Accepting His Challenge

From Micah 6:1-2:  “Hear what the Lord says:  Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.  Hear, you mountains, the case of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has a case against His people, and He will contend with Israel.”

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Speaking to His wayward flock

God issues new covenant

Echoing across valleys

Scaling each lofty mountain

 

Hearing God’s divine message

Called, accepting His challenge

Following with trust, grace speaks

Stepping from darkness to light

 

Watching from heaven above

God’s righteousness brings justice

Sowing seeds of repentance

Turning man away from sin

 

Praying for God’s forgiveness

His Rock, man shall climb in faith

Seeing empty tomb’s mercy

Walking every day with Christ

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From Micah 6:8:  “He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?”

Life’s Center

From Colossians 3:12:  “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”

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Living as God’s chosen

Accepting mercy’s grace

Forgiveness, divine gift

Choosing love to embrace

 

Filling self with kindness

Blessing this very day

Forgiveness, without strings

Following Father’s way

 

Bearing with each other

Sharing God’s priceless gift

Forgiveness, pass it on

Healing each heart adrift

 

Receiving peace of Christ

Dwelling deeply within

Forgiveness, Spirit fills

Transforming life of sin

 

Praising with gratitude

Walking with humble steps

Forgiveness, life’s center

Repenting each misstep

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From Colossians 3:13-14:  “Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Charles Swindoll Quote

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Jesus of Nazareth had a magnificent obsession:  the cross.  His death on the cross was no afterthought on God’s part but rather, the fulfillment of the Father’s predetermined plan for His Son.

From Luke 24:46-47:  “He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.'”

Gracious and Merciful

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Always remember

Recounting gracious deeds

Breathing trust into faith

Life’s every tender reed

 

Lord fulfills great acts

Praising each, filled with love

Witnessing mighty hand

Angels sing from above

 

Never-ending grace

Sending His Son to build

Lasting bond with Father

Redemption shall be filled

 

Merciful journey

Gathering at one cross

Shedding His blood for all

Evil swallows his loss

 

New covenant calls

Forgiving sinful ways

Creating hope’s new life

Salvation’s hands now raise

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Jim Cymbala Quote

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God’s heart of mercy provides for us not only pardon from sin but also a daily provision of spiritual food to strengthen us.

From 1 John 1:9:  “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Jim Cymbala (born 1942) is an American pastor and Christian author.  He firmly believes that God will share His goodness in our lives.

Gospel-Driven

From 2 Corinthians 5:17-18:  “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”

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God’s living grace

Bends earthly lives

Word’s special place

Righteousness thrives

 

Forgiveness gifts

Mercy for all

Spirit uplifts

One man named Saul

 

Undeserved grace

Transforming hearts

Joy shall embrace

Life’s hope restarts

 

Redemption shared

Walking with Christ

Because God cared

Evil’s plan iced

 

Grace reconciled

Sins forgiven

Darkness exiled

Gospel-driven

 

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From the words of American pastor and Christian teacher, Charles Stanley:  “Experiencing the forgiveness God offers will transform every part of life.”

August Wilson Quote

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Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness.

From Psalm 32:5:  “Then I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the guilt of my sin.”

August Wilson (1945-2005) was an American playwright, who was honored to receive the  Pulitzer Prize in Drama twice in 1987 and 1990.  He has been referred to as the “theater’s poet of Black America.”

Love’s Goodness

From Ephesians 1:4-5:  “Just as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love.  He destined us for adoption as His children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will.”

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Father’s divine design

Anchored in His love

Through our Lord Jesus Christ

Grace shines from above

 

Father showing mercy

Love’s eternal gift

Patient kindness sending

Life-changing airlift

 

Father guiding all things

Built around His love

Sending His only Son

Hope reigns from above

 

Father always believes

Love’s goodness in man

Rejoicing in His truth

Redemption’s firm plan

 

Father’s forgiving act

Filled with lasting love

His wisdom and insight

Praise His glory above

 

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From 1 Corinthians 13:4-6:  “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.”

Martha Williamson Quote

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Mercy is His gift.  You shine with His divine light every time you are merciful and forgive someone.

From Ephesians 4:32:  “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”

Martha Williamson is a television producer, who is best known for her contributions as the head writer and executive producer of the award-winning television series, “Touched by an Angel.”

Interventions (Elfchen Series #122)

Sanctuary

Witnessing

New day

On eagle’s wings

Soaring to Father’s refuge

Grace

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Character

Substituting

Bitter tongue

Walking with Jesus

Righteousness fills each word

Kindness

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Restoration

Receiving

God’s mercy

Filling our spirit

Overflowing with His goodness

Forgiveness

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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.