Remember, ultimately we are not submitting to human authority but to divine authority.
From 1 Thessalonians 3:11-12: “Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for You.”
Charles Swindoll (born 1934) is an American pastor and Christian author.
From 1 Corinthians 13:13: “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”
Living hollow life without love
Nothing but emptiness, thereof
Disconnected faith fills our veins
Minus love, tall mountains remain
Mankind’s meaningless possessions
Forgotten in life’s recessions
Worldly knowledge, means so little
Love gently binds, never brittle
Love arrives with Holy kindness
Patience without any blindness
Never arrogant or hateful
Without envy, always grateful
Jesus teaches, love each other
Sincere love, sisters and brothers
Caring God so loved this dark world
Christ’s own unselfish love unfurled
From a blood-stained Cross comes His Grace
Love speaks out, sin falls on its face
Our Lord offers His Holy gift
Faith, hope, love . . . no longer adrift
God’s Word delivers life’s new lease
Love triumphs, building lasting peace
From the words of Christian theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr: “The cross symbolizes a cosmic as well as a historic truth. Love conquers the world, but its victory is not an easy one.”
Originally published September, 2020.
Our love grows soft if it is not strengthened by truth, and our truth grows hard if it is not softened by love.
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.”
John Stott (1921-2011) was an English preacher and Christian theologian. During his years in the ministry, he was one of the leaders of the worldwide evangelical movement.
From Job 14:7-9: “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grows old in the earth and its stump dies in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.”
Born with innocence
Nurtured by mother’s love
Filled with newfound wonder
Shadow of Christ above
Tomorrow shall wait
Savior’s love comes this day
Nourished through grace from God
Faith follows hope’s walkway
Peace fills daily breath
Sprouts from living waters
God’s love feeds faith’s deep roots
For each son and daughter
Age gathering years
Yet, spirit remains strong
Love nourishes outlook
Christ writes salvation’s song
Joy fills every day
Darkness fades into light
God’s Word speaks of His love
Righteous faith knows what’s right
From Psalm 1:2-3: “But their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.”
Faith’s
Patient peace
Accepting Spirit’s truth
Witnessing mercy taking flight
Righteousness
Hope’s
Guiding light
Accepting Christ’s challenge
Forwarding grace to others
Joy
Love’s
Stirring heartbeat
Accepting Father’s truth
Forgiveness comes through Thee
Cleansing
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.
Winter’s fading breath
Discovering light
One final snowflake
Springtime taking flight
Winter pushed aside
Taking rest once more
Moved from nature’s shelf
Change coming ashore
Time bursting forward
Sharpening each thought
Landscape’s fresh colors
Lessons being taught
Young and old smiling
Finding spring abloom
Nature turns its page
Song fills every room
Daylight grows longer
Feeling warmth each day
April showers come
May flowers will stay
Life’s faithful rhythm
Rising overnight
Harmony fills hearts
Love found at first sight
If you want to be happy for life, love what you do.
Happiness is like mercury. Hard to hold, and when we drop it, it shatters into a million pieces. Maybe the bravest of all are those who have the courage to reach for it again.
Mary Higgins Clark (1927-2020) was an American writer of suspense novels.
Love
Bethlehem’s gift
Passion’s lasting peace
Witnessed in Messiah’s breath
Proven
Faith
Light ahead
Father’s promises fulfilled
Son’s passion at Calvary
Reborn
Hope
Passion’s breath
Scripture speaking truth
Blessed destiny in Christ
Resurrected
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.
Season to season
From love’s treasured heart
Every breath of life
Landscape’s fresh restart
Nature’s life cycles
Reborn every spring
Yet, autumn mourns loss
Winter’s darkness stings
Throughout life’s phases
Hope’s fateful ascent
Never to wither
Love always present
Always on schedule
Life’s permanent breath
Winter fades away
Spring overcomes death
Eternal love lasts
Cold ground warms again
Life breathes as He planned
Creator’s “amen”
