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.
Faith is not to get you out of a hard place but to change your heart in the hard place.
From Ezekiel 36:26: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
David Wilkerson (1931-2011) was an American evangelist, Christian author, and pastor.
From Nehemiah 8:9: “And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.”
The common response to trials is resistance, if not outright resentment. How much better that we open the doors of our hearts and welcome the God-ordained trials as honored guests for the good they do in our lives.
From 1 Peter 1:6-7: “In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
Charles Swindoll (born 1934) is an American pastor and Christian author.
From Psalm 30:4-5: “Sing praises to the Lord, O you His faithful ones,and give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
From Psalm 30:11-12: “You have turned my mourning into dancing; You have taken off my sackclothand clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
The dearest friend on earth is a mere shadow compared to Jesus Christ.
From John 15:15: “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father.”
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) was a Scottish evangelist and Christian teacher. Following his death from an illness while in Egypt during World War I, his wife took on the task of transcribing the detailed notes she had written from his lectures and sermons. Gertrude Hobbs Chambers’ efforts resulted in the publication in 1924 of MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST. I frequently read from this devotional, and it has greatly deepened my faith and understanding of God’s Word.
From Mark 12:29-31: “Jesus answered, ‘The first is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”