Rekindled
Within thee
Spirit of truth
Grace rises with Christ
Encouragement
Devoted
To prayer
Spirit’s daily presence
Reaching out from Christ
Witness
Nourished
With goodness
Light’s eternal journey
Blessings through Christ’s love
Faith
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.
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.”
Early morning arrives
Filled with mishmash of thoughts
Searching for peace of mind
Asking God, call the shots
Waiting in the kitchen
Prayer time with the Lord
His spirit calms life down
Life’s outlook feels restored
Table’s Bible invites
Reading, learning God’s Word
His insight teaches truth
Daily lessons inferred
Accepting God’s invite
Dressed for an autumn walk
Dialog moves outside
Let’s continue to talk
From Isaiah 57:19: “Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord; and I will heal them.”
Originally published September, 2020.
The pressures and burdens of life don’t have to result in despair.
From 2 Corinthians 1:10-11: “He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on Him we have set our hope that He will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many may give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”
Charles Stanley (1932-2023) was an American pastor and Christian writer. He was dedicated to leading a teaching ministry.
From 2 Corinthians 11:13-14: “For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
Facing life’s harshest trials
Walking uphill in shadows
Keeping on the proper trail
Coveting greener meadows
Suffering darkest ordeals
Praying for divine advice
Listening for God’s response
Willing to pay any price
Hiding off the path, waiting
Offering cunning, false hope
Sliding into Satan’s net
Reaching up for rescue’s rope
Clutching God’s forgiving hand
Leaving the enemy’s grip
Finding new life with the Lord
Walking in His fellowship
From Romans 6:22-23: “But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Originally published September, 2020.
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.'”
Life’s darkened landscape
Harvest empty of grain
Hope seems so distant
Forgotten in pain
Heart’s desolate scene
Hope’s answers in prayer
Now mercy arrives
Laden with love’s care
Family finds hope
Answers no longer wait
Body now healing
Doctor brings update
Scars from troubles heal
Set to travel hope’s road
Spirit strengthens heart
Faith harvests what’s sowed
Earth’s torrential flood
Faith anchored on firm ground
Noah’s dove soars free
Hope’s olive leaf found
From Genesis 8:10-11: “He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark, and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.”
The common response to trials is resistance, if not outright resentment. How much better that we open the doors of our hearts and welcome the God-ordained trials as honored guests for the good they do in our lives.
From 1 Peter 1:6-7: “In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
Charles Swindoll (born 1934) is an American pastor and Christian author.
Do not limit the limitless God! With Him, face the future unafraid because you are never alone.
From Jeremiah 29:11-12: “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon Me and come and pray to Me, I will hear you.”
Lettie B. Cowman (1870-1960) was an American writer of Christian devotional books.
There is nothing more difficult than to ask. We will long and desire and crave and suffer, but not until we are at the extreme limit will we ask.
From Luke 11:10: “For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
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.
From Psalm 25:4-5: “Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all day long.”
Darkness filled with stormy seas
Navigating all alone
Waiting and watching
Jesus witnesses man’s every groan
Better days surely coming
Spring forward, full of grace
Watching and hoping
Jesus shares righteous branch, now embrace
His way leads to higher ground
Bringing mercy’s salvation
Hoping and trusting
Jesus rebuilds faith’s new foundation
Moments of earnest prayer
Transforming grace taking flight
Trusting and praising
Jesus forgives with redemptive light
Faith nourished with comfort’s love
Raising Resurrection’s bridge
No longer waiting
Jesus offers way to heaven’s ridge
From 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10: “For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with Him.”
Experiencing
Daily blessings
Heavenly Father above
Source of faith’s comfort
Joy
Praising
Father’s love
Redemption from Savior
Each sin washed white
Peace
Prayer’s
Intimate conversation
Father’s daily grace
Heart opened, hearing Him
Hope
