The word captivity in the Bible is mentioned 13 times.  

Today the word captive came to my mind as I meditated with music that had beautiful lyrics that touched my soul. 

As I drifted into deep tranquil thoughts of Elohim... I thought I want to go to Him but I am a prisoner of this earth... Our souls are held here captive by our human existence. Although life is precious and should be treasured ... It’s our soul and spiritual health that should be more important to us than the air we breathe... Our spiritual journey, our spiritual heart, and our soul will draw us into the most amazing journey we can ever encounter... One day our soul will leave our earthly bodies.. our soul will be freed to love far beyond anything we will ever experience here on earth... it’s a love that has no words that can adequately describe it... I can say I have felt and tasted a  teaspoon of His sweetness.. and my love for Him could not be contained... 

I can only imagine when the day comes,  that my soul is free from human bondage ... My soul will dance with the One who held me first. The One that breathed life into my soul, and the One who loved me far greater than I ever dreamed possible...

It's Him.

He has freed my soul... but my earthly body is not ready to let me go... It holds my soul captive until the day comes that my beloved calls me home... Our body does not realize that our souls can not be held captive forever ... 

We are fooling ourselves if we feel we are in control... Our earthly life is only ours on a temporary loan.. It's our soul that travels with us from birth to death and beyond...   Our soul belongs to Him!!!  

The question becomes how healthy is your soul? Are you filling it with beautiful memories? Are you spreading His message of LOVE? Are you falling in love with Elohim? Do you have a desire in your heart to know Him on an intimate deeper level??  

Or will your soul lack your spiritual compass when that inevitable time comes? 

We do have choices? 

My soul is His, it's always been His...❤❤❤

What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Matthew 16:26

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

Sinner's Prayer

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Drawn to You" by Audrey Assad - Lyric Video

God has a purpose behind every problem. He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, he depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus than he depends on our reading the Bible. - Rick Warren 

Meaning of circumstance, a fact or condition connected with or relevant to an event or action:

The word circumstance appears 8 times in the Bible. 

Have you ever been asked to love beyond circumstances? I do believe as a lover of Christ we are all asked to love this way... Sometimes our hearts will feel empathy and this love seems to come naturally to many... 

But... when things are hard and people are difficult loving past circumstances takes work!  It takes internal healing! It takes spiritual growth! It will bring you through the most amazing experiences of your life... Because I believe it's not the love you give away it’s the love that grows and lives within you that make such a beautiful impact on your life... 

It is the sweetest most freeing love we can ever feel!! It’s when we can feel this kind of love in the deepest chambers of our hearts... that the most heavenly joy, peace, and unselfish love can be obtained. 

And if you truly know me... you know where I am going .... all love begins and never ends with???? 

Him! It’s always Him!! Keep Him close in all circumstances... 

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.

Philippians 4:11

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content in any circumstance.

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

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For King And Country Joy (Lyric Video)

The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart. – Helen Keller

Meaning of give - the capacity to bend or alter in shape under pressure; elasticity:  freely transfer the possession of (something) to (someone); hand over to:

I must admit I was not successful in finding out just how many times the word Give is in the Bible... 

But, as I began to study the word (give) it placed me where most would think.. Matthew 6:3, Jesus tells us to give 'so that your right hand does not know what your left hand is doing. Our reward for giving comes from God, not from the accolades of others.  

I understand giving with my mind but my heart quickly leads me to Him... And I was flooded with questions... What do we give Him? Is it our best? Or do we give Him our scraps? Our leftover time?  A morsel of our love?  

I must admit there are times in this life we are pulled in many directions and time with Him can be difficult to carve out of each day.. 

But these times are so important, so precious, so beautiful.. We must get back to basics... And love Him first... We must invite Him to walk with us daily... Don't leave Him behind when you leave your home... Invite Him.. He will stick closer than anyone you have on this earth!!

I have given Him my heart, and He has breathed life into my soul... I can never go back to an existence without Him... 

I can only draw closer to Him each day... I pray that He will guide me as I give His love away. Many do not comprehend the vastness the beauty, the magnetic pull His love has on my soul..  There are times I too find it difficult to understand.  I can only stand in awe and feel blessed that He whispered my name and I followed

It's Him it's always Him... 

Give Him your heart your life will never be the same!'

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

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I Am Yours (First Love) (Official Lyric Video) | Jonas Park | BEST OF ONE THING LIVE

“The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.” – Psalm 145:18 (NIV)

Closer is a word that describes how you want to relate to Him.  When we seek Him the closer we want to be to Him.  He becomes all we want.  

Following Is an example of someone in the Bible that desired to be closer to Jesus. We only know her as Mary of Bethany. She had a sister named Martha and a brother named Lazarus.  Bethany was a small village about a mile from Jerusalem.  Jesus often stayed in their home. 

Mary chose the best way to relate to Jesus.  In the midst of all the preparation of having Him in their house, she did not rush around to make Him something to eat. She just sat at His feet.  Getting as close to Him as she could and looking into His eyes.  She did not want to miss a word He had to say. 

She knew nothing about what was happening in the house.  Martha came to Jesus and said, “Mary needs to come and help with the food preparation.”  Jesus answered Martha and told her that Mary had chosen that which would last through eternity.  

What a lesson to learn.  He did not want all the fuss of getting Him food. He wanted someone who was willing to sit at His feet and listen.

Sometime later we read that Mary and Martha’s brother had died.  Many friends had come to mourn his death. Mary was inside their house.  Her sister came into the house and said to her, “The Master is here and He is asking for you.” Quickly she got up and went to find Jesus.  She found Him and knelt at His feet and said, If You had been here he would not have died.”  

In every mention of Mary in the Bible, we find her at the feet of Jesus.  In the last incident, we find Mary again at the feet of Jesus with very expensive and fragrant oil that she is applying to the feet of Jesus.  She then wipes His feet with her hair.  Those in attendance say that this oil could have been sold.  But Jesus defends her action and says she has done this in preparation for His burial. 

What lesson can we learn from this woman?  Why did she sit at the feet of Jesus?  She was reprimanded for sitting at His feet and being close to Him. 

Even though things were busy in her house, Mary knew that listening to Jesus was more important.  She knew who He was.  

Even though we too can have much to do and many distractions.  

We can take the time to find a place where you can worship Him.  We can tell Him how much we love Him.  We can close our eyes and just imagine He is right there with us. As I did this, the song “Blessed assurance Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine” came to my mind.  I felt His presence all around me. 

When we seek Him we will find Him and we can feel His closeness to us.  We can sit at His feet and listen to Him even as Mary did.

Move your heart closer and closer to God and He will come even closer to you. James 4:8 TPT 

Photography & Written by Joann Turnbull 

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Pour My Love On You – Rick Pino | Rend The Heavens

“Be less religious and discover for yourself how to be intimate with God.” 
― Sunday Adelaja 

 Meaning of deeper extending far down from the top or surface: very intense or extreme.

Do we ever stop and dig deeper into life? Do we truly take the time to know ourselves? Our wants? Our passions? Our desires? Or do we skim through life just touching the surface

!! Or do we dive deeper? 

When I started my discovery of this word in the Bible it did not seem to take me to the same place my heart wandered.  Can we measure love?  How deep is our love for God? Can and does it grow deeper each day? Or are we satisfied with the status quo??? Do we go through our daily rituals? Read our Bible say our devotionals and start our day and give Him no other thought until the next morning where we do the same routine? How do we go deeper? How does this spiritual love for Him grow into an intimate affair of our hearts... 

We must put Him first in our lives. We must invest our time. We must give Him our heart. We must speak words of love from our soul... We must become as intimate with Him as the breath we take into our lungs... 

How deep is your love ??  It is a choice... with the most beautiful destination... 

It’s Him, It’s always Him! 

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Rev. 13:15

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

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Deeper In Love ( Paula Bowers)

The word enthrall is an interesting word I truly am not sure why it appeared in the middle of my prayer time today.. But He laid it upon my heart and I definitely needed to explore this word further.. 

Are we enthralled by Him, are we fascinated by His heavenly presence in our lives, or are we too busy and dismiss His grace, His kindness, and His love??? 

When I began to peel back the true meaning of this word it made me have a Hmm moment.  

The root of this word is Thrall. 

Thrall" then, as now, meant "bondage" or "slavery"; it comes from an Old Norse word, "thraell," which is probably related to an Old High German word for servant.

I did find over 100 verses that point to the word servant. I do believe many see this word and our egos began to get in the way...  Servant ...!!! No, I am better than being a servant?  I have worked hard to be who I am... our egos do get in the way !! 

But then this word lead me here !! 

If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. John 12:26 

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

I am not sure how or why but He gently leads me on the most amazing spiritual insights ... 

I am so enthralled by Him!!! How could I not be?? To serve Him opens such a world of love and wonder !!!

He fascinates me !!! His love has captured my heart... 

It’s Him. it’s always Him!!! 

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. Matthew 25:21 

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[a] serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:9 -13

Photography & Written by Lori Garner 

Sinner's Prayer

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Just Love You (Spontaneous) - UPPERROOM

“Your outer beauty will capture the eyes, your inner beauty will capture the heart.” Steven Aitchison

Meaning of beautiful- pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically:

There are 40 instances where the Bible speaks of beauty. 

When this word landed in my mind, my mind drifted to what society has deemed as beautiful.  How many of us are lured into those television commercials that seem to dictate what beauty should be ??? I do feel they give us false information and make many beautiful souls feel inadequate. These set goals have been driven by what man has outlined as beautiful.  We have been guided by unrealistic expectations and opinions of other judgmental minds... 

However,  I do feel beauty goes much, much deeper. It is documented in scripture that God has made us in His image. 

“Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us." NLT 

How do we not see this beauty in all people, places, and things?  How do we not see? Have we lost the ability to truly see beauty? Have we lost this gift?

I do believe we must understand and truly see His beauty before we can recognize it in others. His beauty radiates from within. It comes from His Love, His Kindness, His compassion for all His beautiful creations ... 

It’s when that ugly word judgment comes into play that we miss out on the beauty before us.

Close your eyes and see Him with your soulful eyes... you will see and feel the essence of His beauty... It’s is beyond what our physical mind can even begin to understand. Just think if we could do this exercise with others... The outer appearance is not where the beauty lies... It’s how they make you feel within your soul... Feel the beautiful essence that radiates from within the one before you... Because that is where our true beauty lies... it’s in the love, in the kindness, in the compassion that you radiate from within your heart and soul.

He made each one of us uniquely beautiful in His image... He is a master at His trade... turn your eyes away from the judgment of man and look to our Creator for the validation we seek... 

Shine the beauty that lies within you... 

It’s Him. It’s always Him 

Proverbs 27:19 “Just as water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person.”Andes

Solomon 4:7 “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.”

“The Master is here and He is calling for you.  She quickly rose to find Him and fell at His feet.”  John 11. 

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

Sinner's Prayer

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I Believe ~ Andrea Bocelli & Katherine Jenkins

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 1 John 3:1 

Meaning of bitter (of people or their feelings or behavior) angry, hurt, or resentful because of one's bad experiences or a sense of unjust treatment 

The word bitter is in the Bible 218 times...

If it seems to you that I have been distant and I have not been writing and posting as often ... your right... does the word aloof come to mind??? There is a reason driving my mood. I have been in process of moving from one city to another. 

The last word I shared on my podcast two weeks ago was destiny ...  I do believe I am on a  destiny train and God is my conductor...  I am not sure where this road will take me. I can only trust Him with each new chapter. 

An unprompted opportunity fell in our laps to move. We currently enjoyed living in Spring Hill, TN. 

However many of you know that my Holy Spirit encounter happened in a city by the name of Triune.  Now color me surprised the new location is in TRIUNE, TN.   Ahh, destiny ...To further share,  I like many did not even know what the word Triune meant???

To my surprise, I discovered it means Trinity... Why do we ever doubt that God is in control??? ... 

I am in the home in Spring Hill where many spiritual things happened to me... It will always hold my Triune heartfelt memories because it’s where I fell in love with God!!  

It's there He gently guided me on the most amazing spiritual journey of my life. He introduced me to His beautiful Son and His very breath we know as the Holy Spirit spoke words of love to my soul..

At the moment I fell in love with Him I thought who does that? Who falls in love with God?  And I felt that many of my friends and family would think I she is losing her mind... 

A lot of understanding and growth happened since that beautiful day... And I found out that many people fall in love with God.. I was just too new to this spiritual gift to know it. 

I can tell you this is a bittersweet moment because I am leaving this location behind to return to where He loved me first..... This new location is on the very same lonely road in Triune, Tn. where He touched my soul for the very first time...  What an amazing moment in time... 

And if you still think I am losing my mind... I can only pray you to find Him..  because there is nothing on this earth that can compare... 

All life, All Love begins with 

Him... the beautiful part of this journey with my Triune Loves is there is no end ... 

I am trusting Him.. to show me the way through this next adventure... 

It’s Him, It’s always Him. 

In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back. Isaiah 38:17

Photography & Written by Lori Garner 

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David Crowder Band - How He Loves Us (Slideshow + Lyrics)