Elliott - Selections from the ahavah writings

To Gods Children Everywhere, may you beblessed by what this book has to offer and may it bring Glory toHis name.

In Memory of Deborah Elliott, my mother, youare the one who always believed that one day my passions would makea difference in this world. This book is part of your legacy andthe beginning of a Journey that we will never forget.

We release this book on May25 th ,2015 to honor that Legacy and in Memory of the day He gave youlife.

In Honor of our Beloved Children LeylaAnnelyse and Caleb Jeremiah without you we would never have beenable to know the true meaning of Ahavah and how deep the FathersAhavah for us truly is.

Prayers of Thanks for all of those who havebeen a part of shaping my life, and especially to God, who gave methe gift of caring for others and the desire to see others growcloser to Him in their own Ahavah Journey.

Greetings in Christ,

I share these writings with you this day inthe hope of imparting something truly wonderful: a deeper walk withour LORD. I thank Him for each person who may read this bookbecause He has a special journey for each and every one of you toembark on. Life has shown us ALL many things, much of whichincludes hardship and suffering. I remind you today that you arenot alone in your struggles; that many have faced similar strugglesbefore and have overcome them.

At first you may wonder who is the authorwriting to? or How does the author know this person? Understand,this book is meant as an encouragement to all and is thereforewritten to all. There may be something written that doesnt applyto you in this specific moment of your life, but others can benefitfrom its content. Knowing this, I ask that you read this book withthe understanding that many of its pages were written with thereader in mind. Certain parts of this book may remind you ofsomeone who has mentored you in your journey with God or of someoneyou personally mentor today. Either way, I pray that God speaks toyou in a mighty way.

Remember that your life isits ownahavahjourney.Ahavahis a Hebrew word for Love,thus making this book Love Writings for the Journey. This is toremind us all that LOVE is what it all comes down to, becausewithout it, we have nothing. The only way any of us can embracethis concept of Love is to begin embracing Gods glory in our livesmore every day.

In Ahavah,

Matt

1st Letter: Shine Brightly

Dear One,

You are so special to our Lord and to me. Itis a wonderful blessing to know you. Through knowing you, I haveseen many wonderful things and learned much from our conversations.As I was praying the other day, thoughts of you came to mind and Ihad no clue why, until now. The life you have lived has not beenthe easiest one to endure and I have seen both the good times andthe bad. God has given you so many wonderful blessings. I am sograteful for that, but humanity has not done the same. In fact,humanity has, in many ways, done the opposite. The struggle to findthe balance between the two has weighed very heavily on you and itsaddens my heart to see where that struggle has taken you on yourJourney with God. I remember the first time you and I truly met,the love for God that I saw glistening from your eyes and the wayyou looked at the world around you was something amazing. I knewthen and there that we would have a great friendship, and I am soblessed to still have that relationship with you.

Through the years, as I have kept in touchwith you, I have seen your once beautiful light fade. I long to seethat light shine brightly again. It was such a beautiful light andI know that life has not given you the best of circumstances. Butlife isnt about reacting to those circumstances; its about givingGod the glory and letting your light shine in the darkest ofplaces. I encourage you to seek God and strive to experience Hispresence with all that you are. Humanity can do some prettyterrible things, but God can take those things and turn them intoso much more. He wants to take those horrible experiences youveendured and make them beautiful. I know its hard to let go, butonce you do, you will never regret it.

For God, who said, Let there be light inthe darkness, has made this light shine in our hearts so we couldknow the glory of God that is seen in the face of JesusChrist
(2 Corinthians 4:6 NLT).

In Ahavah

3rdLetter: Stop and Pray

Dear One,

I have been thinking about you a lot in myrecent encounters with God in prayer, and felt as though the Lordwanted me to give you some encouragement. The struggles you arefacing in this present moment are not your fault.

Many times life can place us in situationsthat we dont really anticipate will ever happen, and this can keepus from focusing on what is truly important: giving God the gloryfor all things. God deeply desires to reveal Himself to othersthrough us and He wants to do so in the most unimaginable ways. Icant count the times I have been blessed when God has done this inmy life. I have learned the hard way, though, that it all mustbegin with time spent quietly in Him. He has given us a wonderfulexample in the life of Jesus to follow. His entire life was allabout showing us how important it is to stop and pray when lifebegins to take us down a path we are unsure about. I encourage you,dear one, to think about what Jesus did in the midst of everyintense situation he ever faced: but he would withdraw todesolate places and pray (Luke 5:16 ESV). This is a wonderfulexample for us to live by.

When we stop and pray through the situationswe face in life, we begin to focus more on making sure we havegiven God the priority instead of someone or something else. It isa constant reminder that we do not have to face life on our own. Asothers see this in our life, they begin to want it in their livesas well.

In the end, I strongly believe that takingtime to stop and pray will bring you and others closer to Godsheart. The example we see in Jesus through the Scriptures is thesame example we are asked to duplicate in our lives today. So Iencourage you again, dear one, in the midst of what you are facing,to take the opportunity to stop and pray. Not really for othersthis time, but for your sake and your journey with God.

In Ahavah

6thLetter: The Harvesters

Dear One,

It occurred to me the other day in my timewith the Lord that you may be struggling with accepting the callingGod has given you. You are not alone! I have felt this in my ownlife on occasions. It was only when I trusted God with that callingthat it became clearer to me. I wanted to take this opportunity toshare with you the message God gave me as I struggled with mycalling in life.

Jesus once said these words to his followersand I believe He has spoken these words to me for you today:...The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few (Matthew9:37 ESV). This was no surprise to me because I had seen thisscripture before and known about it for some time. What I hadntrealized, was that I needed to do something with this particularpassage. You see, knowing Gods calling for you and accepting Godscalling for you are two completely different things.

I know that sometimes it can be hard todiscern the difference between the two, but I was encouraged tostand up and be the harvester that God had called me to be. Yourstruggle may be a harder one to work through right now, but knowthat God is truly with you and that He can give you the strengthyou have desired for so long.

Sometimes the responsibility alone can bevery stressful and hard to deal with, but reaching out to thosearound you is always more rewarding than letting the opportunitysimply pass you by. Each and every one of us has a part to play inGods divine plan, and we need to be willing to stand up and workthe fields of the harvest throughout the world and in our own backyards. I will caution you though, if we lead, we must be careful toalso have been led ourselves. Yes, you are called to lead, but youare also called to have another person lead you.