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 

"I AM with you"

The Lord tells us
Be strong!
I AM with you
Do not fear!

So we wait
for help
funds
direction

We wait
Fear gnaws
What if?
But God
He is never too late
Always on time

He will provide
We must trust

If we fail
If our trust is not in Him
who IS
then we are held captive
within ourselves
and the freedom we seek
escapes us.

(c) August 28, 2013

God is in control -- always

Fear settles in

Whatever comes our way
we fail to remember
who is the one in control
and succeed instead
to believe in our own personal beliefs
or listen to our friends and neighbors
Who knows?!
Not they! Not really!
We wait
God is in control
Surely the answer does not always lie
in the immediate answer that comes to mind
Surely God does not say,
“Yes, go, buy”
With what do we buy?
The Lord knows what we have and what we have not
The Lord will provide
He has provided before
Surely, He will again
The Lord tells us,
“Have faith. Trust Me.
Don’t give in
to those who know not.
I will take care of you.”

He takes care of the birds of the air
and the grasses that grow under our feet.
He provides for all the critters
of the universe … why not humans?
Why not me? Why not you?

We all have needs.
One need is not less important
than another.
One person is not less important
that another.
Not in God’s eyes.
To each other
we do not always see the need.
We see instead
how we think another should act
not the reason behind the action.
If we all could see the reason
for the way another acts,
perhaps instead of judgment and condemnation,
there would be more love and compassion.

God is the true judge,
but there are many --
believers and non-believers alike
who sit in judgment,
failing to see the error of their ways.
No one is better than you, than me.
No one is worse.
We are all sinners.
God calls us all to be as Him.

We are to love one another
What is this love
How does this love show itself to others
Is it how we perceive it to be
or is it how Jesus shows it to be?

If we say we abide in Christ,
then we need to walk as He
in love
If we stumble and fall off the path,
and cry out for help,
where do we go
when no one hears,
no one sees our need,
no one answers our plea
for compassion.

But God sees
God knows

In the midst of every need
God is there

and God will provide.
We must place
all of our faith in Him alone
He can accomplish
what man or woman cannot.

 (c) August 27, 2013

Decisions

Decisions
always
for what to do
and what not to do
for  what to say
and what not to say
We consider
the good reasons
the bad reasons
in our mind
and move,
decide
on that which is best

But sometimes
that which we deem best
is not always
what we think
Sometimes
the path that is worse
that we want to avoid
is the better one
to  take.

(c) August 20, 2013

Spiraling

I feel myself spiraling downward
I can’t seem to stop
I can’t get off
the speeding roller coaster,
the churning merry go-roundI don’t know how 
to get out of this emotional prison
I seem to be drawn into
I need the Lord’s help
I need.
but what is that?
It is unimportant
I ask of others
I forever remember
the negative responses.
It is hard
to be positive
when soreness and new pain 

gathers momentum
and takes over
and I feel shot down

My struggles cause others
close to me
to struggle too
and I feel remorse
for what I have caused
I want to help you
but I struggle with how
when I don’t even know
how to help me.

Only God knows how
and only God can.
He is my true lifeline
He is my All in All.

Help me Lord.

I know you allow things to happen
so we can learn and through You
become strong in our weakness
But I plead dear Lord,
do not move away from me.
Give me Your wisdom, Your strength,
Your compassion.
Bring me past this.
Help me stay on the path
and not wander aimlessly.
I fear I am heading into the darkness
and I would much rather follow Your Light.

Help me Lord I pray.
Amen.

(c) August 17, 2013

You are no better than me

Most people really don’t want to know how you are
It’s just trivial talk
It’s better to usually say I’m fine
Even if you’re not
It’s better to hide behind what others prefer to see
than be how you feel

What’s real is hardly important
If you don’t feel good,
 stay home
If you stay home enough,
returning to wherever you’re staying home from
is less likely to happen

My actions don’t meet up with  your expectations
Your expectations are what is important
Does that mean you are important? 

Since when did you become better than me?
Since when did you become perfect?
Since when did God say to you,
go ahead, throw the first stone,
show no compassion,
point out another’s errors
make them feel less than they already feel

Most people don’t really want to know
how you are

All across the board,
there is no difference
You might think there should be
but people are human after all
and no matter what comes along,
it seems, to me anyway,
truly caring for another
is very much lacking.

We may try
and to some extent
we may succeed

But because of our humanness
every event at every
emotional, mental, physical and spiritual level
we are dealt and have to face,
individual compassion
for each other ranks low

Job asks in Chapter 2, verse 10 --
“Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”

I ask --
Is it right and just and true to accept and receive adversity from our peers and not a kind word?  Is it right to feel belittled for prayer requests?  Is it right to point out how a person should act and not consider why a person acts a certain way?

You are no better than me
You are not perfect
You have burdens to bear
You are no better than me

I am me
I have burdens to bear
I am not less than you because your burdens are less burdensome

I am still loved by God
He feels my pain
He knows my needs
He sees my hurts

You are no better than me
You are not perfect
You were not given the right to downgrade another

I am still loved by God
I am not perfect
I don’t claim to be more than I am

You are no better than me.

I am still accepted by God, even if by you I am not.

“We must learn to look less at what people do or don’t do and more at what they suffer.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 (c) August 11, 13-14

Who?

Who are the strong
Who are the weak
Who are the healthy
Who are the sick, suffering
Aren’t we all?

Who serves who
Who cares

Is it right --
the weak serve the strong
or is it –
the strong care for the weak

Who are the strong
Who are the weak
Who?

 (c) August 9, 2013

Be wise and repent

Be wise and repent

For when the world ends,
and it will -- it is no mistake,
where will you be?

The Lord God
He created you and me
He came as one of us,
only Holy
and without blemish.
He came to die
in our place
for us.
He,  The Lord God
came.
He took our place
He took all of our sins
upon Himself
To make us free

Be wise and repent

Or don’t
Go ahead --
be foolish … ignore the signs, pretend

When the end times come
When Jesus returns
all who do not repent,
who do not turn from
evil and wickedness,
will die
and will descend into hell.
There will be no escape

Be wise and repent

Know the way of Jesus
Follow the path
He trod
the path He leads us on
Accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior

And when the end times come
When Jesus returns
we too will die
but we can rejoice
our journey through life
will lead us to heaven’s gate
We will enter into the Holy of Holies,
into the presence of the Almighty God.

Be wise and repent
while there is still time.

(c) August 3, 2013

A river flows

A  river flows
eastward
as a trickle it begins
and we
see ourselves
stepping in, stepping out
taking care of things
we do not see a problem
We do and go and carry on

A river flows
eastward
more than a trickle
It’s depth to our knees, our waist
harder to navigate
yet we trudge on
toiling day in, day out
struggling
worrying

A river flows
eastward
the current is rough, deep
We cannot cross
There is no way
We are stuck where we are
or we drown

A river flows
eastward
God shows us the way
If we ask, seek
we will find
God sees all
we do
all we undergo
the steps we take
beginning to end

The Garden of Eden
eastward planted
God-created
as He did Adam
… and Eve
instructions given
to obey

A river flows
eastward
a trickle
of disobedience, sin

grows
becomes a way of life
We will do it our way

Caught in a net
no way to escape

A river flows
eastward
Yet God remains
His anchor holds steady

He is the calm
we seek
within ourselves
and through the circumstances
we are dealt

He is.

(c) July 27, 2013

I AM

I AM
your inheritance
I AM
your possession
God has given us Himself
No need of any other
He Is.

(c) July 26, 2013 

Forgiveness must be more

Forgiveness
must be more

more than
not thinking any bad thoughts
toward another

more than
attempting to make things right
only to be slapped down

more than
avoiding a person because of unpleasantries voiced
by them toward you

Forgiveness
must be more

like love perhaps

God’s Love

What is God’s Love?

Is it quiet, silent, unassuming?
Is it always patient, always kind, always humble
It is never jealous, never selfish
Never rude, never provoked, never angered?
Is it always enduring, always hopeful
Eternal?
Does it build up another, encourage
come along side, stand beside, walk with you
share your burdens

Is this God’s Love
Is this friendship
Is this forgiveness

Or  is it much more?

(c) July 25, 2013

It's all about love -- the love of God

True friendship
is all about love –

The Love of God
shown to all of mankind
when He sent His only
begotten Son to earth
to become the sin offering
for every single human life
on this planet.

Jesus, the Son of God,
knew no sin
yet He became sin
for us – me and you
He went to the cross
and died for us –

that was His mission,
His goal, His purpose
to give us new life
a new purpose
a new reality
not of our own making.

True friendship
is all about love --
The love of God

Jesus tells us, shows us
to be fishers of men (and women)
not to catch and release
not to catch and let die
but to catch and change

Change for a better life
a Christ-filled life

To be as Christ
we need to devote our lives
to Him, with Him
we need to do as He

It is more, much more

that reading, studying, listening, meditating
His Word
It is experiencing all He is
with Him within us.

(c) July 24, 2013

I AM the Lord

"Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?" ~ Ezekiel 38:17

"I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went." ~ Ezekiel 36:22

Are you he?
He who was prophesied about
in years gone by
who will come against

Are you he?

But you
do not come
do not go
without My say

It is
My Word
My judgment
My cause

You may be he
but
without Me
you are nothing
you will stay nothing

All that is done
yesterday
today
and yes even tomorrow
is for My sake
not yours

My sake
My Holy Name
Me
I AM the Lord
and I have spoken

And ALL
will know
I AM.

(c) July 12, 2013

God's reality or ours?

God’s reality is for all
Ours is for but a few
We tend to exclude groups
forgetting 
Christ is knocking
at the door of every heart

We are all sinners

The difference --
Some have been set free
and made righteous
through the shed blood
of God’s Holy Son,
Jesus Christ
Others remain chained
ignorant and rebellious
of what they could have,
could be

God’s reality desires all
to come to Him
be bound in Him
be One with Him

God’s reality is true and right

Are you –
the one set free --
are you bound to Him
or do you remain stuck
in your own world
like those
who have yet to remove the lock?

 (c) July 6, 2013

Tell me Lord what I must do

Tell me Lord
what I must do

I read
and study
Your Holy Book
future foretold
by prophets
who put their trust
in You,
and delivered too
from the vengeance
of their enemies

I am so small
I am yes,  Your child
but I am far away
from performances bold

I went
I returned
You orchestrated it

Show me Lord
what I must do
what is best
better
optimum

Show me Lord
frustration
showing itself,
sitting endlessly ... working
the pain escalates
Uncomfortableness
climbs
with every continuing hour

I want to stop
Do you …
want me to stop

Show me Lord
what I must do
to work
A day’s work is never done
yet it is
for that day
God gives no more
than we can handle

He knows above and beyond
what we know or understand

Help me Lord
to handle
today’s work,
to accomplish
all that is necessary
Help me rest
and not fall behind
Help me overcome
and be calm
Help me.
Show me.
Point the way.

Tell me Lord
what I must do
Help me to hear
Your voice
Help me to listen
Help me to obey.

You are true and faithful.
Help me Lord
to be likewise,
to follow Your guidance

Show me the way.
Today.
This day.
Every day
and any day.

I beseech You Lord
Tell me what I must do.

(c) July 5, 2013

Our end is near

“Our end was near; Our days were over, for our end had come. The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished. … He will no longer send you into captivity. He will punish your iniquity. … He will uncover your sins!” – Lamentations 4:18, 22

Jerusalem
The City of God
died --
The end was near
and then,
over and done

Its deadness
preempted
by years
and more years
of prophecies
foretold
but ignored
disregarded

God’s chosen
would not turn away
from the evil lurking
within themselves
and surrounding them
Rebellion was preferred

God’s chosen
would not turn back
to the Lord
Would not stop
and examine
their wayward ways
Would not cry out
to their Father God
lifting hands and hearts
seeking forgiveness

Jerusalem
The City of God
dead
sins  her demise
God prevails;
punishment accomplished

The Gentile Nations
God’s people
found too among
yet not all pursuers
of love and justice,
the Lord’s way

The end
was near
is near again
The end
of days
lives lived
over
once, twice
and again
The end
theirs – gone
ours
yours
It is coming

Will you reconsider
re-examine
your ways
and turn back
to the Lord?

Will you stop
search your heart
Will you seek
the Lord’s pardon
to set you free
to remove the choking chains

or will you continue
as you are
waiting for His punishment
justified punishment

to come? 

It will be accomplished!

(c) July 4, 2013 

to sit and be still

Woe is me
I do not sit
and be silent
though God may say “Be Still!”

I am distraught
My anxieties
frustrate me so
and I resort in anger
to yelling matches
that only serve
to grieve Him
who leads me
and me
who yearns to follow

He does lead me
but the path
is not always
clear and smooth
So many obstacles
block the way

Sometimes it is
God Himself
who makes me travel
the ever-increasing
corridors of darkness
and then
in my fear
I forget
my hope is still in Him.

God tells me
do not fear
yet I falter

He says
continue to seek
to search
to examine
to wait
to listen
to turn back to Him
to remember

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly …. He will show compassion … they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him.”

Lamentations 3:25-26, 32, 23-24

(c) July 3, 2013

"in the dark"

In the dark
we listen to our selfishness
and follow our hearts
to wherever we are led

We have determined
The Lord does not see
nor hear

We are mistaken
but we do not care

It is our body
Our life
What is the difference
anyway

The Lord has turned His back on us

but He has not
Time and time again
He seeks us

but we refuse
Refuse to repent
from the violent acts,
relentless wickedness
pursued

We will worship who we please
and when it pleases us
We will honor ourselves
We have time only
for ourselves, our wants
our needs, our desires

The Lord punishes
His punishment we read
as forsaking us

We do not understand
why His fury and anger
is set against us
Why He has condemned us
Why He does not care
about us, our needs

Woe to you
Woe to me

He has been with us
He remains with us
He loves us
We are His children
He  wants what is best for us

But we have turned from Him
It is us who have forsaken Him
We have gone astray

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” ~ 2 Peter 3:9

He calls
continues to call to us,
seeking us, encouraging us
to return,
to engage in Him
be in Him
One with Him
He wants us with Him.

The seeking,
The calling,
The encouragement
given is not forever

You who continually stand against
will fall
The darkness
you surround yourself
with now
will become more intense
There will be no escape

The “I’m sorry Lord”
will not be heard
for your compassion
is not

The darkness will be your own doing
Your destruction

The Lord has not forsaken you
You have forsaken the Lord
You have forsaken yourselves

You have quenched the Spirit,
the Light of the Lord
and darkness has overcome you

You are doomed
Woe is you

If only we would repent
If only we would abide
in Him,

In His love
If only ….

but we could.

(c) June 16-17, 2013

It is Christ's Church

The church
The body of Christ
The human form of Christ
The followers of Christ

Not independent to self
Not separate
United with Christ
The head of the Church
His Church.

(c) June 14, 2013