I have blotted out like a thick cloud your transgressions and like a cloud your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. –
Return to Him
Don’t let guilt keep you away from God. Your heavenly Father loves your company. The Bible is sweet with the undying core of reconciliation that beats in God’s heart. God has made it clear that He has taken away our transgressions and He desires our company. He is speaking to you today, “return to Me because I have redeemed you.”
Since man’s creation, God has desired relationship with us. Sin entered the world through Adam’s transgression and mankind has often been found “hiding in the bushes” because of fear inspired by failure. Yet, God never gave up on his original plan for us to be know Him and enjoy relational harmony with Him. Ephesians 1:4 says, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”
No matter what you have done, you are loved by God. We should repent for our sins (acknowledge them, commune with God about it in a way that is humble, repentant, and full of faith knowing that He will help us by His Spirit). However, we should never hide from our Father, like Adam did after he sinned. Jesus has paid the price for all the sins you committed in your past, all the sins you may struggle with today, and all sins you will commit in the future. You have everlasting forgiveness and redemption. You have his eternal love.
Prayer
“Father, I pray that you will help me to establish my heart in the doctrine of reconciliation. I pray that I will continually experience the incredible peace of Christ knowing that I am completely forgiven and made righteous by faith in his finished work. Thank you, Father, for your amazing love which motivated you to send your Son into the world to save us. Thank you for always drawing near to me when I draw near to you. Help me to not be afraid of your presence, but to realize that you are waiting for me with open arms. I love you Father and I thank you for all that you’ve done. In Jesus name, amen.”
It’s January and the daylight hours are still short. There’s something about the night sky that catches my eye and speaks to my soul of the glory of God. In the dark, the beauty of the heavenly bodies can be seen more.
Perhaps it’s in our dark seasons that we appreciate the beauty of God’s light.
Earlier this week I walked outside and stopped to look up at the sky. The full moon glowed radiantly in the dark velvety night sky. I was captivated by its milky white light in contrast to the darkness around it. A few stars twinkled and an airplane crossed the sky with blinking light. As I stood there, I found myself thanking the Lord for his creation.
I’m not sure where you are during this first month of 2025, but I want to encourage you, the Lord’s light can reach you even in the darkness. More than we can depend on the constancy of the presence of the heavenly bodies, we can depend on the presence of God.
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), You are there. -Psalm 139:7-8 BSB parenthesis mine.
This verse points out the most assuring truth: God is always there with you. He is there throughout your life here on earth. If you could somehow travel to heaven, he would be there with you. When you die, he will still be there with you. You never have to fear being alone. You will never be abandoned by him. He is faithfully with you through his Holy Spirit.
As long as he’s with you, there will always be light in your life. Your Father loves you more than anyone else ever could or will. You are his precious child. Because he loves you so much, he has promised never to leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:10). There is something so comforting in knowing (and believing) that God will always be with me by his Spirit.
Admittedly, this year has started off roughly for my family and me. Several family members (me included) have battled sickness. In the throes of feeling terrible, two precious friends gathered around my husband and I and prayed for us. Shortly afterward, we recovered.
One night, I had another friend over and my sister texted. She told me she and my niece were feeling awful. The minute I learned of this; I stopped the conversation my husband was having with our friend and asked if we could pray for my sister and niece. We did so and I sent my sister the recording of our prayers. That same night she texted, “Gloryyyyyyy, hallelujah! The immense pressure and congestion I was just feeling instantly released from me.” The next morning, she video called me and with a huge smile reported that my niece was dramatically better. “She is playing and eating again.” God had healed them by his Spirit. Yet, my father remained sick for weeks even after much prayer. He was almost hospitalized. Days later, my husband got sick again and our youngest daughter hasn’t been able to breathe easily from her nose since mid-December.
In times like this, I’ve been tempted to question the presence of the Spirit of God with me. I’ve had a few crying and complaining sessions with my heavenly Father. Why isn’t life easier? Where is the power of God’s Spirit to heal?
I have had a sudden career change and two of my manuscripts (which I thought would be done by now) have been further delayed as more work needs to be done. I’ve been working on one of these books for over six years (you can imagine my frustration).
Where is the favor of God to open doors for publishing that I’ve been consistently praying for? My agent insists this is normal, but I’m not too convinced.
There have been times when I’ve wanted to give up and despair. Yet, I can’t because I know the Spirit of God is with me. He is also with you. His faithful presence infuses me with heavenly hope. I can look at the future and see light (despite the darkness) because the light of God is present.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.-Romans 15:13 NIV
What are your dreams for 2025?
I want to encourage you to share them with your heavenly Father. You are safe to share your heart with him. He wants to hear from you, even if it means you pouring out your frustrations, fears and heartbreaks with him. The Psalms are potent with the emotions of king David (yet God called him “a man after my own heart.”) For a video I made on worship and psalms to God (with golden flag dancing) click here.
He wants you to be transparent with him because you are fully accepted and completely loved by him.
Often, when I pour out the darkness in my soul to God, I end up leaving with praise on my lips. His presence has a way of touching my heart with light.
I pray this year; you will always remember your reason for hope, the Father’s presence. No matter what lies ahead of you, the light of the world is in you. May you become more aware of his closeness. May your heart rest in faith-filled confidence regarding his eternal love. May you not lean on your own strength but allow his grace to empower you. May you trust not in your understanding, but in his eternal wisdom and allow yourself to hear his voice so you can be led by his Spirit. Lastly, may the grace, truth and peace of God dwell within you richly.
“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, Servant King Apparel
I wrote Visions of Celestial Love for the same reason I imagine David wrote the Psalms. I love David’s heart for God, and I admire how he bore his soul before Him like oil from a soul adorned with worship. His love for God was fluid, messy, real, human and heavenly.
David, like all men, experienced everything from elated joy to deep sorrow as he walked through life. Eventually he always brought his emotional struggles from life’s circumstances to God, in quiet time with Him. God called David, “a man after my own heart.”
God created each of us for intimacy with Him where we can feed on His goodness. Jesus was an example of the life God wants to have with each of us. Long leisure nights on a mountain in communion with Him. This life with Him looks like family.
Every need that we have was meant to be fulfilled in and through Him. God intends for our relationship with Him to ravish our hearts.
In this book, you won’t find perfect theology or a list of dos and don’ts. I don’t promise you’ll have a revelation of religious understanding. But, in this book you will find love sonnets of praise that express intimate encounters with the Lord. I want to share with you the meat of my soul that has communed with Him.
I also wrote this book as an emotional outlet…in times of peace…in times of grief…in moments of questioning life circumstances and in moments of celebration. Visions started out as a journal where I would write during my devotional times with God. During those sacred times, the Lord’s love would soothe my heart and canopy my soul.
I pray you feel the healing rain of his presence as you read. And may your own heart, sit at the table of his presence and be filled with his undying love.
To purchase a copy of Visions of Celestial Love, click here.
“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, Servant King Apparel
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. -John 10:27
It took me a long time to realize that as a child of God, a part of my familial benefits included the ability to hear his voice.
This incredible gift of hearing from our heavenly Father is not just for a select few. It is for everyone, including you. You are a beloved of your Father in Heaven. He wants to speak to you as any good father would want to communicate with his child.
I wrote about this topic in the new anthology book, The Runaway Bride of Christ.
May my testimony encourage and uplift you in your faith!
A Transforming Relationship
“Christianity that isn’t supernatural is superficial.” -Unknown
“I promised you my love and entered the covenant of marriage with you. I, God, the Master, gave my word. You became mine. I gave you a good bath, washing off all that old blood, and anointed you with aromatic oils. I dressed you in a colorful gown and put leather sandals on your feet. I gave you linen blouses and a fashionable wardrobe of expensive clothing. I adorned you with jewelry: I placed bracelets on your wrists, fitted you out with a necklace, emerald rings, sapphire earrings, and a diamond tiara.” -Ezekiel 16:9-12 (MSG)
I began to sense the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I was guided to create a spiritual mind calendar where I put down purposefully things to do every day that would help me abide in Christ. Most of these things included prayer and Bible reading. I began by studying the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5, and I limited my television watching. Please keep in mind, I felt led by the Holy Spirit to do these things. No one from the outside instructed me in this, so it wasn’t “legalistic.”
I prayed to Jesus to wake me up early to spend time with him before I did anything else. The very next morning, I woke up at 5 am, feeling an invisible hand on my arm. I even felt the fingers of this invisible hand. I opened my eyes and discerned the message of the Lord, “It’s prayer and study time.” For the next year, I would wake up almost every morning to be alone with Jesus. I read through the entire Bible.
The Holy Spirit led me through a process of sanctification. I began to sense what pleased God and what displeased him. I fully gave myself to Him, treasuring Him above all others.
As I dwelt in his presence, my heart began to heal. I was supernaturally delivered from a demon of anger that was sitting on the hurt in my soul. Now that the hurt was gone, the demon had left. I’m not sure if God kicked it out or if it left on its own. I literally felt an empty space in me where the anger usually was. I gave up my old life and accepted that I was a new creation in Christ. I no longer tended to give in to sinful anger. I began to overlook offenses and become a peacemaker. I no longer gave curt answers that cut my family. I now offered gentle words that turned away wrath (see Proverbs 15:1, NIV). The insecurities that once crippled much of my life began peeling away. As I received the love of God, I began to love myself and take care of my body. Within a year, I was at a balanced weight.
Not only did I love myself, but I liked myself. As a result, I gave that gracious love to others. My mind was slowly becoming a beautiful garden. I no longer had dark thoughts. Divinely inspired images began filling my mind, and I started having “visions” of the kingdom of heaven. I journaled some of these down in my book, Visions of Celestial Love.
“If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you. -John 14:15-16 (AMP)
The Lord began stressing the importance of my obedience. The first relationship God repaired was with my father. God taught me that no matter how I didn’t want to do what my father asked, I was commanded in the Bible to honor him. It was hard at first, but as I died to pride, I began walking in joyful obedience. My father and I developed a closer relationship. He began buying me presents at random and taking me on father- daughter dates. I went from a begrudgingly obedient child to a willfully obedient child. The Lord would inspire me to cook dinner for my family, clean the garage (although I hated doing so, especially since there were spiders), and serve them with my whole heart.
One night my eldest sister told me to not sleep on the couch. I liked sleeping on the couch because I could see the stars through the large windows. As I was drifting off to sleep on the couch again, the Lord reminded me of Ashanti’s words. I frowned but spread a blanket on the floor and slept. In the morning Ashanti asked me why I was snoozing on the floor. I responded, “Because you told me not to sleep on the couch.” She gave me a pleased smile and then said, “You can sleep on the couch (from now on).” God was showing me what it was like to grow in, “wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man” like Jesus who willingly obeyed his parents as a teenager (see Luke 2:51-52, NIV, emphasis added).
Miracles began happening in my life. I think it’s important to note that I didn’t chase miracles. I pursued knowing God. Miracles are a result of the presence of God. One morning after spending time with God, I proceeded to politely excuse myself., “Father, I’m hungry and I think I will watch TV.” After making breakfast I tried to watch TV on two different televisions, and nothing was working. I checked the plugs and connections, and everything was set up right. There was no reason for the televisions to be showing static. I went to the family computer and tried to watch shows on YouTube, but the internet wasn’t “working.” Then I got a small impression from the Holy Spirit to visit a ministry website by one of the ministers I enjoyed listening to. It worked immediately! It was like God was saying, “I’m enjoying your company. I want to spend more time with you.”
One day, I was taking a shower and as it was ending, I realized I had left my drying towel on the sink counter which was past the commode. I didn’t want to drip water on the floor, so I thought to lean on the towel railing and reach for my towel. I felt the Holy Spirit tell me, “Don’t do that. The railing is unstable.” I disregarded his impression, unsure if I had heard from Him and leaned on it anyway. It gave way and I began falling fast. I could have seriously gotten hurt, but I felt an invisible presence catch me and slowly lower my body down to the floor! I still don’t know it if was an angel or the Lord who caught me. I recall thanking the Lord multiple times for keeping me safe.
One night I heard the voice of God. It was so clear, my ears picked it up, but his voice wasn’t projecting from the outside. His voice came from inside my heart! He told me, “Ashley, your rabbit is going to get sick and die.” For years I had prayed for the health of my family (spiritual, mental, emotional and physical). I would include prayers for my rabbit, Floppy’s, health as well. I patted my chest where I heard his voice and stood frozen in wonder. I had never heard God so clearly! At this point in my walk, Christ was dwelling in my heart by faith (see Ephesians 3:17, AMP). The Holy Spirit had done a beautiful job of making my heart a nice home for Jesus. At that time, Floppy was showing no signs of illness, but I began spending more time with her as I believed Jesus had spoken to me. I took her to the park a lot; I videotaped her and gave her extra kisses.
Sometime later, she began to show symptoms of sickness. She stopped eating and would make small painful noises. We took her to the vet only to find out that cancer had spread throughout her body and there was nothing the vet could do. My mom decided it would be merciful for us to allow the vet to put her out of her misery. I was the last one to hold Floppy and I remember her licking me on my nose as I reluctantly gave her to one of the assistants. I cried loudly as I left the veterinarian. As dejected and sad as I felt, I realized Jesus had warned me ahead of time so I wouldn’t be shocked by her passing. He also did this so I could spend more purposeful time with her and have cherished times together. He cared enough about me to warn me so I wouldn’t be devastated…
~I hope you enjoyed this brief snippet of my testimony. If you’d like to purchase a physical copy of the book, The Runaway Bride of Christ, click here (please allow 2-3 weeks before delivery). You may also purchase a kindle version on amazon by clicking here.
~For a novella full of the voice of God, check out my book, Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul, by clicking here.
I don’t think we yet know what it’s like to be loved by a king entirely apart from our efforts and works.
And not just a king but the King of Kings.
And not just a high and lofty king, but the King who sits enthroned in the heavens, being worshiped by angels so magnificent and glorious they could kill us from their presence.
We are entirely loved, and this love is fierce toward fear, because fear cannot exist when it is entirely accepted.
I don’t think we yet know how much the Trinity cares deeply for us.
He has provided us with every essential relationship for emotional happiness and stability.
Think about it.
We have a perfect Father who owns everything!
His love rears us in loving tenderness and in merciful wisdom.
We have a perfect spouse.
Jesus is the ultimate Husband.
He laid down His life for us when we rejected Him.
Like the kindest Husband, He patiently woos us to Himself, romances us with His Presence, Word, creation, and an inexhaustible list of other things.
He forgives us always and desires us more than anything else.
We have the perfect Friend.
The Holy Spirit sticks more closely than a brother.
He loves us more deeply than father or mother, and like a good friend He has only our best interest at heart.
He brings us peace when we are afraid. He heals us when we are sick. He teaches us humbly if we are willing to learn. He guides us in all things. He empowers us when we are weak.
He is our ever-faithful companion.
The Trinity had provided for our every need. He provides the three great loves every heart craves and was made for.
May He, constantly cause you to realize more just how deeply you are loved.
For He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good. -Psalm 107:9
Soul Satisfaction
How many people do you know who are satisfied inside? Are you satisfied? Our society is teeming with advertisements that promise to fulfill the desires of our hearts. The problem is, God has set eternity in our hearts and nothing earthly can truly ever fulfill us in such a way that we will feel complete without God (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Solomon was the richest and wisest man on earth during his time. He was so wealthy that silver was as common as stones in his kingdom (1 Kings 10:27). He was surrounded by such glamor and spoke so intelligently that a visiting queen was struck by his wealth and captivated by his words. To impress a common person is good enough, but to render a queen awestruck is another matter entirely. Yet despite acquiring all his soul- could desire Solomon cried out in Ecclesiastes “everything is meaningless!”
Aristotle once wrote, “it is the nature of desire not to be satisfied and most men live only for the gratification of it.” While this is true without God, we have the promise of scripture that those who come to Jesus and drink of the water he gives will “thirst no more.” This is the same promise king David sang about in Psalm 23, “the Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
David had a close, abiding relationship with God, and through that relationship, he discovered that his soul was satisfied to the point where all his wants were fulfilled. It’s not material wealth and acquisition that fulfills us, although God promises to provide us with what we need, and he is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above what we can ask for. It is only a relationship with God that satisfies.
Prayer
“Father, I pray that you will help me to draw near to you in a fulfilling way. I pray that you will reveal yourself to me daily as my good shepherd. Open my heart, mind, and soul to your goodness and presence in a way that satisfies me. I pray that you will be the treasure of my heart and the desire of my eyes. I pray for a love relationship with you that is divinely beautiful, wholesome, holy, and powerful. Help me to place my soulish desires in your hands from a place of trust and peace. I thank you for never withholding good from me. You are the most giving father (James 1:17). Create a paradise in me. Make my soul a well-watered garden (Isaiah 58:11). May I walk with you in the cool of the day as Adam and Eve did in Eden before the fall. I love you Lord and I praise you forever. In Jesus name, amen.”
The Lord is [rigidly] righteous in all His ways and gracious and merciful in all His works. -Psalm 145: 17
Beautiful Character
David understood the character of God and his intimate knowledge of God helped him to trust the Lord in the worst of circumstances. This personal knowledge of the One who is trustworthy also helped David accomplish great feats, walk in integrity, make wise decisions, and establish a kingdom full of righteousness, peace, prosperity, and worship. David operated as a brave king and he was frequently filled by the Holy Spirit to even slip into priestly roles in leading worship, prophesying, and drawing hearts to the Lord.
I still remember the day I first began to understand Psalm 145:17. The term “the Lord” represents a ruler. Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. His position requires respect, honor, and willing servitude. David goes on to say that our great Lord is “rigidly righteous in all His ways.” This means that the Lord is always right. Everything thing he does is purely good, like crystal. All his judgements are perfect. Nothing he decides is wrong. Whether we know it or not, we crave a leader like this. Because his ways are true and just, we can trust him to always do what is right. He is holy.
Later, David says that our Lord is “gracious and merciful in all his works.” We are the work of his hands according to Isaiah 64:8. While God is perfect and holy, he extends grace and mercy in all that he does. This means that his holiness (rigid righteousness) has a core of love. He pours out grace. He is merciful in his dealings with you.
It is a great and beautiful mystery to have a God who is rigid in righteousness and yet gracious and merciful toward the work of his hands. God is the perfect Father. He is full of love and compassion toward you as his child, and all his decisions regarding your life can be trusted because all his decisions are right. You can trust him to lead and guide your life. He wants only good things for you! Another analogy that might be helpful is to imagine the holiness of God as the sun. While the sun is so bright we cannot touch it or look upon it without special glasses that shield our eyes, the light and warmth that pours from the sun gives light and life to everything on earth. This is an example of how beautiful God’s holiness and love are combined.
Prayer
Father God, I pray that you would open the eyes of my heart to see your righteousness as truly beautiful. I pray that you will help me trust that you only emit true goodness, mercy, grace, and righteousness in all your works. Help me to understand that I am the work of your hands and that you are my good Father. Lord, help me to know you deeply in a way that transforms my life and our relationship. May others bask in the light and warmth of your righteousness and grace that fill my life. In Jesus name, amen.
“Come, all you are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me and eat wha tis good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.” – Isaiah 55:1-2 NIV
Are you ready to taste of the sweet delicacies of God in a deeply reviving and personal way? For those who want to drink, for those who want to eat and be refreshed and renewed, Visions of Celestial Love is a feast between you and the King of Heaven, who loves you more than anyone else. He invites you to dine on wholesome, good, savory food and delicious, zesty, fruitful drink. He awaits you with a sparkle in His eye. He is ready for your company. He delights to have you as a guest.
“Eat, friends, and drink; drink your fill of love.” – Song of Songs 5:1 NIV
“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, Servant King Apparel
“The joy and beauty of marriage are divinely designed. Nothing in human imagination could have created such an intimate, wonderful relational unmasking of self. There is a sweet security and a vulnerable nakedness that is wholesome and liberating.”
Stephen,
You are one of the biggest blessings God has ever given me. Thank you for loving me past the fear. Thank you for loving me first. I can truly say I am in covenant with you because you loved me first… I can only say that with one other Person…Jesus Christ. He loved me past my greatest fears and did everything to mend the breach between myself and Father’s love.
Every now and again I get asked this question (from mostly younger women), “when did you know you were in love with Stephen?” The truth is I don’t know…I can’t name a day or time. It was truly as if my heart for him was like a large thanksgiving cooking pot of cold water… and someone put my heart on the stove on low heat. Funny thing about cooking that way is the part of the pot closets to the fire is the deepest water. It’s not heat from the top down but the down up. It was a deeply spiritual and soulful heating/stirring of love…one that has enriched my life in every way.
I’ve learned something about cooking and that’s if you patiently blend totally different spices together on low for a long time, they merge into something savory. This is like God’s command for two to become one. Two souls in the furnace of God’s heart blending together. I often wondered what scripture meant when it said Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. In my youthful (unmarried) thinking I supposed it was only physical. It wasn’t until Sunday night when I looked into your eyes that I truly experienced the blessedness of that verse. Your eyes weren’t shuttered in any way. They were open pools of blue that I had dived in many times. They were open flames of a heart that was swung wide for me (as if your soul was a living room with a rocking chair built for me). They were unconditional love that I had now received as a resting place…that I now considered home. And I was unashamed to look back and to take in your affections. Not in kisses and passion…but in soul connection.
There once would have been a day where I would have glanced away in fear. Fear and love are two powerful forces that cannot coexist, but perfect love always casts out fear. I once heard the word intimacy described as, “into me, you see.” I’ve looked into many eyes…parents, siblings…other brothers and sisters in Christ…but no set of eyes ever felt so transparent and so one with my own soul like yours did a few nights ago. I’ve never been one with anyone except Jesus (and I’ve seen His eyes before in visions. And in those pictures, I’ve found myself looking away for how consuming, captivating, intense and fiery His heart showed through His eyes…like a light I couldn’t behold for fear of going blind).
Our marriage is a growing picture of Christ & the Church…something I prayed for many years ago. A sonnet written in a lush garden and golden palace like Songs of Solomon. A spiritual connection like Jesus and the Holy Spirit (who is the Helper like a wife is to be a helpmeet to her husband. God is still teaching me about that one). I’ll never forget the morning God showed me that scripture in a new light. The one in psalms 133:2 where it says, “how wonderful it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like oil dripping down the beard of Aaron the high priest.” It describes this oil running down his garments. The one thing about oil is that once it’s on your skin or clothes it absorbs into you and the fabric…scenting everything with itself. He revealed to me that Christ is our High Priest now/forever and that oil always represented the Holy Spirit/anointing/strength. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit… and every believer who has the Holy Spirit (which is everyone who accepts Jesus) is marked/sealed according to Ephesians 1:13 as belonging to God/Christ. And we are to be one with Him like a husband and wife are to be one. The Holy Spirit has probably been my #1 advocate in training me how to be one with you.
I’ll never forget the 1st year of our marriage whenever the enemy would tempt me to even think the slightest negative thought about you The Holy Spirit would ask me, “why are you thinking this against yourself?” I would reply, “I’m not being tempted to think this about myself but about my husband.” And He would always remind me, “but you and him are one.” This happened several times until I realized in God’s eyes, we really are united as one. Our unity has become a foundational stone in the building of all that I am… and all I will be. My connection with you is second only to Christ and I know this blessing of marriage as God designed it to be as the greatest experience of heaven on earth, I’ve had…except in my own quarters when I’m alone with Christ…my heavenly Bridegroom.
There are no words that I can pen that could describe our unity by God. No signature could define this elation, bliss, and merriment of being naked and unashamed. It’s as if we are taken back to the garden of Eden (our daughter’s name now) to experience what Adam and Eve had before the fall. Life as God meant it… unified to Him and each other.
"You stir us to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you" -St. Augustine
Take me to a place where I can watch the rain fall on the ocean and still be warm.
Take me to a place where waterfalls refract light and create prismatic rainbows too numerous to count.
Take me to a place, where the breath of God is the rolling fog that forms translucent, moving mountains over great bodies of water.
How I long to be in your presence.
Your presence is the atmosphere of heaven.
You create a fire with flames that warm, heal, and feed me.
You are the dearest treasure to my heart.
You are my morning cry.
You are the great joy of my day.
You are my night longing.
You have given me angels bread to eat.
You have sung me to sleep with the lullabies of heaven, with the melodic music of stringed instruments unheard of by human ears.
You have caused me to taste the divine and nothing on earth has satisfied me since.
You have shown me what true life means.
You are the definition of abundance.
You are more beautiful than the golden rays of the sun coming after a long night.
You are more breathtaking than billions of stars glowing in the constellations.
You are more precious than glinting diamonds.
You are the Creator of everything beautiful and good.
And I am in love with you.
Take me to that place where I long to abide.
To that alcove in your heart.
To that safe place where I can sit in the living room of your thoughts.
Before the fire of your pure compassion.
In the rocking chair of your arms.
Under the chromatic rainbow of your tears.
In the effervescent hot spring of your laughter.
In the galaxy of your eyes.
You are my true home.
And I am only at home in you.
Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
-Psalm 73:25-26
For similar devotionals like this, check out my book, Visions of Celestial Love (An Invitation into Healing Intimacy with God).
"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,
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