Trust: 1 John: Prayers and Poetry

                Trust

                To listen as You guide

                brings solid guidance

                strengthening our faith

                developing trust in

                all circumstances Your

                gift that never fails

                To 'Abide in Me' a mercy.

                Eternal grace.

                Eternal life.

                Eternal love.

Psalm 107: 3-4: " And gathered from the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; They did not find a way to an inhabited city."

Trust: 1 Peter: Prayers and Poetry

                Trust 

                To act polite

                is not always to agree.

                To keep true

                is to follow the Lord's words.

                To stand firm

                is to trust His answer.

                To be listening

                is to discern His truth.

Psalm 89:10: "Thou Thyself didst crush Rahab like one who is slain; Thou didst scatter Thine enemies with Thy mighty arm."

Trust: Purpose: Prayers and Poetry

                                                 

                                                 Trust

                                               

                                                Excellence defined

                                                by the Lord so

                                                different from our

                                                expectations.

                                                Our response so weak

                                                yet the invitation,

                                                the promise still

                                                given, to action to

                                                yield in trust.

Psalm 18:4, “The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.”

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Trust: Listen: Prayers and Poetry

                       Trust

                        To whom do we listen

                        when selfishness

                        arrogance lures

                        before us?

                        Whispers lies into our hearing

                        that we long to comply

                        or resist in trust waiting

                        for Spirit’s clear voice.

                        Wisdom pierces sabotage

                        faithful protection

                        we learn to follow

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                        trust like a child.

Bird Struck! Canadian Geese

Family Devotional

Day Seven

“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.” 1 John 4:18

Canadian geese are another one of the migratory birds who fly great distances twice a year. They fly south in the winter and north in the spring. It is a hard trip and they do it in stages, stopping each night to rest.

The movie A Winged Migration filmed one bird that had been blown out to sea because of a storm. There was no land at all, so the bird landed on the deck of a freight ship. Then he promptly tucked his head under his wing and went to sleep. In the morning he continued on his journey.

“Don’t be afraid for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

When we really trust that God loves us and is with us, we no longer need to be afraid of unusual or unexpected situations.

Whether we are sleeping in a tent hearing owls hoot or in our own beds with strange shadows on the wall because of a storm, we remember that God is with us and He loves us.

Then being in new places becomes an adventure and also a special memory to tell our friends about. Do you think the other geese wondered at the tale he had about the strange moving land he slept on?

When we get a feeling of being lost on the inside, we can pray. God is never lost and He knows exactly where we are.

Action

1. Make a list of all the different places you have slept other than your own bed. In which ones did you have trouble falling asleep and in which ones did you fall right asleep? Write the reason why next to each one.

2. Look around your apartment or house for a strange place to sleep and ask your parents if you can sleep there one night. Why did you choose it?

Read More

Matthew 11:28-30

Isaiah 41:10

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Jeremiah 6:16

Ministry: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: 2 Timothy 4: 5-6

“As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. As for me I am already being poured out as a libation and the time of my departure has come.”

Time. So elusive. So fast-paced. So valuable. So fragile.

Out of curiosity I went to Amazon to look up books under Time Management. The overview list said 32, 638 and gave 35 categories in which to narrow down the search—supposedly. There were then 5,521 choices under Personal Time Management and 740 under Parenting and Relationships. We are bombarded from all sides. We spoon out pieces here and there wherever we can. Yet Paul says we are to carry out fully. How can we figure out what that even looks like?

Time. Choices.

Paul did not live under the frenetic busyness of today’s world and yet his words show a deep sense of priority and commitment to stay his course whether a few hours, days, weeks, or years were yet to come. His heart, ministry, and purpose he saw as being under the Lord’s authority.

Time. Battleground.

Jesus said, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:34. He is not promising a smooth organized day. But He does the promise the gifts of prayer and the Holy Spirit and a personal relationship with each of us.

Time. Trust.

Are we willing to be poured out daily as the Lord leads? What if the call of the day is caring for a cranky toddler instead of presenting a prestigious seminar to colleagues. (Or vice versa in desire.) Are we willing to fully engage in what each day deals us?

Lord, please give us wisdom to discern how You desire we live the life and ministry You choose for us. And trust in Your timing to do the work Your way.

Psalm of Worship: 1 John 1:3

“We declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

Reflection: Smyrna: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     What do you fear most that could happen in your life?

2.     What do you fear the most right now in your life?

3.     What direct word from the Lord will you peace and courage today?

4.     Ask.

Share: How do you trust moment to moment?

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Promises: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Promises

Words sworn

many years ago

kept in full

kept in faith

many despaired

wondered if truly able.

Lord gave

promises

not one failed

all delivered

all complete

none withheld

power His alone.

Light of life.

Reflection: Oath: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Make a list of all God’s promises you have already received.

2.     Under what circumstances do you find doubts begin to cloud your trust even though you know His faithfulness?

3.     What promises are you still waiting upon? In anticipation or in anxiety? Why?

Share: What scripture promise are you holding onto for today?

Shout: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Shout

Did they wonder at their

covenant just confirmed

as all ages marched in silence

around thick resistant

Jericho walls?

Not the battle plan

expected

yet trusted.

Chose to remember Jordan’s crossing

to acknowledge sovereign words

and to listen

with open hearts,

unlike their ancestors.

Received God’s sworn reward

city fell at a shout!

Astonishment.

                  

Walls: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

 Reading: Joshua 6

“You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall you utter a word, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout!” Joshua 6:10

Israel trusted God and they crossed the Jordan safely. But now they had to face the formidable Jericho city and its valiant warriors. Perhaps their own warriors were ready at adrenalin high confidence and anxious to prove themselves in battle—show they would be loyal to whatever task God set before them.

Walk around Jericho for six days. Blow the trumpets. Be silent. When told to shout on the 7^th day—shout. Even the smallest children would not recognize these instructions as a military maneuver.

“For My thought are not your thoughts and my ways, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

The Lord placed before then a seemingly impossible assignment with no recognizable weapons or tactics to work with. A plan of attack with no precedent and later no replicated version.  Something like Jesus’ healings and teachings. As well as the Biblically recorded miracles of the Holy Spirit.  Unique—unexpected—deliberate—victorious whether the battle be spiritually unseen or physically tangible.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit’, says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6

Concrete proof of God’s ongoing provision. His way. His power. His promises.

Lord, by Your word, in Your time, by Your plans, comes salvation to Your people. Help us to accept and follow Your methods regardless of our confusion. Everyplace is always Your land, Your hope, and Your Presence as the way.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 126: 5-6

“May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.

Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.”

Trust: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Trust

Descendants by heritage

physical line from exodus

forty years of waiting

promise of new beginnings

withheld by ancestor’s sin.

Now stood to receive

prepared themselves under

knife of circumcision

mark of obedience

accepted God’s new provision

as manna ceased

ate fresh crops

renewed trust.

Dry Ground: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Joshua 3

“Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”     

Joshua 3:5

When Israel fled Egypt God told Moses to hold his staff out and God parted the sea. Now the time has come to enter the Promised Land and God’s directions include choices for each person and a particular call to the priests who carried the ark.

Sanctify yourselves—prepare to see the wonder—follow the ark—cross over on dry ground.

But the flowing waters would not be cut off until the soles of the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the Lord literally stepped into the waters. And then they “stood firm on dry ground until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”

To Israel the ark represented God’s testimony to remain with the people—within their camp. His testimony—His word—His Direction—His Presence. And the priests faithfully stood under that authority and under that promise until all were safe.

Many times Jesus gave His disciples similar directions. Follow Me—I am the light—Abide in My word—I am the way, the truth and the light—keep My word.

Each had a choice, a decision to believe—to trust—to follow—in all circumstances. Eleven did and one did not.

Sometimes we too are faced with overwhelming rivers keeping us separated from the new land God intends for us and we let the impossibilities freeze us on the edge. Fear chokes our trust in His words. Sometimes for ourselves and often for others. Faith dissolves under the tide of rushing waters. There is no way through. Unless we take His words as seriously as did Israel and the disciples.

Lord, give us courage to remember that when we step forward first sanctified in Your word and in prayer You will direct our path onto dry ground. And you will give us strength to stand there for others when You call us to wait.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 123:2

"As the eyes of servants look to the lord of the their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.”

Trust: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Trust                                   

To kneel before the

journey is to accept

all consequences;

trust

the heartbeat to

walk the road

itself a healing

hand

laid upon

shoulder like

a knight’s

ordination.

                       

Excerpt from Pilgrimage

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Widow’s Son

She opened her door

to a man who claimed

to be a prophet.

Yet hospitality

demanded her

obedience to house

this stranger.

He who alone

cared enough  for her

heartbreak to

plead her son’s life

to the Lord.

Witness to the word

alive in each.

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Where in your life today are you facing a loss?

2.     Do you trust in God’s words to give you hope regardless of the outcome?

3.     What do you need to let go of in order for God’s truth to enter into the circumstances and bring restoration?

Share: In what situation has God breathed His breath into new life for you?

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Is faith your first response to critical decisions or the last?

2.     Is faith your first response to everyday choices or do you consider it automatic?

3.     How do you reply when someone challenges your trust in God?

4.     Are you willing to accept a yes or no answer to prayer with equal commitment, especially when that answer might affect your loved ones?

Share: What fiery furnace has the Lord rescued you from?