At the door…Salvation comes. (Poem)

Dear Lord,

you know these feeble hands

and waning strength

ebbing away as the ticking hand progresses

You know my thoughts

and how they stray wondering

further then a troubled runaway…

I can’t pretend in your presence

I can’t put up a front before you

You see right through me like

a window pane freshly washed

this house is open, doors unlocked

I cannot hide from you

not deny any skeletons yet residing.

yet you come to me

you still come to my level

and embrace me like everything

is alright…I know it’s not

and yet you remind me again

that your sacrifice has made me clean

you have made it right

made it right for me…

how can I accept this?

when I know i’m a mess?

How can I agree to this

when I can’t forgive who I am

the battle isn’t about what you are

and what you’ve done

but what I am and where I’ve been…

how can I let you in?

How can I let you see me like this?

Yet your grace, your face

your love your hope

surrounds me completely.

It’s too good for me and yet

you let me see that you grant

this gift to me freely!

Such amazing love,

such unmerited grace

falls upon me in this place

and I am whole again

I am so much more than I used to be

you have mended me

you have set me free…

and so I no longer let you stand

at the door on my front porch

but I let you in and let this

salvation thing in me begin.

May 13, 2013 1

At the finish line… (Poem)

From the gathering souls

who long to cherish our days

the light parades upon

the fallen ones.

While in the darkness

the blind, content to remain

not knowing there is so much more

settling for anything…losing identities

given at the creation.

I don’t wish to just make

it through

skin of my teeth peeled off

my hair beating me to the finish line

a split second dividing us by.

I don’t want to settle for mediocrity

for being just average

for fitting into a mold

that thousands have already

passed through…

to do so cheapens it

makes who we were created to be

so much less…and limited.

We are not limited to the air we breathe

I will not be held back by the

‘You can’ts’ and the ‘It’s can never be dones’

If I am held back, if I restrain but for a moment

this whole meaning of existence

loses its significance…this isn’t arrogance

this is faith in the One who sustains

and provides our proddings onward,

not our ploddings out into nowhere.

we are on a journey,

but there too is a destination…

So I’ll keep going…how about you?

May 3, 2013 0

The Sentinel (Poem)

His mother,

Like a sentinel

Watches over him

Catching each breath

With her eyes

Never growing weary

of seeing him sleep…

each inflation of the lungs

and exhaling only to repeat again-

a gift, a treasured hope!

With wings unfurled,

alabaster gleaming

In the soft moonlit room,

So that while the darkness

creeps and leans in

with its shadows

she knows how to pull

him in and hold him close

again.

There will be no rest

this night as the sentinel

watches, waits, anticipates

never closing her eyes

for but a second,

lending all of her strength

to the dreaming toddler

at her side.

Such love.

An example, a reflected

beauty from the heavens…

As if God himself were there

Holding fast to the night,

holding shadows and its

Darkness away…

A sentinel, a rock

a safe harbor for those

seeking refuge in the darkness.

May 1, 2013 0

From safety to security (Poem)

I look out of my window

through panes of glass

the blur

warbling images

as I glace from side

to side.

The light parades

itself

dancing to the

jostling rotation

of this God breathed

earth.

From inside

safe and sound

perhaps more in

mind

than in body.

Reality – outside

bleeds darker shades

crimson blending

into the soil.

Heart ache

well within reach

yet, if I close my eyes

I can

make believe

it doesn’t exist

safe behind my tempered glass.

But glancing

from side to side

eyes wide

taking it all in

it would be a sin

to ignore it.

A sin to make believe

it isn’t there.

A sin to stay…

to remain seated

safe and sound

in my little corner…

Something within me

beyond me

beckons

that I should go.

He beckons

that I should act.

“Oh Lord,

I have little strength

how can I do

what you would me do?”

And from my little corner

peering out

I hear Him say;

“My child who says

you should use

your strength?

for yours would

but a fraction be,

a second

in an hours time…

I will go with you.

My strength I

will impart

to you,

I will walk before,

beside and behind…

you will never be left alone.”

Now…

I am on the outside,

at times uncertain…

not of His presence

and power

but of where

He will lead

me next

for I go,

not in my strength

but in the One

who

beckons me onward.

April 17, 2013 1

In my ‘Nows’, not my ‘Whens’. (Poem)

When all else fails

when the engine light is on

when it putters, spews, coughs a death rattled breath

then lets go…I will begin to comprehend my worth.

When the paint, pealed and cracking on the barn

crumbling and falling down

speaks of yesterdays who are now

older than Moses and all of the

Red seas’ partings,

the falling loaves from heaven

and the sinning ways of the blind

when the earth gives ways to swallow

me whole…then I will find my way again.

When does when come again?

What is there in a terminal world

to cling to like a single hand grip

from plunging cliff?

What foothold do I have left within

all of my resources?

I am nothing.

I am but a wisp of vapor

trailing on a breeze…defenseless

and like Isaiah, when confronted with perfection

I am a broken man with muck and filth to my name.

When…maybe before the ‘when’…

as it turns a shade of gray in between

the ‘Now’, I will clasp onto YOU.

Dear God, who never lets a foot slip.

Jehovah who comes and claims His own.

The solitary stable Rock in a mudslidden world…

Never in my ‘Whens’ but may it be in my ‘Nows’

that I run to you…and embrace all there is

and grasp all there is

so that Holiness replaces brokenness

whole restores the shattered…

And I am in You.

April 16, 2013 0

The Fight (Poem)

When my strength has tapped out

When all I am is drained away

When all I have is spent and gone

Lord, your strength I need today.

When I am down and for the count

and no one cheers me on

when failure looms in front of me

Your hope is never gone!

Give me a heart of strength

O Lord, I need Your light.

Stand before, beside and behind

So may I boldly carry on

and never quit this fight!

April 12, 2013 0

I get knocked down…but I get up again!

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” (1 Timothy 6:12)

Rocky is training for the fight (yeah I know this does age me doesn’t it?) he is running, he is working diligently for the fight and every ounce of sweat, tears and endurance is focused on THE EVENT, when he will face Apollo Creed. He is trained, ready and focused on the goal.

In this Academy Award winning film, the main character ‘Rocky’ pushes through a lot of adversity to face off with the world champ in the ring. The main theme of this film is on focus, determination and perseverance.

Aren’t these qualities what every Christian needs in this world today? Haven’t you ever felt like giving up? Have the pressures of the world around you seemed insurmountable? When you get knocked to the mat by criticism, gossip and even slander have you wanted to quit? I imagine each of us in our own power would have quit long ago!

Having perseverance in the faith requires us to have a firm footing in whom it is we worship and count on to lead us. God wants so very much for us to keep fighting no matter what! It’s not a physical fight we wage in this world, but this very real spiritual battle does spill over into the physical world doesn’t it?

Today, whatever you are facing, whatever trouble that might come your way, know that God is in your corner! He wants you to keep going and not to quit! He gives us His strength when we are weak, the supports us when we don’t have the power to stand on our own. So if you’ve been knocked to the mat, and the referee is counting there in front of you, get back up! Don’t quit…Eternity is our goal and Christ is our coach!

April 12, 2013 0

Fall on me (Poem)

Let Your love fall on me

Precious Spirit fall on me

may Your strength my will supply

this is my heart’s cry

Holy Spirit may your power

fall on me.

Let your grace fall on me

through your eyes, others see

I give my heart, my life to fill

come and guide, Spirit indwell

Holy Spirit come fall on me.

April 11, 2013 0

Comfort, Peace Crammed into a Crazy Busy Schedule

Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Do you sometimes feel weak, disappointed, alone, uneasy? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. According to some research on the topic of anxiety, some 40 million adults over the age of 18 struggle with anxiety and anxiety disorders in the U.S. alone. That’s a lot of people feeling depressed, anxious and afraid. If anxiety reigns in our lives, it has been proven that anxiety can lead to other sicknesses and diseases because the body and its immunity has been compromised from the outside in.

This simple verse from Isaiah says something to you and me that we should prescribe to our bodies, souls and minds like medicine to an ailment. Our Father in Heaven wants us to lean on Him for strength, support and assurance. In this verse alone there are 5 assurances for us from God himself:

1) I (God) am with you!

2) I am your God!

3) I will strengthen you!

4) I will help you!

5) I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

What I have found in my life is that every promise God gives to his people – He keeps it!

He loves us that much, and He does not want us to fail, despair, or doubt Him!

Are you at the end of your rope today? Are you lacking confidence, assurance, hope? God comes to us and says; “I am with you don’t be afraid!” Lean on Him, know that He is there for you through thick and thin…but faith is a two way street…you have to place it in His hands.

So go ahead, find comfort and peace in your crammed, crazy busy schedule today, by realizing this verse in your life…I dare you!

January 24, 2013 4

Tag: strength