Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.
Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them. [Both quotes taken from Milne’s writings about Winnie-the-Pooh]
A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne (1882-1956) was an English writer who was best known for his writings about Winnie-the-Pooh.
From James 1:2-5: “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face various trials, consider it all joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance complete its work, so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.”
Trusting with confidence
Facing life’s many trials
Testing of faith endures
Patience studies each mile
God supplies every tool
His wisdom offers light
Faith strengthened every day
Removing doubts each night
Leaving evil’s darkness
Rising sun brings great joy
Receiving peace through grace
Richness in truth deploys
Temptation’s breath withers
Forgiveness brings fresh start
Every chain now broken
Filling hope in one’s heart
Persevering each day
Walking with Christ above
Embracing tomorrow
Submission tastes His love
From James 1:12: “Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
Conflict’s illumination
Breathing at darkened crossroads
Competing sides debate
Feuding over each thought sowed
Wisdom arrives with patience
Lowering volume through grace
Pausing time to listen
Slowing down rhetoric’s pace
Conflict’s common ground merges
Finding compromise through peace
Hearing words of reason
Solving puzzle’s missing piece
Wisdom empowers new day
Offering one blessed choice
Walking together now
Gathering with single voice
From Proverbs 16:22: “Wisdom is a fountain of life to one who has it, but folly is the punishment of fools.”
Wisdom’s fountain of life
Vision of Christ unblurred
Blessing days without strife
Measuring every word
Wisdom’s voice fills each mind
Left hand joins truth of right
Maturing faith aligned
Cascading from Christ’s light
Wisdom’s appetite knows
Joy in Christ, never cease
Sowing hope’s seeds, trust flows
Reaping from fields of peace
Wisdom’s patience merging
Just as Father hath planned
Witnessing strength surging
Reaching out from Christ’s hand
Wisdom’s honest sweetness
Christ transforms man’s blindness
Filling life’s completeness
Building grace of kindness
From Proverbs 16:24: “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”
From Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Unconditional, none greater
Father’s steadfast and faithful love
He witnesses each human stain
Yet, His grace forgives from above
Eternity’s river of hope
Father’s truth expressed through His love
Heavenly spirit’s mercy flows
Righteousness descends from above
Enemy’s darkness now shattered
Father’s peace illuminates love
Patience always slow to anger
Angelic praises from above
Judgment left to His caring hands
Father’s vision expresses love
Invites man’s actions of kindness
Sunrise always leads from above
Truth sown from greatest commandment
Father looks inward at man’s love
Shared with every generation
Joy destined to praise from above
From Leviticus 19:18: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
Darkness transformed by sunrise
Energy welcomes new day
Nurturing all living things
Creation’s welcome ballet
Light sprinkles from each raindrop
Nourishment covers this land
Offering prized refreshment
Creation’s spirit as planned
Landscape transformed once again
Yesterday’s page turns over
Embracing scene’s blessed touch
Creation’s own makeover
Peace rises with ocean tides
Gentleness coming ashore
Earmarking time’s tomorrow
Creation’s open front door
Patience streams through nature’s heart
River’s living waters flow
Quenching eternity’s thirst
Creation’s whispers aglow
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.”
Originally published January, 2021.
From the words of American pastor and Christian author, Charles Swindoll: “When the sovereign God brings us to nothing, it is to reroute our lives.”
Surrounded by darkness
Human perspective fades
Thinking offers no choices
Feeling betrayed
Trusted patience in God
His fields of green shall sprout
Taking delight in His peace
Erasing doubt
Committed to God’s way
Today’s hope starts anew
Knowing mercy share His love
Transforming view
Witnessed truth in God’s Word
Calvary’s light unfolds
Rewiring faith’s new outlook
Praying tenfold
Rescued by Savior’s grace
Redemption now deploys
Forgiving, eternal love
Responding joy
From Psalm 37:23-24: “Our steps are made firm by the Lord when He delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.”
I will have reached the point of greatest strength once I have learned to wait for hope.
From Lamentations 3:25-26: “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
George Matheson (1842-1906) was Scottish pastor, Christian author, and hymn writer. His faith in God matured after becoming blind as a young man.
From Luke 1:46-47: “And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.'”
Advent’s journey
Following Savior’s star
Walking toward Bethlehem
Nurturing hope from afar
Advent’s patience
Sowing fresh seeds of hope
Harvesting heavenly peace
Grasping eternity’s rope
Advent’s witness
Wrapping faith in God’s Word
Waiting for hope to be born
Seeing prophecy unblurred
Advent’s treasures
Rising without fanfare
Revealing Messiah’s hope
Answering every prayer
Advent’s cleansing
Leaving darkness for light
Replacing man’s sins with hope
Raising redemption forthright
Advent’s glory
Sharing from hope above
Bearing world’s ultimate joy
Believing in Father’s love
From Luke 1:54-55: [Mary continues speaking] “‘He has come to the aid of His child Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, according to the promise He made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.'”
Big Sky Buckeye 