Friday, May 20, 2011

Sleeping Beauty

On April 30th I went to Messiah Dance Theatre's production of Sleeping Beauty.



I had started that day off by reading my friend Kaitlyn's blog entry, "He is coming" and listening to her playlists. http://hereinyourpresence.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/Kaitilyn122#p/p
(If you go to the link above the five links on the right side of the page starting with "I Will Praise Your Name" are her playlists.)



Starting off the day thinking about Him coming for His bride (me), thinking about being with Him in Heaven, and thinking about His GREAT love, mercy, and tenderness toward me even though I am so sinful, filled me with joy and peace.


Then at the show the song lyrics filled me with SO much joy. Especially the song "Here In This Moment."



When Joni came out, reading from the Bible and sharing her poem, I was overwhelmed. The symbolism of Christ and the Church from Sleeping Beauty is something I've never thought about before. It is beautiful. And so true.


Though this world may fill us with pain and sorrow, one day in Heaven Jesus will awaken us with a kiss. Our life here on earth will only be like a dream. A tiny part of a much much bigger picture. We will be fully awakened to His deep deep love for us. Love that is beyond our earthly understanding. And we will finally live happily ever after with Jesus.


This fills me with so much joy and peace when I think about it. I am overwhelmed by the Beauty of it all. And by His love. :)


Joni also talked about how God wants to awaken our hearts right now to His love. Though we can't fully understand how much He loves us and we can't fully feel the peace and joy until we reach Heaven, He desperately wants to awaken us right now. To open our eyes to Him.

To awaken those who are sleeping. Lost. Afraid. Or living without Him.

And for all of us who do know Him, He wants to awaken our hearts to something deeper every day. He wants to awaken us to live for Him. Powerfully and boldly. Defeating Satan. Sharing His Word with others. Being One with Christ by allowing ourselves to walk with the Spirit in all we do.


God awakening those who are lost or struggling to His love is something I have been thinking about a lot lately. It relates to what I wrote about in my post "Prayer Warrior part one; Not dead, merely asleep." As the show continued I was thinking hard about one of my greatest desires: for all to know the beautiful peace and joy that comes from knowing Christ's love and promise of Heaven. I just want everyone to be saved so badly. It brought tears to my eyes, making me want to cry.








Joni's poem:

Sleeping Beauty

I am Sleeping Beauty, I was hidden in the earth
I knew not my calling, nor the purpose of my birth
Awaken me, awaken me to thy Divine Love
Let my thoughts be lifted up to that which is above
To know that destination for which I was born
To be by Your side, for this Your heart was torn
My passage on this earth may be brutal at times
full of sadness and sorrow
But when You awaken me with Your kiss in Eternity,
I will know it was only a dream



My prayer is that right now we can find our peace in His grace. In His love and forgiveness for us even though we sin and fail Him day after day. I pray that His compassion, mercy, and His daily rescue and saving grace can fill us with joy! And make us want to share His grace and love with others. I pray that the promise of Heaven, even when this life is horrible, hard, ugly, and unfair, fills us with hope as we walk through our days.

If you could pray for me about the following I would greatly appreciate it: I want to allow Him to awaken my heart daily. To more and more of Him. To what He has for me right here and now! I want to live for Him. Stop making excuses. Stop getting stuck in my ruts or pulled down by my anxiety and fear. I'm awake and alive with Him!! Now I want to start living like it. Letting Him work and love through me.












I'm at war with the world
And they try to pull me into the dark
I struggle to find my faith
As I'm slipping from Your arms

It's getting harder to stay awake
And my strength is fading fast
You breathe into me at last

I'm awake, I'm alive
Now I know what I believe inside
Now it's my time
I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life

(Here, right now)
Right here, right now
Stand my ground and never back down
I know what I believe inside
I'm awake, and I'm alive

I'm at war with the world
'Cause I ain't never gonna sell my soul
I've already made up my mind
No matter what, I can't be bought or sold

When my faith is getting weak
And I feel like giving in
You breathe into me again

I'm awake, I'm alive
Now I know what I believe inside
Now it's my time
I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life

(Here, right now)
Right here, right now
Stand my ground and never back down
I know what I believe inside
I'm awake, and I'm alive

Waking up, waking up
Waking up, waking up
Waking up, waking up
Waking up, waking up in the dark

I can feel You in my sleep
In Your arms, I feel You breathe into me
Forever hold this heart that I will give to you
Forever I will live for You

I'm awake, I'm alive
Now I know what I believe inside
Now it's my time
I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life

(Here, right now)
Right here, right now
Stand my ground and never back down
I know what I believe inside
I'm awake, and I'm alive

Waking up, waking up
Waking up, waking up
Waking up, waking up
Waking up, waking up


















So here I am ready to have all of You
So here I am waiting for You and

Nothing can change the way
I feel when I’m with You
You give me a peace
That surpasses all understanding
And no one can tell me
There's a better place than with You
You give love everlasting

Oh, here You come
Arms open wide (come fill me)
Oh, cause You are the one
Who fulfills all my desires

You are love, You are life
You're the air that I breathe
You're my day and my night
You’re my joy, You’re my peace
You're the wings for my flight
And vision to my sight
You are truth, You are power
You gave me faith to believe
Brought me straight to my knees
Now I'm standing
Here in this moment, with You
There's nowhere I'd rather be

There's only One who can truly satisfy me
Only You can give me everything that I need
And as high as the heavens are above the earth
You’ve shown me Your love so unconditionally

Oh, here You come
With Your arms open wide (come fill me)
Oh cause You are the one
Who can fill me with this fire

There's nothing that I can do without You
I know life only because of Your love
I just can't breathe without You
I'm so crazy about You
And I know love only because of Your life
Oh You overwhelm me with Your love
Oh You overwhelm me, You overwhelm me



2 comments:

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  2. Abby, this is so INCREDIBLY beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing all of this. The poem, the message, the music, the prayer and above all: the beautiful Promises we have in Jesus. The desire of your heart to go deeper and deeper with Him is so wonderfully inspiring and beautiful. He has so much to unveil to you, more and more, each day!! I will be praying, and if you could please pray the same for me as well. =) Thank you so much, Abby!

    There is a song by Andrew Peterson that I just discovered. I was listening to it, and I just wanted to share it on here. I had read your post earlier today, and upon hearing it, it actually made me laugh with joy to see how wonderfully it resonated with all of this.

    "Rise up, oh you sleeper, awake; the light of the dawn is upon you. Rise up, oh you sleeper awake; He makes all things NEW."

    Here is the link:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SoND6QgM3Q

    (I had something to add and edit, so I reposted this)

    I LOVE YOU!!! :D :D :D :D

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