Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Posts tagged ‘Lord’

Feeling Buried?

John 12:24-25

“Listen carefully! Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.” (Eugene H. Peterson’s The Message translation)

In the eye of the storm, Hurricane Florence is burying houses, trees, streets, electrical connections, pig farms, and even people … in their homes, in their cars and pickups, on their escape routes. This scripture from John 12 reminds me that being buried, even if it means death to this earthly life, can result in eternal life – or at least a better life.

But, we don’t have to encounter a hurricane to feel buried. We can be buried by trouble, strife, grief, disillusionment, disappointment, greed. We can be buried by fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of inadequacy.

John 12 asks us to listen carefully. Jesus is reminding His followers that we cannot avoid change – and when we try to do so – when we “hold on to life just as it is,” we destroy life. So, we are told to let it go. Go with the flow. Even the flow of flooding that threatens to drown us. Go with it… float the flood! Know that trouble is guaranteed, but trouble is temporary.

Look beyond the turmoil of today. Look beyond yourself. Look to God for guidance and comfort and direction. Look for others who need you. Serve them as you follow Jesus’ example. God will help unbury you as you help unbury others.

Who can you help today?

Category:

Faith, food, Giving, Life's Challenges, Love, Serving One Another

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Why Pray?

God directs your path

When you take time to listen

To His Voice in prayer.

Hah! You thought I was gonna write something about how God answers your needs when you speak to God in faith, right? Well, that’s true, too. Especially when you believe God is here; God hears; God loves you and wants what’s best for you; God answers.

But, the main reason I pray is not to speak and request. The main reason I pray is to listen. In my silence, God speaks to my heart.

My day goes better if I take time to hear God’s Guidance before I begin the hard task of living intentionally today.

Prayer is not a one-way street. We are never alone when we pray. As Charles Stanley wrote in his devotional for today’s reflection “In Touch” magazine, prayer is “… a divine appointment with Almighty God.”

Do you keep that appointment daily? Do you invite the Holy Spirit in? Do you listen and absorb as the Creator creates in you a new spirit of love, joy and peace to guide today’s footsteps?

Take time to pray before you begin each day. Take time to listen. Keep that divine appointment!

God bless you.

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, Haiku, prayer

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Living in One Accord

(Notes from a sermon based on Romans 8:12-17 delivered by Rev. Jean Johnson. Many of you know, to listen more intently, I take notes on Sunday mornings while listening to the message from the pulpit. Sometimes they are recorded in poetry. Last Sunday was one of those times.)

We all are God’s children.

Some call God, “Our Father.”

But, some folks choose to ignore Him.

They balk and say, “Why bother?”

God speaks to us in Romans,

To us who’ve already heard.

It’s not for the unknowing

Who think the Gospel’s absurd.

Those led by God’s Spirit

Are children of our Lord.

We show our Love and faith

By living in One Accord.

To live in One Accord with God,

We worship, study, love, and pray.

Our witness shows The Spirit

At work in us each day.

We’re living out the reality

Of what already is in us.

Be who you already are

Without works or trouble or fuss.

We used to belong to sin,

But Jesus came to the rescue.

We have reason for joy and acceptance.

Isn’t this Good News to you?

We have assurance of this reality –

This adoption is done, signed and sealed.

We sing praises to God, our Father.

Our case clearly has been appealed.

Knowing God as Father is possible

By Christ’s life, His Word, His death.

That evidence is proof enough;

We affirm it with every breath.

I believe in God, The Father,

In Jesus Christ, my loving Lord.

Thank You for Your Saving Grace.

Now, let us live in One Accord.

Amen?

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, Poetry, respect, Spiritual Gifts

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New Life

… the strength of His — ?

How would you finish that?

Here are my notes from Easter Sunday’s sermon.

What does this message say about God’s strength?

When you die, your body is buried.

Life’s circumstances can bury us, too.

But God comes and unburies us.

That’s the Easter story – true.

God grants us peace in Truth.

He promises to save our souls.

He removes the stone that

Seals us from our goals.

I cannot roll the stones away;

They’re too heavy for me to lift.

But Jesus, in His death & resurrection

Opens the sealed. What a gift!

In His death of pain and suffering,

Jesus took our stones of grief.

He opened The Way to joyful life –

He cleared the Path. What a relief!

Life unburied is a new creation.

Christ took the old – rolled it away.

Christ is risen – your old life’s buried.

What will you do with New Life today?

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, Life and Death, Love

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Here’s the Ear to Hear

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The ear to hear
Does not always work
It can change its tune
Take a break and shirk

I took its job for granted
Until one day I found
Sounds came to me distorted
Like vibrations from underground

I couldn’t hear my footsteps
Voices seemed far off
It all began last month
With a cold and nagging cough

I didn’t have the symptoms
Of others with the flu
I had no fever or body ache
Just couldn’t quite hear you

Unless I watched your mouth
Or you spoke up loud and clear,
Your voice seemed all muffled
Especially in my left ear

I kept expecting it to pop
And open up one day
Like it does when you go flying
Then land and yawn and say “Hooray!”

But it has been a month now
And the situation’s worse
The hearing test affirmed the fact
I’m blessed with a hearing curse

Last month my sister stayed with us
She has a hearing problem, too
I let the need to repeat myself
Annoy me more than a time or two

So now I think the Lord above
Is teaching me a lesson
See how it feels in a soundless tunnel
Compassion’s growing, I’m a-guessin’

A hearing aid may be the next
Tool that helps my plight
Just as my seamless bifocals
Improved my failing sight

The audiologist instructed me
To set aside my fears
And open my mind to admit
Aids can help as we add on years

I learned that ignoring it
And thinking I’ll make do
Is not a good alternative
Cuz loss of sound will damage you

It’s not just that it’s annoying
It actually hurts the brain
When sounds decrease and we
Receive the signal with too much strain

Brain cells actually stop working
They shrivel up and die
When they stop getting the stimuli
And scientists know why

They’ve studied this phenomena
There’s evidence to prove
Unused syntax disappear when they don’t
Get the sounds that make them move.

Isolation and depression are
Effects that can set in
And so might dementia start
These facts made my head spin

So here’s my ear that used to hear
I’m ready for it to work again
But just in case it doesn’t mind
I won’t delay; I’ll sport a grin

And listen to my ENT who says
A hearing aid is right for me
I’ll wear the damn thing faithfully
To keep my brains cells working actively.

Jan Beekman
1/24/18

Category:

Family, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony

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Outsiders

Jesus on the Cross

Jesus – simple, yet complex

Outsiders

A prophet is known
by the company he keeps.
If Jesus were a true prophet,
the right people would be His sheep.

But baaaaad people hung out
with Jesus – sinners of the worst sort.
Jesus scandalously kept company
with tax collectors, folks report.

His circle included prostitutes.
He dined with people of ill repute.
How did He respond to complainers?
Did He have a good word of refute?

No, He told the story of the lost –
Lost coins, lost sheep, lost kids.
Find the coin, search for lambs,
Be relentless finding others, Jesus bids.

But, though we’re concerned,
We have our limits, right?
Do we seek unending until we find?
No, it’s not about us and our plight.

It’s about God who searches.
It’s about our Lord who actively calls.
He needs us all …  you and me.
Invite the outsiders. Break down walls.

Amen?

Category:

Faith, Giving, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Serving One Another, Sharing

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Make Us One

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I take notes when I listen to the sermon in church. It helps me  internalize the message in a way that sticks. Then, I can share with my husband, Bob, whose mind wanders during sermons. We discuss it on the way home and I read my notes to him. Usually they are in poetic format. That’s how my mind holds on and interprets.

Here is my take on Rev. Jean Johnson’s message from John 17: 2-26.

MAKE US ONE

May the love I have for you
Also be in you.
May my words echo in your heart
And ring loud and true.

Each day I pray for you and yours,
For health and strength and peace.
My prayers include family and friends,
My kids, my sis, my niece.

I pray for us and our health, too,
And ask for family unity.
Jesus prayed that we be ONE –
Mend divisions between you and me.

From time’s beginnings, splits occurred –
From Adam, to disciples, to now.
Jesus asked God to make us one –
Stop our bickering somehow.

Set aside our differences.
Teach us, Lord, to pray
That we can love as Jesus loved.
Make us one today.

Amen?

 

 

 

Category:

Love

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Inside Lookin’ Out

Inside Lookin' Out

Today’s a good day
To be inside lookin’ out.
The wind’s a-howlin’
And the snow’s a-blowin’
But inside lookin’ out,
All’s well with the world!

It’s a good day to be
Thankin’ the Good Lord
For all the many blessin’s.
For a fire in the the fireplace,
A radiantly heated floor,
A pup on the hearth,
Food in the crockpot,
Friends close by,
A lovin’ spouse
who shovels the driveway
If I need to get out.

But, I don’t need
To go nowhere!
Nowhere but here –
Inside lookin’ out!

Written

on March 1, 2014

It’s Not About Me

Several years ago, when we first moved from California to Montana,
I wrote the following poem and posted it on my mirror as my “mantra.”
I read it every morning and carried it in my heart.

Lord, guide my feet in Your Will today.
Help me be what You want me to be.
Show me what You want me to do –
And help me walk in Your Way.

Then, today as I was browsing the recent history of some of my favorite
WordPress bloggers, I came across the following poem –
Posted on http://changeindirections.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/a-prayer-for-guidance/
on behalf of Rev. Mychal Judge, “FDNY chaplain and first official casualty of 9/11.”

Lord, take me where you want me to go;
Let me meet who you want me to meet;
Tell me what you want me to say,
and keep me out of your way.

ImageThank you, Rev. Mychal Judge, for helping me see that my use of “Your Way” and your use of “your way” are different – and yet inextricably related. Thank you to whomever posted this last August from a church newsletter … and thank you, Lord, for helping me find it because Rad Change reposted this “Prayer for Guidance.”  Rev. Mychal’s poem is a necessary part of making my poem/my thought process complete. It’s the message my minister, Rev. Jean Johnson was trying to help us understand last Sunday. In essence, she said, “Get out of the way, It’s not about YOU!”

I added Rev. Mychal’s poem to mine. It’s a constant and real reminder to stay out of the way, but stay in THE WAY, by walking in God’s Way. It reminds me to recognize that God is the Guide, the One in the Driver’s seat, the Creator, the One who is worthy of praise and recognition. Get out of God’s way and let God WORK through me! There is no end to the GOOD God can do through us, if we just get out of the the way.

It’s not about me!! 

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Category:

Love

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Bird in a Gilded Cage

 

Bird in a Gilded Cage

I’m only a bird in a gilded cage.
I’m trapped in a pent-up life.
I see the blue sky and the world out there,
But I’m locked in a world of strife.

I know I have friends who are here with me.
I feel their support and love;
But they can’t quite reach all my problems here –
I’m counting on the Lord above.

He’s not just a God who is far removed.
He’s my Savior, Deliverer, Friend.
I take all my strife to the Lord in prayer
And count on the Holy Spirit to descend.

Come into the cage of Your gilded bird.
Come into my heart today.
Take all of my troubles and grant me peace.
Give me love, JOY, and patience, I pray.

Amen

Category:

Love

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