When our top priority is to please God with our life, we can expect treasure in heaven.
From Luke 12:20-21: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
From Isaiah 9:2: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.”
Walking without light
Actions filled with sin
False gods and idols
Faith absent within
Living in darkness
Gloom filled with torment
God’s conquered people
Called now to repent
Hearing prophet’s call
Shadows hidden theft
Nation’s ember glows
God has never left
Seeing promised grace
Filled with renewed hope
Evil crawls away
Faith grasps mercy’s rope
Easing life’s burdens
True light’s beating drum
Fear replaced with joy
Darkness overcome
From Isaiah 9:4: “For the yoke of their burden and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, You have broken as on the day of Midian.”
I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
From Hebrews 6:19-20: “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) served the United Kingdom as Prime Minister from 1940-1945 and later from 1951-1955. He unwavering leadership during World War II lifted the spirits of his nation in the darkest of times. He was also a prolific writer with countless published works.
From Isaiah 41:1: “Listen to Me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.”
Daily life racing ahead
Bearing with its constant noise
Searching for journey’s beachhead
Father’s mercy transmits poise
Listen in silence, God speaks
Hearing His comforting voice
Quieting peace, each heart seeks
Father calms, let man rejoice
Heaven breathes, stillness exhales
Shining His light, never fear
Leaving dark, wilderness trails
Father leading, always near
Schedule time, only for God
Drawing near, learning His way
Transforming sinful facade
Father’s blessed Word, let’s pray
American writer Madeleine L’Engle captures the essence of meaning found in this poem with these words: “Deepest communion with God is beyond words, on the other side of silence.”
God misses nothing. He’s looking out for us. He’s listening to our prayers.
From 1 Peter 3:12: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer.”
Offering
Abundant feast
Overflowing and sustaining
Christ feeds our spirit
Nourishment
Transforming
Better focused
Deserting sinful ways
God’s lens of truth
Perspective
Hearing
God’s Word
Sowed with righteousness
Flowing with Spirit’s light
Encouragement
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.
Trusting God is not by what you read or know. It is by doing what you have learned from His Word, Bible.
From James 1:22-25: “But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.”
Woodrow Kroll (born 1944) is an American pastor, Christian author, and radio host. He has written over 50 books on the Bible and Christian living.
From Psalm 85:5-6: “Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?”
Searching to find peace
Hidden by dark winds
Discomfort arrives
For mankind hath sinned
Touched by God’s embrace
Peace steps into light
Feeling His comfort
Grace washes flesh white
Praying to Father
Hope now reaches out
Finding peace at last
His Word carries clout
Steps walking in faith
God’s love shall not cease
Replacing darkness
Sharing endless peace
From Luke 2:12-14: “This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom He favors!'”
Whatever we focus on determines what we become.
From Proverbs 4:25: “Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you.”
Eli Stanley Jones (1884-1973) was an American Christian missionary, theologian, and author. Most of his missionary work took place in India where he became a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi. His biography about Gandhi’s life proved to be quite influential with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
From Isaiah 9:2: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.”
From Bethlehem, arrives light
Lying in stable’s manger
Humble birth of hope’s Savior
Grace no longer man’s stranger
Shepherds witness God’s glory
Kneeling and praising His light
Justice shall cover this land
Mercy’s, one eternal flight
Christ answers His Father’s call
Saving every tender reed
Light pushes away darkness
Evil shall never impede
Righteousness shall mark all days
Opening each heart and mind
Jesus shall never waver
His light, perfectly aligned
From Isaiah 42:6-7: “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”
Big Sky Buckeye 