Go Deep.

“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All your waves and billows have gone over me.” 

   I remember standing on the steps of the deep end of the pool. Perhaps it was the shallow end, but at the time I was a tiny thing, and it was all deep to me. I was there with my mom, my sister, and a friend who was taking swimming lessons. I had not yet learned to swim, but the water fascinated me. I had received strict instructions not to step down off that step. I looked around--my mom was no longer in sight. With no hesitation, I descended  the boring shallow steps and sunk below the waters. I kept my eyes open, I remember that. I looked around in awe of my new under-water world, enjoying it far too much to realize I could not take a breath. The next thing I remember was being lifted up out of the water by the lifeguard. I was disappointed. 

           I am very grateful now that someone noticed the tiny girl that slipped into the water that was too deep. For her, it would have meant death. But there is a different body of water that runs deep--and emerging in this water means life. 

"Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple..." Ezekiel 47:2

     Ezekiel the prophet was brought to encounter first-hand the living, healing water that flows into the sea from the sanctuary of God. According to verse 9, this water attracts life--  "every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes." 

      These waters were measured before Ezekiel at four different crossings.  At the first crossing, Ezekiel says that "he brought me through the waters; and the water came up to my ankles.  And again he measured...and the water came up to my knees. Again he measured and brought me through, and the water came up to my waist." Now we are to the fourth time--"Again he measured, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed." 

             There are trees spoken of along the bank of this river, whose "leaves will not whither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine." This beautiful river and the trees spoken of are not merely symbolical. This a real place, and one day we will see it!! But this is not the only place such a river is contained.

John 7:37-39

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;"

    The Holy Spirit is that living water! That healing, powerful, deep, rushing river. This water is available for every believer. Yet not every one experiences the immersion into His presence. Many like the view from the bank. Some enter, but only to their ankles. Some go into their knees. Some are quite rash and go into their waist. But others, having seen the power and life and healing within, dive into the river that is too deep to be waded across. In over their heads, they seek to know the deep mysteries of God, and His love for them. This, my lovely friends, is the opportunity we have before us! God does not want us to be ankle-deep believers. He wants us to be all in! He wants us to be resolved to know Him and His Spirit. 

             Psalm 1 speaks of the righteous being like a tree "planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth  fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper." God's Word is the water our roots must go deep into. We will stand like the trees by the rivers of water that flow from the sanctuary, and we shall not be moved--because the sustenance of our existence comes from God Himself. 

So don't be afraid. Be fascinated, be intrigued, be eclipsed by these waters.

Descend from the shallow step.

And go deep. 

I want to be a palm tree.

And here's why. 

   It was Friday morning. I was sleepy...(when am I not?) This day had a bit of sadness in the air....this feeling of unsteady had been present in the wind for awhile now.  If I closed my eyes and listened hard enough, I could almost hear  the sad melody in the shifting of the leaves…(goodness, I'm being dramatic).

I decided I need to fix this feeling...so I set out for an adventure. I grabbed all my things, and began to walk...and I ended up where most of my adventures take me. Lying on a patch of green grass looking up at big beautiful blue sky, and being surrounded with the presence of Jesus. As I was lying down, I looked at the palm tree above me. It was swaying pretty hard in the wind. I started looking around at all the other palm trees, and they were all bendy too! 

What if it just falls down and collapses on me?

I decided that wouldn't be the worst way to die. 

       I also decided I felt a lot like that tree. The wind is blowing pretty hard these days. I'm not able to stay steady and still; it's swaying me. I can't stop it. ...I started remembering all the other Palm trees I've seen...and I realized how incredibly tall they become! I couldn't help but wonder how they don't fall over. I decided to do some research. It turns out, Palm trees are monocots. My brain isn't good at explaining sciency-stuff, but I'm going to try.  By quoting someone who  explains it better. hehe.

 "Monocots have embryos that sprout straight up in a single shoot, instead of up and out with branches, as dicots do. A palm grows straight up, gaining its height on overlapping leaf bases. Palm trees have  bundles of vascular strands that carry nutrients up and down the tree. It’s like a thick steel cable woven from a lot of smaller steel wires. each strand in these vascular bundles is connected to the root system. Dicots have woody roots, and in most dicots, 80 percent of the root system is within the top two feet of soil. (I don't want to be a dicot!)

Anyone who has ever tried to dig up a palm can tell you it has fibrous roots that not only fan out to great distances,  but also go down deep. Like to somewhere down around the tectonic plates. So all this combines to give a palm tree a very solid base in the ground and a very supple trunk that will bend in the wind without breaking." 

Aah!! This literally makes me do a happy dance.  Did you catch all that he said?? Palm trees shoot STRAIGHT UP. They don't have  branches sticking  out like other trees, that could catch the wind and fall. How often do I reach out instead of up to steady myself in the wind, and fall because of it? They have vascular bundles directly connected to the roots, and they grow layer by layer. They bend, but they don't break. They are SOLID, because they have a stable foundation. And they are only focused on going one  direction. 

Luke 21:31-32 says 

"Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

I feel like a little wheat kernel.  I'm being tossed up and down, up and down. But do you know what happens when wheat is sifted? All the chaff is blown away, and only the good and pure remains. 

Maybe you feel like this. But remember what Jesus says--"I have prayed for you, that  your faith should  not fail." Jesus prays for you. Maybe you feel like you're in a windy storm, and you're being bent and swayed all over the place. Remember your roots. Look to your foundation. No matter how hard the wind blows and threatens, it cannot reach what's underneath--the foundation. If Jesus and His Word is your root system, then you will survive the tsunami, just like those Palm trees do. And Jesus is a much stronger foundation than monocot roots!!!! 

1 Peter 5:10:

"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you."

Hang on, little wheat kernel!  Don't be shaken, little Palm tree. The wind will cease, the storm will end, and you will come out  all the more strengthened and all the more secure.

(also, here's the source about the cool Palm tree stuff. Cause I'm pretty sure plagiarism is punishable by death...)http://arizonaoddities.com/2010/07/why-dont-palm-trees-blow-down-in-the-wind)

The Fallen Toothbrush

"Hey Liel..?" I heard my dad's concerned tone and immediately got a sinking feeling in my chest. "Come here".. He walked towards the bathroom. I followed. He pointed at my toothbrush. "I was just washing my hands and your toothbrush fell in the sink. I wanted to go ahead and tell you so you could wash it and wouldn't forget." I heard a laugh from my sisters. "You actually told her..."
"What?"
"Her tooth brush falls all of the time in the apartment! Oh Liel if only you knew the places your tooth brush has been."

Ew. Bleh. Gross. I knew my toothbrush had issues with falling, but I thought it had only fallen around me, and each time I had washed it off. Who knows what germs I have in my mouth now??? 😳
I picked up my toothbrush, and began to wash it off.....

   Unfortunately, my tooth brush hasn't been the only thing that fallen one too many times as of late.
  This past year was a hurricane   for me. I entered a world I wasn't prepared for, and fights I wasn't armed enough to win. I failed again...and again....and again. Have you been there? I asked Jesus to forgive me and wash me clean--and He did! And then, yet again, I would fail Him. I felt like my heart was a stone, and that this time for sure I had ruined my chances. There is no way God could really cleanse me again. I had messed up too much this time. Okay, okay. Maybe God could forgive me, but there is no way He will speak to me like He did before. He will never share that intimacy with me again. He will forgive me perhaps, but He won't be close with me anymore. My heart is too wicked.

Those  were my exact words I spoke aloud this morning, while I was getting ready for the day. I had just finished narrating my life (I do that kind of often...it's too hard for me to keep my thoughts all sealed up in my head) when I set my toothbrush down, and ran to get Bobby pins. I came back to the bathroom to see my sneaky little toothbrush fallen prostrate in the sink. Gross. (We aren't just in our own apartment, by the way, we are in a beach condo we rented--so double gross)😣. I picked it up and said  "How is it humanly possible for something to fall so many times???" My heart stopped. Well, it more like fluttered. Or...beat a little faster. Was that not what I had just said about myself? Now here I was, holding my toothbrush, knowing full well I was going to wash it again without hesitation. Now of course, there was always the option to just throw it away and never use it again, but that would be crazy! why on earth would I do that when I could just wash it off? It was MY toothbrush. I definitely didn't like that it had a thing for falling, but it was in my power to make it clean and ready for use again.

You know what's coming, don't you?

God spoke to my heart. "Liel, you are mine. It doesn't matter how many times you fall. I'm always going to pick you up, and wash you off again. I will make you clean every single time, and I won't stop using you."

Ezekiel 11:19-20 says

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God."

Did you read what I just read?? Did you let the words sink into your heart and soul? This verse is PROMISE. Have you let your heart become divided? hardened? Have you been struggling with condemnation, because, like my toothbrush, you just keep falling --and you know that you know that this time, God isn't going to pick you up? You're sure it's too much for Him to wash you off again.. you've fallen too many times. If this is how your little heart is feeling, YOU ARE WRONG. God is so much bigger, and so much greater than our hearts. He can  remove the hardness of our hearts, and  give us soft ones again! If we  call on Him, and still desire to be used, then He isn't about to throw us in the trash. He will pick you up, wash you off, and use you in greater ways than you ever thought possible. And He will do it again....and again...and again. So the next time you feel condemned, remember that "if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our hearts, and knows all things." (1 John 3:20). And, if it will help, maybe  remember the story of the fallen toothbrush...that will always be picked up, washed off, and used again.

O2


     I wasn’t going to write about this gorilla. I wasn’t going to write about the little boy that somehow found himself in a pit with him. I wasn’t going to write about the shot that killed Harambe. I wasn’t going to do it. The whole thing seemed so absolutely incredulous and absurd that it didn’t even seem worth my time. I know what I believe. I don’t have to write about it. 


    This was my line of thinking…until a situation wrapped its way around me and screamed right  in my face. I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t be silent. And once you understand the depth of what actually happened in that gorilla pit, neither will you. 




~~~~~




 It’s kind of cold in here. They have to keep the fans running because Aaron can over-heat easily. He can also choke, suffocate, starve, and thirst easily. If not cared for properly and thoroughly, Aaron could die. 


  I write this at the foot of his bed where I can see his beautiful blue eyes and hear his vocalizations. I just finished telling him the story of Tangled, and he smiled and reacted the whole way through it. 




        Aaron is unique. When he was still forming in the womb he became detached from his umbilical cord, cutting of the oxygen supply. As a result of this tragic accident, He can’t feed himself, he can’t wash himself, he can’t do anything for himself without someone helping him. He is a dependent. 

    Aaron recently turned twenty one, meaning that the state no longer pays for nursing care within his home. He has had to moved to a nursing home. Since his removal from his home he has gone days without food, fallen from his bed, caught  pneumonia and had blood 

poisoning.




  Not all of this is the nursing home’s fault. They have not been trained to care for those like Aaron. They cannot provide what he needs. There has been willful neglect, yes, but most of it is merely the result of being forced out of his home where he was safe and cared for properly. Why did the state force him to leave the care of his home?







    To answer that, we also must answer why there are protesters standing outside of the Cincinnati Zoo demanding justice for a wild animal that was shot in protection of a four year old child. Why animal rights activists are demanding the police hold the parents responsible

for the “slaughter” of the gorilla that was about to kill their little boy. 

     This a fight against LIFE. We live in a generation that has lost the basic, fundamental sense of worth that a human life holds, and now places the quality of a life equal to the value. Less than, even. 

    Why does the issue of our generations view on human life mean so much to me? Because I see it's effects  playing out before my eyes. Where someone weak, immobile, and dependent is suddenly at the hands of people who no longer deem his life as valuable.




  A wild animal’s life now means more than a young child’s life, and an invalid, immobile person holds less value than a walking, healthy, person. 


    I can walk today. I can feed myself today. I can wash my own body today. But what about  tomorrow? What about the day after that? ACCIDENTS HAPPEN. What if an incident occurs that causes me to dependent on hands wearing blue gloves? 

What if the same thing happens to you? 


   I am not in a gorilla pit today. I am not in danger of being torn apart by a wild animal. But what if —however it may happen—I find myself severely endangered by a wild beast? I would pray my heart out for someone to come and rescue me. And what if someone did come--they had a gun, perfect aim, and then, right at the pivotal moment--they shrug. Put the gun down..and tell me it  was my fault for getting into the situation, and they won’t even think about killing this animal because it’s rare for crying out and oh so beautiful and mighty to behold. 




What if the same thing happens to you? Maybe this particular scenario is far-fetched, but the basic underlying truth remains. 

Human life is no longer worth fighting for. 


   We need HUMAN LIFE ACTIVISTS. We need people who understand the VALUE of a human life and are willing to fight to preserve this life at whatever the cost. You aren’t going to be healthy forever. One day the quality of your life might no longer be up to you. One day you might not be able to form the words you want to say.


Be a voice for life now. Before those who are louder--or, lets just face it-- healthier than you,silence it. 

Past Hope

"She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse." 

Mark 5:26

      It had been 12 long years. The woman in this story lived with her affliction every day and every 

night. She went from one physician to the next, each one leaving her worse off than she was 

before...until she had spent all she had, and had gotten no better, but rather grew worse. 

       When my eyes fell upon this story, my heart felt a churning of connection--I understood this 

woman all too well--for she was me. And maybe she is you as well. But perhaps it is not your body

 that is broken, but your heart. Maybe you have experienced the pain of rejection, the death of a 

loved one...the failure of a relationship..the cold hard feeling of being alone. Perhaps your heart has 

been broken, time after time, and you have gone to physician after physician, tried remedy after 

remedy... drink after drink... pill after pill... guy after guy. Until you have spent all that you have, and

 your heart has not grown better, but worse. There is a flow of pain within you that cannot  be 

stopped. A pain that no one understands.   A suffering  that nothing can heal. 

"When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she

 said, 'If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well. Immediately...she felt in her body that she

 was healed of the affliction." 

.....

"He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, 

knowing what had happened to her, came and fell before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He 

said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." 

Mark 5: 27-34

This woman knew that no other thing on earth could cure her--she had tried them all. Jesus was her 

last chance--her only hope. And all she had to do was reach out and touch Him, and she was healed. 

Jesus felt this touch. He knew that power had left Him. He knows the touch of His children, and He 

does not turn away from them but searches them out, as He did this woman.  He specializes in fixing 

broken things--broken people, broken hearts.  Maybe you think that you are too far gone. That your 

pain is incurable..

 
 Maybe now you can say the words of Juliet with more passion than she herself said the words--

"Come weep with me, past cure, past help, past hope!" I'm sure this is how our woman in the story

was feeling...until she heard of Jesus. The woman, although filled with fear, told Him the whole truth. 

She did not cover up her affliction in shame. She did not hide the fact that she had tried many other 

ways before coming to Him...She fell before Him, and  told Him of her past, and her present, and 

then HE told her of her FUTURE. 

"Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." 

He offers the same healing to you, today. He sees your brokenness, He knows how you have tried 

path after path, and each one has lead you to deeper suffering and pain. He is waiting for you to reach 

out to Him..and with only one touch, He can make you new. He  has your future all mapped out, each 

step working together for your good. He sees your past, and He is in your present...and now He tells 

you of your future. 

"So You will restore me, and make me live--the Lord was ready to save me." 

   

     He is ready to save You! He will bring you healing. Reach out and touch Him. You will never be 

the same.