My Definition of Hope:

In the grand scheme of our existence, time on this earth is but a drop of water in the ocean of God’s eternity.

It is when we set our eyes upon things above that we are truly free. It is in the solitude, when we stop and just sit with God in adoration and fear and love and praise; it is within those moments that we experience awakening of the soul.

Words dissipate in the awe of the moment. The Lord whispers, “the Spirit will intercede, just be with Me.”

His infinite love intertwines flesh and Spirit, and in that moment we see just a glimmer of Heaven’s glory and splendor. That split-second encounter ignites a fire of Hope within.

When I reflect on this, I am reassured of the joy that is before me; and I am stronger because I know eventually I’ll be in His presence forevermore.

I love You Lord

— KelseyRaye

Consuming Love

Ultimate gratitude, perfect purpose, a place where the fulfillment of my entire being is consumed by complete contentment. It is flooding my heart. I could never in a million words express my all-consuming love for you God.

You fill every empty moment. You listen when I’m not worthy of your notice, and You run to my side when I call You; no matter how close or how far I have roamed.

Forever You hold my heart. You see something far more beautiful than I could ever comprehend. Your love transcends this moment; you stop time for me. I am Your flawed creation, yet I am a treasure in Your eyes.

You first loved me, and now this heart of mine belongs to You alone.

4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

Psalms 34:4-5

“The Waiting Place”

God’s gift of understanding–of suddenly and finally grasping some purpose for the present circumstance–it’s not always easy. In some cases it may even be heart-breaking. For me personally, some of my soul’s most fragile moments were in “The Waiting”.

Maybe it’s the realization that you are losing someone that you love. Maybe it’s Yourself that you realize you have lost.

God calls all of His children. His love surpasses the deepest ocean and the brightest star. If we love the Lord and follow Him faithfully, He is certain to deliver us from our brokenness, and again fill our hearts with hope and joy.

The difficulty of this life is so often in The Waiting.

Have you ever found yourself at a crossroad? Where the path of your life divides, and you must choose which direction you will follow into the future? That point of divide is what I like to call ” THE WAITING PLACE “.

In the waiting place you pray for God’s guidance, for hope and healing, and you wait. Sometimes it feels like God is almost silent in those times, as you beg, and even plead for the answer. You just want to move forward. You ask for signs. God may give them, but our interpretation is only complete in hindsight.

Although it may feel as if God is silent, that absolutely does not mean that He is not spiritually and almost tangibly present. God is holding your hand during those times which can often feel like an eternity. He is teaching you one of the most valuable lessons you will ever learn–Patience through Faith.

Surrendering control and truly giving God the future and direction of your entire life is not a one time ordeal. For me personally, it was and is something that must be repeated, it must be practiced.

In the beginning it is quite difficult. Over the course of days and weeks, anxiety and restlessness slowly creep, ever so quietly, back into Your spirit; again you are grasping for control. And again there you arrive, seemingly right back where you started before Your soul’s complete surrender. Again you sacrifice your place as captain, and again let go of your control.

This is the cycle of “The Waiting Place”. It repeats itself, and with each surrender you journey deeper and closer to the Heart of Christ. Eventually you realize that all worry and doubt has disappeared from your soul. Your faith has grown deeply. No matter what comes or goes, God will see you through it. His ways are better than any plan, hope, or dream that you could ever plan for your own life.

Truly experiencing this faith and security, day in and day out, the enduring peace of heart and mind; it is invaluable. No sacrifice could be too high of a cost for that eternal hope and peace and joy. Knowing with every fiber of my being that I am in the Hands of the Almighty Father, and this Earth is not my Home. It truly is a peace that surpasses all understanding.

So, to conclude–“The Waiting Place”-is it miserable? Yes. Is it reigned by hopelessness, and regrets, and by a tug-of-war for control? Yes. It is hard, and it feels never-ending in that place. After spending the better of 2 years there in the dark, waiting for God’s guidance, out of nowhere and just in time, the answer came. God doesn’t make mistakes, and His world is not measured in time or space. He is the owner of moments. Make this moment His alone.

Just remember, Your time in “The Waiting Place” is never wasted if you are waiting there with the Father.

2 Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

James 1:2-6 NIV

23 Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”

Luke 9:23-25 NIV

My Adonai

You are beyond my every thought or word or effort for worshipful edification. Somehow you still want me–a sinner–a destitute and hardened soul.

Your grace is so undeserved, and Your love I can never warrant. I love you so very much; You are glory and redemption.

I am infinitely unqualified and undeserving of a love such as Yours. I am the opposite of worthy, yet You call me Daughter; adopting every piece of me into Your Kinship and Kingdom.

The worthless made worthwhile; redeemed by the Son. Your Grace and faithfulness astounding; You sacrificed a piece of who You are to clear a pathway for this human heart; fully unworthy.

Yet You sacrifice Yourself; You broke the divide of Heaven and Earth. Though completely undeserved, You built a bridge into eternity.

My Lord, my God–above all, may my praise–whether song or dance, prayer or discipleship; may my gaze remain transfixed upon Your glory. An eternity mindset. You are my shepherd; I shall not want.

Never could I ever–should I think or should I glory; should I write or should I sing–I want to praise You, but I cannot worship to the extent of Your Greatness. The completeness you impart; my spirit dances, and my heart leaps in joy! It matters not the movement, the words, the song, or the room. My soul is covered and transformed; my heart in awe–speechless and without melody.

My heart dances in the secret place–a celebration of the life eternal. Holy Spirit–this beating heart becomes the only melody sufficient. A wretched sinner; completely broken. It is only through Your melody of Grace that I can see; through Christ’s sacrifice that I might hear Heaven’s tune.

Your faithfulness shall sustain me for all of my days. Please draw me close; whether by ease or by pain. Never leave my side! Please don’t turn Your ear from me–though I am tone-deaf and full of fault, completely and utterly blind.

How deeply I love You! I am nothing without You, nor do I ever wish to be. This life is only for a moment; the Earth is but a spec amongst the vastness of God’s eternity. You call me child, and I bow my entire being! I hold this beating heart in my hands, and I offer it up in praise. All glory and all power; peace and forgiveness; hope and grace; may You consume this reckless heart with the power of Your gentle and just hand.

…“Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.”

1 Chronicles 29:10-13

Come Child, It’s a Beautiful Morning

Lord, Your love knows no bounds. I am so selfish; so blind at times. I become lost in a pause; glancing back in self-pity. I am lost in my own darkness. I’ve turned my gaze from You, and now suddenly it’s nightfall.

Wandering blindly; aimless and self-seeking. I am everywhere, yet nowhere that I intended to be. Stumbling in the dark; tripping over vines, falling into bushes. Feeling confident in my forward-march, yet in truth I am spiraling deeper into demise.

The original yet still most destructive sin–I have put self in the center, replacing the greatness of Your glory with my own selfishness and pride.

I could have cried out to You in faith, while the night was not yet done. I could have sung songs of praise and hope and faith as I waited for the sun. No, I chose momentary blindness; never realizing that I was staring into the bleakness of my very own soul.

Light begins to chase darkness, as the morning’s first beams dance for the dawn. I deserve the darkness, yet Your infinitely great love refuses to abandon me into my own self-imprisoned void.

You seek me out; call me by name. You come and grasp my hand; You uncover my eyes.You say,

“Come, You’ve lost your way in the night! Come child, take my hand! We can enjoy the freshness of the morning together, you and I. The dew on the flowers, the cotton candy sky. We can listen to the birds of the morning sing their songs to the moon and stars, beautiful lullabies. Hand-in-hand, we’ll stroll the path together; back to the place where I am; back to the place where you belong.”

Forgive me Father; for when I lack gratitude, that is when I lose sight of You. Relentless love; Christ make me more like You.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:12

What if…

What if this life is about brokenness?

What if brokenness makes solitude? 

What if misery is eventual satisfaction? What if everyone sees the brokenness because they’ll never see the beautiful if they can’t look through the lens of discontentment? What if this life is about brokenness?? Grace. That one thing; it’s perfect, it’s our merciful peace grantor. Forever the same. Alpha & Omega; refine me.

To Be Favored By Your Grace, Oh Lord!

Therein lies my stronghold.

You love me without measure;

You cover me as a babe.

As an innocent child; blameless, serene.

No wrong remains beneath the blanket of Your mercy.

Restoration is Your workshop;

And trials the site of a new project just begun.

Your favor not defined by human success, perpetual happiness, nor ever-fortunate happenstance for a future yet begun.

Your favor is growth in Spirit and Faith; hope of the life everlasting.

You challenge Your children;

You know their own existence, because You lived it as Your own.

You know how deeply their love is rooted in Your goodness and Your love;

How fondly their hearts sing praises, the love of Your Mercy now and forevermore.

You know that even the most cursed circumstance is destined to drive Your child deeper;

A work in progress; relentless to capture the heart of His beloved.

He is the master of artistry and design; He was and He is, Heaven on earth.

Divine perfection; His Holiness certain; Grace undeserved;

Your Love forever mine.

“RAIN”

His Noise quiets us within.

July 24th 2020

Lord are You sure? Not me? How could I be used by You God? You are the Almighty Father, The Creator of the Universe!?……

Your Words fall as rain on a tin roof.

Your strength grows as the roar deepens.

Near Silence interjects-

A quiet calm settles.

Pitter-patter of the drops falling;

There is something so beautiful.

Something so near-perfect, yet words could never do it justice.

Beauty in serenity;

Perfection in creation.

Although the present state of this world may seem completely flipped and scattered; God is still the same–today, tomorrow, last year, this year, and forevermore.

The Author and Finisher of our Faith; forever holding the hearts of His Children.

Perfect, Gracious, Merciful Father.

I love You.

–KelseyRaye

Dust to Diamonds

“Sometimes we find ourselves at the bottom. Sometimes it feels like there is no possibility that we could ever live up to the person You promised that we were meant to be.

Yet we know that You are true, and Your promises never fail. In those dark and deep places when we cannot see the light; we are blindly traveling, dredging forward because we have made faith principle above all. It’s not always happy.

Quite often we feel that there is no way that we are even capable of reaching the other end of that black and endlessly daunting tunnel.

Hopelessness, we lose faith in ourselves, and that’s okay sometimes; just as long as we know that we will never and can never lose hope in You. That hope is the train that will carry the broken souls that last few miles through that darkness.

But Mercy; Mercy stretches out its arms. Your Spirit gives these thirsty souls a sip of Your eternal Water. And just like a tiny candle in the vastness of a darkened tunnel, Your one drop of Mercy is capable of transforming a downtrodden soul into a hopeful, excited warrior!

You are the Light, and the darkness cannot hide! But we cannot taste Your mercy with closed eyes and hope-abandoned hearts.

Recognizing and surrendering our pride; experiencing the humility it requires to hold tight to faith for Your outcome. When we know it is impossible on our own accord; that is where the Father’s heart and that of His child collides.

You are making something beautiful out of us, and it will be Oh so beautiful in Your perfect time!”

How great and amazing and powerful is our God? The deeper we dive into Your faithfulness, the more beauty and splendor we experience! On the other hand, we cannot go deeper into the unknown without enduring the pressure that it costs to dive into deeper waters time and time again…

It is at the edge of our comfort zones–when the ears pop and the heart races, when the throat drops into the stomach, and the mind spins ever-faster into the anxiety of the unknown–it is in these times that, without a shadow of a doubt, we can know that he is drawing us closer to Him. He is calling His child by name. To take His Hand or not; to put more faith in Him than in what is comfortable–that is up to us.

Carbon is the most abundant solid element on this earth, but do you know what is also composed of carbon alone? DIAMONDS—One of the most precious stones on this earth. How could such an everyday common element which composes the greater portion of dirt, grass, concrete, trees, etc., also be the composition of one of the most valuable stones in the world?

TIME. ENVIRONMENT. HEAT. PRESSURE. GROWTH. ENDURANCE. CHANGE.

Just as heat and pressure over time turn the most common of elements into the most precious of stones, so God’s faithfulness walks with us, and He is working through us on this journey. He’s forging jewels from the very worst version of ourselves. He never saw His child as anything other than beloved, chosen, and loved. Just as we only polish what is prized and valuable to us, so the Father polishes the one He values and loves. He never loses sight of the value of His chosen and precious child.

Romans 5:3-4

Proverbs 8:35

For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord.

Proverbs 8:35 NIV

Daniel 12:3

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

Daniel 12:3 NIV

Eternity Series (2)

I dream of You; Your face to see.

When the chains of this Earth break free;

When my spirit is finally to You released.

The deepest, most vivid imagination could never begin to conceive;

The moment of glory; the end will be the beginning.

And You will gather the pieces of this life, this heart, this mind.

You will form them into a new creation.

A beautiful newness, a clean heart that You have chosen for me.

I’m patiently waiting, I am ready, anticipating;

The moment, the hour, the day.

Forever is never too long when I’m waiting for Heaven.

I’ll wait forever, because it is with You alone that I long to be.