Winter past

Winter past!
Arise, my beloved!

The voice of my Beloved!
Behold, He comes
Leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.

My Beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, He is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering through the lattice.
 
My Beloved responded and said to me,
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
And come away.
For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds has come,
And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
The fig tree gives forth its early fruit,
And the vines in blossom give forth their fragrance.
 
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
And come away!”
Song of Solomon 2:8-13

Yeshua (Jesus), our Bridegroom, calls us tenderly to arise and come away with Him. He is the Lover of our souls and our Best Friend and Encourager!

What are you emerging from? 
A cold winter? A move away from everything that was familiar? The long grief over the loss of a loved one? The end to your business? An illness?

What are you entering into?
Spring break? Retirement? A new beginning? A trial? Parenthood? 

In April 2021 as I wrote this post, I was emerging from a week of a big, bad cold, no energy or voice, and my city covered with a late snow of 6 to 8 inches. During one of the bad days, I stumbled upon a choir with Robert Kayanja Ministries, 77 Days of Glory Playlist. All the words to all the songs were JOY! The purity of heart reflected in the Ugandan gatherings was a refreshing wash over my exhaustion. Every song was a positive reinforcement of who we are as His children, the privilege of knowing Him, and His triumph in our lives. My achy body sang the words…

• You are doing something new every day of my life. You are touching me I know every moment of my life. Lord, I believe. Lord, I believe in you. You are doing something new. Lord, I believe.
• I’m gonna have the best days of my life until Jesus comes again…
• You can take care of my situation; my God You fight for me.

Fast forward to now, May 2024, we have all emerged from many trials these past three years. The words to the hymn, Amazing Grace, seem more and more appropriate - "Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."

We arise, Father, and go forward in your strength and presense through every task in front of us! "Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing our great Redeemer's praise!"

The Winter past Art Card is available in the Resurrection Collection at Flower Girl Greetings.com. It is also available as a 4-Pack.

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Shale Fragments™ - devotionals by Beth Ann Phifer is a division of Flower Girl Greetings, LLC. ©2020, All Rights Reserved.