Blossoming in His Presence

Here it is Christmas Eve... Tears, I promised myself wouldn't fall, are slowly making their way down my face. My heart is missing someone very dear to me and the silence is excruciating. Another Christmas has arrived but they are not. So here I am penning this post to remind my heart of the reason for this Christmas season. If your heart is heavy this Christmas, you are not alone. There is One who understands your pain deeply and intimately.  "He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care." Isaiah 53:3 (New Living Translation) "He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." Isaiah 53:3 (New King James Version) It’s ok for the tears to fall. He counts them all and one day you will see Him paint a masterpiece that rivals an

What does it mean to live a life that is hidden in God? We live in an age where so much is public and visible.  Yet, the Bible speaks to us of a life that is hidden with Christ in God. "For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3 (New Living Translation) Several years ago in my quiet times with the Lord, I really started to have this sense of being hidden. At first, I did not understand it or even like it because it was actually an uncomfortable feeling. There is a natural part of my flesh that wants to be seen and acclaimed. It does not like that which is uncomfortable. One day I asked the Lord about this and He gave me the image of a caterpillar entering a cocoon/chrysalis.  There had to be some significance to this image, so I did some further research into the importance of a cocoon. The cocoon is a place of development and nourishment. It is also protection from predators during a vulnerable stage. However, before the cater