Under The Fig Tree

 

Nathaniel sat beneath the tree
And called out to the Lord,
Believing he would be ignored.
Yet, God heard every word.
 
That single moment then became
The turning point of faith.
Nathaniel understood His God
Was real and not a wraith.
 
I wonder if he felt his heart
Stop, and then start again,
As it dawned on him, without doubt,
This was the Son of Man.  
 
The moment when he saw the truth,
Standing there, face to face.
I can’t help but rejoice with him
At heaven’s wondrous grace.
 
What a blessing it must have been
To walk the earth with Him.
Praising His name, sharing His word
In a world, dark and grim.
 
I know that it was not easy
Sharing that victory.
Yet still I feel such boundless joy
When I see a fig tree.
 
John 1:49-50
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

In Faith, Not Fear

 

There are those times we all must face,
Not knowing what’s ahead.
We’re not sure what we’ll walk into,
Except for fear and dread.
 
Yet, in those times we still must walk,
We cannot sit and hide,
For life is coming at us fast
And will not be denied.
 
It’s in those times that we must stand
And choose what we will do.
Will we step forward through the mire
With fear? Or faith in You?
 
We can’t walk through what we don’t know
Without a sense of fear,
Unless we’re stepping out in faith
That You are ever near.
 
For You have seen what lies ahead,
And Your plan is in place.
If we are walking in that truth,
Then Your peace sets our pace.
 
It’s not by courage born in us
That we can face travail,
It is our faith in You alone
That keeps us on that trail.
 
2 Corinthians 5:6-7
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Stop Looking Back

 

It’s one thing to look back in joy
On how blessed life has been,
But it is something else indeed
To anguish over sin.
 
To linger on the shame and stains
That He has washed away,
Belittles the great gift He gave
On Calvary that day,
 
You sinned, but by confession and
Repentance you are free.
Stop turning back to remember
The shame that used to be.
 
Keep your eyes fixed upon the Lord,
The Word He gave to man,
And with joy, step forward into
The Lord’s call and His plan.
 
Let yesterday lie in your past,
Keep your focus ahead,
Straining forward toward the prize
That is His love, instead.
 
Philippians 3:13b-14
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

My Rock, My Cornerstone

 

I’m standing firmly on the rock.
I feel the wind and rain,
But I can stand up through it all
knowing He will remain.
 
I used to think I held to Him,
That’s how it’s meant to be.
Yet, I have come to understand
He’s holding on to me.
 
Through all that this life throws my way
He will not let me go.
I cannot be torn from His grasp.
In that truth, I can grow.
 
So, I will stand upon the rock
And trust in Him alone.
There is no strength, no love as great,
My rock, my cornerstone.
 
1 Samuel 2:2
“There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.

Though We Rage

 

You formed the sun, the moon and stars
And set them on their course.
Mankind can neither slow nor speed
Such displays of Your force.
 
Man can distract or briefly block
Our view of Your design,
But we cannot delay, deter
Or hamper Your timeline.
 
Though wildfires may fill up the air
With smoke, and such debris,
That sun and moon look discolored,
They’re both still there to see.
 
Man may pretend that we can change
The truth of creation,
But all we do is block our view.
Your work can’t be undone.
 
We praise our fantasies in vain,
For Your will carries on.
The sun and moon will still be there
When man has come and gone.
 
Why then should You waste any time
On rebel souls like ours?
We are but thoughts that come and go,
And short are our lives hours.
 
Yet it was for the lost You came,
And for such fools, You died
To rise again, redeeming us,
That we may, with You, bide.
 
I cannot understand Your plan,
And I am not called to.
But I can understand clearly
That all my hope’s in You.
 
For, by Your love and grace alone
You hold us in Your plan.
You watch us through our defiance,
Then call us home again.
 
Psalm 8:3-4
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

This photo is of the moon rising through a smoke filled sky during the wild fires a few years back. 

To Run In The Way

 

Show me the path I am to walk,
Teach me what I should know.
Then help me find the faith I’ll need
To rise and swiftly go.
 
Yours is the only path I seek,
I do so joyously,
And pray that I will stay on course
To be who I should be.
 
Show me the narrow way, oh Lord,
That I may follow through
And run the race with all my heart
Until I’m home with You.
 
Psalm 119:32
I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!

A Love Note

 

We watch the stars move through the night,
The storms across the sea.
Even the mountains rising up
Are wondrous sights to see.
 
The great, the grand, the hard to miss,
Those really catch the eye,
But it is the simple wonders
That we often pass by.
 
How wondrous is the butterfly,
The spider’s web in dew,
Both miracles of creation
And both a gift from You.
 
Such simple things, so often seen,
And each formed by Your hand.
Yet we pass them with just a glance
And fail to understand
 
That, even though they are mundane,
They’re miracles no less.
Those little gifts of loving joy,
The small love notes that bless.
 
I know that I am guilty, Lord,
Of not noticing, too,
But when I saw this sweet love note
I knew it came from You.
 
Psalm 86:10
For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.

This spider's web covered in dew was taken long ago on my back deck railing, yet it is still remarkable and breathtaking. 

From the Rising to the Setting

 

I praise You in the morning, Lord,
For the new light I see
And for the day that lies ahead,
That You have set for me.
 
I praise You as I rise to go,
And as I work each day.
I pray that each step that I take
Will keep me on Your way.

I pray that I keep my eyes on
The light that’s born in You
And that I reflect back that light
In everything I do.

 

Lord, when the sun begins to set
And my steps homeward turn,
I praise You that Your light still shines,
And, for that light, I yearn.  
 
You are the true light of this world,
I pray we don’t forget
To praise You at the rising sun
And when the sun has set.
 
Psalm 113:3
From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!

Both photos of the sun rising and setting on Galveston Beach are blessings from ATF. Thank you, again, A! 

The World May Rage

 

Loud is the song of the wild wind,
The waves roar harmony.
I could get lost within the song,
Its crushing symphony.
 
He, too, walked in this storm swept world,
And shared with us His Word.
Though all the world shrieked in its rage,
He still stood undeterred.
 
The world sings fiercely of its wrath
And I still hear its song,
But I won’t let it distract me.
In His Word, I am strong.
 
John 17:14
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Not By Bread Alone

I hunger for Your Word, Oh Lord.
In all the world, I cling
To the wisdom and instruction
Your Word alone can bring.
 
It feeds a soul weary of pain
And burdened with great care.
It is the fount from which love flows,
It’s hope, amidst despair.
 
It’s all the food that my soul craves,
The water of life’s flow.
Please help me live within Your Word
And help my faith to grow.
 
Lord, I will feed my hungry soul
Upon Your Word each day
And hold it closely in my heart
That I may never stray.
 
Deuteronomy 8:3
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.