His new creation

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  Genesis 1:1

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."   John 1:1-3

God created the world we live in
He created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
He created after the flood of which Noah built the ark

God was displeased with His creation
in so many ways
He gave promise
and
He cursed the ground
and all that which came forth from it
But even in His displeasure,
He still loved us
We were and are
His creation

God created Himself  and became human
as the baby Jesus
and when Jesus was raised
from the dead
a new creation was born

Jesus - God himself
He loved us so much
He came to live among us
and show us the way

Still,
there were some,
there are many
who rebuff him,
who refuse to show homage,
no honor does He receive from these
who continually come against Him
and seek a life of their own choosing

The choices we made
and continue to make
do not force God
to turn His back on us
Always seeking us out,
calling to us,
weeping over decisions made
that only hurl us down
a path of further regret

God's creation.
Us.
Jesus.
The world.
All.
New.
A new life created by God.

When Jesus' lifeless body
is raised from the dead,
God brings
a new future, a new promise,
a new creation ....
born in the midst of
the old creation.

The new creation,
born with the resurrection
of Jesus Christ,
of which we are a part
as His followers.

The new creation,
born in the Son of God
who died to set our souls free.

The new creation,
born of God,
being God
who lives within our hearts
as the Holy Spirit.

The new creation,
the Lord Almighty,
King of Kings,
has come
and is forevermore.

(c) April 23, 2012

God moves the stones

We bury our sins at the cross of Jesus
at His feet
our burdens removed
are no more
Our guilt forgiven

and Jesus is raised
Not like a blooming flower
lain dormant through the winter months
He is dead

But God, in His sovereignty
His Oneness
Awakened Him
from the grave he lay
Awakened Him to
regain eternal divine glory,
union with His Father.

The dead shall rise
The dead in Christ
will rise first at His second coming
and those remaining will join Him
in the air … on the cloud

But without the
promised resurrection
of The Holy Son of God
there would be nothing.

We cannot join what is not

We cannot be with Him
nor He with us
Our guilt would run wild
Our sins would know no bound
We would be lost and
we wouldn’t know it.

What would we have to compare?
Where is our glorious hope? …
dashed, snipped in the bud.

The “woe is me” scenario
would be accurate

But Jesus’ death was not
the end of His life, nor our life
Jesus lay in the tomb
3 days
and then! it was resurrection morning

The stone
meant to keep outsiders out
was rolled away
The stone
to hold Jesus in,
to keep you out
Removed

God was there first
Remember … He is always there,
where we are
and where we are not
When we least expect Him
Where we hope He is.

God moved the stone away
God raised Jesus from the dead
God sent the Holy Spirit to live within our hearts
God moves the stones that hinder our growth,
working to defeat us
God loves you
God creates you
God brought His Son, His only Son,
The Son of God,
Son of Man
The Lord Jesus
to life
to death
to life again and forever
God is all powerful
our dilemmas are not beyond Him

We pray

Do our prayers bring us closer
to God … are we grounded in the
Stone of Hope and T riumph
offered by The One whose
death, burial and resurrection
was for us
or have we only found
stepping stones from one
troubling point to another?

© April 21, 2012

God Is With You

God goes before you
behind you too
He is right beside you
on every side
Do you feel His presence
He is carrying you

He protects you
calms your fears
envelops you
within His mighty grasp
brings comfort
and relief
from all that comes against
 ... the staggering pain -
like spasms
that come and go

The dismal
dampness
and darkness
of the day
brings inner turmoil
agony
and distress

yet You O God are with me
If only I (would)
settle my eyes
on the heavens
and not inward thinking
of "woe is me"
If only I (would)
view each day
as The Day
The Lord has created
and be glad in it
regardless of
outward appearances.

The rains come
The joints ache
The bones burn
The pain unbearable
so it seems

Perhaps God is testing us
watching
how well or how poorly
we do when life
goes awry

Life is not perfect
Jesus never said
we would be free
of pain and sorrow

The stress of the world
is everywhere
internally and externally,
taking its toll
on our mind, our body, our soul.

How? ... to survive, overcome, live

Remember
to whom we belong
It is not to ourselves
But to Jesus
He gave His life for ours
We give our heart to Him
Remember His Love

Remember
His Truths

Rejoice in the Lord always for He is with us Eternally when we have Repented of our sins past present future and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. Meditate on the Scriptures - the word of God - for they are our instructions for living, an Example of how God wants us to live and not to live. Majestic Beauty of God's wondrous creation surrounds us - the mountains, sunrise and sunset, rainbow after a storm and much more. Blessings flow from above when we are one with Him. We must run the race set before us with Endurance. God enables us to continue on, to Endure, to Resist the Devil. We are Renewed daily when we seek God's will, look to Him. Cast All our Burdens upon Him and He will give us Rest.


Remember
day in day out
sunny warm days
and cool dark damp days
He is here
before you
behind you
beside you

He has your best interest covered,
in sickness and in health

With Him
our fears can be alleviated
With Him
hope abounds with every breath
With Him
every day is a new day
and it can be our best day
With Him
we have peace.

(c) April 19/20, 2012

There is no IF

IF Christ had not
did not
rise up
from death to life
from nothingness to somethingness
from eternal damnation and separation
to hallelujahs and eternal hope
IF He had not
did not
rise up...

then
the lives of we
we who profess faith
in Him
the Lord Almighty
would be meaningless
in shambles
chaos would rule
Satan would have won
Satan would have defeated
the Son of God ...

IF ...
But there is no if
Only FACT
Christ did rise up
He overcame death
He conquered sin
He defeated Satan
He lives

A forever life ...
A cleansing wind

and we
united with Him
in death
are born again
into a new life
in Him, with Him.

A cleansing wind
God's gentle caress
removes
the burden of our past
the bonds of sin that strangle us
the sprays of Satan's fiery tongue
and the sharpness of his pointy darts

We have been set free
to a new life
to be filled
with joyful wonder
to be surrounded
by God's beauty

A cleansing wind
to set our sights higher,
high in the heavens
to seek the best
to choose His plan
instead of mine
to endure
when it is tough
to see another future
Hope.

A cleansing wind has come

Has it swept into your life?
Have you be cleansed?
Are you free?
Is your life changed?
Does it show?
Can those outside see the difference?

Jesus died for your sins and mine
Jesus rose from the dead
Jesus lives

His Spirit lives within my heart
He can live in your heart too.

Reach out
Seek the cleansing wind
Seek Jesus

(c) April 18, 2012

God is pleased

His mistakes,
her anger,
doubts
do not need
to be mine

I do not need
to bring troubles
from their past
into my present

If I do, then I do
but it it not
God's plan or desire
that I cling
to another's burdens,
baggage in life.

If God wills me
to reach back
and strike a new chord
with a past relationship
of another's,
one I never knew,
then I will obey.

But a new relationship?
that remains
questionable.
Reasonably unlikely
if death has since come

You're too late.
You're too late.
You hear.
But are you? am I?

God sent me
on a mission
The mission was not
one from decades ago
but only a few
weeks
and I
responded

God does not make
mistakes.
His timing
is perfect.

Perhaps
it was too late
from their perspective

But my obedience
to God's call
was not
too late.
I was right on time.

And because
of my obedience
God is pleased
with me
and that
should be
reason enough
for joy.

(c) April 14, 2012

Thank you Jesus for Easter morn

Thank you Jesus for Easter morn
For without the risen Son
the life we claim
the hope we cling
is meaningless

You came
You moved about
with purpose
living the life
Your Father God called you to

You stood
before your accusers
silent until near the end
And then You proclaimed,
"It is finished."

But it is not
You were
born to die
to live
and live again
forever and always

The tomb
in which Your body lay
could not restrain You
It was not Your final resting place

You arose
Up from the grave
Your resurrected body

You are not dead
You are alive.
You have risen from the dead

And after 40 days
You ascended into heaven
where You reign
until You return again.

Thank You Lord Jesus
for Easter morn
Thank You for finding me
and loving me
and healing me
and saving me
Thank You for the new life
You have given me
Thank You for Your Promises,
Your Blessings,
Your Truth
Thank You for Your Word

Thank You Lord Jesus
for my new life
a life reborn
Thank You for Easter morn

You are risen
You are risen indeed!

(c) April 9, 2012

Staying the course

Stay the course
Bearing up
Perseverance
Patience
through and in
every experience
encountered
Stay through thick and thin

Not give in
to ways of the world
what is fine
on the outside
considered reasonable
is not necessarily such
when you claim to be
a child of God.

He wants a relationship
with you
and that alone
not one shared

He wants obedience
to His commandments
but not without love
He wants the love
He has for us
to be reciprocated by us
for Him
but He will not beg

He is not of this world
He created the world
in which we live
He allows our choices
to determine our end
He knows us
He knows what choices
we will make
yet He doesn't interfere

Stay the course
Stay true
to what you remember
as you pray and ponder and meditate
on His Word.

Experiences
and with it
pain and suffering
come
new every moment
round and round
come and go

Keeping God in the midst
of our experiences
and not on the fringes
we come to realize
as we persevere,
earnestly pursuing patience,
defeat does not come
and in its place
hope.

Hope in the Lord Jesus
who lived and died
and lives again
and still lives

and in this hope
we have
peace.

"For He Himself is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14 NKJV)

In Him we have all we need
He is our everything

The world does not offer
the peace we desire

It can only be found
one place ...

at the cross
of JESUS

At His feet
I lay my burdens

and am comforted.
at peace ....

(c) April 7, 2012

Peace ...

Jesus carried
The cross
bearing every sin
known to man
belonging to man
because
of His great love
for every one,
each one,
believer and non-believer.

We
the Christian
a follower of Christ
are called
to carry
to bear up under
our cross,
every struggle,
pain
and
hardship
that comes upon us
because
of
our love
for Him
who loved us first.

The peace we seek
is not found
in a life
without chaos
turmoil
agony
misunderstandings.

Peace is found in Jesus
Peace comes to us
in the midst of
living life
and can last a lifetime
an eternity.

Peace
like a river gently flowing
no rocks upon which to stumble

Peace
no anxious waiting
but calm acceptance
Rest
in His strength
who carries us
where we are to go.

(c) April 5, 2012