Living in Candlelight

 

Even when you feel surrounded by shadows, I am moving quietly through them, kindling small flames of goodness. Look closely… My light is all around you.

And you will see it — because I am here.

Do not stare into the darkness.

Behold the candles I have placed along your path.

Yes, there is evil in the world… but there is also My goodness, steady and present.

What If You’re More Loved Than You Think?

Oh My beautiful lamb, I have made you without flaw or blemish, for your good and for My glory. Find your worth in Me, for you are a creature of infinite value.

Find your rest in Me as I carry you close to My heart. Feel your weight relaxing into the strength of My everlasting arms—arms that will never, no never, let you go.

Be still with Me in that safe place.

I have deep, tender affection for you, the kind a mother has for her child.

Face to Face

When you search for Me, I am not far away. When you look for Me in the distance, you look right past Me. Once you placed your faith in Me, the chasm that once separated us disappeared. I crossed it — I removed it. Nothing stands between us now.

I am always right here — face to face with you — closer than the air around you, even dwelling within you. You do not need to reach across miles of silence to find Me. You do not need to strain or strive. My nearness is already yours.

I speak with you “face to face, as a man talks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11). So turn your gaze from the horizon and simply look toward Me. I am here.

With love beyond measure,

Jesus

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Author's Note: 

I would love to personally pray for you. If you have a request, you can share it with me here:  https://t.ly/UboFq

Will I See My Pet in Heaven?

Perhaps you have lost your beloved pet and your heart is aching. Your grief is real, and I do not take it lightly. Others have told you there is no biblical proof that animals have souls, which makes your pain even worse. Your heart tells you there must be more, but you don’t know what to think. Be encouraged; there is evidence in the Bible — not exactly proof but strong evidence — that you will see your pet in heaven.

Before the world was fractured by sin, animals lived in peace. They were not food and they were not hunted or feared. Animals did not even eat each other. Only the evil of humans brought an end to the Garden of Eden and ushered death into the world. In the Garden of Eden, animals existed alongside mankind in harmony.

My servant Paul wrote, “Not all flesh is the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. … If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body" (‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭39‬-‭44‬ ‭BSB). This seems to say that because animals have physical bodies, they also have spiritual bodies.

Consider Balaam’s donkey who saw the angel (Numbers 22:21-39). She carried not just a prophet upon her back, but spiritual understanding beyond Balaam’s. She spoke, revealing wisdom and goodness beyond her human companion. By her own will, she turned aside from destruction. I did not speak through her using her as a puppet — I merely opened her mouth, and she cried out her own emotions, her own discernment (Numbers 22:28). She saw into the spiritual realm when Balaam could not see, and through her obedience, My purpose was fulfilled. Does this not show sentience? A soul?

Your Resurrection Identity

Do you know that when you gave Me your heart, you became a completely different person? The old, sinful self was removed from your spirit by My blood, and you were given a completely new identity.

As I promised in Ezekiel 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

You may remember the Scripture that says, “The heart is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). But that deceitful heart is the heart of stone — the one I have taken away. Its removal is as certain as the stone rolled away from My tomb, revealing My resurrected life.

It is no longer who you really are. For at your core, you are now the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Yes, you still wrestle with the remnants of that old heart and the wrong desires it tries to stir. But it no longer lives in your spirit. Paul describes that inner conflict, and he makes the same distinction:

“Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin living in me … For in my inner being I delight in God’s law … I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law” (Romans 7:20, 22, 25).

Paul is not avoiding responsibility here. No! He is making a differentiation in identity. He knew that his true self delighted in what is right. You are responsible for the wrong things you do, but they are no longer who you are. Your sin nature is outside your true self. And when I look at you, I see the good.

My grace is not something you reach for. It is something you already hold.

With love beyond measure,

Jesus

For more content, visit Facebook https://facebook.com/gracewithinreach

Author's Note: 

I would love to personally pray for you. If you have a request, you can share it with me here:  https://t.ly/UboFq