Monday Memories: 24/7 Refuge

From Psalm 31:24:  “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.”

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Facing life’s trials and critics

Soul and body wasting away

Discouraged, hurting, and distressed

Broken down, strength failing . . . decay

 

Needing encouragement with love

Safe from others, place for healing

Looking for refuge, where to turn

Life under siege, tired and reeling

 

Seeking lasting grace and mercy

Delivering us from dark gloom

Rescue arrives, stand and rejoice

His steadfast love, fully in bloom

 

Staffed by a special redeemer

Our strength, comrade, fortress, and rock

Holding us up with steadfast love

Follow Him, our living bedrock

 

Called by another name  . . . Jesus

 

Photo by Riccardo Bresciani on Pexels.com

From Psalm 31:1-2:  “In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me.  Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily.  Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.”

Originally published September, 2020.

God of Rescue

From Colossians 1:13-14:  “He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

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Looking down from Heaven

Observing broken world

Father, Son, and Spirit

Designing rescue’s lifeline

 

Dispatching Son to earth

Walking among sinners

Light’s rescue comes to save

Taking perfect human form

 

Witnessing Father’s love

Executing rescue

Journey to bloody Cross

Rebuilding faith’s cornerstone

 

Voiding enemy’s lies

Saving flawed humanity

God’s rescue overcomes

Replacing darkness with light

 

Paying man’s debts in full

Bearing each transgression

Through Son’s body and blood

Raising salvation’s rescue

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From Acts 2:37-39:  “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’  Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Him.'”

Craig D. Lounsbrough Quote

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The pit is of my own making.  The rescue is of God’s love.  And the deliverance is my acceptance of both.

John 3:16-17:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.  Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

Craig D. Lounsbrough is an American pastor, professional counselor, and life coach.

Jess Connolly Quote

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Let’s quit trying to be the hero.  God is the hero.  I am only part of the rescue plan.

From Isaiah 55:9-11:  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Jess Connolly (born 1984) is an American writer and life coach.  Much of her writing focuses on family and faith.  She assisted her husband, Nick, in starting a church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Holy Trinity’s Blessings (Haiku Series #181)

God Almighty

Father’s grace and peace

Sticking to each hungry soul—

Fed along rocky roads

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Immanuel

Dealing with life’s stress

Islands of isolation—

Jesus rescues us

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Comforter

Righteous highway leads

Like river’s gentle current—

Spirit’s guiding hand

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Monday Memories: Highway Rescue

pexels-photo-2633046-e1572960586596.jpeg

Photo by Valeriia Miller on Pexels.com

Blanche drives home after work one late afternoon.  The freeway is slow with traffic due to a heavy rainstorm.

As she approaches her exit, traffic has spread out a bit.  However, the rain has picked up in intensity.  The car’s wipers are working overtime now so she can see the highway a bit more clearly.

As she glances across the median, she notices a man pulled off on to the right shoulder.  He deposits a small kitten along the road and quickly drives away.

Blanche can’t believe it.  She pulls over to the right shoulder on her side of the freeway, and turns on the car’s emergency flashers.

Upon leaving her car, she pulls her large purse up over her head, checks for traffic, and hurries across the median to the marooned kitten.  The rain is drenching her clothing, and she can barely see her way.

Upon reaching the terrified little feline, she picks her up and stuffs the soaking wet kitten into her large purse.  She carefully and quickly makes it back across the freeway to her waiting car.

Once inside, she pulls the frightened kitten out of her bag, pats her on the head, and allows her to snuggle on her lap.  She is just a few minutes away from home.

When a rain-soaked Blanche walks into the kitchen with the dry kitten cuddled in her arms, her husband looks up from the stove (he is making dinner).  In a calm voice, he comments, “Well . . . at least one of you is dry.”

whitneys-cat.jpg

This story is inspired by my sister-in-law’s actual rescue of a cat along a highway where she lives.  The cat now has a new home with her mother.  The picture above is actually one of my daughter’s cats.  She and her husband provide a home for three cats (two females and one male) rescued from shelters.

24/7 Refuge

From Psalm 31:24:  “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.”

Photo by Inzmam Khan on Pexels.com

Facing life’s trials and critics

Soul and body wasting away

Discouraged, hurting, and distressed

Broken down, strength failing . . . decay

 

Needing encouragement with love

Safe from others, place for healing

Looking for refuge, where to turn

Life under siege, tired and reeling

 

Seeking lasting grace and mercy

Delivering us from dark gloom

Rescue arrives, stand and rejoice

His steadfast love, fully in bloom

 

Staffed by a special redeemer

Our strength, comrade, fortress, and rock

Holding us up with steadfast love

Follow Him, our living bedrock

 

Called by another name  . . . Jesus

 

Photo by Riccardo Bresciani on Pexels.com

From Psalm 31:1-2:  “In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me.  Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily.  Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.”

Highway Rescue

pexels-photo-2633046-e1572960586596.jpeg

Photo by Valeriia Miller on Pexels.com

Blanche drives home after work one late afternoon.  The freeway is slow with traffic due to a heavy rainstorm.

As she approaches her exit, traffic has spread out a bit.  However, the rain has picked up in intensity.  The car’s wipers are working overtime now so she can see the highway a bit more clearly.

As she glances across the median, she notices a man pulled off on to the right shoulder.  He deposits a small kitten along the road and quickly drives away.

Blanche can’t believe it.  She pulls over to the right shoulder on her side of the freeway, and turns on the car’s emergency flashers.

Upon leaving her car, she pulls her large purse up over her head, checks for traffic, and hurries across the median to the marooned kitten.  The rain is drenching her clothing, and she can barely see her way.

Upon reaching the terrified little feline, she picks her up and stuffs the soaking wet kitten into her large purse.  She carefully and quickly makes it back across the freeway to her waiting car.

Once inside, she pulls the frightened kitten out of her bag, pats her on the head, and allows her to snuggle on her lap.  She is just a few minutes away from home.

When a rain-soaked Blanche walks into the kitchen with the dry kitten cuddled in her arms, her husband looks up from the stove (he is making dinner).  In a calm voice, he comments, “Well . . . at least one of you is dry.”

whitneys-cat.jpg

This story is inspired by my sister-in-law’s actual rescue of a cat along a highway where she lives.  The cat now has a new home with her mother.  The picture above is actually one of my daughter’s cats.  She and her husband provide a home for three cats (two females and one male) rescued from shelters.