Life’s
Puzzle pieces
Scattered and missing
Grace recovers through love
Forgiveness
Life’s
Lasting treasures
Waiting in Eternity
Heart focused on God
Transformation
Life’s
Empty void
Spirit reaches within
Nourishing Bread of Life
Empowerment
This series of poems (written in the German-inspired style of Elfchen or Elevenie) shares a total of eleven words in each poem, with a sequence by line of one, two, three, four, and one words.
Temptation is the devil looking through the keyhole. Yielding is opening the door and inviting him in.
From Matthew 4:1-4: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But He answered, ‘It is written, One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
Billy Sunday (1862-1935) was an American baseball player during the early years of professional baseball. Fortunately for believers and nonbelievers, Sunday later became one of the most influential evangelists in America during the first two decades of the 20th century.
Some people’s thinking
Prosperity’s wealth
Filled with gold’s treasures
Money brings good health
Overflowing grift
Falsehoods flooding minds
Filled with finances
Greed poisons and blinds
Almighty dollars
Ignoring true cost
Riches tumble down
Future fills with frost
Character flounders
Integrity fades
Growing evil breathes
Lifetime’s failing grade
Blessed dare the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.
When the soul suffers too much, it develops a taste for misfortune.
From the words of American pastor and Christian teacher, Charles Stanley: “The body of Christ–also know as the Church–is made up of all who believe in Jesus.”
Body of Christ
Filled with believers
Worshipping Him
Humble receivers
Head of God’s church
Lord Jesus Christ reigns
Following Him
Grace eases our pains
Faith’s salvation
Active Christian life
Breathing Gospel
Peace lives without strife
Boldly walking
As Christ’s faithful feet
Upholding love
Divine message greets
Believers march
Trust guides life’s mandate
Spreading Good News
Grace equips our fate
From Ephesians 4:15-16: “But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.”
Peace comes not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of God.
From John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
World’s complexity
Simplicity seeks appeal—
Enters writer’s mind
Each crafted arrow
Filling this writer’s quiver—
Lasting prose awaits
Enlightened verses
Expressions of flowing waves—
Poet captures life
When it’s too difficult to keep swimming, float.
It’s so easy to look around and notice what’s wrong. It takes practice to see what’s right.
Melody Beattie (born 1948) is an American author. From her own life experiences, she has written several self-help books.
Photo by Haley Black on Pexels.com
Who is this man from Galilee?
Born on a cloudless, starry night
No rooms available at the inn
A feed box becomes His bed
Holy Spirit brings forth this child
Virgin Mary becomes His loving mother
Humble beginning for Christ the King
Nation of Israel burdened by hopelessness
Oppressed under cruel, harsh Roman rule
Waiting for their God fulfilling Messiah
Little do the people really know
God has arrived in their midst
Bringing a way to eternal Salvation
Who is this man from Galilee?
Mary and Joseph care for Immanuel
Angels of God watch over all
Providing wise counsel through Joseph’s dream
Sending the family to Egypt’s safety
Avoiding Herod’s bloody and inhumane wrath
Fulfilling Scripture, God calls His Son
Returning home from the Egyptian lands
A dutiful boy becomes a Nazarene
Learning the worthy trade of carpentry
At twelve, He visits Jerusalem’s temple
Amazing all with His Godly perspectives
Spending time in His Father’s House
Who is this man from Galilee?
Baptized by John at the Jordan
Spending forty days and nights alone
Tempted by the evil one’s craftiness
Facing temptations like any of us
Overcoming and banishing each of them
Materialism, hedonism, and egoism mean nothing
This Nazarene man moves to Galilee
Beginning His ministry with a purpose
Calling out to twelve imperfect men
Take up your cross, follow Me!
God’s Word becomes bread of life
Disciples now fish for lost people
Who is this man from Galilee?
Reaching out to forsaken, sinful people
Performing miracles, left and then right
Preaching the Sermon on the Mount
Turning simple water into wedding wine
Healing the sick and the lame
All signs of His glory with God
Feeding the 5,000 seems truly impossible
Walking on water before Peter’s eyes
Few can imagine His ultimate fate
Eyes and ears closed and unaware
This man called Jesus brings light
On Resurrection Day, fulfilling God’s promise
The world now knows Jesus Christ!
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Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by your own act . . . make your decisions in the light of the high hour.
From John 12:35-36: “Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.'”
Big Sky Buckeye 