"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."~from ISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog

APOLOGY to READERS who followed a SEARCH to HERE & didn't find it

On July 18, 2017, I drafted almost 3000 blog posts that I had published since 2008 when I began blogging, rather than edit each one. So if you clicked here from somewhere else and ended up with the post unavailable or error, I am sorry but this is why. It'd be too much work for me to go back and fix them. There's an explanation on 7/19/17 as I'm still learning.

Monday, September 8, 2025

"SPACE, His Grace and the freedom ..."

Remember these words from a song?

"... where do I begin to tell the story..."

for such a TIME as this

however

I still am not able.


O Lord, the house of my soul is too small for You 
to enter: 
make it more spacious by Your coming.
 ~St. Augustine


So, as I looked at the One Word for this week in the


SPACE

I was thinking "no way" can I connect with this One Word 

until I read the following "Reading for Reflection":

"In biblical Hebrew, the letters yodh and shin combine to form a root that connotes “space and the freedom and security which is gained by the removal of constriction.”  From this YS root come words like yesha and yeshuah, referring to salvation.  When you think about it, it makes sense that space would be intimately associated with salvation. Space is freedom: freedom from confinement, from preoccupation, from oppression, from drivenness, and from all the other interior and exterior forces that bind and restrict our spirits.  We need space in the first place simply to recognize how compelled and bound we are.  Then we need space to allow the compulsions to ease and the bonds to loosen.  In the Hebrew sense, our passion needs elbowroom.  To the extent that space is permitted by grace and our own willingness, we discover expanding emptiness in which consecration can happen, room for love to make its home in us. (The Awakened Heart by Gerald G. May) "Day 1 (August 10, 2014) Ps18: 
16-19

"Spaciousness is always a beginning, a possibility, a potential, a capacity for birth.  Space exists not in order to be filled but to create.  In space, to the extent we can bear the truth of the way things are, we find the ever-beginning presence of Love.  Take the time, then; make the space.  Seek it wherever you can find it, do it however you can.  The manner does not matter, and the experience you have there is of secondary importance. Seek the Truth, not what is comfortable. Seek the Real, not the easy. (The Awakened Heart by Gerald G. May) Day 2 (Friday in book: John 8:31-38)

[Day 3 (Romans 5:1-2), Day 4 (Tues.in bk: Deut. 8:1-20), Day 5,(Thurs. in bk; Deut 11:8-32) Day 6 , Day 7 (Sun.in bk, Ps. 37:1-11) for this week at blog online, which may or may not follow The Blue Book order as noted, confusion😕

Maybe if you're familiar with my situation or me, you may understand,
after reading this without further explanation.

Without sharing too many of the details, 
I will share the basics that after this past year of caregiving again, 
from Covid to bacterial pneumonia, to hospital home care, followed by Hospice and then Hospice again, then referred to Palliative Care and 
then more happened quickly
(preceded by the Covid season and 
the prior caregiving season)
for this same loved one with vascular dementia placed on Hospice back then, and now his rapid decline was at the end of this August and 1st week of September; which ended abruptly yet 
somewhat peacefully this past Saturday at

3:16

{significant}

So yesterday, Sunday, I broke with my Sunday routine of church online (pre-Covid) to actually being present with church family in our junior high school doing a series on the Holy Spirit
 (so appropriate) as often is the case for me
so I actually experienced *this there (taken from the above reading) and on my way home:

such
FREEDOM 

"... *Space is freedom: freedom from confinement, from preoccupation, from oppression, from driven- ness, and from all the other interior and exterior forces that bind and restrict our spirits."


So this post today was just to give 
a brief testimony to these words
but of course these last two weeks 
have been filled with
MOMENTS

and also that is/was the name of our 
new Hospice team
MOMENTS

just a God-incidence

so once again

HE IS HERE
HE IS WITH ME

in my thoughts, in my grief, in my memories,
and in the healing restoration of my soul

in this

SPACE

wherever I go, I sense His Spirit

<>

Being open to how the Spirit leads through this One Word
that on the surface, I might have thought it was irrelevant 
but finding it's much more than

"I could ever imagine"

This is how aMazing our God is!!!

We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that He has already thrown open His door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
 (Romans 5:2 - The Message)


Bible Hub: SPACESPACIOUS

[what's given for "SPACE" at Bible Hub is what I thought of at 1st]
that is why the reason I shared these 

"Readings from Reflection" by G. May

because other Readings like on p. 306-7 
by M J Thompson about 
"make more SPACE for God in our lives"
 changes the context & meaning of
SPACE
and its use


My suggested advice:

JUST FIND YOUR
SPACE
with God
more & more
as we move forward
for the rest of 2025

<>

in the midst of so much
I realize the importance of staying with this


because we never know what 
God
might be saying through each One Word
to our personal life application
<>

BTW
the first linked song
is not intended truthfully 
as a real LOVE STORY between us
yet it does intertwine a complicated almost 
50 years (& 55 of knowing each other)
with how God's Story of LOVE
makes or changes ALL for our good 
as best He can, in spite of us,
while we press on in our life journeys 
with our own right & wrong choices or decisions 
... BUT GOD ...
He keeps working on each of us and
He will turn it around for His Glory somehow
if we remain close to Him & His Word as we
"SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM of GOD..."
just because the Almighty God
gives us freewill to choose
yet He still chooses us
and made a way
through His Son
Jesus Christ
then
gives us the freedom

-SPACE-

and plenty of TIME to make
all things beautiful
in the seasons
of our lives
to come
to
Him
for
eternity
and in-between
there are many encounters
and opportunities made available;
wonderful experiences & people
to interact with & share
the message of the
Gospel, the Good News.
We each can speak
LIFE
into someone else's life for eternity
like the Holy Spirit does 
ever so gently & a constant prompt
(not by force or law)
yet through actions & words of
LOVE that BLESS
in those
SPACES
in-between
by Linda Ellis

3 comments:

  1. Oh, my! Such beautiful thoughts and ponderings…the Spirit truly comforts and heals🙏🏻

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Karen so much! I'm so sorry that it took me this long to get here to reply - not because I did not read it (in email) but because I have so many "tabs" opened on all the other necessary matters that I totally have not gotten over to my actual blog. These thoughts & ponderings were hard to write publicly without clearly stating so much other details, but I hope you were able to read between the lines. I so agree that indeed the Spirit does comfort and continues the healing process (even after death - there is the ultimate healing). Meanwhile that - Dash and space is totally in God's hands because only He knows the heart completely. Praying that God receives even the stubborn ones. I have to believe that somewhere the Spirit convinced him of Jesus' part in his heart & God, the Father showed him His endless mercy, love & grace. Somehow, God is bigger than we can imagine (if we don't box Him in to our thinking) and our conception of praying a salvation prayer, etc. is beyond our finite grasp as God's infinite, awesome plan unites one man's heart to the truth & heart of Jesus Christ, in that mystery of the Trinity & eternal life. To release myself of this, was for me to surrender also to God's will (not theology nor doctrine). Love you and your beautiful spirit, heart, comfort & gift you are to me now & forever. Thank you so very much! {because we're "moving beyond suffering", right?}

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    2. 🙏🏻👐🏻🤟🏻💙💚🙌🏻

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Bless you for your visit and encouraging words! I thank you and I am humbly blessed by YOU and the time you spend with me... Peace, "Mazmagi" Peggy


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DIOS TE BENDIGA
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Peggy