Guilt is a gift that leads us to grace.
From Colossians 3:1-2: “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.”
Pursuing
Flesh’s desires
Filled with works
Life falls short in
Darkness
Truth
Speaks boldly
Christ’s Holy Word
Building hope through Spirit’s
Fruits
Love
Thy neighbor
Obedience to Christ
Grace meeting our needs
Freedom
Nothing
Comes between
God and ourselves
Walking in His faithfulness
Peace
Father’s
Steadfast love
Holy Spirit guides
Jesus dwells within us
Grace
Daily
Blessed discipleship
Faith community unites
Diverse group of believers
Growing
From Psalm 16:1-2: “Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.'”
Seeing foolishness
Walking darkest roads
Life’s journey of faith
Coming to crossroads
To whom shall we choose?
Evil’s empty book
Filled with deception
Flesh becomes his hook
Wilderness calls out
God’s refuge protects
Love filled with goodness
Earning our respect
Boundary lines set
Marching in God’s trust
Chosen path of life
Faith removes our lust
Always before us
God’s daily support
His right hand’s guidance
Grace never falls short
From Psalm 16:11: “You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
From Matthew 14:23-25: “And after He [Jesus] had dismissed the crowds, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning He came walking toward them on the sea.”
Facing challenges
Feel nourishing calm
Fed with Living Bread
Holy Spirit’s balm
Sailing into wind
Swelling, stormy waves
Seeking God’s compass
Eternal grace saves
Witnessing hardships
Gale arrives today
God never leaves us
Teaching us to pray
Smothering tempest
Evil’s wrath scolding
Finding God’s refuge
His peace beholding
Overcoming storms
Daily lessons teach
Hearing Gospel’s call
Rescued from tide’s breach
From Proverbs 10:25: “When the tempest passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are established forever.”
From the words of American pastor and Christian teacher, Charles Stanley: “Only a believer of God can experience full satisfaction and a yearning love for Him.”
Wilderness in one’s heart
Seeking mankind’s rewards
Shivering emptiness
Chasing promised awards
Dry, desolate landscape
Running this futile race
Clinging to sinful ways
Chasing hollow, false grace
Life comes to its crossroads
Starving for daily bread
Craving living water
Searching highway ahead
God intercedes with love
Filling body and soul
Sharing mercy and grace
Believing, life made whole
From Psalm 63:5: “My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips.”
This poem is designed with every three verses using a modified Haiku format (with the first and third verses rhyming). The verses alternate between God’s exhortations (the odd verses) and our responses (the even verses).
From the words of American pastor and Christian teacher, Charles Stanley: “We can trust God because He works all things together for His good and just purpose.”
Sharing grace-filled love
Crafting His divine message
Caring from above
Sowing lasting seeds
Trusting Father’s sacred Word
Following His creeds
Blessing through faith’s way
Teaching us His righteousness
Molding lives each day
Accepting God’s grace
Believing His Holy way
Living in His space
Freeing from sin’s net
Writing life’s newest chapter
Changing heart’s mindset
Walking in new light
Stepping onto hope’s worn path
Feeling life take flight
From Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
Father’s grace and peace
Sticking to each hungry soul—
Fed along rocky roads
Dealing with life’s stress
Islands of isolation—
Jesus rescues us
Righteous highway leads
Like river’s gentle current—
Spirit’s guiding hand
Dishonored
Broken heart
Sin’s inner chains
Saved by mercy’s key
Forgiven
Discouraged
Overwhelming darkness
Sin’s high tide
Grace saves with love
Jesus
Holy
High priest
His precious blood
Pays our sinful debts
Redemption
Embracing
His lead
Overcoming our resistance
Changed by God’s persistence
Prayer
Envisioning
Sharing hope
Acts of generosity
God’s works best revealed
Grace
Rain’s
Early morning
Rinsing our souls
God calling us home
Forgiveness
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.
Big Sky Buckeye 