Big Sky Buckeye

A writer's journey continues

Holding Us Fast

Posted on May 2, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

From Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Burdened with sin-filling guilt

Questions about salvation

Worn down, feeling overwhelmed

Life struggling with temptation

Surrounded by sin’s gloom and doom

Meager actions not enough

Salvation ignores life’s works

Grace shining through evil’s bluff

Remember God’s faithful truths

Choosing us, always with us

Spirit marks each with new life

His love, hope’s guaranteed plus

Father’s Word holding us fast

Always our righteous anchor

Steadies weary, stumbling steps

Answers doubts, quiets rancor

Jesus pays our debts in full

Forgiven, transformed, renewed

According to His mercy

Taking our place, flesh subdued

From Titus 3:4-5: “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

Rejoicing!

Posted on April 28, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

From Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will renew you in His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.”

Rejoicing!

With fulfilled hearts

Forward life goes

Exulting!

Christ, our Savior

Conquers darkest foe

Celebrating!

Without Christ, defeated

With Jesus, victory

Harvesting!

Sowing faith’s seeds

Reaping eternal hope

Savoring!

God’s cherished love

Heavenly home waits

Blessing!

Empty tomb proclaims

Sharing Easter joy

Believing!

Jesus, Risen Lord

Sins bleached white

Worshipping!

Singing with praise

Blessed and thankful

Glorifying!

Father with Son

And Holy Spirit

Praising!

Witness God’s Word

Breaking bread together

Rejoicing!

Sovereign God empowers

With sustaining love

From Psalm 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

The main inspiration for this poem comes from the hymn “On Our Way Rejoicing.” Enjoy singing along!

Boundless Gifts (Elfchen Series #54)

Posted on April 16, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

Transformed

Faith

Perishable, precious

Tested by fire

Rejoice with glorious joy

Indescribable

Forgiven

Love

Promises fulfilled

Born a Savior

Quenching world’s dry thirst

Salvation

Enduring

Forever

Our Savior

Lights our way

His life, His truth

Jesus

**Photo by Adrien Olichon on Pexels.com**

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.

Do You Hear?

Posted on April 14, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

From Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

Busy with daily lives

Pausing now, do you hear?

As God listens, we should

Opening minds and ears

As God’s chosen, come close

Father waits with patience

Intently, carefully

Despite our impatience

Read His Word with earnest

Focus on, meditate

God’s living stone, breathing

Do you hear Him, so great?

His mercy chooses us

With never-ending love

Calling us from darkness

Finding God’s grace above

Face each hour with new hope

Follow with faithful steps

Lives chosen and precious

God waits at our doorstep

**Photo by Dominika Roseclay on Pexels.com**

From 1 Peter 2:9-10: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Oswald Chambers Quote

Posted on April 14, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

**Photo by Alem Su00e1nchez on Pexels.com**

The bedrock of our Christian faith is the unmerited, fathomless marvel of the love of God exhibited on the Cross of Calvary, a love we never can and never shall merit.

From Romans 8:37-39: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Love Never Fails

Posted on April 11, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

From Psalm 142:1-2: “With my voice I cry to the Lord; with my voice I make supplication to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before Him; I tell my trouble before Him.”

**Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com**

Roaming life’s wilderness

Old Man Trouble talking

No escape from his voice

Tougher times come knocking

Life’s rivers never rest

Turbulent waters wait

Walking through hottest fire

Faith in God shifts our fate

Bright days turning darkest

Where’s our protection gone?

Father’s love never fails

With us at day’s new dawn

Choosing life’s one clear choice

God’s love sending courage

Tackling intense troubles

Lord’s Word shall encourage

Facing Old Man Trouble

God renewing life’s hope

Eye to eye with our faith

Lord’s unbreakable rope

**Photo by Barbara Wyrowiu0144ska on Pexels.com**

From Isaiah 43:1-2: “But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

Monday Memories: Nourishing Love

Posted on April 5, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

A beautiful garden planted in the spring with great love

Flowers and vegetables blessed with peace from above

Every detail carefully planned and tenderly done

All this fertile soil needs now is water and sun

The first few weeks bring excitement and growth

Green buds and a bit of color are amazing both

One week goes by without any tender loving care

The young, immature plants now seem a bit scared

I am thirsty for a drink, can’t you see!

Why have you forgotten all about me?

Another week passes along without feeling a human hand

The fragile plants begin a slow march back to the land

I am thirsty for a drink, can’t you see!

Why have you forgotten all about me?

A third week arrives with unhappiness and despair

The once promising garden can’t surely be repaired

I am thirsty for a drink, can’t you see!

Why have you forgotten all about me?

From high above comes His promise to bring rain

Soon a gentle, nourishing mist reduces the pain

Humans need to be fed from above by Him

We must ask Him gently like singing a hymn

Without loving care, the garden and people will perish

The Lord adores all of His creation with love to cherish

Let us never, ever wonder and say . . .

I am thirsty for a drink, can’t you see!

Why have you forgotten all about me?

To have little faith isn’t part of our day!

Oswald Chambers Quote

Posted on March 31, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

**Photo by Porapak Apichodilok on Pexels.com**

Darkness comes by the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let God do as He likes with us–prepared to be separated from conscious blessings? Until Jesus Christ is Lord, we all have ends of our own to serve; our faith is real, but it is not permanent yet.

From John 16:32-33: “The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

Awesome Certainty

Posted on March 28, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

From John 3:14-17: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

Holy God of Abraham and Sarah

His Tree of Life blesses generations

Throughout Creation’s awesome certainty

Into Christ’s death, reborn as new nations

When rising with each new, precious morning

Blessed by our Father’s love, mercy, and grace

Witnessing His divine truth, now spoken

Passing on to each act and word we place

Walking as His body, the Son of Man

Sanctified through His sacrificial blood

Christ leads, encouraging all to follow

Life streaming to pristine sea, free of mud

Broken lives, breathing as imperfections

Life’s daily missteps, forever stumbling

Christ’s forgiveness showers each soul with love

Pardoning sinners, no longer tumbling

Grace-filled Holy Spirit moves within us

Offering necessary strength and hope

Fueling deep faith, God’s awesome certainty

Go forth, blessed and ready, walk life’s tightrope

**Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com**

Here is a special song, written by American composer, Marty Haugen, “Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery.” This short tune is filled with inspiring verses.

Nothing More Precious

Posted on March 18, 2021 by bigskybuckeye

From John 12:44-46: “Then Jesus cried aloud: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in Him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees Him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.'”

Across this world’s vastness

There’s nothing more precious

Than our God-given life

Primed to breath by His grace

Every precious day

Praise God for its richness

Honor life’s simple ways

Praying with thankful hearts

Just as God molds this earth

Spirit works tirelessly

Shaping and stretching lives

Blessing each precious breath

God’s precious hands guiding

Framing, leading, teaching

Crafting lives, filled with love

Accept His blessed gift

Charged with following God

Life’s precious, rocky path

Falling with stumbling steps

But, Father picks us up

Savoring each day’s breath

There’s nothing more precious

Honoring Lord of all

Straight to life’s final end

**Photo by Robin Schreiner on Pexels.com**

From Psalm 23:5-6: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.”

Following prayer and reading my Bible, my thoughts went into writing this special poem. Indeed, there is nothing more precious than life. On March 17, 2021, my stepfather, Ed, went to the Lord. The love he shared with my mother (his loving Martha) was boundless, and I was blessed to share my Christian faith with him. The unconditional love given by my mother to her blessed Ed will be a lasting gift because it has been witnessed by so many others.

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Transformed

Forgiven

Enduring

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