In Spirit And Truth

 

I choose to step out on the path
That leads me close to You.
I know I won’t get there on earth,
But still, I’ll follow through.
 
You walk beside us in this life,
But we can choose to stray.
My soul bids me to turn back now,
Draw close to You today.
 
I do not need to heed the call
Of this world as I go,
But seek instead Your truth, Your Word.
That’s what I need to know.
 
My thoughts should echo with Your praise,
Your spirit should lead me,
Until the path that leads to You
Is all my soul can see.
 
Oh Lord, please help me stay on course
And draw closer to You.
Let Your Word lead and correct me
As You’ve set it to do.
 
Help me to love and follow You
With heart and mind and soul
Until I'm standing at Your throne
And, by Your Grace, made whole.
 
John 4:23-24
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
 
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Be Strong, Have Courage

 

A car had just pulled out of there,
The tire’s tread still clear,
And there, amid the cracked asphalt,
It stood in all its cheer.
 
It didn’t matter, rain or shine,
The joy shone from its face.
Even though cars parked all around,
It stood in joyful grace.
 
I’m not sure why I caught my breath
When I first saw it there.
Perhaps it was its fierce courage
To bloom without a care.
 
If I lived in the cracked asphalt
With cars parked overhead,
I’m not sure, but what I would seek,
A safer, cleaner bed.
 
Yet it stood where God planted it
And bloomed with such delight
That I began to see courage
In a whole different light.
 
I’ve often felt I was misplaced,
Somewhere I can’t belong,
But, with the courage He gave me,
I found I still grew strong.
Almost as if, by His design,
It was right all along.
 
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
 
Psalm 31:24
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!

As He Loves Me

 

I helped a neighbor out last week,
As we’ve been called to do,
But when the chance came to help me,
They didn’t follow through.
 
I got my feathers ruffled up
And muttered, “Not again.
I won’t help them at all next time,
Not even if I can.”
 
Yet, before I finished the thought,
I heard Him speak to me.
Reminding me that’s not the way
That He called me to be.
 
I’m not to love my neighbors in
Mere reciprocity,
But, I’m to love them always and
To do so patiently.
 
I am to give His love to them
Because He loved me first,
And not demand some recompense
In a selfish outburst.
 
I bowed my head in shame and asked
His forgiveness once more.
I felt it wash through me again,
His grace forever more.
 
Another lesson He taught me,
One I gladly will learn,
His love and grace are His blessings,
Not something we can earn.
 
John 13:34
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
 
Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

This sweet photo is a gift from DE on her recent run to the beach. 

My Plan To Rest

 

My plans were laid well in advance,
Today I was to rest.
The chores were done, no errands planned,
This day would be the best!
 
Now I sit here, proud of myself
For sticking to the plan…
Okay, I may have slipped a bit,
I did the best I can.
 
Two loads of clothes have now been washed,
Folded and put away,
While the dishwasher chugs along,
In its own noisy way.
 
The paperwork I had to do,
Is done and set aside,
Though it’s not needed til next week…
One less chore to abide.
 
I guess God’s plans were different
Than those I’d made today,
And, when that conflict arises,
The plans of man give way.
 
As it now stands, I still rested
And have less on my list
Of things I need to do this week.
A blessing I’d have missed.
 
My plan may have been to just chill,
But God’s plans override.
Now I can rest more through the week.
I’m glad He’s on my side!  
 
Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

This sweet photo is a gift from AC and her trip to Africa a few years ago. 

Not To Condemn, But To Save

 

He did not come to judge the world,
But to teach us the way
To walk with Him and forgo sin
As we move through each day.
 
This isn’t saying it’s okay
To go ahead and sin.
The whole point was that He came here
To heal the sins of men.
 
His words to the woman not stoned,
Were go and sin no more,
Because those who do not repent,
His blood will not restore.
 
He wasn’t judging the first time,
But, when He comes again,
You need to understand He’ll come
With judgement, per God’s plan.
 
Accept His grace, and set your pace
In line with His on earth.
These are the standards by which He
Will judge each soul’s true worth.
 
Life without the grace of His blood
Holds torment evermore.
Live the advice He gave to her,
Go forth and sin no more.
 
John 8:10-11
Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.
 
John 3:17-18
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God
 
Acts 10:42
And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

Be Humble And Draw Near

 

Be humble in your walk with Him,
Lift up His praise each day.
Listen to Him and heed His voice,
For He will guard your way.
 
We seem to forget, now and then,
That we are not in charge.
We speak out with authority
In voices loud and large.
 
Yet, it may be a shock to us,
He’s more inclined to hear
All those who call on Him humbly.
To them He turns His ear.
 
The earth answers to Him alone,
And He has set its course.
We cannot take control from Him,
Nor push our plans by force.
 
Instead, be thankful for His gifts,
Not always seeking more,
For He knows what we need each day,
And He holds that in store.
 
He gives to those who honor Him,
Far more than what we need,
If we seek Him with humble hearts,
Not spirits flushed with greed.
 
Lord, help us fix our eyes on You,
Not on ourselves, our pride.
Help us to humbly trust Your grace,
And keep us by Your side.
 
James 4:6-8b
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Abiding In Him

 

Each time I tried to write this praise,
The world got in my way,
So, I stepped away from the world
To listen and to pray.
 
Within that silence I could hear
Your Word speaking to me
Over the chaos of the world.
As it was meant to be.
 
I know I’m not the only one
The world seeks to distract
From what You most want me to hear,
Your Word, clear and intact.
 
I don’t pray that You remove me
From this world’s frenzied pace,
But that I learn to not get lost
In the course of the race.
 
Let me keep my eyes fixed on You,
My heart fixed on Your Word,
And, when I need to hear Your voice
Let it be all that’s heard.
 
Tonight I thank You for the chance
To set the world aside
And let Your Word take root in me,
Forever to abide.
 
John 17:15-17
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from evil. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
 
John 15:9
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

In Looking Back

 

In looking back on all my years,
There are more than a few,
I see the missteps of my youth
Still led me straight to You.
 
The arrogance of youthful pride,
Much like the turning page,
Led me to the often painful
Wisdom of my old age.
 
Each trip, each stumble on the way
Landed me in Your arm,
Until I realized not I,
But You, kept me from harm.
 
When I look back at each crisis,
I recognize Your grace,
For I can see where You turned me
Back to Your strong embrace.
 
You held me up and led me through
Until I learned to see
That it is not by my wisdom,
But by Your love I’m free.  
 
Your formed me and then, patiently,
Oversaw my wild youth,
Then led me to find my way back
To Your wisdom and truth.
 
Now in the days that I have left
I will not hesitate
To tell the world to seek Your grace
Before it is too late.
 
Job 12:12
"Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days."
 
Isaiah 46:4
"Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save."

Your Peace Washes Through

 

In perfect peace the sabbath ends
With stillness in my soul.
Tomorrow I will rise and stand,
Renewed and, once more, whole.
 
It doesn’t matter where I am
Or what I’ll walk into,
As much as it matters to me
That I’ll walk in with You.
 
You are my rock when life is hard,
The strength I need to rise,
But in Your perfect peace I rest
Beneath Your watchful eyes.
 
There is no stillness in my soul
Unless You’ve put it there.
For this world is filled with turmoil,
With anger and despair.
 
Yet, on Your everlasting rock,
Beside Your still waters,
I know I’ll find that perfect peace
That no trouble deters.
 
One week has passed, and one comes on,
But I will rest in You,
Between that end and the new start,
Where Your peace washes through.
 
Isaiah 26:3-4
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Turn Back From Pride

 

Oh, you who live with prideful hearts,
Disdaining one and all,
Be cautious that self-righteousness
Does not cause your downfall.
 
Yours isn’t the voice in command,
Despite what you hold true,
And many on whom you look down
See false pretense in you.
 
Turn back from your self-worship, child,
And turn instead to Him
Whose hand has formed what you deem yours,
Even to heaven’s rim.
 
Be careful that your pride does not
Lead you too far astray.
For there will be a reckoning
To which we’re called one day.  
 
Don’t let a prideful heart destroy
All that His grace provides,
But live in humble gratitude
That His grace still abides.
 
The choice is yours, by His decree,
But please remember this,
There’s only one Lord over all.
Your pride you must dismiss.
 
Obadiah 3-4
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.
 
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.