The Lord's presence

The Lord’s presence
dwells within me
He knocked --
for years He bid entrance
but I recoiled
fearful of what He would take away
sure I could do fine alone.
His continual knocking
I finally heard
and into my heart
He came.
But His abiding will
was not always one with mine
Our relationship
faltered
I could not or would not
see His way as best
yet He persisted
and in time
through worship
and Bible study
and prayers
and fellowship
I accepted --
He knew best.

All of everything
He offered a better plan
He offered guidance
He offered love
and peace and hope
He offered
It was free
No strings attached.
Except one --
Follow Me
Be like Me
Lead others to Me.

(c) November 29, 2013

He said...

“Do not be afraid; only believe, and (she will) be made well.” ~ Luke 8:50

Do not fear in what life brings
but trust in Me
I will make you whole

Keep your focus all on Me
Do not wander places
that take you beyond Me

Through My Son
your life that you have now
can be made new
cleansed
as white as pure fallen snow

Walk with Me
I will show you new worlds to explore
new people to know
new ways to live your life

Oh you of little faith
or of no faith
Come to Me
Do not fear in what life brings
or in what you do not have,
but want or need
I know these things
I desire your best all ways and always

Trust in Me
Believe in Me
Come to Me

Do not be afraid.

(c) November 28, 2013  

Are you really hearing? Are you really listening?

He (Jesus) cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear! … Therefore, take heed how you hear.” ~ Luke 8:8, 18

In hearing,
may we come to understand
may we listen with our hearts

May we step outside our personal feelings
and SEE the needs of another
the cry of help

Is God’s response
 for you to say to another
You are wrong
Get a grip
Be what you’re supposed to be

Does God say to you
You have it together
Why don’t they
Why do they act like fools
Tell them how they should act
Tell them to grow up

Is this what God would do?
Is this what God would say?

Are you really hearing?
Are you really listening?

Who will come to your aid
when you cry?
Who will answer your plea for help?

Will another step outside
themselves
and see the pain
and hurt
and not judge

Or will they remember
your judgments upon them
and turn away?

(c) November 25, 2013

a hidden treasure

God sees
your deepest wish
and desire
your agonizing pain
and frustration

You think you alone
know the depths of you
and the despair surrounding.

There is a hidden treasure
It lies deep
within your heart.

It is called Love.

Wanting to surface
Wanting to share with another
Wanting to spread joy and happiness
to those without

Fear grips tighter
Words spoken in anger
out of frustration and miscommunication
become a higher priority

Our own needs and wants and desires
have taken a backseat
Only the pain surfaces
and that we do not handle well

But God sees
our deepest wish and desire,
our pain and frustration

God sees it all
He watches you every minute
of every day
You are His child
whether you acknowledge it or not
He loves you

There is a hidden treasure
It lies deep
within your heart

It is called Love
and God holds the Key

God wants to surround you
with His love
He wants to bring you
healing and comfort
He wants to give you a hope
He wants to shower you with
abundant blessings.

The hidden treasure
lies deep
within your heart

It is called Love

Unlock the door
of your heart
and reach for Jesus.

(c) November 19, 2013 

Is it God's will?

We say it is God’s will
to so much
to even death

But is it
Is it really His will
or is it
because of that first sin
begun with Adam and Eve
which we carry with every breath taken
that makes it so?

It was not God’s will
that all should perish
There were instructions set in place
to guide us along the path of life

God gave us each
the right to choose,
make our own decisions
but because of that freedom
we often refused to follow
guidelines suggested
by The Holy One

It was, It is
Not
God’s will
but our own will
that determines
our eternal destiny
Our eternity --
our choice
our will
Things fall apart, collapse

Is it God’s will?
Is it not?
No, none should perish
He loves us all

Yet His judgment comes
to all who fail
and all have failed
at one time or another

We are not complete
without Him

Do you blame God
for what comes your way?
or what doesn’t?
for hopes and dreams and expectations
gone sour?

Your choice
Your free will
is the determining factor

If ,

When you seek God
accept Him into your life
believe on Him
and trust His promises
allow Him to lead
instead of you

The path of life –

Although still  filled
with thorns and thistles --
will become smoother

You will stumble less
because That One
who is beside you,
in front of you,
behind you,
all around you

That One is Jesus.

With Him
We are complete
That is God’s will.   

(c) November 17-18, 2013

Signs and Wonders

"Then Jesus said to him, 'Unless you people see signs and wonders you will by no means believe.' " ~ John 4:48

Signs and wonders
what you see
that you believe
but what has been foretold
and what I Jesus have come
to fulfill
you question
failing to understand
what has been prophesied
from times of old
by prophets faithful
unto death

John the Baptist
sought answers
Am I the forerunner
of you --
Are you The Coming One
The Messiah
The Promised One,
or is there another?

Signs and wonders
what you see
that you believe
but the Truth
of which I AM
you do not see
proclaiming instead
that I am a liar
a blasphemer
a false prophet
deserving of death

Hanging
I go to your death
you who are deserving
you who are ignorant
of the Truth
for I AM the Way
the Life
the Truth
no man shall go
beyond
Except through Me

Paradise awaits
My eternal home
Yours too, perhaps

Signs and wonders
what you see
that you believe

But I AM

More

Signs given
wonders foretold
I was there
all along
but you did not see
you did not believe

I AM here

There are some
who believe
follow
obey
They are My disciples

There are many more
who fail to believe
do not follow or obey
They are not mine

Still seeking
signs and wonders
Come and gone
and come again

I AM here.

Still.
Yet.

Where are you?

Judgment will come
End times
Only those truly My disciples
will go beyond
will go home
will live in Paradise.

Why do you wait?
You’ve seen the signs,
the wonders
Do you not see the Truth
Have you lost the Way?

Follow Me.

(c) November 14, 2013

To Women Everywhere: You are not alone

You are not alone
You think you are
You think there is no other
But just look around
See beyond

The sky is not always bluer
Nor the grass greener
somewhere else

There is you
and many more too
who only see singular pain
Despair catches us
and we are stuck in its trap
desperate to get out
but not knowing how.

You are not alone
You think you are
You think there is no other
But just look around
See beyond

The woman who cannot become pregnant
The woman whose child dies
The woman whose child is murdered
The woman who does not carry a child to full term
The woman who does carry a child to full term, but has a stillbirth

The woman who is a victim of rape
The woman who is battered and beaten by live-in boy friends and/or husbands
The woman whose child is deformed and ridiculed
The woman who does not care for her own children
and countless more

You are not alone
You think you are
You think there is no other

But just look around
See beyond the confines of your mind

Others are hurting too

I know
I was one of those women
I too felt I was the only one
although I knew differently
I struggled to come to terms
as I knew others too struggled
It was not an overnight reversal
Thinking about it didn't bring me
out of my despair
but merely dug my depressed hole
ever deeper

But I was not alone
I did not truly think I was
I knew there were others

But it was me
as it is you
of whom the walls
of lies
and deceptive thoughts
needed to come down

Our thoughts
held captive
by what we do not have
by what we have lost
by what we believe we deserve.
We are continually
saddened and remorseful,
consumed by feelings
that do not bring comfort
only further pain
and imprisonment.

The walls …
The lies
The deceptive controlling thoughts –

Replace them!

Replace the lies with the Truth
It is the Truth that will set us all free

Whose Truth?
What Truth?

God’s Truth!

It is because of God’s love for us
that He came to earth
as Jesus,
born to the Virgin Mary
Son of Man
and Son of God

God’s Truth is Jesus!

Jesus tells us in John 3:16 (look it up),
“I am the way and the life and the truth.”

What way?
What life?
What truth?

God’s Truth --
found in and of and through
Jesus
whose life, death, burial and resurrection
shows us the way
to true freedom
to eternal peace

Won’t you come to Jesus
Open your heart
your mind
your whole being
to everything He offers?

Say yes to Jesus
Yes, I’ll come
Yes, I want to know more about you
Yes, I want to be free from these thoughts
that keep me confined

You are not alone
You think you are
You think there is no other
But just look around
See beyond

Jesus is in the midst
His spirit lives
within each and every person
who has accepted, believed, surrendered
their life for His

Jesus, whose death
came about
because
of the sins of mankind,
went to the cross
at Calvary,
 gave His life
for all --
past, present and future generations.

But that isn't all
for Death is darkness
and Jesus represents Light.

So He was buried.

Jesus overcame
the darkness of death and of sin
when, after 3 days in the tomb,
He rose from the dead.
He is risen!

Through His blood shed for us,
we can become free --
free to live in His Truth --
The Life and Way
of the Lord Jesus

and Free to destroy deceptive thoughts
Free to remove strongholds
Free to truly live in the love of
Our Lord and Savior
Free to follow
The Way
The Life
and The Truth
of Jesus

You are not alone
You think you are
You there there is no other
But just look around
See beyond

God loves you
God is good
God wants you to have His best
God accepts you
God is enough
God can be trusted
God doesn't make mistakes
God’s love (grace) is sufficient for me
God’s Word is sufficient to lead me, teach me, heal me

You are not alone
God is right there
waiting for you

Won’t you come?

You are not alone.

(c) November 10-12, 2013

Jesus stands at the door of your heart

“For everyone who seeks receives,
and he who seeks finds,
and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
– Matthew 7:8

Jesus stands at the door
of your heart
He seeks entrance
But it is up to you
Up to you
To knock
To seek

Jesus stands at the door
of your heart
waiting

Knowing the loneliness
you face and bear each day
Desiring to comfort you
to help you shoulder your burdens
But it is up to you
Up to you
To knock
To seek

Jesus stands at the door
of your heart
where He wants to live
He wants to show you
how your life can be different
with Him at the helm
How you can have joy
in the middle of many trials
He wants to surround you
with His peace
But it is up to you
Up to you
To knock
To seek

“Lord, I need you. I want you, but I am confused, afraid. Help me, Lord. Help me!”

Jesus stands at the door
of your heart
Won’t you invite Him in to stay?

(c) November 8, 2013 

Death comes to us all

Death comes to us all.

We are born,
given the breath of life
from God the Father

and then we die.

Some given physical life
extending for
years … be it brief
or many decades

Some  taken home --
never having lived
outside the womb

so cozy and warm,
content and peaceful

Death comes to us all.

As believers in Christ
infants in arms
infants in the womb
we are taken home
to that mansion in the sky
to be with Jesus
 the Son
who reigns with
His Father,
Our eternal Father,
God.

But death comes to us all.

We are born.
A seed is planted, nurtured.
We grow within
and perhaps
at or near 9 months
physical life begins
on the outside.

Still death comes to us all.

Even to God
the grip of death was near.
For God so loved the world.
He loved you and He loved me
So He sent His Son
to show us
the way to eternal life,
but so many of us
refused to be thwarted,
refuse still.

It is my choice,
my choice,
my choice,

My choice.

No one is going to tell me differently

I know.

You took my daddy

You took my mommy

You took my brother and my sister
You took my babies

!

You took my life
I have nothing
You have it all

Why?
Why?!
Why do you take
and take and take?!
Don’t you care?
Where is your compassion?!

It was too soon
It wasn't time
I wanted my daddy to stay
I wanted my babies to know their mommy and their daddy
I wanted

I wanted so much

Why don’t you understand?

I thought you were a caring God
That’s what I hear
You love
Where is your love
I don’t see it

If there is love
why am  I so distraught?

Why don’t I understand?
Why don’t I feel this love?
Why do I feel only remorse?

Why should I accept
your love for me
when I don’t see your
love for me?

My child,
I do love you.
I do understand.
I do care.

My Son, My Son
My precious Son
Only one.
Son of God
Son of Man
Sent to earth
Born among men
Grew …
Taught …

Preached …
Illustrated ….
Died.

He died.

My Son
My Precious Son
in whom I was well pleased.

He died.

My child,

I know about grief.

I know how it can take root
and fester and grow
and you feel like you’re
all alone.

You want to escape
yet you want to stay

You want the pain
You feel you deserve the pain.

My Child,
My Son died
just like your babies
and  your daddy
and your mommy
and your brothers
and your sisters.

My Son –

He died too.

But He lives.

My child,

My Son lives.

He gave His life.

He went to the cross
Nailed to it by men who knew not
what they were doing
who had no understanding.

He suffered for you

He suffered for your daddy
and your mommy
He suffered for your brothers
and your sisters
He suffered for your babies
He suffered for the whole world.

Whoever believed in Him
that He was and is the Son of God
would not perish
but have eternal life.

I didn't send My Son
into to the world to condemn
but to save.

It is my prayer,

My Child,

that you know My Son
and come to know and believe

in your  heart
the love
I have for you. 

Through His Life
His death
His burial

His resurrection,

You can have eternal life.

I cannot bring your loved ones
back to you.
They will live on in your memories.
But if they have believed in My Son,
believed in His death, His burial, His resurrection to New Life,
you can see them again.
And know this: your babies are safe
in the loving arms of God Your Father
who loves you so.

© November 3, 2013