Questions

Blessings

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I’ve been thinking about blessings lately and the different forms it can take. This excerpt from Divine Appointments… talks about blessings and the different ways it might show up in our lives.

“Some blessings come after the hurt and wounds. The Divine often shows up in miraculous ways, turning devastation into glory, failure into victory, wounding into strength, and the impossible into something to be remembered in awe and reverence because there seemed to be no good ending, yet there was.

To live blessed, we need to be alert and seek it out. It won’t always show up immediately. Blessings may not be dressed up in blissful happiness and a cute outfit. Blessings may come dirty, scuffed up, straggling, and a bit off-kilter, but they will come. I have seen them come in both forms—equally holy, sacred, and consecrated. Blessed.

I want to live with an extravagant hope expecting blessing. I want to bloom where I am planted and thrive, no matter what it looks like. Holy, divine, sacred, and blissful happiness is all around, waiting with open arms for us to slow down and seek it. What is sought will be found.”

Gratitude

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“And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20 NLT

‘Tis the season for gratitude and being thankful. I admit that sometimes it is hard to count my blessings and be thankful in all things. Sometimes, it takes slowing myself down, breathing deeply, and just being for a bit.

Some things are so easy to be thankful and grateful for like, shelter, food, warmth, answered prayers, good friends, deep conversations, and beautiful nature.

Other things…not so much…like waiting for that prayer to be answered, waiting on a test result, the resolution of an argument, or losing a friendship.

In the moment, I can’t always find it in myself to be thankful and grateful, but I have found that some things I am able to be thankful for after the fact – for the lessons learned, the hindsight that allows that thing/situation to make sense, the wisdom to recognize that the friendship wasn’t healthy, and the understanding that God’s “no” was His divine wisdom and protection.

May we choose to take a few minutes each day to remind ourselves of His goodness and power, to see how He is working all things out for our good, and to bless us. He is the God of the impossible and He does hear our prayers. We can’t always understand His timing and that’s hard. But we know His character. He will never fail us. You are loved. Peace be with you.

Sheep

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“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 NIV

There are many competing voices clamoring for our attention. Trying to listen to them all is exhausting, confusing, and frustrating. It is easy to be caught up in trying to decipher truth, people-pleasing, and following the “correct” church or political leaders.

There are worldly voices that shout and demand but there are also Christian voices that confuse, lead astray, and exhaust the spirit, insisting you must “Do this!” “Do that!” “Pray this way!” “Follow this Bible reading formula!”

If we really listen to what Jesus is saying in this scripture, it isn’t condemning. His words aren’t angry, accusatory, or dividing. There isn’t a rote way of how things must be done and how we must act. He doesn’t endorse one Christian leader over another or one political party over another. He simply says to listen to HIS voice and follow HIM. Imitate Him.

In order to do this, we have to KNOW His voice. His. Not the loudest voice, the condemning voice, the voice that divides, the voice that appears to be strongest, or the voice that wounds others.

An easy way to know His voice is to ask Him to speak to you. Ask Him to drown out every other voice that seeks to confuse, disorient, and cause chaos. That isn’t His way. If a voice doesn’t align with God’s character and fruits of the Spirit, it likely isn’t His voice we are hearing.

This verse was comforting to me this morning. Jesus is giving us permission to simply be sheep that follow the voice of the Good Shepherd. The One who leads with kindness, compassion, and authority into green pastures, and along paths of righteousness where we rest and heal in His presence and invite others in to do the same. You are so loved. Peace be with you.

The Divine Series

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I’m excited to showcase my books on The Divine Series page. Follow the link to my Author page

https://www.amazon.com/author/melissagiomi

Divine books!

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If you haven’t picked up a copy of the books in the Divine series, here are some additional online platforms where you can find them.

Powell’s, Bookshop.org, Walmart, Indigo/Chapters, Barnes & Noble, EBAY, Half-Price books, Books-a-Million, Waterstones (UK).

If you are local, you can find them in-store at Reasonable Books in Lafayette, CA.

Thanks for all the support, friends, it means a lot!

Plans and Purpose

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Proverbs 19:21 NLT “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”

Are you a planner? I am. I love plans and lists. I like to know what’s coming. It makes me feel safe and secure, as if my plans and schedules can keep blindsiding circumstances, conversations I’m not prepared for, or situations that require a quick response at bay until I can rehearse, plan, and plot how to circumvent or control it all.

I love this verse, but it’s also challenging and it is hard to wrap my mind around it. Of course I want the Lord’s will to prevail in my life and the lives of those I love. I know all the reasons why His will is best. He’s omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. He knows the number of hairs on my head, the deep, inner workings of my heart, and the wounds I carry in my spirit. He had a plan and divine purpose for me before I took my first breath. He is never far from me and I am deeply loved. Yet…

My need for control and protecting myself from chaos is strong and tightly woven into my heart. I have experienced quite a few blindsiding situations and each was devastating in its own way, leaving scars and fear in the aftermath. However, through these situations, I have learned and embraced that God’s presence never left me in those times. His will and ways were always perfect, shaping me into who I am now. These things allowed me to live out my purpose albeit with scars; reminders that I pushed through things meant to derail, wound, and cripple me.

I treasure in my heart the lessons learned. Above all, I discovered that Jesus is safe. He is good, He is compassion, He is my Warrior and Protector. I learned, and am still learning, that I can trust Him with me and that is a lesson I would not trade for a smoother life-road. His ways and thoughts are higher that ours. His plans are good and perfect, but not without scars that are a constant reminder of our healing. We can plan, be wise, and discerning as we look ahead, but ultimately His plans and His purpose for you and for me will prevail and it does bring comfort, peace, and rest for a plotter and planner. Trust Him. He won’t fail you. You are loved. Peace be with you.

Unfailing

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Psalm 143:8 NLT

“Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.”

This pond in my neighborhood is one of my favorite places to walk and get a bit lost in nature. I love how the trees and flowering bushes change with the seasons. It’s something constant in an ever changing, rushed, and often chaotic world. I have had many conversations with God here. It feels a sacred and holy. I know I will find Him here under these sweeping, sheltering trees with the beautiful filtered light that shifts and shades.

How comforting and safe it feels knowing that every morning Jesus has a new, unchanging, unfailing love for me and for you. It hasn’t diminished overnight or faded away. He hasn’t moved on to the next best thing or lost interest. Every morning without fail He is there and He always will be. Through stormy seasons of doubt, fear, anger, and unexpected changes, and through seasons of peace, calm, and joy. Unfailing.

If we trust Him with us, if we give ourselves, and our plans into His hands, He will be faithful to hold, guide, and deeply love us. He will show us where to walk. His staff clears the way of obstacles that tempt us to give up, go around, or follow the wide, easy way. In the freshness of the morning, we can hear His voice calling out to come and talk to Him, and walk with Him along the pathway He’s laid out just for us.

I pray you will find a sweet place where you talk to Him, listen to Him, and choose to trust Him as your guide and best friend. Unfailing love. It’s yours, if you choose to lean into it. You are so loved. Peace be with you.

His loving eye

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“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Psalm 32:8 NIV

The loving eye of God on me. Let that soak in for a second. The Lord of Heaven, God of Creation, King of Kings – His eye is on you and me. Tight, tense shoulders can drop. Fast, shallow breathing can slow and deepen. Overwhelmed, exhausted minds can let go and rest.

His eye is on you. He sees what is swirling around you, holding you captive to fear. He feels the heaviness of heartbreak in your wounded heart and spirit.

He will counsel you. He will show you the way to go, how to move forward, and how to let go. He sees the beautiful way ahead that He’s set up and planned just for you. Imagine His joy in knowing what is coming for you just around the next bend in the road, twist in the path, and over that next hill. He sees it and He is leading you toward it.

Right now the way He’s leading may not feel good, happy, or safe because you aren’t in control of it. You can’t see around the bend or over that hill, and that is so frightening. But remember, He can see what’s coming. Don’t miss the part of the scripture that says His loving eye is on you. Eyes full of love that see you exactly where you are on this life-road. Eyes filled with compassion, mercy, and love so great you can’t fathom it. Eyes full of hope, healing, and so much joy. He won’t let you miss it and He won’t take it away. He already set in motion the blessings, the good, the rest, the victory, and the peace. He’s got you.

Do you have that tiny bit of faith to trust Him? I think you do. It’s in there. He sees it. His spirit is fanning that tiniest of sparks into a flame with holy, eternal breath scented with heaven, joy, and His presence. His loving eye will never look away because you are His and you are so very loved. Peace be with you.

Divine Presence…blurb reveal!!

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EXCITING NEWS‼️‼️🎊🎊

Divine Presence… blurb reveal!📚👀👀

I’m very excited to reveal the blurb for book #4, Divine Presence…! I’m proud of this book and can’t wait for it to be in your hands, speaking exactly what God tucked into the pages just for you. I believe that each of my books in the Divine series have a little nugget or two for everyone.🎁🎁

Stay tuned for the cover reveal very soon… it won’t be long before I send this book out into the world🌎

Unshaken

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“I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.” Psalm 62:1-2 NLT

It’s hard to wait quietly when there are pressing questions that need answers and God seems to be taking His sweet time. When that certain situation, relationship, or issue is taking up more and more space in your mind, and your heart feels like it can’t expand anymore to contain the constant thinking, feeling, and waiting. When self-sufficiency rears its head and invites unbelief and diminishing trust that God’s got this, He’s got them, and He’s got you. The belief that you have to fix it, manage it, and predict the outcome by incessant rehearsing and overthinking. It’s just so hard to wait on Him.

But…

God says that the victory, the answers, the rest, and the fixing come from Him. Just Him. It is hard to wrap our minds around it; that He already knows the outcome, where the bend in the road leads, how that hard conversation is going to end. It’s hard to trust when the wait time seems too long and it feels like we have been forgotten in the mass of humanity calling out to Him non-stop.

I suppose this is where we decide if we truly believe He’s for us, sees us, loves us, and we decide to trust Him with ourselves. We either do or we don’t, right?

He is our safe place. He is our strong tower and our fortress. We will likely feel the wind, the waves, and the uncertainty of living life on this planet. But maybe today, we can try to trust Him, believe Him, and relax our white-knuckled grip on that “one thing” holding us captive to fear and doubt. Maybe we can release it to Him and simply see what happens. Maybe we can do our best to live in the moment and enjoy being in His presence, looking for the good, the joy, the hidden delights, and the victories. Those things are all right there waiting for us to change our perspective from one of striving and self-reliance to humble dependence on the One who created us and envelops us in His peace and protection. Give it a try. You are so loved. Peace be with you.