Showing posts with label Poem. Show all posts 
Pride was seen striding toward her
This thing which always despised and ignored her

"How do you do?" She spoke first
Wondering if he would acknowledge her worth

Knowing better than to greet him
Yet, it felt quite pleasant to be seen with him

He took her hand inside his
She learned very quickly about taking his

He began to speak disdain
She began to believe she'd put to shame

Trying hard to pull away
Pride gripped tightly, he truly wanted to stay

He's slimy and he sticks like glue
It's a terrible thing to let pride touch you

my inspiration

Much-Afraid, of course, ought not have know better than to greet, much less to stop and talk with one of her own relatives from the Valley. But it is rather pleasant, after being snubbed and ignored for years, suddenly to be greeted as an equal. Besides this, her curiosity was awakened.

"Do you know what will happen to you, Much-Afraid, if you persist in going forward? All those fair promises he has made about bringing you into his Kingdom and making you live happily ever afterward will prove false. When he gets you up to the wild, desolate parts of the mountains, he will abandon you altogether, and you will be put to lasting shame."

Poor Much-Afraid tried to pull her hand away, for now she began to understand the meaning of his presence there and his bitter hatred of the Shepherd, but as she struggled to free her hand, he only grasped it tighter. She had to learn that once Pride is listened to, struggle as one may, it is the hardest thing in the world to throw him off.

It's a terrible thing to let Pride take you by the hand...

Hannah Hurnard, Hinds' Feet on High Places, Chapter Five.

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An Encounter with Pride

27 March 2023

 


Her lameness no longer filled her mind
She had walked miles without its control
He and she so lovingly entwined
Willingly submitting to her new role

Safely resting in the arms of Christ
Desiring Him to stay the whole way
Much-Afraid longed to not leave the tryst
As He willfully prepared for the day

"If I carry you up the mountain,
You will not firmly develop hinds' feet
In the end, you'll leap up the mountain
And you must trust that I will not retreat

I'm placing your hands inside my guides
Sorrow and Suffering will lead the way
You must stay real close, right by their sides
They will protect you from being the prey."

"I can't go with them.  I can't.  I can't.
She trembled at their horrifying sight
Sorrow and Suffering made her pant
But eyes on the Shepherd made it alright

Help me to trust as much as I love you
I will go with whomever you choose
I will not doubt whatever you do
Shepherd, it's you that I cannot refuse

my inspiration 

Upheld by the Shepherd’s hand and supported by his strength, she had really forgotten her lameness and had been unconscious of either tiredness or weakness. “Will you take me all the way? When I am with you I am strong and I am sure no one else but you can get me up to the High Places.” 

He looked at her most kindly, but answered quietly, “Much-Afraid, I could do what you wish. I could carry you all the way up to the High Places myself, instead of leaving you to climb there. But if I did, you would never be able to go where I go. If you will climb to the heights this once with the companions I have chosen for you, even though it may seem a very long and in some places a very difficult journey, I promise you that you will develop hinds’ feet. That is why I have most carefully chosen for you two of the very best and strongest guides.

“They are good teachers; indeed, I have few better. As for their names, I will tell you them in your own language, and later you will learn what they are called in their own tongue. This, “said he, motioning toward the first of the silent figures, “is Sorrow. And the other is her twin sister, Suffering.”

“I can’t go with them,” she gasped. “I can’t. I can’t. O my Lord Shepherd, why do you do this to me? How can I travel in their company? It is more than I can bear, You tell me that the mountain way itself is so steep and difficult that I cannot climb it alone. Then why, oh why, must you make Sorrow and Suffering my companions? Couldn’t you have given Joy and Peace to go with me, to strengthen me and encourage me and help me on the difficult way? I never thought you would do this to me!” And she burst into tears.

“Joy and Peace. Are those the companions you would choose for yourself? You remember your promise, to accept the helpers that I would give, because you believed that I would choose the very best possible guides for you. Will you still trust me, Much-Afraid? Will you go with them, or do you wish to turn back to the Valley, and to all your Fearing relatives, to Craven Fear himself?”

Much-Afraid shuddered. The choice seemed terrible. Fear she knew only too well, but Sorrow and Suffering had always seemed to her the two most terrifying things which she could encounter. How could she go with them and abandon herself to their power and control?

She looked at him piteously, then said, “Do I wish to turn back? O Shepherd, too whom should I go? In all the world I have no one but you. Help me to follow you, even though it seems impossible. Help me to trust you as much as I long to love you.”

Hannah Hurnard, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, Chapter Four.

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Sorrow & Suffering

18 March 2023

 


Love spreads a carpet of flowers
They lie beneath ones feet
Often found in the wild places
The places many don't see

They offer themselves completely
Singing beautiful songs
They're happy to love without return 
And flourish where they belong

Created one, listen closely
Listen and take to heart
The fairest beauties of human soul are
Victories that ne'er depart

Many a quiet, hidden life
Life unknown by the world
Are a great delight for the king, like
Wildflowers hid from the world

my inspiration 

“Humble yourself, and you will find that Love is spreading a carpet of flowers beneath your feet.” Much-Afraid looked at him earnestly, “I have often wondered about the wild flowers,” she said. “It doe seem strange that such unnumbered multitudes should bloom in the wild places of the earth where perhaps nobody ever sees them and the goats and the cattle can walk over them and crush them to death. They have so much beauty and sweetness to give and no one on whom to lavish it, nor who will even appreciate it.”

The look the Shepherd turned on her was very beautiful. “Nothing my Father and I have made is ever wasted,” he said quietly, “and the little wild flowers have a wonderful lesson to teach. They offer themselves so sweetly and confidently and willingly, even if it seems that there is no one to appreciate them. Just as though they sang a joyous little song to themselves, that it is so happy to love, even though one is not loved in return.

“I must tell you a great truth, Much-Afraid, which only the few understand. All the fairest beauties in the human soul, its greatest victories, and its most splendid achievements are always those which no one else knows anything about, or can only dimly guess at. Every inner response of the human heart to Love an every conquest over self-love is a new flower on the tree of Love.

“Many a quiet, ordinary, and hidden life, unknown to the world, is a veritable garden in which Love’s flowers and fruits have come to such perfection that it is a place of delight where the King of Love himself walks and rejoices with his friends. Some of my servants have indeed won great visible victories and are rightly loved and reverenced by other men, but always heir greatest victories are like the wild flowers, those which no one knows about. Learn this lesson now, down here in the valley, Much-Afraid, and when you get to the steep places of the mountains it will comfort you.”

Hannah Hurnard, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, Chapter Four.

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Start for the High Places

09 March 2023

 

The thorn in her heart was aching
In a manner she could scarcely bear
Would this cold pain keep her waking?
Disbelieving He's no longer there

In pursuit of her Great Longing
She slipped out of bed in the dark-night
She feared no longer belonging
A fear greater than Fears out of sight

Ceasing trembling and with great haste
Knowing deep down what she must pursue
She traveled to the trysting-place
Because she knew He could make her new

"Oh, my Great Lord, take me with you.
Please, do not knowingly leave me here.
I cannot bear life without you.
I willingly follow anywhere."

my inspiration 

The thorn in her heart was throbbing and aching in a manner she could scarcely bear. 

Much-Afraid turned icy cold and her teeth chattered, but it was the pain in her heart which was the most awful part of her distress. It seemed to suffocate her as she lay there in bed. She sat up, shivering with cold and with the horror of the thought. She could not bear it if he had gone and left her behind… She must see for herself at once if he really had gone away and left her behind. She slipped out of bed, dressed herself as quickly as her shaking fingers would permit, and then unlocked the cottage door.

Opening the door, she went out in darkness. A hundred Craven Fears lurking in the lonely street could not have deterred her at that moment, for the pain in her heart swallowed up fear and everything else and drove her forth.

It came to her mind that he who understood her so well, who knew all about her fears and had compassion on her, would not leave until he was quite sure that she really meant to refuse to go with him.

Much-Afraid ceased trembling and said to herself, “I will go to the trysting-place, and see if He is waiting for me there.” With scarcely a word to the watchmen she turned and hurried southward, over the field where Craven Fear had met her toward the sheep pool. 

“I knew you would come, ” he said gently… “I am here,” said Much-Afraid, still kneeling at his feet, “and I will go with you anywhere.”

Then the Shepherd took her by the hand and they started for the mountains.

Hannah Hurnard, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, Chapter Three.

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Flight in the Night

07 March 2023

 

Hinds’ Feet on High Places is a story of endurance, persistence, and reliance on God. This book has inspired millions to become sure-footed in their faith – even when facing the rockiest terrain.

HANNAH HURNARD
Much-afraid woke early
All her fears were gone
Love was planted deeply
Songs of joy, now her song

Thoughts of the Shepherd
Caused her glad heart to stir
Love no longer measured
Disfigurements, now blur

Knocking at the door
Old Fears hard to dismiss
Love could win the war
If Much-Afraid weren't remiss

Bound by all her Fears
The Shepherds call grew faint
Blurred by all the tears
Much-Afraid thought it too late

"Help!" cried Much-Afraid
Mrs. Valiant came in haste,
"Fears, Ye shall not invade.
You must now be replaced."

my inspiration 

Much-Afraid woke early the next morning and all her fears were gone. Her first thought was, “Probably sometime today I am to start for the High Places with the Shepherd.” It seemed to her that ever since the seed of Love had been planted in her heart, songs of joy were welling up in her innermost being. 

The morning wore on and still He had not come, but just after midday something else came; an invasion by her terrible relatives… The whole gang talked on and on, while poor Much-Afraid sat cowering in their midst, almost too dazed to know what they were saying and suggesting. Just as they they had hoped, they were gradually bringing her to a state of bewilderment and incoherent fear. 

As she sat listening in the cottage, Much-Afraid knew with a pang of agonizing pain that the Shepherd was calling her to go with him to the mountains…. now, here she was locked insider how own cottage, beleaguered by her terrible Fears and unable to respond in any way to his call or even to give any sign of her need.

…for suddenly she heard the voice of Mrs. Valiant, her neighbor in the cottage next door. At the sound, Much-Afraid braced herself for one last desperate bid for escape… Mrs. Valiant was not the sort of person to be the least intimidated by what she called, “a pack of idle Fears.” Thrusting her face right in through the window, she cried in a threatening voice, “Out of this house you go, this minute, every one of you. If you have not left in three seconds, I shall call the Chief Shepherd. This cottage belongs to him, and won’t you catch it if he finds you here.”

Hannah Hurnard, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, Chapter Two.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

Fearing Invasion

03 March 2023

 

Having been, born into
The family of Fears
Much-afraid so withdrew
With trembling and tears

Countless days and most nights
Spent locked-up in her room
Dreaming of grander heights
Bid to replace the gloom

Are you willing to be changed?
The Chief Shepherd sang
I have much to offer you
In this great exchange

This seed of love is free
When planted in your heart
Fear shall in moments flee
And strength shall ne'er depart

my inspiration 

This is the story of how Much-afraid escaped from her Fearing relatives and went with the Shepherd to the High Places where “perfect love casteth out fear.”

Most earnestly she longed to be completely delivered from these shortcomings and to be made beautiful, gracious, and strong as were so man of the Shepherd’s other workers, and above all to be made like the Chief Shepherd himself.

There was, however, another and even greater trouble in her life. She was a member of the Family of Fearings, and her relatives were scattered all over the valley, so that she could never really escape them.

“Oh, if only I could exit from this Valley of Humiliation altogether and go to the High Places, completely out of reach of all the Fearings and my other relatives.” No sooner were these words uttered when to her complete astonishment the Shepherd answered, “I have waited a long time to hear you make that suggestion, Much-afraid…. I could make make yours like hinds’ feet also, and set you upon the High Places…”

Hannah Hurnard, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, Chapter One.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

An Invitation to the High Place

20 February 2023

 

If God is for us, who can be against us?… I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, no any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

ROMANS 8:31, 37-39
Infectious fear - you shall not spread
Death and life are in His stead
Angels and demons hold no power
He watches over every hour

Infectious fear - were shall you go?
Present and future are His to show
No powers, no height - not even depth
Nothing compares to His loves breadth

Infectious fear - you shall not spread
With great trust I look ahead
Creation holds - not one tiny thing
That can pluck me from His wing

my inspiration 

Have you ever thought how infectious fear can be? It spreads from one person to another more quickly and certainly than any of the fevers we know so well. 

You can refuse the spirit of fear, which never comes to us from God. Instead, open your heat wide to the Spirit of “power and love and a calm and well-balanced mind, and discipline and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7, Amplified). Because fear is so infectious, let us, for the sake of others and ourselves, refuse it.

Thank God – ! Courage is as “infectious” as discouragement. Haven’t you often felt the cheer and strength that seems to flow from a person whose mind is fixed and firm on God? I have.

And I have been thinking of another, a greater reason for refusing the spirit of fear. When we are downhearted or fearful or weak, we are saying to everybody, “After all, the Lord can’t be absolutely trusted.”

…We have a Savior who has never once failed us. He never will fail us. He has loved and led and guarded us all these years. Look to Him now, and pray from the barren bedrock of your heart, if that is the “ground” you are standing on – “Lord, give me courage!”

Amy Carmichael, Edges of His Ways, p.148

My sweet Dad, John Kennedy, was diagnosed with ALS on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. He is braving the most devastating diagnosis that I could imagine. In prayer, he refers to this trial as “my great hurt,” and I never want to forget this.

On Monday, February 6, 2023 (only 7 months after my dad’s diagnosis of ALS) he was told that he can contact hospice – whenever he feels ready. I don’t know what to think of these things. I am hurt, angry, confuses, and scared. I need courage to trust.

ROMANS 8:31, 37-39

18 February 2023

 

Teach me to number my days aright, that I may gain a heart of wisdom. Satisfy me in the morning with your unfailing love, that I may sing for joy and be glad all my days.

PSALM 90:12,14
A dim light shines
Beyond the murky glass between
The circumstances great and small
The ones I have not yet seen

A dim light shines
Each new morning, noonday and night
Satisfying the hopelessness
Making what appears wrong, so right

A dim light shines
I will not get stuck in the murk
I will look right past, we'll beyond
Knowing it's You, that holds my hurt

A dim light shines
Refuse to give way to what's dealt
You the Healer, Powerful God
You dominate the seen and the felt

my inspiration 

If you would live in victory over the circumstances, great and small, that come to you each day… and if you want God’s life and power to well up from the depths of your being… then you must refuse to be dominated by the seen and the felt. You must look steadfastly through the visible, until the invisible opens up to you.

Amy Carmichael, His Thought Said… His Father Said, p.30

My sweet Dad, John Kennedy, was diagnosed with ALS on July 19, 2022. He is braving the most devastating diagnosis that I could imagine. In prayer, he refers to this trial as “my great hurt,” and I never want to forget this.

PSALM 90:12,14

29 January 2023

 

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God…

…Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is within me – a prayer to the God of my life.

PSALM 42:5, 7-8
Deeper depths I shall not dive
I desire to stay on land
Where feet are warm and safe and still
Where I can sit and hold Your hand

Deeper depths I shall not dive
I want to stay close to Thee
Where we can sit and chat and sing
Where I can hear the praises ring

Deeper depths I shall not dive
I long to in comfort stay
Where clothes are cozy, safe, and warm
Where I can smell the ocean spray

- Deep calls to deep -

Deeper depths You'd have me go
You desire a buried life
Where feet are wet and tossed about
Where You grip my hand so tight

Deeper depths You'd have me go
You regulate the tide
Where roaring waves toss to and fro
Where I'm buoyed to Your side

Deeper depths You'd have me go
You will not let me drown
Where conversations are silent
Where fixed eyes of trust are found

Deeper depths You'd have me go
You sing Your song o're me
Where melodies rise to the sky
Where praises cover the sea

my inspiration 

The son greatly wished to make a “Song of Lovely Things” to sing to his Beloved – but he could not find singing-words. He heard the voice of his Beloved saying, “You are walking on the road where all who love Me walk. Some of them walked this way singing, and they’ve left their songs behind them. Find their songs. Sing their words. They will be your songs to me.”

But the son became full of grief, because there came a day when he could find no words to sing… And He who is love eternal whispered, “Then I, too, will approach you, silent in my love.” And the son entered into this silence, to meet the eternal Beloved there… 

After a while there was a sound in the gentle stillness, a voice that whispered, “Even your silence is, to Me, a song of lovely things…”

Amy Carmichael, His Thoughts Said… His Father Said, p.30

PSALM 42:5, 7-8

25 January 2023



Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

PROVERBS 19:20-21
A rough path lies ahead
But You already knew
the Bible says that I'd be wise
To follow closely You

Your Word is the lantern
The rugged path won't win
It's the grueling steps in between
I have to trust You in

Sometimes faith comes easy
Other times - strenuous
The hand-held lantern to the ground
Truly is arduous

'Tis not til I shrink very low
With lantern in the dirt
That I can see the path clearly
While You hold "my great hurt"

A dark path lies ahead
It's not that You're not light
You want me close - right by your side
To illuminate my sight

my inspiration 

I believe that, in guiding us, God deals with us as He dealt with the Israelites as He led them out of Egypt. The first crossing of the sea was made very easy. The guidance could not have been simpler: the east wind blew and divided the sea before the people had to cross. Not so much as a foot was wet, except perhaps by a wind-driven spray. Moreover, it was impossible. as it were, to disobey, since they were pursued by Pharaoh’s chariots and horsemen. (Exodus 14)

But how difficult it was on the second occasion. The priests had to walk into the strong current of a flooded river and stand still there. What an order to scoff at, and what a site it would pose to other men! But it was not until they obeyed – without a particle of visible proof that they were doing right – and carried the ark right into the river, that the water rolled back before them. (Joshua 3)

So it may be for us as we go with God..

If only the next step is clear, then the one thing to do is take it! Don’t pledge your Lord or yourself to any steps beyond what you know. You don’t see them yet.

Once when I was climbing at night, in a forest before there was a made path, I learned what was meant by the words of Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, and a light for my path.” I had only a lantern, and had to hold it very low or I would certainly have slipped on those rough rocks. 

We don’t walk spiritually by electric light, but by a hand-held lantern. And a lantern shows only the next step – not several steps ahead.

Amy Carmichael, Candles in the Dark, pp. 41,43

My sweet Dad, John Kennedy, was diagnosed with ALS on July 19, 2022. He is braving the most devastating diagnosis that I could imagine. In prayer, he refers to this trial as “my great hurt,” and I never want to forget this.

PROVERBS 19:20-21

23 January 2023

 

Many there be which say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah But thou, O Lord, art my helper, my Glory and the lifter of my head!

PSALM 3:2
Wearying voices heap complaints
Murmur both day and night
Constant mutters of weariness
"There is no hope in sight."

Because I am a Child of God
I need not listen in
Such is a time for studied pause
Time to let life sink in

Selah

With a pause and then wondrous praise
My voice shall rise to Thee
Train my soul to with upward gaze
Look upon Calvary

With fixed eyes, as You lift my chin
Cause my fears to desert
For thou, O Lord, art my Sovereign
Larger than "my great hurt"

my inspiration 

We have all been subjected to the wearying voices which flood the very atmosphere around us, complaining, “There is no help…” These voices murmur and mutter the same words, no matter what the challenge or difficulty may be. “There is no help…” But because you and I are in God, we need not listen: “There is no help…,” They repeat.  Pause. “But you, O Lord, are my helper!”

No matter to us what the voices say. Their words bring only weariness – but with His word comes peace and strength and courage to go on. Some believe that selah signifies also a sudden pealing-forth of musical instruments. The pause, then, was for praise. 

Then let us fill all of our pauses with praise! Let us give all that lies within us, not to the voices of the enemy, but to pure praise, to pure loving adoration, and to worship from a grateful heart – a heart that is trained to look up.

Amy Carmichael, Thou Givest – They Gather, p. 18

My sweet Dad, John Kennedy, was diagnosed with ALS on July 19, 2022. He is braving the most devastating diagnosis that I could imagine. In prayer, he refers to this trial as “my great hurt,” and I never want to forget this.

PSALM 3:2

16 January 2023

 

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.

MATTHEW 10:29
If half a penny disappeared
Would I even care?
A sparrow falling to the ground
Never leaves His care

Insignificant, we are not
Always seen by Him
Greatly beloved and not forgot
Trust wells-up within

Father, forgive me for the days
I think meeting you
Insignificant, compared with
All I have to do

my inspiration 

It can even shake our faith in the truth that our Father regards with compassion even the fall of a single sparrow. To me, one of the proofs that God’s hand is behind and all throughout this marvelous Book we know as the Bible is the way it continually touches upon this very fear in us – the fear that we are so insignificant as to be forgotten… Isn’t it beautiful that there was no rebuke at all for their human weakness? And there never is a rebuke for our weaknesses either. Job 24:12 says, “The soul of the wounded calls for help, and God does not regard it as foolish.”

Amy Carmichael, Thou Givest – They Gather, pp. 20-21

MATTHEW 10:29

12 January 2023

 

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

ISAIAH 26:3-4
Shouldering trepidations, 
Pulling me down 
Suffocating nervousness, 
Shortening my breath 

The Invitation Arrives: 
Come close, my child 
Lean on me 
Trust me 

Place your weight of confidence,
Upon my chest 
Lie alongside my bosom 
Receive true peace 

'Tis the way you will find strength

my inspiration 

Trust, I have learned, means: to lean on, to place the weight of my confidence upon… And after this discovery, I’ve found many verses in the Psalms that provide great comfort when translated in this way… It is marvelous to me that God’s Spirit led the writers of these words to the same special verb, to lean. By one simple word, He means to show us so clearly that it is never anything in us that accounts for the Lord’s goodness to us. Everything we are given is all from Him. 

Amy Carmichael, Thou Givest – They Gather, pp. 1-2

ISAIAH 26:3-4

11 January 2023

 

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

PSALM 32:7
Deliver me, deliver me
Pleading both day and night
Deliver me, deliver me
Attempting with vain fight

An earnest look at Calv'ry love
Desisting my next step
His arms outstretched from up above
Proclaiming peace and rest

Post and crossbeam declare, "Come home."
Hiding no longer sin
The bridge that helps me ne'er to roam
Protecting from within

Jesus Christ, the crucified God
Singing gently to me,
"Come home, my child. Come home, my child.
Hide thyself inside me."

my inspiration 

I think distractions in prayer are often because we have let ourselves wander too far from the things that matter most. And so we slip into an easily interrupted, easily distracted frame of mind. We need to live more at home. Acts 17:28 says, “In him we live and move and have our being.” This means, simply, God is our home… I know that an earnest “look” at Calvary does more to help our life of prayer than we imagine. 

Amy Carmichael, Edges of His Ways, p. 60

PSALM 32:7

10 January 2023

 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

JOHN 1:4
The eternal Word moved in
Becoming in every way
A messy human being
No monarch would enter this way

The moment of His coming
Laid down in prickly straw
A baby born a martyr
The Gift - provided to all

The manger like Golgotha
A picture of what's to come
Christmas Day and Good Friday
Like morning and evening, one

The thunderous weight - God's glory
Descending for all to see
Mankind could now behold Him
The most precious King of kings

Wrapped up in pure, white linen
Grace permeates though the straw
Running out of the manger
And touching us one and all

Jehovah, God Almighty
The Truth - now in baby form,
Embodied in all God is
This valiant Christmas morn'

JOHN 1:4

12 December 2022

 

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.

PSALM 145:17
By God's plan, Abraham
Was chosen of the Lord
To be the start and help impart
Salvation to the world

By God's plan, a covenant
Established through his seed
The Righteous One, Redeemer
Providing for our need

By God's plan, 'tis Jesus Christ
The perfect Son of God
Fulfilling the great promise
Of God, the Faithful One

Jehovah, God Almighty
The one who ne'er relents
His faithfulness forever
Poured out on the remnant

my inspiration 

From all the people of the earth, God chose one man, Abraham, and promised that his descendants would become a great nation and bless the entire world (Genesis 12:1-5). God’s faithfulness to His chosen people through multiplying generations remains a constant thread in Israel’s history. – Bible Study Fellowship, Kingdom Divided, Lesson 1.

PSALM 145:17

21 September 2022

 

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 CORINTHIANS 1:21-22
Day by day, I keep pushing
The strivings never cease
A desire to be unified
My God, it falls on me

I plan and I finagle
But nothing ever comes
It's not til I cease striving that
Your work in me is done

Your name is The Husbandman
I receive all it holds
The One who cuts and grafts me in
The Vine - whose life it holds

Established in certainty
And all that I must do
Is abide here, incessantly with
My God - the anointing's through You

Sealed with Your nourishment
As life sprints through my veins
Confident to stand before you now
My earnest King of kings

my inspiration 

I wrote this poem the summer of 2022 while reading Andrew Murray’s book, Abide In Christ. I based this work off of chapter 3 entitled, “Trusting Him To Keep You.” This chapter stretched my thinking and showed me that man’s ways are entirely different than God’s ways. I loved the portion of the text that says, “It is when the soul becomes utterly passive, looking and resting on what Christ is to do, that its energies are stirred to their highest activity, and that we work most effectually because we know that He works in us.” 

2 CORINTHIANS 1:21-22

15 August 2022

 

…make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands..

1 THESSALONIANS 4:11
"Make it your ambition" is how it began
This straightforward verse that is part of God's plan
Ambition seems a strong word for such a plain task
How do I accomplish these duties that I lack?

Ambition requires determiniation, hard work, and skill;
A proclamation to be simple, quiet, and still
Ambition to mind my business and to work with my hands
A counter-culture living that combats fleshly plans

Ambition, I will do it, I desire a yielding life
I will keep busy working to help bridle all the strife
Ambition to follow boldly - wherever Jesus goes
A contentedness to follow Christ and not oppose

my inspiration 

How do you fight a culture that says, “Work harder, Do more, Be more, Buy more, Chart your course, Hustle, Make a name for yourself, Level up, Grow your brand, Be a leader in your industry, You’ve got it in you to…” Somewhere along the way, God showed me that the world was jading me. His plan for my quiet life was a better way. His plan for me to mind my own business (which eventually led to me removing all social media from my life) allowed me to be with Him and the people I love. His plan for me took work: it is unnatural to work without notoriety, to step back from societal pressures, and to feel comfortable being invisible.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:11

26 July 2022

 

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

1 CORINTHIANS 1:30
He is Christ Jesus:
The reason for exemption
The One who does restore
Who of God is made supreme protection
For those who are in the Lord

He is Wisdom:
The perfect revelation
Of all He has in store
Secrets revealed by investigation,
Through His True Word when explored

He is Righteousness:
Imputed at conversion
To those who don't ignore
Jesus' great payment of restitution
He so lovingly outpoured

He is Sanctification:
The wondrous transformation
Quickens man to abhor
The sin, by which is a violation
Of holiness to the Lord

He is Redemption:
The glorious conclusion
An heir to His grand throne
Yes Life, even here, before perception
Of the Glory we'll behold

my inspiration 

I wrote this poem the summer of 2022 while reading Andrew Murray’s book, Abide In Christ. Chapters 7-10 are particularly intriguing to me, as he dissects 1 Corinthians 1:30 and all the benefits we receive, through Christ, as children of God. 

1 CORINTHIANS 1:30

13 July 2022

 

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

1 PETER 2:24
His flesh was torn, hanging piece by piece - 
His body pierced
Falling, rolling, dripping down His brow - 
tears, sweat, and blood
Fixed are His eyes on my very being - 
piercing my soul

Broken and convicted, I fall down - 
face down in dirt
I taste the filthiness of my sin - 
it suffocates me
The gagging impedes my speech, silence - 
I am liable

A thunderous voice breaks the darkness - 
IT IS FINISHED!

The veil is torn from top to bottom - 
His presence mine
His worthiness pulls me from the dirt - 
His righteousness mine
Forever marked by devastating stripes - 
His healing mine

1 PETER 2:24

26 June 2022

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