If you are overcome by burdens in your life, it is time to trust the only One who can carry your heavy load.
From Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
From Philippians 2:1-2: “If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”
Living, Messiah breathes
Defeating Calvary’s death
Affirming His Resurrection
Forgiveness fills every breath
Witnessing humbleness
Calling believers to serve
Following Savior’s faithful steps
Grace conquers death we deserve
Praising faith’s light above
Confessing to Christ, our Lord
Finding hope through redemption’s door
Body of One comes aboard
Bending each fearless knee
Grasping depth of Savior’s love
Absorbing His peace through prayer
Spirit descends from above
Sharing joy with others
Pouring out His love through grace
Seeing faith’s home through Father’s eyes
Messiah’s welcoming place
From Philippians 2:17-18: “But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the service of your faith, I rejoice, and I rejoice together with all of you; in the same way also you should rejoice and rejoice together with me.”
God does not keep a man immune from trouble; He says–“I will be with him in trouble.”
From Romans 8:35: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?
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.
Holy Commandments
Father’s blueprint guides
Filling every life
Steps called to abide
Heavenly lessons
Righteous hand sustains
Filling hungry mind
Father’s Word remains
Insight grows daily
Father’s grace-filled love
Filling wayward heart
Honor Him above
Crooked path made straight
Father’s faithful seeds
Filling with wisdom
Every tender reed
Shattered hope rebuilt
Father’s vision soars
Filling with His peace
Faith desiring more
Wisdom always teaching
Every day, words matter
Sharing encouragement
Negative now scatters
Gentleness in spirit
Words of inspiration
Sending intended grace
Fragrance of carnations
Pleasant conversation
Cooler than grill’s briquettes
Reflecting heart’s sweetness
Love guiding words’ mindset
Strangers greeted as friends
Careful with choice of words
Sharing joy with others
Kindness stirred, always heard
Words echo character
Softness cradles each thought
Thinking before saying
Always, as mother taught
From Psalm 23:1-3: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul.”
Walking through trials
Shepherd’s voice of peace
Trusting to follow
Grasping faith’s newfound lease
Seeking to believe
Wonders offer signs
Trusting to follow
Rising faith shall align
Affirming Lord’s Word
Each day follows night
Trusting to follow
Watching darkness take flight
Feeling love come forth
Savior’s light proclaims
Trusting to follow
Witnessing heaven’s flame
Overcoming death
Christ shall never rest
Trusting to follow
Tasting grace, faith digests
Filling hope with joy
Resurrection thrives
Trusting to follow
Knowing Shepherd’s alive
From John 11:14-16: “I am the good shepherd. I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
Selected verses from Psalm 122 bring inspiration for this poem. America, as a nation, needs healing and reconciliation. The two verses of Scripture take us on a journey from where we have been to where we wish to go.
From Jeremiah 6:14: “They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.”
Praying for peace in our city
Loving Jesus takes center stage
Welcoming peace into all hearts
Hearing love of God over rage
Listening to cries of anguish
Walking with Jesus protects all
Showing empathy for neighbors
Sharing His peace at every call
Stepping forward with trusting words
Treating these wounds with Jesus’ care
Saying “peace, peace” with conviction
Lifting hands high, love fills the air
Standing and feeding His lost flock
Replacing discord, Jesus comes
Proclaiming a new dawn today
Following Grace-filled, beating drum
From Isaiah 57:19: “Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord; and I will heal them.”
Originally published June, 2020.
What dark depths dwell in our lives?
Sinful nature, lost like sheep
Hearts fill with lasting troubles
Seeing life’s well, much too deep
Returning without promise
Jacob’s well cannot quench thirst
Our parched lips, where’s our relief?
Sinful souls, ready to burst
God’s Grace, in living water
Blessing in truth and spirit
Gushing with eternal life
Drink deeply, never fear it
Who will bring us this water?
We look, but the well is deep
Jesus draws living water
Saving His lost, thirsty sheep
From John 4:11-15: “The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.'”
Originally published June, 2020.
Whenever anyone turns from sin and trusts in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation, God in His mercy makes that person alive with Christ.
From Ephesians 2:4-5: “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”
Heaven is something we inherit. We are undeserving, therefore we do not earn heaven; it is a gift provided by the One who went before us.
From Psalm 145:13: “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all His words and gracious in all His deeds.”
Big Sky Buckeye 