A Clear Sign To Follow

The path that we are called to walk,
Though it’s been well defined,
Is not that clearly marked in life,
Or that easy to find.
 
He laid a path with His own life,
You’d think I could follow.
Yet, here I am, out in the world,
Wondering where to go.
 
I understand that every road
Will have its own travails,
But I keep hoping I might find
Some clearly defined trails.
 
The only clear marking I find
Is when I stop and pray.
It’s easiest, when I’m silent,
To hear what He will say.
 
It’s as if the advice offered
So many years ago
Might still be relevant today.
Hard to believe, I know.
 
I’m stepping out to walk in faith
Along the unmarked way.
I’ll listen, learn, and obey Him
As I walk through each day.
 
Isaiah 30:21
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Something New Under the Son

The smoke stirred in the morning light
And shifted the world’s view.
What should have been a golden light,
Was now a darker hue.
Yet, it was still the rising sun,
Despite what was askew,
For there is nothing new in life
That is not born in You.
 
That’s why I called upon Your name
When I longed to be free
Of all the sin and broken truths
That had imprisoned me.
I knew what this world called brand new
Was merely fantasy,
And that the same old me I’d been
Was who I still would be.
 
I called out to You in my pain,
My shame and my great fear.
I didn’t know if You would care
Or even pause to hear,
But I knew no one else could help,
That much was all too clear.
I called out to You and You came
For You still hold me dear.
 
And now there’s something new indeed
Under that same old sun,
That old, unchanging me is gone
And that old life is done.
For I have been redeemed, restored,
And a new life’s begun.
Lord, I rejoice I'm something new
Living under Your Son.
 
Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

Still Waters and Green Pastures

There is that one day, now and then,
When peace is on my mind
And, with a Shepherd who loves me,
That peace is what I find.
 
The world has me running too fast,
And peace is often rare,
But when I follow close to Him
I find peace always there.
 
He seems to know what I need most,
A quiet place to rest,
And time to restore my own peace
Before life’s next big test.
 
The still waters, the green pastures,
My Shepherd, always near;
There is no greater peace to find,
Nor one I hold more dear.
 
Psalm 23:2-3
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.

Food For The Soul

I always thought that daily bread
Meant food to keep me whole,
But I have learned it truly means
Food for a hungry soul.
 
It matters not if I am full,
If my soul shrinks from lack.
For that’s the food that, once it’s lost,
My soul may not get back.
 
I hunger for Your Word each day,
I listen, unashamed.
I find my hunger satisfied
In Your gospel proclaimed.  
 
Oh Lord, I pray give me each day
The daily bread I crave,
That I might feast upon Your word
And not be hunger’s slave.
 
Matthew 6:11
Give us this day our daily bread

Unchanging Love

I know that I have many faults,
Like all my fellow man,
But I strive, always, to improve.
A bold, but faulty plan.
 
For man is not unwavering
In anything we do.
We do not have the constancy
That we can find in You.
 
Your promise stands ever unchanged
Today and every day.
From rising sun to moon’s descent,
Your Word won’t fade away.
 
The sun may drift behind the clouds,
But it will rise and set.
I don’t have to see it to know,
For You do not forget.
 
Since You first called us to be Yours
Your promise is the same.
You have not changed or withdrawn it.
Your grace is ours to claim.
 
Lord, help me make one lasting change,
That of my faulty heart.
Reflecting Your unchanging love
Is a good place to start.
 
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Like Good Fruit

They seem so simple on the vine,
From bloom, to bud, to fruit.
Yet they have much more to teach us
Than just bud, vine, and root.
 
They speak of purpose and design,
A plan, complex and sweet,
That their creator set in place
And called them to complete.
 
They do not question when to grow,
To bloom and then to rest.
They simply follow His design,
Trusting He knows what’s best.
 
The path for us is more complex,
And yet, it is the same.
Walk forward in His perfect plan,
And do so in His name.
 
We cannot know tomorrow’s fruit
Until harvest is shared,
But we can trust the Creator
And the plan He’s prepared.
 
The fruit that grows within His light
Will reflect His design,
While fruit that grows outside His plan
Will wither on the vine.
 
Turn, then, your face toward His light
And, in His Word, take root,
That, when the harvest comes at last,
You will be His good fruit.
 
Matthew 7:18
A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

Who Do I Reflect

I need to stop, now and again,
And look at who I see.
Am I living within this world,
Or is this world in me?
 
We walk within a darkened land,
But we live in His Light,
And we are called to reflect Him,
However fierce the fight.
 
Sometimes I don’t see Him in me,
And that tears me apart.
For He gave everything to me,
He purified my heart.
 
Yet when I walk within the world,
I find I lose my way.
That’s when I need to ask myself
Who I reflect, today.
 
For when I see myself, I hope
To see His Light in me,
However dim the reflection,
It’s Him I want to see.
 
Proverbs 27:19
As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

Ponder Your Path

The world will tell us, “Follow me”,
But that is not the way,
For that path leads to destruction,
Broken hearts and decay.
 
It’s not a question unanswered,
For history is there
To show us, again and again,
That path leads to despair.
 
Each time we stand up in the lie,
Which this world claims is true,
We find ourselves lost in darkness
That we must then fight through.
 
There is no goodness born of man,
Though goodness still prevails,
For He who calls us, laid the path,
His good works form the trails.
 
To each the question one day falls,
“Whose voice do I follow?”
The voice that calls out from darkness,
Or His, whose light I know?
 
Ponder the path that you will take
Before you’re called to choose,
Keep your feet on the path He walked,
Or trust this world, and lose.
 
Proverbs 4:26-27
Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.
Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

This wonderful photo is a blessing from AC taken on her trip to Africa. 

Blessings and Rocky Paths

I love You, Lord, that’s all tonight.
We talked throughout the day
As I ran circles pointlessly
And got in my own way.
 
Somedays just seem to go like that,
But blessings tuned up, too.
I am inclined to give credit
For all of those to You.
 
I’m good at letting stress pile up,
But You always step in
And give me a good reason to
Slow down and start again.

You let me see the blessings there,
Along the rocky trail.
They were a sweet reminder that,
Through You, blessings prevail.
 
That’s why, tonight, all I can say
Is Lord, I love you so,
And thank You for the rocky paths
Where love and joy still grow.
 
Psalm 144:15
Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

Your Steadfast Love

So many have said it before
With finer turn of phrase,
But I want to lift up to You
My own small words of praise.
 
You gave me life, then redeemed me,
And, with Your empty grave,
You paid the price to set me free.
I’m no longer death’s slave.
 
I don’t deserve to know such love,
In fact, none of us do.
Yet that is exactly the love
We each receive from You.
 
I thank You, Lord, for loving us!
How wondrous are Your ways
That gave us life eternally.
To You, I lift my praise.
 
Psalm 107:8
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!