Faithfulness
In teaching
God’s Word deepens
Each fiber of understanding
Uplifted
Righteousness
In teaching
God’s Word nourishes
Grace fills another heart
Trusted
Truthfulness
In teaching
God’s Word guides
Faith’s very next step
Witnessed
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.”
Experiencing God’s grace
Feeling His generous love
Tasting heavenly goodness
New life found in Christ above
Renewing spirit of grace
Casting aside former ways
Escaping darkest trials
Christ’s sunrise erases gray
Drinking from God’s well of grace
Reading His Word, laced with hope
Sharing His righteous message
Faith matures, viewed through Christ’s scope
Embracing truth in God’s grace
Nourishing faith, now rejoice
Sustaining joy with each step
Christ’s glory in risen voice
Harvesting gifts from God’s grace
Setting mind on peace above
Filling heart with blessed hymns
Harmony flows from Christ’s love
From Colossians 3:15: “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”
God wants us to have soft hearts and hard feet. The trouble with so many of us is that we have hard hearts and soft feet.
From Psalm 51:10-12: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.”
Jackie Pullinger (born 1944) is a British missionary in Hong Kong. Her efforts founded the St. Stephen’s Society in 1981, which provides a rehabilitation home for recovering drug addicts, prostitutes, and gang members.
Dreams are renewable. No matter our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.
Because everything we say and do is the length and shadow of our own souls, our influence is determined by the quality of our being.
Dale E. Turner (1917-2006) was an American pastor and Christian writer. Many of his works shared an unfailing optimism with his readers.
Calling
His army
Prayer warriors march
Father’s mercy moves mountains
Believe
Calling
His name
From earth’s darkness
Receiving Spirit’s timeless grace
Faith
Calling
His Son
Jesus rising above
Walking upon heaven’s waters
Redemption
Change is inevitable, growth is optional.
From Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
John Maxwell (born 1947) is an American pastor, author, and speaker. He has written numerous books about leadership, with a Christian point of view.
Fulfilled
With confidence
Walking by faith
Light of righteousness leads
Trust
Encouraged
With assurance
Faith’s trusted steps
Perseverance carries hope forward
Endurance
Overwhelmed
With adversity
Grace transforms darkness
Faithful outlook trusts Jesus
Triumphant
From Isaiah 41:1: “Listen to Me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.”
Waking to morning’s silence
Praying to Father above
Faithful headwaters of strength
Renewing hope, filled with love
Energizing day’s journey
Tapping into Father’s grace
Coastlines reassured of strength
Offering peace to embrace
Joining in togetherness
Reciting from Father’s Word
River’s swift transforming strength
Navigating from what’s heard
Waiting with patience of Job
Seeing now through Father’s love
Each tide arrives with His strength
Restoring joy from above
Leaving wilderness for good
Fulfilling Father’s delight
Hope’s thirst quenched from water’s strength
Rising Son harbors faith’s light
From Isaiah 40:31: “But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
From the words of Dr. Martin Luther King: “Courage faces fear and thereby masters it. Cowardice represses fear and is thereby mastered by it.”
Worry arrives with concerns never to come
Building upon past fears, stoking future ones
Life’s landscape fills with looming mountains
Instead of gentle molehills, fear gathers and stuns
Concerns about future challenges come forth
Transforming into worries, fueling more fear
Darkest clouds come together and gather
Who will grab the wheel and start to steer?
Waiting for our Lord, He renews our strength
Living by faith, His Word restores our soul
Rejoicing in hope, patient in suffering
Renewed by the Spirit, we feel more whole
God always walks with us, seek Him in prayer
Darkest valleys ahead, His love casts out fears
With compassion for our sufferings, hear His Word
Comforted by His rod and staff, God never veers
Asking of our Father, seeking His counsel
Bringing clearer witness, through His precise scope
His guidance renews our hearts, calming fears
His wisdom touches minds, filled with Gospel hope
From Mark 5:35-36: “While He was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.'”
Originally published June, 2020.
Enlightened
Accepting Jesus
One, true Messiah
Through Him, new life
Beholding
Empowered
Denying oneself
Ready to serve
Heart overflows with grace
Believing
Undaunted
Emptying thyself
Filled with faithfulness
Carrying Christ’s own cross
Following
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 