Crossing the Threshold of Surrender

There’s a beauty, a fulfillment, a longing become Reality when self-protective layers are relinquished and laid bare through the quietness of prayer.

It is a journey of time to gently peel back the layers with courage with a desire for greater intimacy with God, regardless of the unknown of what may be there, unexamined.

It can feel unfamiliar, a place of not being able to go back to what was, but not quite how to walk forward, just yet; liminal space, between “what is” and “what is to become”.

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It’s a journey graced with the humility to perceive the mirror of self-examination through the reflection of Love; an encounter with God, to remain and abide with newness of revelation.

This place of becoming bare from what was is the beginning of the integration of the soul; both being loved and to being love, it is a place where the soul integrates the Love that is by surrendering the gift of will given to the One who created it. 

An unexpected and unanticipated surprise of being enveloped in his love is found and perceived, with a new Reality that infuses the very essence of the entirety of the soul – when the threshold of loving surrender of the will is crossed.

All else pales dim except the desire to walk In Union, ones will embraced by his will, led into all that is, with a new dimension of God-Reality and a new dimension of seeing with eyes of the soul – embraced in his love.

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It is there that all calls are heard and echoed the same, all those perceived seemingly unique and so different before, they are all now in unison; to be found in him and led by the quiet inner known impressions of the Voice that are a life lived for the sake of others, a token offering of praise for the amazing gift of his love – lived, in deep union.

He whispers the invitation to all who have the courage to cross the beckoning invitation of the threshold, the invitation sealed in his love, “Come, follow me…”

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May we sense the vastness of his love and respond in kind; fully aware of the cost of crossing the threshold of surrender.  Surrendering dreams, hopes, aspiration, self, the totality of complete ALL, it’s a courageous unknown, only full of more of the mystery of ALL that he is.  But oh, the sublime – beyond words that can describe quiet waters of peace the flood the soul on the other side of the threshold.

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It is beyond the threshold that the deepest longings of the soul are completely found in God alone, all else seems to only brush the surface.  It seems to matter not from that place of where or what he may lead, as the gift in return is to become an imitator of Christ, not by what he did, but through the Union of relationship of a Oneness with the Trinity and how he lived.

It is beyond the threshold of surrender that time itself becomes the most sacred, that God is found in the ordinary and seen in all, because in the kingdom, all is beloved, and nothing is ordinary.

For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Colossians 3:3

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Photo Source  Jesus prayed, “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.  I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.” – John 17:20-26

For Reflection:  God, the Father loves you as much as his son, Jesus, “know … that you love them as much as you love me“.  What does reflecting on the vastness of his love mean to you?  Is he inviting you to trust him more, to cross the threshold of your entire will?  Is he inviting you to participate in more of life with him?

Living Full of Grace,

Heather Rogero

Allowing God’s Love to Envelop our Will

In that embrace of the surrendered soul; our will, all else falls dim, except the desire to live in awareness and freely share what has been given, it's learning to rest in God while living life in the acknowledged fullness of reality, unfulfilled expectations, and joys on the mountaintops. It's where disappointments are embraced as much as joys, realizing they both are divine teachers awaiting to impart.

When All is Not Calm, and All is Not Bright

What God allows, He invites us to receive the grace sufficient to walk in communion with him, even when emotions strongly yearn to pull in other directions. Be calm, dear one, in the midst of waiting. All will be calm, all will be bright. There's always a greater purpose beyond what the eyes can see, and the purpose for now is to enter into communion in the midst of disillusionment or delay.

The Place of Longing for Intimacy with God

Frail, vulnerable, humble humanity becomes a response to a loving invitation laid bare and finds in that place an embrace in the depths of the crevices with the Divine unconditional love anticipated and sought without understanding that the encounter behind the veil is found not in striving and getting but in yielding and receiving. To reach for the sacredness of life and living is ironically and paradoxically not found in doing more, but in being less with the abundance found with greatest capacity when we are found in Him. "and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith." Philippians 3:9

Tending to the Soil of our Souls

The seed only matures when embraced and protected in sweet communion with the master Gardner, God, and allowing Him to water nourishment through all seasons, some which seem barren to the natural eye. The soul also has to allow Him to remove any debris, pebbles, or sharp rocks that would hinder growth in the soil. The beauty is when that quality seed takes root and begins to bear fruit leading to the mystery of spiritual formation, maturation, and transformation of the soul. The fruit bore is then to be shared! His abiding unconditional love is what nurtures the root!

Soul, Hear the Invitation to an Unhurried Pace of Unforced Rhythms of Grace?

He want's our soul to radiate his glory wherever we are, because we are his chapel, his sanctuary, his monastery, ... his temple. He lives in us. The kingdom reign is in the soul May you hear and respond to his invitation to live life unforced, to live loved and embraced in your soul, allowing communion with him at the pace he sets. That precious place of humility and communion of the soul make obedience a delight. God is the one who sets the pace, always going before and preparing the details and opening the doors through the key of prayer and communion. Why worry soul, why not trust him? Is it not there that the unforced rhythms of grace begin to make music in the soul and the joy radiates through the face?

Receiving True Soul Rest

This type of rest is not found anywhere else although a nice nap, a vacation on the shore, or a spa appointment can be enjoyed. They do not touch the rest of the soul. True soul rest is found in yielding, not achieving. It's found in abiding in Him. The Greek meaning of rest here is anapausin, ἀνάπαυσιν, quiet, recreation, refreshment, intermission; by implication, recreation -- rest. It reminds me of another verse where if we will do something, something automatically seems to happen in the verb tenses; loosing one's life, one will find it (automatically) in literal interpretation from the verb tense of the Greek in Matthew 10:39.
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