heaven – A spiritual diary

23.11.23: One with Christ

November 23, 2023Ruth Kirk

Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him (Philippians 3:8-9; NLT).

May we be one with Christ
In prayer:
Joining with him
In peace and love.

May we be one with Christ
In all:
Seeing his face
In friend and foe.

May we be one with Christ
In joy:
Praising with those
In heaven above.

May we be one with Christ
In grief:
Yielding with him
On earth below.

Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matthew 26:36-9, 42; NLT).

References

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. 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 (John 17:21-3; NLT).

You are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28; NLT).

Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

Your immortal spirit is in every one of them (Wisdom of Solomon 12:1; GNTA).

Love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18; NLT).

Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44; NLT).

I heard what sounded like a vast crowd in heaven shouting, “Praise the LORD! (Revelation 19:1; NLT).

He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38; NLT).

20.11.23: Glory

November 20, 2023Ruth Kirk

✝️ Glory in God’s holy name; let the hearts that seek YHWH rejoice! Turn to YHWH – to God’s strength – and seek God’s presence constantly (Psalm 105:3-4; TIB).

Let’s glory in God’s holy name:
May every heart that seeks the Lord
Rejoice!

Let’s turn towards His perfect strength:
Safe in His presence, always,
Day and night.

Let’s live in love for everyone:
Then we will live in God,
And He, in us.

Let’s dwell in heaven, here, on earth:
His kingdom within us,
Walking in His light.

✝️ Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12; NLT).

References

Rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16; NIV).

I can never get away from your presence! (Psalm 139:7; NLT).

You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues (Psalm 31:20; NLT).

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else (1 Thessalonians 3:12; NIV).

Love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18; NLT).

Love the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19; NKJV).

Show love to foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:19; NLT).

Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44; NLT).

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).

The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21; KJV).

In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

God is light (1 John 1:5; NLT).

5.11.23: Filled with prayer

November 5, 2023November 5, 2023Ruth Kirk

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; NIV).

Lord,
May my exile here
Be filled with prayer,
And all my days on earth
Be shaped by love.

Lord,
May my pathway here
Be lit by joy,
Guiding me step by step
To heaven above.

Lord,
May my thinking here
Be formed by peace,
And all my words and deeds
Framed by your law.

Lord,
May my journey here
Be made with thanks,
Then I’ll be one with you
For evermore.

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him (Philippians 3:8-9; NLT).

28.10.23: Flying colours (for J.Y.)

October 28, 2023Ruth Kirk

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us (Philippians 3:13-14; NLT).

Come through life with flying colours:
Make each loss you face, a gain.
Come through every test with honours:
Trust in Jesus’ Holy Name.

Come through death in shining robes:
Be guided by his staff and rod.
Come, at last, borne by his Spirit:
Then unite with Christ, our God.

Come, for evermore, to heaven:
Merge with Him, our resting-place.
Come, receive the victor’s prize:
To gaze, forever, on his face.

His servants will worship him. And they will see his face (Revelation 22:3-4; NLT).

References

We look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed (Titus 2:13; NLT).

This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior (2 Peter 1:1; NLT).

20.10.23: Please teach us

October 19, 2023Ruth Kirk

You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am (John 13:13; NLT).

Please teach us
Full repentance, Lord,
For all we’ve done,
And failed to do.
Then we will live
In total freedom
Here, on earth,
Dear Lord, with you.

Please teach us
Full acceptance, Lord,
Of all you give,
And all you take.
Then we will live
Abundantly
In heaven on earth, Lord,
For your sake.

Please teach us
Full assurance, Lord,
That we, like you,
Will rise again.
Then we will live
With thankful hearts,
And bow, rejoicing,
At your name.

God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11; NLT).

27.9.23: Heaven

September 27, 2023September 27, 2023Ruth Kirk

This prayer arose spontaneously out of my silence yesterday, resolving my long-standing fear of having to meet my mother again one day, in heaven.

My mother is a part of me,
And I, Lord, am a part of her.
Despite the suffering she caused,
Our primal linkage will endure.

Lord, I’ve forgiven her abuse –
Through prayer, I’ve let it go, at last.
I understand her suffering,
Her rage, her devastating past.

I used to dread that I would have
To meet her when my race is run.
But now I know she cannot hurt me
Any more, for we’ll be one

In you, the God who heals us all.
No harm will come to me, just good,
For when you take me in your arms,
I’ll meet my mother in your love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
(1 John 4:16; NLT).

References

None will harm or destroy another on My entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is filled with water (Isaiah 11:9; HCSB).

Nothing harmful will take place on the LORD’s holy mountain. Just as water fills the sea, the land will be filled with people who know and honor the LORD (Isaiah 11:9; CEV).

They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain. For there will be universal submission to the LORD’s sovereignty, just as the waters completely cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9; NET).

The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox (Isaiah 65:25; NIV).

In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain. I, the LORD, have spoken! (Isaiah 65:25; NLT).

The LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalm 100:5; NIV).

The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).

30.8.23: I follow you

August 30, 2023Ruth Kirk

I had barely begun to pray last Sunday morning when these couplets came to me. They took several hours of concentrated work to put into words.

This happens more and more frequently. The first stage of writing takes so long that by the time it’s finished, I have missed out on the experience of wordless prayer. In fact, there is a constant, seemingly irresolvable tension between my longing to pray, and the drive to express in words what I am given, so it can be shared here.

All I can do is to echo the prophet’s words: “My work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the LORD’s hand; I will trust God for my reward” (Isaiah 49:4; NLT).

So now, here is today’s blog:

Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34; NLT).

I follow you, my only Lord:
My guide, my way, and my reward.

I honour you, my Shepherd King:
My strength; the truth to which I cling.

I thirst for you, my living God:
My breath, my life, my staff, my rod.

I trust in you, my light, my love:
My daily bread from heaven above.

I worship you, my Father’s voice:
My resurrection, and my choice.

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (John 11:25; NLT).

Choose today whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15; NLT).

15.7.23: Here

July 15, 2023July 16, 2023Ruth Kirk

Yesterday, when I woke and started to pray as usual, these two groups of linked couplets quickly came to me. They were quite hard to put into words, but slowly, line by line, the whole piece emerged from my inner darkness.

Be silent before the LORD, all humanity
for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling.
(Zechariah 2:13; NLT).

1. Here, in silent adoration,
Lord, I wake, and start to pray.

Here, in stillness: exultation –
Thus, Lord, I begin each day.

Here, I find you, always waiting:
Yahweh, you’re not far away.

❤️

2. Here, alone, in wordless worship,
Lord, you set my spirit free.

Here, in darkness: one with you –
There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

Here, in timeless liberation:
This is heaven, Lord, for me.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said,
“Surely the LORD is in this place,
and I wasn’t even aware of it!”
(Genesis 28:16; NLT).

References

First three couplets:
🔻 We adore you as the one who is over all things (1 Chronicles 29:11; NLT).
🔻 Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10; NLT).
🔻 Exult in his holy name (1 Chronicles 16:10; NLT).
🔻 The LORD must wait for you to come to him (Isaiah 30:18; NLT).
🔻 He is not far from any one of us (Acts 17:27; NLT).

Second three couplets:
🔻 When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private (Matthew 6:6; NLT).
🔻 Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor (1 Chronicles 16:29; NLT).
🔻 Our soul has gone free like a bird out of the net of those who would take her (Psalm 124:7; BBE).
🔻 Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light (Micah 7:8; NLT).
🔻 I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him (Philippians 3:8-9; NLT).
🔻 What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven! (Genesis 28:17; NLT).
🔻The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21; KJV).
🔻 We are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16; NLT).
🔻 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).

10.7.23: Pray within me

July 10, 2023July 10, 2023Ruth Kirk

My apologies that today’s blog is so late. This morning I lost all access to WordPress, but am hoping that my amazing husband has now solved the issue.

Yesterday I woke very early in the morning, and began to pray. Just at the point of letting go of all words, this prayer came to me. I had to draw back from the beckoning silence in order to note it down. Perhaps writing it was a way of continuing to pray.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.
(Ephesians 6:18; NLT).

The Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words…

Holy Spirit,
Pray within me:
You know all
My human weakness.

Holy Spirit,
Pray within me:
Pray with sighs
Too deep for words.

Holy Spirit,
Pray within me:
Pray on my behalf
For others.

Holy Spirit,
Pray within me:
Lift my pleading
Heavenwards.

…And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of God’s people in accordance with God’s will (Romans 8:26-7; AMP).