Fill me with the pure light of Jesus

I see, 

I see Jesus.
Don’t you see Him?
I sing
praises to His name.
Upward
I glance
toward the heavens
and He is there.
Not hidden .
For just a brief  moment
the face of
my beloved Savior
I see.

Hovering, watching,
And then,
all too quickly,
He is gone .

The light … 
a light we can only imagine
and not very well
at that.
Our ill equipped minds
can’t grasp all that God,
all that Jesus
and all that the Holy Spirit
Is.

We see  …
not with our eyes,
and we hear …
not with our ears,
but totally with our heart
that moment when
God’s pursuing of us
becomes so real
we are enveloped
within His tender touch
not wanting to escape
but only to embrace
and be embraced
with His love and kindness.

The light …
sometimes we see it
sometimes we do not.

We surrender
our selfish lives
and accept God’s will
for our new life,
but have we forgotten
we must walk,
we must follow,
we must obey.

We cannot simply
give up our past,
accept a new beginning
and then do nothing.

We cannot sit idly,
coming to weekly worship
to only think of other things
while the preacher speaks,
and then go home …
going through the motions
week after week
missing it all.

The light …
We need the light.
All of us.
The light
brings us face to face
with Jesus.

The light …
God’s power.
The light …
my faith.

We need His pureness.
Not the black darkness
of the world we live in.
The world can give us nothing.

The Lord is our all  …
Our strength,
Our power.

We can do nothing
without Him

We must surrender.
Live 
In Him.
Not in ourselves.
Believe In Him
He is the treasure
we seek.

Open my eyes
Open my ears
Open my heart Lord.
Fill me with You.

So I may show another
Your love,
Your precious love.

And so I may be
and think
and act
like  a believer,
a follower,
who lives in
Your light
and not in the darkness
that draws us
into ourselves. 

(c) September 28-29, 2013

Life ... without God is The End

Life begins at conception
We are babes
within  the womb
content, cozy, warm
but that is not the end.

Life continues at birth
still babes
but taken from
our comfortable environment
of nine months or less
and brought into a world
of glaring lights
and excessive noise
but that is not the end.

Life grows
through babyhood
childhood
teenage hood
young adulthood
middle age
old age
through every stage
we learn and respond
still babes
but that is not the end.

God created life
If not for the Almighty God
there would be
no man or woman
to meet, unite and conceive
another.

Our life is fulfilled in God
It is He
who not only creates us
but reconciles us
redeems us
loves us
saves us
Life in the Lord
is our ultimate goal.

Without God
there is sin
judgment
death
eternal damnation.
It is definitely
The End.

(c) September 28, 2013

The Lord

“The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” ~ Psalm 111:5
Who are we
who claim likewise?
We who claim
righteousness
because we have been made so
by Him
who saved us
cleansed us

We
called to go forth
and be the eyes, hands, feet, voice
of Jesus
sent by Him
to be as He

Jesus
more righteous
more gracious
more compassionate
than we could ever be
Even in His anger
He is calm
He sees the need
He sees with His heart

How do we see?
Do we look at the individual
and see inner turmoils, pain,
or only outward appearances
and act accordingly?

There is more to be seen
than with our eyes
and our ears

Seeing, truly seeing another
without responding to how it affects
you personally,
without making it about you
who is defamed,
and takes what God has given us
His graciousness
His compassion
His justice
His truth
His redemption.

All that we have to bestow
on another
is only real through the power
of Jesus Christ,
through His Word,
His Love.

Nothing of our own
is worthy without
the Lord Jesus Chris
abiding in us
and with us
always
and in all ways.

(c) September 17, 2013

Have we lost our first love?

It is not for a fellow Christian to tell
what you should do or should be
God alone will do that
to each individually,
when we are in His Word,
one with Him,
seeking His answers.
And for those times we are in despair
for whatever the reason --
and there are many --
we do not need another to pull us
further down
but to build us up
to give encouragement
Words can help,
Words can hurt
We reach out – however we can
and we are slapped down
further broken.

Is this how Jesus responded?
Is your life showing how Jesus
would do or would be?

Honoring God is not about preaching
the ought to’s and should be’s

Honoring God is about being obedient
to Him and to His will,
trusting in Him,
loving others as He loved us
and loves us still.

No one is guiltless.
We have each gone astray
in our walk with Jesus.
We do not show the love of Christ in all we do.
And many, within Bible-believing congregations,
wonder, question,
and some leave or stop coming,
believing there is no place for them.

No place for the downtrodden,
whoever they are,
whatever their circumstances.
Knocked down and out
and those left behind wonder too ….

Why?

Why?!
because, as Jesus said,
“You have left your first love.”

“Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” – Revelation 2:4

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35

Where is our love, our compassion?
Why has cruelty and condemnation taken hold of our hearts?

Where is your first love?

(c) September 3, 2013