“Love is not love until love’s vulnerable.” – Theodore Roethke...

Meaning of mute refraining from speech or temporarily speechless. 

The word mute is referred to in approximately 28 instances. 

Hold that thought!! What the cat got your tongue??? I’m speechless!!! 

If I share my feelings or thoughts, some people will think I am not good enough! Or maybe they may think that I am losing my mind?? Feeding my doubts which may factor into negative thoughts?

I don’t know about you but when I look back on my life, I too have had many silent moments... Moments when I did not speak my mind or share my feelings. I retreated many wondered why I did not have anything to say??? I thought, did my opinion really matter? I would find myself gravitating to people who were conversationist so my being quiet became comfortable and that grew into who I had become. I had crafted the art of listening... Which isn't really a bad thing.

But I became aloof and only shared my inner thoughts with a chosen few... Trust and loyalty are traits I deeply value. However, like many of us, I fell into that snare.  And cared too much what others would think... 

So with time I bound my heart and kept my soul buried deep within... 

I indeed found myself dancing on the edge of being mute...... 

But one day everything changed... I can only say I was chosen to be loved far beyond my own understanding... I still do not understand why things happened the way they did...

However, I will admit in the beginning, I felt a burning desire to share this amazing love. To be honest it was a struggle to contain it and spilled out many times. Many people did not understand. This was not my normal, it seemed that my behavior was changing.

What they did not realize is, I had been mute for so long, That I learned to fly under the radar... You could say I became invisible. I now was like a fish out of water? I had lost the ability to openly share without fear of judgment? 

Such a dilemma, I had been given this great love but my insecurities were raging. I felt bewildered and confused ... and I cried many tears... The struggle was real... What would others think?? But this LOVE was intensely beautiful and much greater than any fear... 

And my Savior did exactly what His name described. He saved me from me and He delivered such a beautiful life lesson for me to experience and to share. 

He loved me through my doubts and sang a beautiful love song to my soul... He opened my heart and freed my soul... 

This newfound love and freedom loosened my tongue... 

He gave me this message for a reason... This message is about greater love. He sings His love song to all mankind... Listen with your soulful ears...and hear His voice...

He has asked us to love beyond boundaries... We are all not so different... We all bleed the same... We will struggle with things in our lives. 

But in the end, we all crave to be accepted and loved by our Creator... It’s a love not of this world!!!! It’s a LOVE that surpasses all human understanding... 

I am no longer mute ... because to share Him and His Love is the greatest adventure we can share in this lifetime... The only time now that I am speechless is when I can feel His loving presence... I can only close my eyes and breathe Him in ... and bask in the moment... and my heart whispers I love you, thank you for the gift of you! 

He WOWs me #speechless 

It's Him. It's always HIM... But now it's you and me... He gave us a voice ...share Him... your life will never be the same. 

And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. Luke 1:64 

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

Sinners Prayer 

Inspiring Music by (youtube)

Naomi Scott - Speechless Lyrics (From Aladdin 2019)

Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is.” — Mark Cuban..

Meaning of sweat moisture exuded through the pores of the skin, typically in profuse quantities as a reaction to heat, physical exertion, fever, or fear. 

The word sweat appears approximately 5 times in the Bible... 

Many of us have heard Jesus sweat blood🩸? But what does that mean? Do we even stop to understand the deeper implications or do we just pass over those words without feeling and pain in our own hearts?  

I did not even know that this was even possible, did you?

I did discover yes, that you can sweat blood... It was not just a symbolic view of a pivotal moment in history. 

There is an extremely rare condition called hematidrosis. The face and forehead are common locations for this to occur. Many people do not know anything about this condition. But many have heard about it from the Bible but how many of us have taken the time to understand the depth of this moment ??  

When we look to the Bible we see in Luke 22:44; “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” 

The operative word is agony... The rare condition can occur with great FEAR... 

Have we ever stopped and lingered in this moment? Or do we rush past this moment straight to the cross? I do not want to diminish the suffering of any of these precious heartbreak moments... 

But I do know from my own experience there are times we suffer long and hard before the actual event occurs. 

He was suffering in the garden long before that heart-crushing day occurred ... He was left to suffer in anguish alone and fear gripped His mind with such magnitude that He sweat those precious drops of blood... 

Even though His mind knew what was to come His soul knew it was written and the moment must be fulfilled for all of mankind... He could have walked away... But He knew it was part of His Heavenly Father's greater plan. 

What a beautiful heartfelt gift of LOVE. His only crime was that  He wanted is to teach us how to live and how to love...Crucifying Him was the biggest crime man will ever encounter. 

So I can only ask what sweat equity have we given Him in return ??? That is a question that only you can answer... 

All I know is that it would be a crime if we do not surrender our hearts to His commitment of love...  He sweat those tears of love for you and me.

He is the most amazing gift our Creator has ever shared. He is the brightest star and our guiding light... Our love for life! 

It’s Him... it’s always been Him 

Turn up the heat for Him &.... Sweat 💦 

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling do And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Luke 22:44

Tears flow silently through the soul and cleanse's the heart. 

Meaning of the word cleanse, a process or period of time during which a person attempts to rid the body of substances regarded as toxic or unhealthy, typically by consuming only water or other liquids:

There are approximately 40 verses that mention the word cleanse... 

Does life dirty our hands ?? Does our lack of compassion harden our hearts ??? Do our thoughts pollute our hearts and minds... Do we scar other hearts with callous actions or unkind words?  Do we allow the pollution of our world to penetrate our very soul? Are we a sluggish society?  Are we broken? Are we bruised ?? 

How do we find the beauty our world once had? How do we find that soft place to fall? How do we change our hearts... 

Many of us try to wash the wounds of life... And travel on our way without healing.  We become lost or maybe distracted and continue our daily routine without much change?? This action may result in a darkness that makes your soul silently grieve and your heart harden. 

How do we change the heaviness we feel... How do we learn to trust again? How do we heal our scars? How do we learn to love again? 

When we think of the word cleanse. Perhaps we think of washing...We think of restoring ... We think of the word refreshing ... 

I can only share what I have experienced during my journey.  And how I found the freedom to chase God's love with all that I am... At the time I did not know Him. I knew of Him... There is a beautiful difference... 

I do not know why, but one day He whispered my name... And that Is how this amazing journey began. 

As days passed, He began to share a beautiful love that tore down my walls. Walls that had been built to protect my heart. As the walls crumbled... I found myself meekly standing there alone, with only His love...  I had never felt a love so pure, so warm, so heavenly.. There are not enough words to describe His love. 

I felt that my heart was being circumcised... I felt stripped, bewildered, and confused. I did not understand the magnitude of His love or His plan for me.  I could not run... I had no place to hide... He saw the raw me, the true me... Yet He lovingly held me as I faced my insecurities and fears. 

And as He took my wounded heart in His loving hands He began to shave the layers of dirt from my life...  He spoke words of love to my soul. I felt a freedom that I could not contain... Tears fell like rain from the deepest chambers of my heart...His love opened my soul and eased the chokehold I had placed on my life...

He taught me how to let go and breathe again... 

It was at that moment in time I fell in love and surrendered my heart to the one who knows me better than I know myself...  

His love runs so deep... His care is so gentle and kind... He sees us through our failures and helps us rise from the ashes. He revels in our victories. There is no one anywhere that can even compare!!! 

I believe His love contains beautiful healing oxygen that frees our souls...

This cleansing process can be heartfelt. Facing your inner fears and yourself can be difficult at times. But I have found that with pain there is growth... There is an inner peace that comes from traveling this road of life with Him. 

There is an amazing love transformation that happens within our heart and soul... When you began to love with no boundaries. This includes loving who you are becoming. 

Over time I have learned to just close my eyes, open my heart and trust Him with my life...  But I must say... Loving Him is the best thing I have ever done... 

It’s Him... It’s always Him...

PS...I am a work in progress ... I am at the mercy of my Master’s loving hands... He WOWs me.

That’s where he restores and revives my life. He opens before me the right path and leads me along in his footsteps of righteousness. so that I can bring honor to his name. Even when your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, fear will never conquer me, for you already have! Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of your love takes away my fear. Psalm 23:3-5 TPT 

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

Sinners Prayer 

Inspiring Music by (youtube) 

Cleanse You by Calee Reed - Lyric Video

The meaning of render To interpret; to set forth, represent, or exhibit; as, an actor renders his part poorly; a singer renders a passage of music with great effect; a painter renders a scene in a felicitous manner. 

The word render is referred to in the Bible approximately 111 times... 

Is rendering the act of delivering something? Is it a message?? Is it the act of surrendering... 

I can relate to this word on many levels. During my amazing spiritual journey, I have been rendered speechless many times ...

I have surrendered my heart and I have been asked to deliver a message. A message that was not for me alone... It was given to me to share by a soul that with time I have learned to love with all that I am... 

It was a message that seem so simple... But yet so confusing. It was hidden deep within my soul...He was the only one that had this kind of power. He had to gently and methodically unlock my once bound heart.

I had never felt a love so deep or with such intensity... It was so difficult to contain..... But as I tried to understand why me ?? I felt so inadequately equipped to deliver such a beautiful message... 

But as I listened to my Creator's gentle persuasion, I learned to wholeheartedly trust Him.  He has taught me to love without boundaries... He has given me the joy of laughter... He has guided my heart on an amazing journey... He taught me to treasure the beauty of each day. He has given me the gift of people... Some were fleeting moments in time... Some decided to stay and learn more about this gift... All of them were an important part of growing this LOVE ... Some even taught me the art of forgiveness... Some shared in the beauty of sharing life.

My life changed, my love grew, and my confidence and His message of LOVE grew stronger in me each day... I no longer worried about what others would think... And on that pivotal day, I decided to throw caution to the wind and live life...LARGE

By rendering my heart and soul to the one who gave me life...

I came to the realization... That I had been soulfully lost ... and He was the only answer.

He has been chasing me for a long time... But one day on a lonely road in middle Tennessee. I must have stood still long enough to hear my Shepard’s voice gently calling my name... 

And it made me wonder ... 

Was the “ONE" referred to in the Bible Scripture  Luke 15:4 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

He knew it was time to capture my heart! He knew I desperately needed Him... He knew my heart was primed and ready to accept His LOVE ... 

But most importantly my heart was ready to LOVE Him back with the same intensity He LOVEs me.

It's Him, It's always been Him. 

He renders me speechless!!! ❤❤❤

And they were astonished above measure, saying, He does all things well; he makes both the deaf to hear, and the speechless to speak. Mark 7:37

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

Sinners Prayer 

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ED SHEERAN'S PERFECT AS WORSHIP!! - LYRIC VIDEO (Philippa Hanna)

Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true.- Patrick Swayze...

Meaning of hesitation 
the action of pausing or hesitating before saying or doing something:

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions... life is full of decisions ... But wait ...I am not ready yet... Hold on..what about tomorrow? What makes us hesitate? Fear?  Over analyzing? Rejection? Doubt? Worried what others may think? 

What is it that makes us have any hesitation when we speak of our Creator, His amazing Son, and the beautiful Holy Spirit?  I have found that many people hesitate or even hide their true feelings or only worship Him in the silence of their mind for fear of what others may think? 

There are times in our lives our hesitation can and will paralyze us just where we stand. ...This can hinder us from becoming everything God intended us to be... 

How do break the chains? How do we embrace freedom and cast caution to the wind ??? How do we become publicly confident in showing our love for Elohim? How do we learn to travel this amazing freeing journey to a brighter God-given destination?  How do we let our light shine without any hesitation?? 

Truly it’s Him, for with Him all things are possible... The more time you spend getting to know His beauty and love, the braver and stronger your faith in Him becomes. 

As your relationship grows, You will begin to wait on Him. You will learn to heed His guiding whispers... You will trust Him with all facets of your life... It's at that pivotal moment in time you will throw caution to the wind and let the world know how you truly feel, knowing full well that if you fall... He will catch you without any hesitation!!! There is an amazing freedom that comes with letting go and LOVING HIM.....

Cast your fears to the wind...

And JUST JUMP... Feel that freedom to live life large and love with all that you are !!! 

It's HIM... It's always Him... Catch me I am falling in LOVE...

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ Mark 12:40

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. Matthew 21:43 

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

Sinners Prayer 

Inspiring Music by (youtube) 

NONAH - Jump (Official Lyric Video)

The heavens proclaim the glory of God...night after night they make him known (Psalm 19:1,2).

At Even Ere the Sun Was Set

As the sun is setting in the evening sky.  The colors are bright orange and red. Spectacular visions to our eyes. How can He show such rare beauty?  It is His gift of love for us to behold. 

Father, though the evening of this world is here, we come with the hurt, the sick, the prisoners, and all who need You.  

Jesus - At evening they brought all the sick to You.  You took all pain and sickness to the cross as well as man’s sin. With every blow, wound, bruise, and touch of the spear you took it all.  And at the end, You said “Father forgive them.”  The thunder sounded in the darkness and the earth shook as You breathed your last breath and said, “It is finished”.  

It was evening.  

As watchers of this scene went home. So sad.  They did not know that Jesus had fulfilled His assignment, the Lamb of God had been slain. He was slain for you and me.  The redeeming price had been paid.  The evening sacrifice had been made. 

Soon the evening and darkness would turn to dawn.  He was raised by our Holy Spirit. And early that morning on the third day He appeared.  They had last seen Him in the evening on the cross. 

Now He is alive and He is still healing the hurt, the lost, and those without hope.  He says come,  In this evening of time, His touch is the same as in ancient times.  Come to the One who loves you with eternal love.  Love this One who gave His all.  Love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind. 

Psalm 113:3  From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised. 

Psalm 65:8 They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs: You make the dawn and the sunsets shout for joy. 

Photography by Lori Garner 

Written by Joann Turnbull 

Sinners Prayer 

Inspiring Music by (youtube) 

have i told you lately that i love you - van morrison

The soul of Man must quicken to creation. T. S. Eliot:

Meaning of quicken: make or become faster or quicker: to 
stimulate or become stimulated:

The word quicken seems to appear eighteen times in the Bible. 

When I started to peel back the pages on this word, my mind deferred this word to my soul. My understanding of this word pointed me to memories within my own journey... 

Before my Holy Spirit Encounter I can say I did not feel my soul ...  I knew she was in there and she existed within my human frame.  But I really did not give my soul much thought. 

My soul was dormant.. my soul lived in the darkness deep within... hiding quietly just waiting to be set free. 

I do believe many Christians call this amazing event being born again. A concept that many nonbelievers truly do not understand. 

But from my experience and many others that I have spoken to in my journey, there is one very important common denominator.  It’s our amazing Creator ... He comes to us as our Heavenly Father, perhaps Jesus, or maybe even the Holy Spirit... Our Creator comes to us in a way that is unique to each individual and how they will relate and respond to Him... 

Being born again seems to be a deeper soulful state of consciousness.  It's when our soul is set free to love our Creator with all our heart,  soul, and mind... When this awaking or quickening happens, that is when our Creator ignites a fire within our dormant soul... 

As always I must state I am not an expert I can only speak from my heart and from my own experience... 

When the Holy Spirit touched my life...  The event blew me away and over time I gained a better understanding of being born again ... This heavenly gift seemed to heighten all of my senses... I became awe-struck and I had a renewed sense of appreciation for the beauty of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I began to see life in a new exciting light... Little did I realize it was His light shining from within my soul. I spoke many times of feeling like a child and tasting life as never before...

To feel His amazing love has been beyond my earthly understanding... But my soul has been set free... There are not enough words in all the world to adequately describe it...   It is a taste of Heaven and He leaves our souls craving more!! 

This process I know as quickening is when a heavenly experience ignites the dormant flame of life within your sleeping soul... He sets that once dormant heart into a flame that yearns for more ... 

Once you have been given this gift you will travel on the most enlightening journey of your life.. and it does not stop there... He will take your heart places you never thought possible... 

It’s Him, it's always Him. 

Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth Psalm 119:88

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

Sinners Prayer 

Inspiring Music by (youtube) 

You Know Me (lyrics) Steffany Gretzinger

Podcast / Opening Heavens Gate

When we think of Everlasting love.   We began to search our souls for answers. And as we try to understand this timetable. And if we are lucky our soul will enlighten us.

But I feel as long as we are in our earthly bodies we will never truly understand the dynamics and full beauty of this word our Creator so graciously put into His heavenly plan.  

Come, join me as I travel back in time. And I open my heart and share a word from our Bible word study and meditation. I have fused them together to create a self-narrated story called 

"Opening Heavens Gate"

Podcast / Triune Loves Me /Opening Heavens Gate

In worship, God captures your heart; when he’s got it, then the real work begins. ― Matt Redman.

There are numerous definitions of the word worship. Yet, one, in particular, encapsulates the priority we should give to worship as a spiritual discipline: Worship is to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission.

The word worship seems to be used approximately 40 times in Leviticus when it describes how to sacrifice and bring offerings to God. 

The word worship can reflect a few different actions that could constitute and be viewed as types of worship.  For example, there is praise, song, dancing, spiritual gifts, sacrifice, daily devotionals... 

I believe it’s a personal choice between you and your Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit... They know our hearts intimately.. I do feel there are degrees of intensity depending on where and when the action of worship takes place... 

In my opinion, there is no wrong or right way.  It's that deep personal relationship that most of us crave and are chasing. If you are truly blessed to feel His amazing love or you have a strong conviction in your soul you are most likely on the right track... 

Emotions from the heart must be fully engaged or you will be just going through the motions... Are your actions sincere? Or are they for the show? Where is your heart? That is a question that only you and our Creator can answer... 

We have been given scriptures that direct us to love God with ALL our hearts, soul, and mind... 

When we worship we should be “fully engaged” and in “total surrender.” The action of LOVING Him should be our only thought... When we can achieve that “extravagant love exchange” with our Heavenly Father it should tantalize all of our senses... We are placed in a state of being fully immersed in His love... The word consumed seems to best describe the relationship our Father desires from His Children... 

However, the operative word is ALL ... He desires every part of who we are. All of our LOVE All of our devotion. All ....?

The question becomes what is your definition of ALL? The full hour on Sunday ?? Or is it more ?? 

How we relate and how we achieve this goal is a personal commitment between you and our Creator... It takes time and discipline and a yearning heart to totally surrender to His All-consuming LOVE...  He is the only one that is truly worthy of a love that is so sovereign, so extravagant...and yet so intimate... 

He has been reaching out, He has been tugging at our hearts... He has been whispering ALL of our names!!! He is gathering and waiting for His children to be ALL in!!   

It’s Him, It’s always Him... 

His love is so difficult to contain!!... I worship the Holy ground He walks on!!! He WOWs me! 😍🙃🔥

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Revelation 3:16 

Photography & Written by Lori Garner

Sinners Prayer 

Inspiring Music by (youtube)

Bethel Music - 10,000 Reasons (Live) - featuring Brian and Jenn Johnson