Word of the Day
Beloved, being with Me in such a way that you give all your heart, your strength and your mind to devotion with a childlike heart is truly like being on vacation. Our time should consist of more than seriousness and work. It is to be filled with fun-filled laughter, life-saving instruction, tender mercy, physical and emotional healing, mutual affection, and the endowment of gifts to share with a lost and dying world. Our time together holds depths of tender emotions able to heal any wound, cast away any doubt, infusing with faith, thereby lifting you up on the wings of a hope that does not disappoint (Romans 5:5).
There are so many things to discover. You could travel the world over in your lifetime and never consume its fullness and beauty. If this cannot be done with the finite things which display My grandeur, there is no way it can be accomplished with My infinite mysteries. So, come and catch a glimpse of what will take an eternity to relish and enjoy. Consider it a head start, a deposit on what is to come.
I want to relieve you of stress, stifling legalism, and man’s traditions and invite you to come on an eternal vacation with Me starting right now. I am your oasis in the middle of every happening. You can slip away to the Caribbean of My heart in a split second of time. Yes, in a split second. Don’t think you have to complete some set of spiritual exercises or worship for extended times to find Me. Since I already dwell in your heart, I am already as close as close can be. I am not afar off in some distant heaven. I am in your heart, only a breath away.
The moment you say My name “Jesus” we are connected in communion. The phone lines are open at all times. . If anyone leaves, it is you. I always remain, waiting, Therefore, don’t become apathetic or slothful and be deprived of experiencing in everyday life the unlimited abundance of all I am. Remember, there are pleasures at My right hand forever more just waiting for you to experience them (Psalm 16:11).
I have so much to share with you, so much to show you, if only you will believe. I have a garden and not a barren field prepared for your habitation. Are there troubles in this life?
Yes, and just like a flat tire on vacation, I have the answer. There are ways to experience this life like a vacation of mystery, fun and discovery. So, come take a much needed respite from your way of seeing things and enjoy Me in this life, for it is a time of preparation for the life to come. Live an abundant journey of discovery and preparation today. Doing so will enable you to experience each coming day as its beauty unfolds until your life ultimately culminates in eternity beyond the veil.
Come, I love and enjoy you right where you are, just as you are. After all, I made you and love you. I have a deep awareness of all your days. I am never surprised, so don’t waste another moment worrying. Let the intense pleasure I have for you flow over your emotions with healing balms of grace. Let Me invade your very being with the sweet perfumed incense of My presence, creating a thirsty ravished heart for Me. I am waiting. Let’s take a vacation together.
BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name! Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits–Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]! (Psalm103:1-4 Amplified)
And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself (Matthew 22:37-39 Amplified)
Prayer
Lord, today and from this day forward I desire to live on permanent vacation in Your heart through a lifestyle of relationship and not obligation or drudgery. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy and I do not want to be dull. If I am dull, I am no help to myself, to those I love or to a dying world.
By faith, I enter into Your Presence in every way. I experience you on the inside and the outside. I have access to all of who You are at all times. My access is not limited to seasons of obedience and victory. Lord, You have made a way for Me even in the dark nights of my soul…in the times of sickness and leanness of provision and in times of great abundance when I have a tendency to forget because it seems I have all I need.
I declare this is the day I break away from all bondage in relation to religion and the law. I am one given to grace. I am a new creature with a whole new address, Graceland. I am connected to the vine through Jesus, the one I abide in. The beauty of my life is unfolding and, not only will I vacation in the Lord’s heart; I will be a vacation of rest and refuge for others as well.
Lord, I am one who loves You with all my heart, soul and mind. I am one who loves my neighbor as myself. I am one who forsakes the abundance of worldly things and the busyness of life to abide in the vine. I am one who chooses to let go, forgive and honor. I am a ravished and thirsty heart on permanent vacation in the Lord’s heart. Amen.
Reflect and Journal
- In what areas are you apathetic or so serious minded you have become dull to the beauty around you…dull to experiencing the Lord in simple ways without condemnation for not fulfilling self-perceived requirements?
- What rituals do you go through…what obligations are you engaging in that have lost the invigorating presence of the Lord? What do you think has robbed you of the sheer pleasure of doing these things with a heart of relationship, anticipation and joy?
- Define in our own words what it means for the Lord to dwell in you and not just in some far off place hard to reach? He is the very breath of your life. Selah (meditate).
- What do the words “A Vacation in His Heart” mean to you?
- What flat tire needs to be changed in your heart or circumstances? Ask Him for the answer. He does not withhold from the righteous nor does He leave their seed begging for bread.
- End this devotion by writing a Ravished Heat love letter or note in response to His call to vacation in His heart.