The Lord God does not deceive

The Lord God does not deceive.

gods of other nations refute the claim
claiming their god
is the one
to whom all loyalty belongs;
propaganda chains them,
believing promises made of a greatness
that will instead lie in waste.

The Lord God does not deceive.

He
The Mighty King,
King of Kings
Lord of Lords
The Lord Almighty
Ruler of the Universe,
of all Creation.

Deception will be squashed.

The Lord’s response
is swift and just
when the time is right – in His time.

We must wait
wait and pray
and listen

and obey.

(c) April 23, 2013 

God will

God will avenge
the deaths of His people,
His inheritance,
the work of His hands.
All that is His
will remain --
a remnant of Jew and Gentile
will reap the crown of life.
All that comes against
to dishonor
will perish,
drowned in shame.
God will prevail.

(c) April 20, 2013

Bud, Flower, Bloom

The darkness
The gloom
invades our every pore.
Trapped.

We envision sunny skies
and warmth
to remove the tiredness, achiness
and negative thought that permeates
our mind, body and soul.

The darkness
The gloom
Evil surrounds us
so subtle
it is missed
we let it pass
It is as it is.

But No!
Not as it should be.

Never God’s plan
The darkness
The gloom
The pain
The grief

We decide.
The consequences
ours to bear.

“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

It is for a season
Today, maybe tomorrow
and another.

The Lord has made everyday.

The darkness
The gloom
We can overcome.
Spring is coming
New life is near
Jesus will return

Bud, Flower, Bloom
Today!

No more darkness
No more gloom

 Live each day rejoicing
and be glad in it. 

(c) April 19, 2013

God's Plan brings Peace

God created

humankind
and commanded obedience
Human heard
and listened
until personal will
got in the way
Obedience fell
and any love esteemed
for The One
who made him
was evaporating
like the mist
that watered
God’s Holy Paradise.

God cringed
when His will
was bypassed
Deeply saddened and angry
God strove to right the wrong
created by His people,
the  very ones He created
in  “Our Image” – the image of
Spirit,  of God, of Jesus.

Rightness,
righteousness in His people,
among His people
was not the standard
Evil and wickedness prevailed.

God judged and punished.
Sentences of long-term captivity,
of fire and brimstone, of floods
were carried out,
yet still,
His people went their way,
esteemed Him not.

God determined another course

He came as Himself,
born of Him, of God,
and the Virgin Mary,
who carried His seed
and from her womb,
He came – Jesus.

And when the time had come,
When it was His time,

God executed judgment
on Himself – on Jesus,
Son of God, Son of Man –
taking every sin from every person
He created
upon Himself.

Our sins
upon His shoulders
brought His death
Our sins became His shame We look up at Him,
see Him hanging limp
on that cross
and see His blood,
our blood – the blood
of our guilt
flowing from His lifeless body.

God reconciled Himself
with His people

He offers hope

All who come to Him
through His son, Jesus,
who accept His death,
His burial, and His resurrection
All who believe
He died for me personally,
All who commit their lives
to following and obeying
All who love the Lord
with all of their body, mind and soul,

There is Peace.  

(c) April 13, 2013

Our fear ....

Our fear
of offense
be it true or false
hinders us
from moving forward.
We take a step back
wondering if we said
or did
something
to another unaware.
We sleep,
but in those moments
when we
suddenly wake
the fear comes to us
again
and sadness
intrudes upon our faces
our eyes downcast.

Oh woe
we cry
but why?

The valley of doubt
lies deep
Our fear
of wounding another
with words
brings our misery
deeper still.

But is it true?
Or  is it false?

Ask.
Ask he or she --
that one perceived to be
the offended one

Ask Jesus – The Holy One
who casts out our doubts
and fears,
replacing with trust
in The Only One
worthy of all reverence.

Ask. Pray.

Apologize if necessary.
Move on.

There is no room
There is no time

Our fear can drive us
to a wasted life
a stagnant life
a miserable life

Or
to a God-filled life
of love, faith, hope, obedience.

Our fear of offense
need not hinder us
but take us forward,
growing step by step,
with the Lord our always guide.

(c) April 8, 2013 

We err, We stumble

(Based on readings in Isaiah 28)

We err in vision, we stumble in judgment
Our heart is not resting with the Lord God
We are intoxicated with foolishness,
selfish desires and lie upon lie
The Lord teaches
Little by little
but we do not learn
nor understand
We refuse to hear

We fall
Our vision is darkened
Our judgment lost
We fall
We are in a continuum
on and on we go
backward
We are caught in a trap
We are desolate

We err
We stumble
We faintly hear the Lord’s calling
but we do not answer
We refuse to give up our ways
We refuse to give in to Him
We know the way

We will be trampled
Destruction will come
The Lord will have the final say
He is The Way.

(c) April 6, 2013