I rejoice over you with singing. I quiet you with my love. You are my chosen one, adored and beloved. Do not believe the inner voices that disagree. Let my love for you define you as the Beloved of God. I cherish you. My thoughts of you outnumber the sands of the seas. I order your steps and your life. There is nothing to fear.

I will use you, even when you feel useless and weak. I am the God who can work miracles with spit and mud. But you are a beautiful creature of infinite value, indwelt with the very Spirit of God. What do you think I can do with that?

Suffering is your teacher, your guide, yet you scorn it. Just BE with it and listen to the lesson. Learn to coexist with negative emotions and experiences; they have profound things to offer you. These things are like seeds. They are not beautiful, but when buried in the fertile soil of my word and tended by the Gardener of your life, they will grow into something beautiful. Suffering becomes a glorious rose bush with a beauty and fragrance that makes it all worth it.

I am always here for you, although you are mostly unaware. See through the eyes of faith that I am watching over you as a mother watches over her newborn infant. The baby sleeps, unaware, but the mother would die to protect her. All the details that trouble you are weaving together to make something beautiful out of your life. Have compassion for others, but also yourself. Do not amputate yourself from the fruits of the Spirit. I love you; agree with me and love yourself as you love others.

You are different. I made you that way on purpose. I wove you together in your mother's womb, I gave you a special personality and temperament, and I determined the perfect environment for you to be raised in. Perfect. The pain would tell you otherwise, but the front of the tapestry is beautiful. Oh, my child, if you could only see it! I give both deliverance and calamity, and bring good, the best good, out of both. That is why I want you to learn to rejoice in your sufferings like Paul did, like my son did. A good God created a world that has evil in it. The human mind cannot comprehend it, but light cannot be appreciated without darkness, nor love without hate. You don't have to understand to believe.

Good morning, little one! Today is the day that I have made; rejoice and be glad in it. Do not censor what I say to you, for my ways are higher than your ways. Listen to me and apply what I say, and you will prosper and grow. Your desert will bloom and your joy will return. You are tempted now, but I offer a way out. I am the way. Direct your energies toward me instead of your obsessions and I will provide for all your needs. One day you will look back on your despair and see that it is black velvet behind the sparkling diamonds of your reward! Rejoice! That is a verb, not a feeling. Rejoice!

Rejoice in me like the birds and the flowers do! Your despair and frustration are your teachers. Focus on the lessons, not the pain. Immobilization is a coping mechanism, but I am the source of power for coping. The more you rely on me, the less you will need to rely on immobilization. I do not condemn you. I understand these things more than you do. I am the one who will set you free to rejoice like the birds and the flowers.

Little one, my child, "like a weaned child with it's mother" so is your soul with me. Rest there; remain there. Now that you are seeing hope, don't stop resting in me, in my power. Don't flee from me in your own strength, for I want my glory to shine in your life.

You have been scorned and rejected, but so has my Son. No depth of human rejection can compare to what he felt when he bore the rejection of mankind. He understands; he gets you. Rejoice that you share in the fellowship of his sufferings. Count the blessings that come from the pain and set your mind on them.

I am with you; I am mighty to save. I am your Deliverer, your Savior; I am he. You will walk with me in the garden in the cool of the day and I will delight myself with you and converse with you face to face, as a man talks with his friend. Turn your heart to me at all times. Throughout the day remember me and talk with me and I will listen to you and bring about what you believe for. Remember, I am smiling on you.

Believe in yourself; believe also in me. It is not arrogance to believe in yourself, it is simply agreeing with me because I believe in you. You are afraid because you are not at rest in me. You enter into my rest by faith. Faith expressing itself through love is everything. Live by faith and you will not walk in the ways of the world. You are with me. I will make your pastures bloom and the dry riverbeds will overflow with water. You are with me.

Beloved one, ravaged by the world. You don't see now how you can recover, but you will. The Good Samaritan is anointing your wounds with oil and wine. He goes out of his way to care for you and get you back on your feet. Feel it. Believe it. Experience it.

Oh despondent one, I store every tear that you shed. Each of them is a treasure in heaven. You will learn to rejoice in your sufferings. The world teaches that suffering is bad. And it does grieve me. However, I squeeze every drop of good possible out of each trial. I waste none of it. Focus on the good. When you can see what I see, you will say that it was worth it all. Be still. Cease striving. Wrestle, instead, with my energy that works so powerfully in you.

I AM with you! You don't know what that means, do you? It means you are surrounded by love and acceptance all the time. It means you have more power than you know. It means you have wisdom even when you feel foolish. It means you are protected by an impenetrable shield. It means my angels are ministering, whispering, to your spirit. Soak that in and be comforted and lifted up! "Therefore we fix our eyes not on what is seen, which is temporary, but on what is unseen, which is eternal." The most true reality is what you cannot see with your physical eyes.

Thank you for listening to me. You know that I will always guide you in the safest path--the path that is best for your soul. I hear you; your cries are real and have reached my ears. I am working behind the scenes in the spiritual realm to deliver you and comfort you, though you see it not. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all ... all!

Don't divide your energies. Keep it simple and focus on me. On my power to change your life, my wisdom to show you the way, my love to embrace you. You think you are unworthy, and you are, but the cross has proven your infinite value. Rest in it. Rest in me. You are still striving even though you are immobilized. Rest in me and I will give you the power to live.

My little one, battered and bruised. You know a bruised reed I will not break. Don't trust your feelings; trust my Word. I have not forsaken you in a situation beyond redemption. You will see miracles and the glory of God if you but believe. You are closer than you think. You need to trust yourself like Job did, even if the masses are screaming against you. I see your faithfulness and am pleased. Know this: you are pleasing me just the way you are. The world says suffering is bad and the weak are dispensable, but I am attracted to the weak and the suffering, including you.

You are dismayed, little one, but not defeated. Omnipotence always wins the battle, the battle for your soul. Fear not, for I am with you. Another layer of the onion is peeled away, and you think you cannot bear to get to the core, but I am with you. I scorned the shame on the cross though I bore it for you. Your shame is nailed there. Reckon on it's demise in your life. I am vigilant and will not give up until my work is done and I come to receive you unto myself. In perseverance there is great reward. Be still.

Force yourself to do what you ultimately want, not what you immediately want, for that way leads to death. I am here for you; my Power is shooting down from heaven. If your eyes were more open to the spiritual realm, you could see it--feel it, but my power is there just the same. Dig down roots and tap into that power like a cottonwood by a brook. You will be amazed at the difference in your life.