Can I Believe Your Delight
February 2, 2015
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Can I believe you
That you take delight in me
It is so foreign
To the way I think of you
The God of the Universe
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The tragedies of this world
Overwhelming suffering
Injustice screaming so loud
Where can I find you
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The greatest surprise
When I focused on one man
One who claimed to be with you
Says he looks like you
Maker of the Universe
Calls himself the Son of Man
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Filled with compassion
Touched the woman at the well
Offered her living water
Surprised with kindness
He knew her story so well
It changed the way she saw God
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A song of hope comes
The pinhole of light comes through
I feel the tension
I choose to take the long view
His promises restore me
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You light up my mind
When I focus on your love
Your presence comforts my soul
Your word restores me
Though circumstances fail
My feelings deny your care
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You delight in me
I choose to trust in your words
You delight in me
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Meditation on the Psalms each morning opens me up to a way to process the reality of life. The ups and downs of human behavior, my own and others is exposed. God enters in the noise of my soul and gives me a focus. In desperation I cry out and God comes in the stillness to comfort the human heart and gives a certain hope. I am surprised by His delight. Psalm 2, 32, 62, 92 and 122 give the long view.
Gift of Forgiveness
January 31, 2015
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Looking back I see
The blind spots in my own life
Born of ignorance
Then the intentional wrongs
They can be overwhelming
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The blind spots are important
Learning points to remember
Because they are there I see
The damage I’ve done
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I’m responsible
For the suffering of those
Given to my care
Children, family and friends
I found forgiveness with God
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To face the truth about myself
Is a surprising gift to all
When love becomes the focus
And forgiveness reigns
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I forgive myself
God chose to forgive my sins
My heart was broken
When I saw the price he paid
Incomprehensible love
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I’ve sought forgiveness
From those I know I have hurt
From those I don’t know
I pray God covers us both
With gentleness and mercy
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In stillness I come
I am focused on His love
With no one but God
I draw near seeking His mind
And I discover His heart
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He has favored me
Claimed me as “His Beloved”
This promise given to all
Is sealed with His blood
Established by resurrection
Embraced by trust in His words
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I practiced feeding this truth by reflecting on the words given in the Psalms this morning. Psalm 31, 91 and 121. The judgment of my own heart is so great that if I don’t establish who I trust in the morning I am manipulated by my worldview and the worldview of others who also hide behind the noise in the heart.
He Counts Your Tears
January 26, 2015
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When I am afraid
I will trust in you, O God
It’s your words I trust
How can mortal man hurt me
In God I trust; I will not fear
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Record my lament
You keep record of my tears
You even count them
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You always get the blame God
For the suffering and the pain
It is man’s abuse of man
Where are you, “O man?”
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In God I will trust
He’s the one with compassion
I see the heart of man hurt
Abuse and deceive
Give God the blame for lying
And not look in the mirror
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You have delivered my soul
Met me in desperation
Given your presence of love
In stillness I find
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I know the story
How God’s love became a man
He offered “abundant life”
I was skeptical
I looked closely at the man
A man of sorrows and grief
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He met the lonely
The broken and abandoned
Was gentle and kind
Gave hope to the hopeless ones
I know I was one of them
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I wept when I saw
The way he lived and he died
His personal touch
Reaches the most broken ones
He counts each person “Beloved”
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I once was desperate. Now I meet with desperate people. I’m desperate again. This time I bring hope to desperate people. Every human being is precious and needs to know they count. I discovered a God who not only counts the tears but sees the person and is pursuing each one. They don’t need my answers but need someone who is present listening and giving what I can. Can God really be that close? Psalms 26, 56, 86, 116 and 146 opened a window to an awareness of someone who is there with love and understanding.
Anguish Healed
January 25, 2015
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Overwhelmed with anguish
The pain and loss is so great
Does anyone understand
The devastation
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No friends to comfort
Loses of my dear love ones
Where is God who cares
Why is this happening now
Can anyone answer me
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The cry in the human soul
There are no easy answers
God promises to confide
In those who fear Him
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I cannot fathom
A God who lets this happen
Suffering and grief
What is it I am missing
Do I really want to know
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Truth hurts and it heals
The tragedy in my soul
Comes down to two things
I must face the truth about me
I must face the truth about God
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“Fear” does not mean “Be afraid”
It means I must face greatness
Of the love of God revealed
To my shattered soul
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The consequences
Of the choices I have made
I am destitute
The poverty in my soul
Is hidden from all to see
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The confusion inside me
With the unanswered questions
Were cleared up when I focused
On the love of God
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He promised to never leave
To meet me in my anguish
To forgive me of my wrongs
To renew and restore
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I will trust in Him
Gives victory over death
Carries my burdens
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Insight only comes
After one chooses to trust
The Giver of life
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May you be blessed by the Lord
Maker of heaven and earth
One who understands your need
Gave all to forgive
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These reflections will be enhanced by reading Psalm 25, 55, 85, 115 and 145. Sarah Young, an amazing therapist and teacher, offers insight to the anguished soul in her book “Jesus Calling.”
The Father’s Touch
January 24, 2015
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What do I yearn for
Where does my heart go when still
I will seek your face
When you appear I’ll see your face
I have set my heart on you
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My weaknesses still cry out
The sadness-es all around
So many lost in nothing
My inner soul weeps
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The little sparrow
Finds a place to rest and sleep
God knows what is happening
I’ll praise His greatness
Enter into communion
With my Father who loves me
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You’re my sun and shield
Light to find my way today
Protection from enemies
Angels to attend
To all those who will trust you
Who seek you with all their heart
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Your power’s displayed
You do the impossible
When you are trusted
You surprise with your answer
Light comes, love’s demonstrated
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Trust takes away fear
Anxieties are dispelled
I’m surprised by joy
Your living presence reveals
A Father in touch with you
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There is no trouble
That he does not understand
And promises to take action
Of all the voices
I can choose who I will trust
A gift from the Father’s touch
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I have fallen many times
Failed to trust, done it my way
Suffered the consequences
Felt desperation
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I arise with His Spirit
Renewed by Eternal Love
Accepted, forgiveness given
Live today in peace
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Reflections after reading Psalm 24, 54, 84, 114 and Proverbs 24. Sarah Young speaks to the promises in the pain in her book “Jesus Calling.”
Seeking
January 23, 2015
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God looks to see if any
Are seeking to understand
Who’re longing to know His heart
Who really love Him
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Some people are fools
Many say, “There is no God”
“There is no one who does good”
Fear paralyzes
They are overwhelmed with dread
Restore your people with love
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Let me be one who’s seeking
Who walks in the light of love
Who forgives betrayers
One who forgives self
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You alone understand me
Your Spirit is comforting
Explains to the Father’s heart
Meets me where I am
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Give me your vision
I am larger than my pain
Your love is greater
Than all the circumstances
Your promises restore me
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Creator of all
Master of all living things
You know what I need to learn
I sit in silence
Waiting with expectation
I pray you’ll find me watching
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Reflections after reading Psalm 23, 53 and 83 as I consider the world I live today, January 23, 2015.
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Dedicated to my friend, Rick Healy who is a “Seeker.”
One Definition of God
January 22, 2015
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He’s gentle and kind
Like a Mother and Father
All wrapped up in One
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My mother left me
Abandoned her four children
She was very sick
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God knows the trouble
Each of his children will face
He comes seeking you
My challenge is consider
He called himself “Son of “Man”
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Don’t let religion block you
The hypocrisy and lies
The real God loves you dearly
Remember this truth
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This definition of God is out of fifty-four years of seeking to know the mind of God through meditation and reflection on His Story. I have chosen to live in response to the mercy and love revealed through the window of His story in the Bible. God’s gentle hand is on you and is close to hear and respond to your deepest needs.
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The following poem is an excerpt from the book “A Transplanted Soul” by Charlotte B. Smith
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“…..when the Son of Man comes, will he find
faith on the earth.” Luke 18:8
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Let that be me, Lord
one who continues to pray
and doesn’t give up
one who keeps my heart
turned toward you
Help that be me, Lord
Let that be my children
and my grandchildren,
my descendants as long
as my line shall last
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Let them be found faithful
to the end,
Oh, Lord, that you will find faith on the earth!
This is my prayer, Lord,
that I send up ahead
on their behalf….
1-10-2010
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Music In My Soul
January 20, 2015
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There is music in my soul
I’ve trained to practice basics
My body is the instrument
My soul holds the strings
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When the strings get tight
And stress gets unbearable
A surprising sound
When I surrender my soul
Music flows that brings comfort
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I draw near to God
A daily practice I’ve found
When I feel good or feel bad
He always comes near
That is the promise he made
One I choose to trust today
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The winds on the sea
Can toss the soul all about
The storm and the rain bring grief
I learned this one thing
When I’ve set my sail to seek
The storms have become a gift
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This mystery comes
To all and not just a few
Who choose to seek love
To be defined by what’s true
To align the soul with joy
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Freedom is the fruit
Peace passes understanding
My mind and heart are captured
Knowledge will illuminate
Hope is born in the darkness
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I interviewed a young musician years ago and asked him how he played the instrument so well. He said, “My coach is a concert violinist. Every day she pulls out her instrument and practices the basics until she gets the sound out of the instrument she wants. I do the same.” My instrument is my body. My soul holds the strings. I found the coach of life eager to train me to be loved and love. Psalm 20 holds promises I have found to be true. The music in the Psalms is what I train to practice. All the best!
Invitation
January 18, 2015
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An Invitation
A way to live that makes sense
Thoughts to consider
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A way to live that brings peace
A way to live that brings hope
A way to live that brings joy
The freedom to love
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That’s what I looked for
As a child what I longed for
As a man I came searching
Found the great surprise
My God was looking for me
Gives inexpressible love
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Yes, it’s experiential
The door way is on the bottom
In the brokenness He comes
Seeking to comfort
In my personal despair
He gives the greatest blessing
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Comfort in the loss
Forgiveness in betrayal
Compassion and love
For me and for the others
The massive failure we feel
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Those who betrayed me
And for the ones I betrayed
Inexpressible
Love given to each of us
With gentleness and mercy
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Knowledge is what I needed
Hidden information came
Brought certainty to this love
My mind was captured
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I chose to believe
My heart leaped with the wonder
Incomprehensible love
Was revealed through one
Who chose to be one of us
And offer “abundant life”
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This love is hidden
Ages and generations
Have discovered this
God is closer than your blood
He is the air that you breathe
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God’s my friend, indeed
I come each morning seeking
To stay close to him
Find healing in His counsel
He reminds me who I am
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Chosen and Beloved
Favored and given his peace
Empowered by His Spirit
To see and bring hope
To proclaim with compassion
His personal love for all
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It’s time to come out
Reveal everlasting love
God loves you personally
Not talk but action
Each day you can meet with Him
Receive His love and give it
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These words are not an invitation “to church” or “religion.” These are words born out of a quest I began fifty-four years ago. God is real! God is present! And He loves you! In silence I began this quest seeking to know if this love was real. I found these words “abundant life.” I found these words not only true but beyond my imagination. God is my friend. God is your friend! We can meet with Him daily and interact on the deepest soul level. I always honor my questions. He has always kept His promises.
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Psalm 18 gives language to this love.
Relief or Healing
January 16, 2015
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Where are you God in my pain
I can’t hear you or see you
My grief and fear are mixed
I’m broken inside
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Who will come and help
I cry in desperation
Can you hear me, God
The silence is deafening
In unbelief and belief
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You said for me to “Be Still”
And know that you are God
My anxiety blinds me
My fear imprisons
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I need you to come
Keep your promises you gave
I am overwhelmed
There is no one to comfort
My body and soul feel dead
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I need a resurrection
You understand all my grief
You meet me with compassion
I will wait for you
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You always come at right times
My soul is refined by fire
False thinking I’ve depended on
No longer secures
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I stand waiting for relief
Your comfort is far away
That is the way I’m feeling
I find no relief
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“I have come to heal
To bring hope to the hopeless
Freedom for the prisoners
Give sight to the blind
Bring good news to the poorest
Give all the captives freedom”
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Healing instead of relief
Is the promise He’s given
With mixed feelings do we hear
Choose who we will trust
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Reading Psalm 16 and 46 reveal a narrow path of hope. We all find ourselves at some time in the spot these reflections communicate. When I decided that I did not want relief but I wanted healing above all, a pinhole of light entered my world. I chose to move toward that light with trust and hope to make it through the storm I was in at the time. We all think no one understands. That is a lie. There is One who does and comes to bring that healing that only He can give. I choose to “Be still” trusting His words today.
Awake Expecting
January 8, 2015
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Awake expecting
To hear things you need to hear
From your Creator
Speak to my heart, soul and mind
Let love dominate my life
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Human beings live
As reflections of your heart
We look just like you
No wonder you love us so much
Even though we have failed you
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You bestow honor
And glory on all of us
Made in your image
At conception it’s given
Love never stops pursuing
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My guilt is heavy
A burden too much to bear
Failure consumes me
Wounds fester and bring sickness
To my soul, body and mind
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I sit in mourning
Feeble and utterly crushed
This searing pain comes
I groan with anguish of heart
My longings lay before you
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My sighing is not hidden
“My heart pounds, my strength fails me”
The light has gone from my eyes
No friends are in sight
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Neighbors stay away
Traps are set to destroy me
Deception is all around
I’m blind to your light
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I’m like a deaf man
Whose mouth offers no reply
With no voice to speak
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The reason I love
God found me in this condition
Lifted me out of the hell
Came looking for me
He found me in the darkness
Gently led me to the light
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God is pursuing you now
Be still, focus and listen
Choose the voice you trust
One tested in history
Gave his life that we might live
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I confess my wrongs
My iniquity is great
I am troubled by my sin
Hated without cause
Slandered when I seek the good
O Lord, do not forsake me
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Lord, you are not far
In my darkest hour you came
Opened my eyes to see love
Touched my very soul
Gave me a language to hear
Your Spirit to know the joy
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These promises were fulfilled
Stated in Psalm sixty-eight
We would all do well to look
And believe His word
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Our God is a God who saves
Who daily bears our burdens
From him we escape from death
My heart fills with praise
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I will never forget where I came from and the darkness I lived and grew up in this world. Hope against hope was the surprise that is not only for me but is for everyone. These reflections came in response to Psalm 8, 38, 68, 98 and 128.
Early Morning Times
January 4, 2015
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My best questions come
In the early morning times
In quiet moments
I’m confronted with my life
My fears and anxieties
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I’m frightened sometimes by dreams
By realities of life
For others and for myself
My questions are hard
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What do I believe
I struggle with unbelief
About the world and the pain
How do I view me
And the big question is God
And the meaning of friendship
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I take the time to be still
To listen and contemplate
The puzzle of this journey
That involves my life
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In my early life
I learned to detach myself
To not feel the pain
My imagination flew
To a place where I felt safe
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I could settle down
With memories that were good
Of people who cared
Grandmothers and the neighbors
There was a secret comfort
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I found in the solitude
A forced abandonment pain
A feeling of helplessness
With no person there
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Solitary confinement
On the raft of shifting seas
With sharks all around
I was searching for answers
To understand and survive
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It was in this search
To find out who I can trust
I found a focus
Big enough to contain me
Give me perspective on my life
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No easy answers
But confidence I could find
The hidden love presented
By One I could trust
Who never failed to give love
To broken and lost children
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I am one of His
If I ask the question,”Why?”
I must ask then “Why not me?”
We all have a cross
His mysterious presence came
“Don’t be afraid, I’m with you”
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Reflections after reading Psalm 4, 34 and 64. Proverbs 4:7. I had no mother or father to guide my thinking or big enough to listen to the pain. I had no words to communicate. There was only silence and a simple prayer taught me. “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take.” There was a song I learned that I sang, “Jesus Loves Me” this I know. I chose as a child to hold onto this mysterious unseen love and to trust this unseen God. I grew up and learned his story and discovered there was One who was with me when I was unaware and the angels were attending. His love was there and looking back I can see. He brought me through it all with His angels attending. He will bring you through. In the midst of my unbelief I cry out confessing it and pray “Help my unbelief!
Worthless Idols
December 31, 2014
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The worthless idols
I can name them in my life
Easily deceive
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They led me down to the pit
My soul was trapped by these lies
Beliefs handed down to me
From generations
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It is good to name
The beliefs that will destroy
Turn from them as enemies
Their toxic darkness
Holds a person in prison
Until the light of love comes
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Moving to the light
Across the bridge of seeking
With an honest heart
Things that are true and noble
What is excellent and good
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The barriers rise
Awareness of the sickness
Awakened me to the problem
My soul was wounded
And needed the healing touch
Of the Master Physician
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Wound – Abandonment
The lie is I must fix it
In me and in the others
I sat with no hope
I turn away from idols
“Be good,” “Perform” and “Be Strong”
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Repent of the lies
Revoke them as enemies
Replace them with real truth
Truth that heals the soul
I’m a beloved son of God
Practicing living in the joy
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I have found a spacious place
In the morning when I rise
A friend to always greet me
Welcome me to hope
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These are reflections after meditating on Psalm 31. There is power in naming the enemies and becoming aware of the enemies that lie in the unconscious. With knowledge, stillness and reflecting on things true allows the Spirit to dismantle the powerful unconscious feelings that tell us we are not good enough. Name them, turn from them, revoke them and replace them with the truth “I AM BELOVED” each day. Joy comes in the day as we practice believing what is really true about us. This will lead us into a “spacious” place in our souls. All the best for a wonderful 2015.. Your Story Matters http://www.yourstorymatters2him.com
Light
December 27, 2014
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Your Story Matters 