Psalm 115

Oh God, maker of rain,
ruler of the skies,
your creation brings relief from the glare,
the sun stoked summer furnace.
The clouds cover the earth in coolness;
the rain drums a comforting beat.
The land drinks in refreshment,
praising its creator for soothing relief.

Just so, Yahweh, maker of men, ruler of all,
your grace gives us pause.
The burning heat of refinement if ever purifying
would reduce us to empty ashes.
We find instead mercy laid in our laps,
gifts of rest, a time of calm breath.
For you pour cool comfort with abandon,
washing away our dross to reveal joy in the fire.

Real Christmas: A Poem

Christmas, a time filled with decorations,
candles and lights and ribbons and bows,
a time of great cheer, parties and toasts,
a time to wish peace on each boy and girl
of opening gifts and dinners galore.

Yet don't forget through the comings and goings
the real truth often veiled in the hustle and bustle.
Not the reindeer or Santa (though he's based on Saint Nick),
not Rudolph or Frosty or elves sprightly and quick.
Though these bring joy, there's joy deeper still...

Make no doubt about it,
Christmas is not wishful thinking.
Christ did come as an infant, a baby,
conceived in a real woman's womb,
the humble teenage virgin Mary.

He was born into our world
God in the flesh,
the awesome, glorious Lord,
made to be held and seen and heard--
light inaccessible breaking into the dark.

He was real, this God-man,
as real as you and me,
He ate and he breathed,
he hurt and he loved,
he bled and he died.

So remember on Christmas the truth of the day
Jesus came as a man, a babe born to die,
to save us from sin and he will come again.
Manage to pause for a moment or two
and remember the man who came here for you.

Psalm 114

You are the God of Hope.

We come to you in prayer,

We come with our requests.

We know our strength is limited,

but your power endless.

Hear our cry, O God,

Listen to the pleas from our mouths.

We wait.

We wait with patience.

And as we wait,

we ask that our souls conform to your will.

Psalm 113

My heart grew troubled,

my soul groaned within me

as I observed the ways of the ignorant.

I saw those who blind themselves to the Lord,

who ignore his existence and his statutes.

I saw how they prospered,

how power fell into their hands.

Wealth they have in abundance,

yet they waste it on trivial nothings.

Sinners dominate the culture,

they draw others in with their sin.

Those who are lawless are honored

and those who deny God lauded.

I asked myself, "Why is this so?

Why has God allowed the wicked to prosper?"

My thoughts were helpless

and my mood downhearted

until I remembered the truth.

The end of the wicked is to come.

The ignorant have gained their reward on the earth;

they have gained the love of men.

Those who seek the love of men

will find emptiness on the Day of Judgment.

I realized, O Lord, that those who love you,

those who serve Yahweh,

they will receive their reward at the end of time.

The righteous will stand on that day,

but the sinner will fall.

Though the wicked prosper now,

their downfall is assured.

I look to the faults of culture,

to a nation awash in sin,

to a country flaunting iniquity.

I know, O Lord, even if your people are slandered,

if believers are reduced to but a few,

if Christians are mocked and despised,

you, O Mighty God, still reign.

The Lord is King of Nations,

God of Hosts,

and He will come to judge,

to proclaim his justice from the mountain tops.

The Son of God will reign

and all will bow before Him.

This, my God, is my hope,

and I put my trust in you.

Psalm 112

Take heed, all you who decry God's creation,

who ignore the Almighty's handiwork!

For the power of our God has created;

His hand has designed all we see.

To deny His work,

to be deaf to His speech,

is a way to judgment.

Bow before the Almighty God today

while it is still called today.

Preserve your life

and acknowledge the Author of All.

Psalm 111

You are Yahweh,

I AM that I AM,

self-existent,

created by no one;

existing in self-sufficiency,

you need no one to live;

acting self-directed,

you do as you please;

living eternally,

you have no beginning and no end;

displaying consistency,

you remain immutable.

Is there any being like Yahweh?

None can compare.

No being in existence can claim he is

self-existent, self-sufficient, self-directed,

eternal and consistent in existence.

If there is no being like Yahweh,

then who do I trust?

I must trust Yahweh,

he who can see all ends,

he who alone knows the depth of man.

LORD, remind me at all times

that you alone are the sustaining force of my life.

Psalm 110

How can I attain contentment?
When circumstances go wrong,
I complain and grump about.
When people hurt me,
I cry and whine.
When the world chides me about my faith,
I feel anger and hatred.

Teach me the secret to contentment.
Teach me to say as Paul,
"I have learned the secret of being content...
I can do all this through him who gives me strength."
I cannot find contentment on my own;
I cannot force change in my feelings.
Only You alone can work peace in me.
May I cling to you day in and out
for only in fixing my gaze on you
do I have the hope of true contentment.

Psalm 109

God, may I chose life over death,
right over wrong,
love over sin.
May I never seek how close to the line
I can get;
May I run far from the line.
May my life reflect Christ,
reflect his love and perfection.
Make me not proud in my disobedience,
but humble in forgiveness.
Make the path smooth before me
as you rescue me from temptation
and restore me in your grace.

Psalm 108

Could it be?
Is it true?
Is this what love looks like?

Is love submitting to a slap in the face?
Is it standing innocent yet on trial?
Is it the scourge applied to the back?
Is it a forced march to a hill?
Is it nails through wrists and feet?
Is it cries from a cross?
Is it death in a tomb for three days?

Yes, this is true love.
Through pain, misery and death
can true love be found.
There is no love truer
than yours, my Savior.
Proved through death,
yet more, through life,
a resurrection made a promise,
sealing me in the Spirit.

"This is love: not that we loved God,

but that he loved us
and sent his Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
1 John 4:10

"Greater love has no one than this:
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
John 15:13

Psalm 107

Peace
Practicing patience
Eliminating worry
Actively trusting
Cultivating contentment
Establishing rest

Give me the peace that passes understanding.

Psalm 106

Give me patience, O Lord!
My flesh does not wait for you,
it wants what it wants now.
It pummels me with disappointment,
with hurt and with sorrow.
Subdue my flesh,
let me submit to your Spirit.
Let me not forget
the myriad gifts of favor you have bestowed.
Make me ever thankful.
always full of praise at all times.
And may my memory of gratefulness
teach me to wait for you gladly.

Liebster Award

I received a unique award from Pursuit of Titus 2. She has a wonderful testimony--go to her blog and read it!

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers, in the spirit of fostering new connections. Liebster is a German word that means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’, but can also mean ‘favorite’. The idea of the award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers. (see note) The Award comes with a few rules.

You’re supposed to:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your top 5 picks for the award and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogsphere – other bloggers.

5. Hope your recipients pass the award to their 5 favorite blogs to keep the love flowing.

So, here are the blogs I have chosen for this award:

Positive Paragraphs from a Perpetual postPessimist--written by my closest friend who is seeking to truly live for God, even through obstacles and imperfections.

Amanda Johnston--my awesome friend, a published writer and someone whose thoughts and writing are profound.

God's Gift of "Grace--Every time Natalie posts I am encouraged in my Christian walk--This woman makes me want to be a better woman of God every day!

Another Day Stronger--I am continually drawn back to Kellie's blog because she is so real! She is walking a tough road and clinging to God every step of the way and she doesn't hide her struggles from her readers.

Witticisms--I don't scrapbook or make paper crafts at all, but Jessica is just so talented, I always go there to see what she has made next!

Psalm 105

Lord, change my heart!

I want to be closer to you,
go deeper with you,
pray further with you.
I want you to be made manifest
in my actions and words,
in my mouth and my hands.
I want impatience to flee,
anger to cool,
and fear to become trust.
I want to be covered with you,
not only knowing,
but living the death of sin.
I want your Spirit to fill me,
night and day,
sunrise to sunset.

Lord, rule my heart!

Psalm 104

Lord, banish fear from me!
I cry out to you, O God,
because fear so often rules in me.
I fear the future and sometimes your will.
I don't understand this life
and I feel lost in it.

Lord, I want to trust you.
Give me a heart of trust,
a heart that is satisfied in your will.
Make me certain in doubt
never overwhelmed by a confusing life.
Lord, may trust rule me!

Psalm 103

Lord, remove sin from me,
may it not come near me.
Change my heart
and let me be clean.
May the Holy Spirit fill me
and may he make my ways his ways.
Take over my life, my God,
may may thoughts and actions be yours.

Psalm 102

God, you say I'm a saint,
but I feel only like a sinner.
Every careless word,
every stupid act
shows up to haunt my steps.
Thoughts assail me, crying out,
"You are worthless.
You are terrible.
You are a horrible person!"
How can I silence them?
They seem so true to me.
I feel like nothing,
a beaten down blade of grass
crushed under the weight of imperfection.
I know you love me,
but I don't feel love for myself.

Help me, Lord!
Help me to feel your love.
I want to grasp the depth of your compassion.
In me is only despair,
the thought I can never be better than I am.
Let me feel the arms of my savior,
he who gave his life for me,
holding me tight, squeezing my hand,
and whispering, "You were worth it.
Nothing you can do will stop me from loving you."
I long to hear these words,
now in the midst of my depression.
Speak to me!
May I hear your voice!

Psalm 101

This psalm is written in response to the video here.

LORD God!!! Savior!!! Blow Taker!!!
I want to get out of the prison,
I want to stay out of the prison.
I don't want to make grace small,
released from the penalty
but staying in the cell.
I want to WALK THROUGH THE DOOR!
Keep me outside the door.
I want to live in my relationship with you,
a child invited and welcomed into your house,
your adopted daughter,
one with you.
Dress me in your armor,
cover me with your protection,
send me into the world
with a heart and mouth
bold to proclaim your truth.
Make me a lion that roars out,
"I am a lamb rescued by my Shepherd!
I will not yield!
I will not give in!
I will stand and cry out,
'My God reigns!
He can release you!"
This is my cry today.
This where I want to go
and this is what I want to do.

Psalm 100

O Yahweh, hear my cry!
I live in a world of evil,
evil appears on every side.
Morals and values have disappeared
swallowed up in convenience and pride.
Time is a rushing stream,
people dive into it and are swept away.
They say, "I must fill my life with the flesh,
with every thing my eyes see as good."
There is no thought of restraint,
no contemplation of good or evil.

For satisfaction, citizens have given up their rights
so that they may be oppressed.
"Save us!" they cry to their leaders,
but their leaders answer in confusion,
a busy mockery themselves.
There is no salvation in the ways of men,
men lack eternity and a sovereign mind.
How can fallen man save fallen man?
Like blind men trying to cross a ditch
are those who trust in sinful man.
There is no hope in this way.

Lord, even the religious have forsaken truth!
They cling to traditions or rules,
they hold tightly to man's opinions.
They sing out, "Worship, worship!"
yet turn around and fill their actions with sin.
They make for themselves a cheap grace,
treading down the gift given to them.
Who is the man on the cross?
They want no true allegiance to him.
To love him they must obey,
but this they find too "hard" to bear.

But as for me, abolish sin in me.
I do not harbor evil in my heart,
may evil never rule over me.
Let me fix my eyes on your cross,
Jesus Christ, whose blood washes me.
May fruit grow forth from my life
out of a heart of obedience, of love.
May my allegiance be to the Lamb who was slain,
to the Lamb sacrificed on my behalf.
Make my life, O Lord, an offering,
an offering of truth, morality and inestimable value.

Psalm 99

Martyrs:
Strong and brave, for you, O Lord,
Choosing the better way,
Knowing to live is Christ,
to die is gain.
Not allowing their conscience
to change through fear.
Holding without doubt
to absolute truth.
They wait, they cry out,
"How long, O Lord?!"
Soon, soon, when the number is filled;
then they will see your return,
they will come on the clouds with you,
this their reward and desire.
I honor them,
I remember their sacrifices,
I pray for them:
Martyrs

Jesus Was Jewish

I know we know this, but recently this thought has been dominating my mind. Jesus was Jewish. He looked like a Jew, i.e. not an American. I'm guessing that almost all (if not all) of the standard pictures I grew up with show an Americanized Jesus and not an ethnically Jewish Jesus. Don't get me wrong. There are many beautiful pictures of Jesus. I don't think it is wrong to draw him differently in different cultures (some of my favorite Bible pictures are painted by an Indian artist who pictures the Bible in an Indian context). It's just, I got to thinking, "What did my savior really look like?" I wanted to think of him as a Jew, to picture him in my mind as he really might have been (is even now). I've found a picture here that captures more of a Jewish Jesus. The picture here shows what Jews of Jesus' time might have looked like. I guess what I am seeking in this cocoon is to throw off any false ideas I might have inadvertently imaged in my mind. Obviously, we don't know what Jesus really looked like. But I think in a way that even seeing Jesus as Jewish has changed the way I think about him. He lived in a very different culture than mine. It really hit me today how blessed I am. Jesus was a Jew and he reached out to Gentiles. This is radical! I am saved because he, a Jew, loved me, a Gentile. An amazing thought (read John 4 to see how the disciples were so shocked that Jesus reached out to a Samaritan and a woman). Putting Jesus in a Jewish context I think also has enlightened my Bible study. What a strange journey to be on, not only knowing that Jesus was Jewish, but thinking of him as Jewish. New and blessed perspective!