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Friday, August 31, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry




Perspective


To the stimuli around us
we respond from the center
of ourselves
connecting pieces
as conceit or challenge
to our authority,
our personal self-control.

Thinking all revolves
around own universe
holding our toddler
tenacity in tight fists.

Too often missing a promise
we react from illusion
of competence
congested priorities block
another path
new possibilities
fresh perspective.

‘Thy will be done.’

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry




Reflection Questions



1.     How open are we to changes in our schedule, especially if on a tight clock driven day?

2.     Do we see interruptions as an opportunity to listen to a different perspective, or as a hindrance to our agenda?

3.     How can we listen for the Lord’s heartbeat throughout a busy day?


   Share: What is one way you are able to stay open to God’s nudges?



Monday, August 27, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry



John 1: 1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”

           
            In the beginning
                        stands the Lord
                                    breathing

            His love, His mercy,
                                    His life

            Into every fabric of
                        creation.

            His soul, His model,
                                    His sphere.

            Ingrained within
                        each heart
                                    beating out

            His pulse, His being,
                                    His pact.

            Inside to keep
                        all threads
                                    connected by

            His will, His passion,
                                    His word.


            Lord, please lift us out of our time-clock world to listen. I pray for us to walk in Your time with Your heart and to see with Your eyes.


Psalm of Worship: Psalm 40:3

“And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”

Friday, August 24, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry



Design

Advertisements challenge
which is real, which is image.

Advanced technology mimics
world. Grows environments,
    multiple designs changing
    by delete, undo,
    begin again.

Almost taste cornucopia
whetting appetites.

Allow sensory immersion’s
woven spell. Given wide range
    choice, time induced
    entertainment almost
    reality.

Accepted credentials
with admiration for competence.

Admire each new invention
with respect for creativity.

Why then deny original
designer who spoke
universe into being.
Words became substance
    visible—flesh and blood,
    but requires faith to access
    and no control.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry




Reflection Questions

1.     Why did we recognize the ‘realities’ that technology can produce yet struggle to recognize God’s realities in our lives?

2.     Since often we do realize that human creations can be undone, do we apply that concept to faith and allow doubt to wonder at God’s promises of new beginnings?

3.     How can we compare our ability to be creative with God’s spoken creation?

4.     How should we not?


Share: From invisible to visible. What words of hope has God spoken into reality for you?

Monday, August 20, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry



Hebrews 11:3, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.”

Painters use canvas and colors. Writers use syllables and sentences. Potters shape clay and musicians a symphony. All begin with available materials, then imagine and dream and create things that are new, things that can be touched—tasted—seen—sung, all visible.

God spoke the universe into being: atoms and molecules, oxygen and carbon dioxide, veins and muscles, fish and fowl—humans. Scientists investigate, categorize every substance they can detect or discover. We learn what it is now but not always from where it came.

Planted within us scripture words take a new life under the Spirit’s leading. Stone hearts pulse with love. Stagnant minds grow in contemplation. Weak knees begin to pray. A cycle grows. As nature’s laws wheel the seasons around God’s standards, so prayer words reach heaven’s altar to receive cleansing and return in power.

God speaks new life into our emptiness. Shapes our chaos into beauty. Showers our wounds with balm. Our barren deserts become gardens, a welcome respite for fellow travelers. Not a mirage. An oasis made out of things not visible.



Psalm of Worship: Psalm 100

“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture…..”


Friday, August 17, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry




Substance


When we pause to
truly look at creation’s
sphere—amazement
pours into awe. Struck
by infinity layered in
color, detail, shape.

Each piece uniquely
situated. Crazy quilt
pattern of exuberant life
un-replicable.

Why then doubt a
Master’s hand, lovingly
shaping day, writing stars,
painting landscapes,
breathing substance into
all His heart’s desire.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry




Reflection Questions


1.     How difficult is it for us to accept that the One who created all also wants to speak with each of us one-to-one?


2.     What do we lose when we resist His ‘ownership’?


3.     Why do we often build up our own defined worlds instead? Out of arrogance? Or fear? Or…..?


Share: How does God speak life and hope and vision through His creation to you?

Monday, August 13, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry


Hebrews 1:2, “but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.”

  
“Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” Prophecy and promises. Beginning and middle and end continue in the call to shout out the good news—the gospel.

Jesus Christ has risen.

Saviour of the ages. Prophet’s Messiah now present among the people. Emmanuel among us. God here walking and talking and healing and forgiving sins.”

Jesus Christ has risen.

Spoken word. Shout it from the rooftops. Declare it far and wide and high and deep. Spread it through all the generations. The heir has come. “Let the earth rejoice.” Hope and faith welded together.

Jesus Christ has risen!



Psalm of Worship: Psalm 71:23

“My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to Thee;
And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed.”

Friday, August 10, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry



Spoken


old sayings once
fresh now dismissed
as irrelevant, obsolete.

an excuse to ignore
truths claiming confession
through obscurity.

at least when prophets
spoke of old listeners
knew the source

and could not cloak
dis-regard for ignorance,
took responsibility for disdain.

overt, subtle, various
ways still speak
ancestors’ message today.

audience: one to one.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry




Reflection Questions


1.     When the prophets spoke there was no confusion that the words were from God—whether or not the listeners chose to obey. Why do we manage to confuse ourselves and argue the legitimacy of His words to us personally today?

2.     Or if we do acknowledge the authenticity, we tangle ourselves up in application.

3.     We have no difficulty accepting our personal memories. Why can we not recognize God’s truth as truth?


Share: What timeless precept helps you remember to walk with God in faith?




Monday, August 6, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry



Hebrews 1:1, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets.”


Various voices echo in our minds when we embrace memories: parents, teachers, friends, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles or grandparents. We either choose an occasion to remember and let the memory reel play out vividly as the sights and sounds flow over us, or a present incident suddenly jettisons us into instant recall. The smell of Christmas cookies, spring’s first rain, swimming at the ocean, raking fall leaves. Ordinary days, repeating seasons catch us up with sudden pause.

Some shoot jagged edges of pain into our hearts. Some bring a peace blanket of comfort. Together they form the foundation of who we are today. Why we tend to accept certain concepts and reject others. Why we try to change our past to preserve a future. Stop addictions or abuse. Shore up love, forgiveness and compassion.

Vision given through the prophets, the Law, the tabernacle to God’s people. The Lord spoke His message in various ways to establish our foundation in Him. An inheritance that is both remembered and anticipated. A declaration of who we are that ignites our memory of Him. Expands our hearing, softens our touch, clears our sight, sweetens our taste, and freshens our lives with fragrance.

Lord, please weave all of our memories into You—into Your vision.


Psalm of Worship: Psalm 139

“My frame was not hidden in Thee, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.”


Friday, August 3, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry




Magnet

To each a different
goal perhaps
not necessarily
understood either by
intellect or vocabulary.

Concepts beyond vision
pulled by invisible ray.

Heart’s magnet setting
recalibrating after
sabotage or error,
negligence, dismay,
glimpses of approval.

Longing enough
to sustain journey.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry




Reflection Questions


1.     Whose everyday approval do we seek?

2.     What attitudes and actions do we pursue that daily conflict with our faith?


3.     God’s expectations seem beyond reach and yet He knows our very frame. How can that keep us from sabotage?


Share: How might we see daily life through His love instead of our failures?


 
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