Faith is the courage to face reality with hope.
From Lamentations 3:22-24: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in Him.'”
From John 1:16-17: “From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Best and worst of times
God’s grace always chimes
Loving and caring
Promises bearing
God remains at hand
Faith and hope shall stand
Seeking empty hearts
Molding time’s restart
Life’s melody plays
Offer Him our praise
God’s grace taking root
Peace filling love’s flute
Gloom and doom appear
Allow Him to steer
God’s love shows He cares
Guiding day’s affairs
Hope’s beacon awaits
In His hands, our fate
Witness as His child
Life no longer wild
Forgiveness and love
Shared from God above
God’s grace shapes life’s frame
Praise His Holy name
From Lamentations 3:22-23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
This poem is inspired from some past entries in my “Take-Aways” journal. Each entry is based upon something read and studied in a morning devotional.
From the words of American pastor and Christian author, A. W. Tozer: “Faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving God.”
Winter’s lost, snow-covered faith
Father’s presence, long frozen
Buried faith, under deep drifts
Lack of any hope, blows in
Christ melts each frozen glacier
Ice turns to living water
Holy Spirit flows with hope
God’s Word molds, as faith’s potter
Spring arrives, God’s Holy love
Maturing into life’s fruit
Flowering trees, witness faith
Hope emerging, each new shoot
Resurrection brings new life
Hungry faith springs with fresh growth
Spirit warms forgotten hearts
Faith then hope, Christ unearths both
From Proverbs 3:3-4: “Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and of people.”
Father
Almighty God
Never sits silent
From sunrise to sunset
Righteousness
Voices
Seeking attention
Single voice calls
Come, walk with Me
Jesus
Journey
Never ends
From Calvary’s cross
Resurrection faithfully assures tomorrow’s
Hope
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.
Without the certainty of His resurrection, we would come to the end of this life without hope, with nothing to anticipate except despair and doubt. But because He lives, we rejoice, knowing soon we will meet our Savior face to face, and the troubles and trials of this world will be behind us.
From John 16:31-33: “Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe? 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!'”
From Romans 12:1-2: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Imperfect humans
Walking darkest trails
World twists upside down
Christ calls, without fail
World crying out with
Endless, empty claims
Filled with dead end thoughts
Christ drowns looming flames
Noisy distractions
Countless temptations
Follow His footsteps
Christ’s supplications
Waking to darkness
God’s will lights each day
Struggling with life’s sin
Christ bridges the way
Share genuine love
Holding fast to good
Serving the Father
Christ transforms driftwood
Zealous in spirit
Rejoicing in hope
Walk with humbleness
Christ’s love helps us cope
Marked with our Lord’s truth
Walk with Christian steps
Soul and mind renewed
Follow Christ’s footsteps
From Hebrews 6:19-20: “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
From James 4:6: “But He gives all the more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'”
Our Creator’s divine plan
Offers fullest, living grace
Giving patience, just in case
When running life’s anxious race
Our Lord shares forgiveness
Relationships need healing
Forgiving sin, just in case
When each day seems freewheeling
Heaven’s Father, sharing peace
Imperfect lives needing change
Trimming each branch, just in case
When roaming lost on God’s range
God shares His timely wisdom
From Heaven, He sees us fall
Touching our hand, just in case
When we need His hope-filled call
From John 15:1-2: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit.”
From John 15:4-5: “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”
Sometimes in life, failure knocking
Darkest times, odds stacked against us
God always, ready and able
His greatness, witness Glory’s plus
Heaven’s Father never ceases
Life’s moments of weakness erased
God always, ready and able
Strengthened, with His sweetest foretaste
Abraham’s Sarah, doubts the Lord
Blessing comes with birth of a boy
God always, ready and able
His covenant, flowing with joy
Hebrew slaves hunger for freedom
Moses feels uncertain, with fear
God always, ready and able
Israel now freed, while He steers
Toiling and sweating in darkness
Accomplish little on our own
God always, ready and able
His hope and peace, faith’s firm backbone
Coming to the Lord, trusting Him
Follow His path, at life’s crossroads
God always, ready and able
Willing to lift burdensome loads
From Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you that 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 John 16:33: “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!”
Where can mankind find lasting hope?
Living each day without much joy
Peace and hope absent from life’s scope
Searching under every rock
Calmness found in elusive hope
Falling into Enemy’s traps
Darkness clouds life’s kaleidoscope
Overcome with discouragement
God’s love endures with living hope
Life’s tribulations never win
Our Father promises lasting hope
Christ fulfills Bible’s prophecies
Faith fuels hope, ascending life’s slope
Tireless Holy Spirit at work
Opens doors by way of God’s Word
Building and strengthening our faith
Life’s fresh discovery, hope stirred
Turning sorrow into joy . . . Rejoice!
Ask the Father in Jesus’ name
Guiding with righteousness and truth
Faith nourishes hope, now aflame
From the words of American evangelist and Christian author, Bill Bright: “Without the certainty of His resurrection, we would come to the end of this life without hope, with nothing to anticipate except despair and doubt.”
From Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”
Accepting life’s ongoing gifts
Filling wonder, never adrift
Marveling at heavens above
Inspiring vastness of God’s love
Walking in righteousness with God
Comforted by His love, unflawed
Looking ahead, with peace and hope
Holding tightly to God’s firm rope
Treating others with words which say
Sharing compassion’s rich bouquet
Gathering strength for life’s travels
Trusting God, nothing unravels
Listening to deepest feelings
Surveying each moment’s healing
Receiving mid-course corrections
Hearing God’s faithful directions
Sailing in darkness, never cursed
Navigating by God, headfirst
Achieving goals, each passing day
Tasting our Lord’s hope-filled buffet
Tackling challenges without fear
Taking risks, with God set to steer
Stepping forward beyond life’s dreams
Following each path as God deems
From 1 Corinthians 10:16: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?”
