting to ease every hurting place. I felt undivided acceptance and affection and peace that produced confidence.
-I hope you enjoyed this snippet from my newest book, Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul (about inner healing through intimacy with Jesus )! To purchase a copy, click here
~To learn more about my book, visit my Free Inspiration page
Scripture references from this preview :
Galatians 5:6, Hebrews 11:6 John 15:9 1 Corinthians 10:13 Ephesians 1:3 Romans 8:32 2 Peter 1:3 James 1:17
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
)! To purchase a copy, 
