This goes out to all the little dreamers ♡

This goes out to all the little dreamers ♡

I hope the little dreamer in you never disappears. The one who believed that ideas could become realities. The one who looked at ordinary things and wondered what else they could become. The one who wasn’t embarrassed to imagine. To daydream. To wonder. Many of us learned that dreaming belonged to childhood while adulthood belonged to practicality. We traded wonder for productivity. Imagination became synonymous with escapism instead of attention. And lately, I’ve been rethinking how I feel about escapism. Maybe the problem isn’t that we’re longing for another world. Maybe it’s where we’re looking for it. Because heaven never stopped speaking the language of our dreams. We’ve just outsourced imagination to consumption instead of cultivating it as communion. What if daydreaming was never meant to be something we outgrow? What if it has always been one of the ways God invites us into partnership with Him? Jesus is alive, seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is still bringing heaven to earth through willing vessels like you and me. What an honor it is to be entrusted with that. To bring glimpses of heaven into the earth. Through proclamation of the gospel, songwriting, paintings that capture emotions without bounds, architecture, the list goes on. Everything that has ever been created is from God, for God, for His glory to be known in the earth. Our capacity to imagine is itself a gift from the mind of God. We do not create apart from Him—we create because we bear His image. And that image includes our imagination. I wonder if we’ve misunderstood what imagination is. If we’ve handed it over to children, artists, and movie studios, as though its highest purpose is entertainment. But scripture tells a different story. Before there was ever a temple, there was Bezalel and Oholiab. Men filled with the Spirit of God. Entrusted with craftsmanship. Entrusted with beauty. Entrusted with building a place where heaven and earth would meet. A place set apart, meant for holy encounter with God. That says something profound about God. He didn’t first anoint someone to build an audience. He anointed someone to build a dwelling place. He filled them to imagine. I wonder what that says about the kinds of things heaven calls important. To envision curtains that had never been woven. Furniture no eye had seen. Imagination was never separate from holiness, it’s one of God’s instruments. Even more beautiful is that… Bezalel wasn’t expected to create from nothing. God moved on the hearts of ordinary people to willingly bring gold, silver, fabric, wood, and gemstones— from the smallest to largest detail, every resource required for the assignment. They didn’t have to go searching. God supplied both the vision and the provision. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 it says we are to cast down imaginations and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Because the same place God plants the vision, can also become the place where the enemy sows fear, doubt, and distraction. Which means the answer isn’t to abandon our imagination. It’s to consecrate it. The dreamscape isn’t merely biological. Scripture treats it as a place of encounter. It’s a space of exchange, a space of communication between the heavens and man. A place we can (and should) reclaim for God. Isn’t it interesting that we carefully guard our mornings with devotionals and prayer… but seldom consecrate the third of our lives we spend asleep? I’m not suggesting we manufacture spiritual experiences, I’m suggesting we become people whose imaginations remain surrendered to God. People whose spirit stay responsive to His voice. We aren’t only called to wait for heaven, we are invited to participate with it. It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that God so often meets people in dreams. Throughout Scripture, the dreamscape is anything but silent. While humanity rests, God continues speaking. Before God changes the world through our hands, He often changes what our imagination believes is possible. While the world tells us imagination is an escape from reality. I think redeemed imagination helps us pay closer attention to it. Heaven has always spoken through ordinary things to reveal extraordinary truths. Perhaps imagination isn’t about inventing realities that don’t exist. Perhaps it’s learning to perceive the deeper reality God has been revealing all along. So, this goes out to all the little dreamers. The ones who tucked away journals because adulthood demanded efficiency. The ones who stopped painting because it wasn’t practical. The ones who stopped writing because doubt got louder than calling. The ones who learned to manage life but forgot how to wonder. Dream again. We have become incredibly entertained but increasingly unimaginative. Perhaps the imagination is one of the last places we’ve yet to surrender to God. Ask: “God, show me what you want me to see.” That’s become one of my favorite prayers. Sometimes He shows me my own heart. Sometimes He shows me someone else’s. Either way, He comes. Dream because your Father is still creating and wants to create with you — His beloved. Dream because the Holy Spirit still delights in filling ordinary people with extraordinary ingenuity. Dream because heaven is still looking for willing hands. And maybe the next thing God wants to build in the earth won’t begin with louder opinions or bigger stages. But maybe with someone who dares to dream. Little dreamer, Imagination is not an escape from reality. It is one of God’s ways of inviting us deeper into it. If you’d like to support my writing or just say a quick thank you, you can do so✨here [https://buymeacoffee.com/cheriejade]✨. Always love, Chérie This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe [https://beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Child of God

I recorded this video on this day last year. It just barely scratches the surface of a very complex scheme of the enemy. Holy Spirit always meets me on long car rides with a word to share with the people. Totally forgot about this one. Until now. Though it feels like light years ago, I really feel like it might bless someone today. I believe it will set someone free. Share with a friend. Beneath the Flowers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe [https://beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Make Room for Manna: Daily Nourishment for The Soul

*Disclaimer* I am not a bible teacher or pastor, I did not go to seminary or bible college. I’m just a grace gifted woman redeemed from the law being used by God to spread the good news :) Core message of this live: remember the promise, silence the law God is sovereign and cannot lie. Jesus was in the wilderness with the Israelites too. His promise to Abram, 430 years before the law was given to Moses, is complete in Christ Jesus. The Law is there to show us that we cannot do life without God. That we are sinners and the weight of our sin is too much to carry on our own. How many laws and rules were there? Yes, life outside of Christ is actually a lot. Full of works. Before Christ, the law was our guardian— God’s plan to keep us blameless/sinless until He sent Jesus. Jesus Christ calls people "workers of lawlessness" in Matthew 7:21-23, when they rely on their own works (such as performing miracles or preaching) rather than a genuine relationship with Him and obedience to God's will. He declares, "I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness" Lawlessness = no reverence for the law. i.e., sinners. The law has a purpose in God’s plan. The work we, born again believers who are grafted into the promise by faith, have to do is believe and remember our identity in the promise. Sons and daughters of God. With Christ living on the inside of us, changing our character, desires, outlook on life, we no longer need to be up under the law. We are less inclined to sin. We are made new, and are being made new daily. Yes, both are true. Our soul is no longer ours. It belongs to the Lord. He is our shepherd and the daily bread nourishing us— continually, until the end of the age. Key verses: * Genesis 15, when God gave Abram the promise seed * Exodus 16, focus in on 31 - 35. The test God gave is also the law. * Galatians 3:15-29 Christ as fulfillment of the promise * Romans 7 and 8 For more deep dives like this, consider subscribing for free below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe [https://beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

some prayers don't sound like words

God, I don’t know what to say.. I’ve been having conversations with friends about the current state of the world and what it means for our future generations. In having those conversations, I’ve experienced grief, sadness, anger, hope. I know it won’t always be this way. I want to do something. I don’t want to be a sitting duck. So, I write. I read. I create by Your grace. I try my best to remind myself and others to put on love, above all else—to focus on the heart of Christ, so our hearts might begin to look like Yours. But somehow, I feel like a drop in an ocean of noise. I don’t question my worth or the impact of the Holy Spirit coursing through my veins. However, I do wonder what it would be like if we, collectively, just paused for a moment—one inhale and one exhale. To remember the source of the breath in our lungs.To remember the love of Genesis 1. No, I’m not trying to escape. I see, I hear and can discern the times we’re in. But what would it be like if we all just took a moment to rememberthat we are to love our brother,our neighbor,our friend? Love. Not the fabricated kind, or the kind that thrives in an aesthetic.Love that tells the truth.Love wrapped in compassion.Love that holds both sides accountable. Love. Not the cutesy kind—though that has its place too.But the kind that speaks to the outcasts and the ones far away. Love that sets the table for a Passover meal with a few unhoused friends—stepping into their world for just a moment. Listening. Praying for their journey ahead. Allowing space for humanity and honesty. So I pray. I pray that though we may not have a solution,we don’t become the very thing we’re fighting against. My heart cries, in a way only You could hear. I feel it before I even understand it—a tightening in my chest. Like a quiet, internal wringing,with nowhere for the insides of my heart to go. Pressure builds in my chest,like a volcano waiting to erupt from my eyesas I make my tea. There, at my kitchen counter—waiting for the kettle to whistle,pouring hot water over these loose leaves. Feet bound to the cold wood floor beneath me.Spiraling through a future I can feelbut can’t yet see. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. With groanings too deep for words. Not spoken.Still understood. Without notice, prayers flow from my eyes—running down my cheeks. Salty enough to preserve the moment. No need to suppress.You already know what’s in my heart.You knew that volcano would erupt one day soon. I’d rather stay in this moment than run from it. Stay hereand let You finish the work You started in my heart.Bring clarity to my mind. I don’t need words to describe the way my skin tightens when I know You’re here— how, from the weight of Your presence, I must cover my face. I won’t run away from you, God. I need You.I lay all of this at Your feet. You said to remember You are with us until the end of the age. You left me with that promise. You are with me.You never left me. Whether I’m having conversations with friends, heartbroken over headlines, or standing at the counter making tea while tears fall from my eyes— thank You for this heart of flesh, Lord. On earth, as it is in heaven. You heard every word I couldn’t say. In Jesus’ name,amen. If this met you in a quiet place,you’re welcome to stay. I write for those sitting with God, without rushing the moment. Subscribe for more journal entries, poems, reflections, and essays 🌸 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe [https://beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

You can't go to war wearing only your helmet...

Fully saved… but are we fully covered? (No, not by grandmama’s prayers…) Lately, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things. Thought 1: salvation, a free gift. Nothing we have to work for—only a heart surrendered. And yet…what does it meanif there are gaps in the rest of our armor? In Ephesians 6, we’re told to put on the full armor of God: The helmet of salvation.The breastplate of righteousness.The sword of the Spirit.Shoes carrying the gospel of peace.The belt girded in truth.The shield of faith. The helmet of salvation is the first step—vital, but not the only step. It is the doorwayand the covering. It guards the mind,the identity,the assurance. But it is still only one pieceof a full life lived with God. Not the end of the story. Some of us have been walking aroundclothed only in the moment we met Him. Still holding on to the day we said yes,but never stepping into the lifethat yes opened up. He might be calling you deeper in this season… Thought 2: are we really ready for war? Because that is what this is. A real, invisible, daily battle—and yet, the good news: Jesus already won. In Him, we are learning how to standsteady in the authority that is already ours. The helmet of salvation over your headreminds you who leads you,who you belong to,what has already been secured. But what about the rest? The breastplate that forms your heartinto the heart of Christ—steady, aligned, made right with God. The belt of truth holds the whole suit togetherwhen everything feels like it’s unraveling with lies. The shoes that carry you forwardinto a life marked by peace—as an example and an experience. The shield that helps you withstandwhat you didn’t expect. And the sword of the Spiritthe only weapon we’re given—living, sharp, sustaining. Salvation is where you begin.But a secured armoris how you persevere. Maybe the invitation is to finally put onthe rest of what’s already been given. What would it look liketo walk fully covered this week? Maybe tonight, you don’t need to try harderjust noticewhat you’ve left unworn. Thought 3: Manna. I’ll go live on Substack to talk about this one.so stay tuned. ◡̈ Thank you for sitting with me beneath the flowers. If my work resonates with you or offers support, I’d be grateful for every like, share, or comment. And if you’d like to support my work further or say a quick thank you, here’s the link to buy me a coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/cheriejade]. I’ll write to you again soon. Always love, Chérie Subscribe to receive new posts and support my writing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe [https://beneaththeflowers.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]