Dear Beloved,
“Arise my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past, the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come...” Song of Solomon 2:11
I love watching the trees, like giant bouquets from the Lover of our souls, awaken with bowers of blooms in the crisp spring sunshine!
Likewise, buds of hope are beginning to open in our hearts as we seek Him for New Beginnings.
These last couple of months, I’ve been seeking God for His direction for me and our Widow Strong community in 2023. I believe He answered me with a fresh word that brought clarity, purpose, and peace…
Sanctuary.
It’s so easy for me to fill my life with activity, but it’s something altogether to build Sanctuary.
Sanctuary in Body: health and self-care
Sanctuary in Mind: patterns and habits and
Sanctuary in Spirit: closeness with Jesus
Sanctuary for our Families
Sanctuary at Home
Sanctuary at Work (as best we can)
Sanctuary in Relationships and
Sanctuary at Widow Strong
3 Steps to Sanctuary
Sacrifice: Giving our brokenness to Jesus through prayer, reading the Word, and connecting in authentic community will lead us, with time and perseverance, to beautiful breakthrough!
Esphesians 5:2 MSG
Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
Sanctify: The process of setting aside for a sacred purpose.
Creating healthy boundaries can be painful, but the process also brings peace.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
Safety: Trusting God as our place of worship, refuge, and security.
Trust is the foundation of a healthy relationship and of love itself. So that we may rest in His love, God calls us to trust Him with our pain, to spend time with Him in His Word, to stand on His promises, and to open our hearts to His love for us. He is faithful! As we take these steps, we can experience His sanctuary in our hearts.
Psalm 32:7
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Isaiah 30:15
For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…
Luke 1:45
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!
Psalms 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
Verses about God’s protection of widows and the fatherless:
https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-widows/
Our goal with today’s newsletter is to authentically point you to the One who heals our hearts and renews our spirit! |
