This word is submitted by Teresa Seputis (TS@godspeak.org)

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                         In The Desert

Child of Mine, there are times when you feel so very far from Me. But I 
tell you the truth, you are never as far away as you feel.  Have I not 
placed My Spirit within you as a seal and guarantee that I am with you 
always and that I will never leave nor forsake you?  Child, I am not 
fickle and I will not change My mind concerning you, nor will I go back 
on My promises to you.  So do not allow your feelings to be your gauge 
of My nearness, for your feelings will lie to you.  But I will never lie 
to you and I have promised that I will never abandon you or leave you as 
orphans in a storm.  Child, I am near you even when it feels to you like 
I am far away.  I hear your cries even when it feels like the heavens 
are brass.  I will not abandon you or push you away -- you are My own 
dear child purchased at a very great cost.

Know that I am a faithful God, and I have called and chosen and destined 
you.  And, child of Mine, you shall surely walk in your destiny, for I am 
with you. I will not forsake you and I will not let you go.  I hold you 
in My hand and I cover you with the shadow of My wing.  You are precious
to Me.

Child, look to My mercy and trust in My grace.  It is by My mercy that 
you are called and chosen.  It has nothing to do with your own merit or 
ability.  My mercy and My grace and My forgiveness are based on the shed 
blood of My Son, which you received when you believed in Him.  It was 
never based upon your actions or upon your behaviors or even upon your 
attitudes; it is not something that you earn.  Since My mercy and grace 
are not based on you, you cannot accidentally do something to disqualify 
yourself from it.  So, child of Mine, do not fear.  My mercy shall avail 
for you, and My grace shall always be upon you.

I will never become angry with you for your shortcomings and stop loving 
you.  Child, that cannot happen.  For I am love and it is in My very 
nature to love My own dear children.  But My love is not a love that 
tolerates sin and failure in your life -- it is a love that lifts you 
above them and empowers you to overcome them.  Child, I have prepared a 
place of victory for you and I desire to make you an overcomer. 

Your enemy the devil has also prepared a place for you.  He desires to 
defeat you and make you feel disqualified. He hopes that you will give 
up in discouragement.  He hopes to soil you and get you so trapped and 
dirty that you are afraid to cry out to Me for help.  But child, your 
enemy is a liar and he is a defeated foe.  He has no power to separate 
you from Me.  He is unable to break the power of My grace and My mercy 
and My love in your life.   

I do not reject you nor push you away. Instead I transform you and I 
conform you to the image of My Son.  I place My power and My victory in 
your hands.  I draw you close to Me when you feel far away and I never 
stop loving you and I never stop working for good in your life.  So do 
not listen to your feelings when you are in a desert time.  Trust Me 
and know that I am much closer to you than you feel. I will never let 
go of you.