First, find a comfortable and quiet space to relax for a while, ideally, a place where you can be alone and undisturbed for at least half an hour. After settling, do some slow, deep breathing for a few minutes. Perhaps try breathing in a box pattern, as described below:

1. Inhale through your nose for a count of five.

2. Hold this breath in for a count of five.

3. Exhale slowly and gradually through your mouth for a count of five.

4. Hold again (with all the air released for your lungs) for a count of five.

Next, consecrate your mind and thoughts to God. Hold every thought captive and give Him total control:

Lord, I consecrate to You this time with You. I give you my thoughts and ideas, my intentions and expectations. Come. I need You. I invite You in.

Your body distracts you. Worry distracts you. Comparison distracts you. Doubt distracts you.

Jesus loved Me. He knew He was never alone.

It is incorrect to believe we are alone. And yet, how often do you go through your day believing you are in charge and that there are decisions in front of you you don’t want to make? How often do you feel overwhelmed or sad, a victim of circumstances you cannot remedy or control?

Retreat to a quiet place where you can be alone and undisturbed. Perhaps find a place outside or near a window to see the sky and maybe a tree or other beauty God has made. 

Empty your hands. Roll your shoulders a few times, up and back. Stretch your neck, arms, wrists, legs, and ankles. Then close your eyes and breathe deeply and evenly, doing nothing else but relaxing in God’s presence for at least two minutes.

Retreat to a quiet and calm place. Get comfortable, either on the floor or in a chair. Empty your hands and rest them, palms facing up, in your lap. Then, with your eyes closed, breathe deeply and peacefully, in and out. Draw your attention inward, and gently relax your heart and your mind.

As you breathe, consecrate your thoughts and emotions to God.

Why do you look mainly outside yourself to find Me? You dismiss so easily the reality that I am in you. When you wander around, feeling lost and displaced, remember how I traveled on earth, connected as one with the Father. You are no less connected due to love. My sacrifice makes us one. Do not forget our oneness. Be one with Me.

Be here with Me. Don't go somewhere else. Don't try to decide where I am, as if looking for Me in a certain place will make Me appear there when I am here, right here, with you. 

Finding Me is not complicated. There is no magic formula for it. Do you want to know Me? Do you want to be with Me? Go deeper. I am here—in your heart. Do you know the way to your heart? How else can you find it other than looking inside yourself and finding Me there, with (in) you?

Wisdom walks peacefully, not fearing each step. She is gentle, and she is strong. She carries herself with her head held high, looking neither to the right nor to the left. Where she treads is cleared, and she is confident in it. She waits on God, her heart resting on His promises. She expects Him, and she knows Him. She is calm in a storm, knowing what action is required. She turns her face to God. She is not timid, but she is calm. Her heart remains steadfast in all circumstances, for God is with her.

Do you believe you can flourish? Can you imagine yourself filled with joy? Can you imagine yourself feeling free?

You forget how good it is to depend upon Me. Remember how Jesus, my Son, relied upon Me. He was completely dependent, trusting Me for everything He needed. You may be taking for granted what you need to thrive. 

You may be settling for "good enough" and believe that being a tree—that is not dead, a bit withered, a bit stressed, and troubled—is you—and that that is "good enough." You may have decided that living a life that produces little fruit is perfectly fine—that this life is "good enough."

Why do you settle? Why do you not expect more from a life with Me—where I nourish you? 

Practice coming to Me, day and night—and in all moments in between. I will give you what you need to thrive. But first, destroy the ways you are not dependent on Me. What are those habits? What are those mindsets? What are those strongholds? Where did they surface and have such control in your life? I can show you. Do you want Me to show you?

I want to give you new memories and remind you of ones we've already shared. Do not qualify which memories are good and which are bad. Fold yourself into Me. Remember. And trust Me.

What would happen if we let God lead us into an Encounter where He helps us remember the moments when we recognized—and didn't recognize–He was there?

Love is serving, and it is companionship. Be authentic in your affection for Me. Let us be honest with one another.

Go to a quiet place where you can be alone and undisturbed for at least half an hour. Remove everything from your hands and get comfortable. Take some deep, slow breaths for a few moments as you listen to peaceful instrumental music that helps you feel relaxed and at peace.

I am not far from you. It is just hard to feel Me sometimes. I am everywhere. I am in everything. All things breathing, I have given life. But so many do not know this, and those who know forget. 

It is okay that you sometimes forget. 

Remember Me. Rediscover Me. Know Me.

And how? How will you remember Me? How will you rediscover Me? How will you know Me?

My love requires a response. It requires action, the rejection of complacency. Wake up now, daughter. You have been asleep. Wake up.

Let your heart be still as the water moves you, and you move with it. Let it move you—the water and the wind.

***

It isn’t often second nature to live in complete surrender and trust so that we feel the Holy Spirit’s presence and movement in us as we go about our days. It requires going deeper, a desire to abide with God, and an open heart and action. 

May He flow through us. May we rest here, in His love, as the water holds us up and flows through us—as we let it carry us and move with it.

Let’s go.

How we perceive ourselves–and our place in the world–colors our every moment. Do we feel alone or in God’s company? Do we feel loved or forgotten?

Every challenge we face, and every wound we suffer is filtered through how we perceive ourselves, God, and our reality. When we make a mistake, do we rejoice, for we see it as an opportunity for growth? Do we believe they will be mended when our hearts are broken–from loss and pain? 

Do we think that, ultimately, we are going to be healed and okay? 

In this Encounter, you will participate in a conversation in which the Holy Spirit invites you to listen to His voice and see with His eyes. He will teach us about ourselves and Him and help us surrender to His wisdom.

Dear one, let us be here. Let us be loved. Let our gaze be His gaze. Let us fall together, and let us be lifted up.

Things will be better then. Things will be good.

I believe this. I believe this.

May we believe.

Your heart is being pursued right now.

Your affection, your attention, and your focus are what God craves. 

***

“You are mine. And I am yours. I hold nothing back from you. I have given you the kingdom. You are my heir. You are my child. You are the one I chose to give everything to. All my love, all my attention, all my dreams. When love is poured into you, as I pour my love into you, what do you do with it? This is what I want to tell you: my love is something for you to get to know. There are many dimensions to it. It is greater than you can imagine. But don’t you want to imagine it? Don’t you want to know it more?”

There is so much we can never understand about God. And, like a child with her father, we get to be under His wings of protection, asking him question after question. And even then, when our questions run out, will our hearts and minds be satisfied with the answers we receive? 

More than answers, isn’t what we need most an ever-deeper faith in God’s character and love? Will this deepening faith He gives us make what we don’t understand matter increasingly less–and what we believe about God’s ultimate love for us matter increasingly more?

For this week’s Encounter,  I am sharing a conversation I experienced between me and God, typed up straight from my journal. I invite you to use the transcript as a tool, hoping it might provide a fun jumpstart to your own listening to God’s whispers to you. 

So, perhaps, do this:

Find a quiet, secluded place where you can be undisturbed for at least 20 minutes. Then, consecrate your heart and mind to the One who loves and knows you most.

Lord, I consecrate my heart and mind. I give my heart and attention to You. I trust You and desire You. I bring myself under your authority. You are my King and my Guide, my Shepherd and Father. Help me to hear your voice in my heart now.

Do you wonder what I call you–what my love sounds like when I speak your name? For I have named you–your identity is hidden in me. To find yourself, you must see me first within you.. How else will you know what is love and what is true?

Your characteristics are my own. I have shaped you. You are mine. Let my breath be your breath. Let my love for you fill your heart and fuel you to go deeper in your love for me. 

Everything you need resides in my heart. You don’t need to look anywhere else. Nothing is lacking in you–just be filled with me.

Go to a quiet place where you can be undisturbed. Let all else fall away: there is much to do–to enjoy, receive, and appreciate–as we remember how beautifully desperate we are to encounter God’s love.