Glory: Listen: Prayers and Poetry

                       Glory

                        Glory not our vision

                        in day to day turmoil

                        allowing imitations to

                        color our hearts, our words,

                        deeper despair

                        when strategy strikes.

                        Wonder where God is.

                        Nature gives glimpses

                        if we stop and look at

                        splinter of light breaking

                        through storm clouds

                        tiny green shoots in

                        fire parched landscape

                        touches of glory in a

                        friend’s handclasp.

                        Glory ever present

                        when we look outward.

                       

                       

Bird Struck! Hawk

Family Devotional

Day Nineteen

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.” Matthew 13:16

Hawks have precise vision. They can see from a distance eight times clearer than people. Some have been measured from as far away as a mile. They are also ferocious hunters and swoop down on their prey almost in an instant. In ancient times men often used hawks to hunt for them. A hawk that became attached to a master loved him and would always return.

Jesus asks us to see the world through His eyes. Only we are not to swoop and hurt like a hunter, but rather to see with love and understanding.

It takes a special perspective to see past actions and attitudes that to recognize someone who needs a friend. Or who needs a kind word. Sometimes all we can see are people acting grumpy or sarcastic, and it annoys us. But maybe it is because they are hurting inside because of mean words or a problem they don’t know how to fix.

However Jesus can see what is in each person’s heart. When we are willing to be His servants, He will show us who to talk to and give us the right words to say.

And when we are tired and confused ourselves, we know we can return to Him and find rest. In Psalm 23 the psalmist says He restores our souls.

Action

1. In a safe place at home try putting some wax paper or see-through paper over your eyes and look around the room. What can you see clearly and what is blurry?

2. Over dinner wear a set of earmuffs and don’t talk but try to listen to the conversation around you. How many words do you have trouble hearing correctly?

3. Choose two days at school this week and for the whole day say something nice to whomever you talk to, especially if they are rude to you.

Read More

Luke 11:34

Luke 20:23

Proverbs 29:18

Visions: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

           

           Visions

            Holy Spirit poured out

            flowing like water

            over everyone, just as

            Joel prophesied

            new visions—new dreams

            fresh from God’s heart

           

            as a returning sunrise

            brings dawn into day

            so arrives this beginning.

Inheritance: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Inheritance

To see beyond

blackened terrain

bone statue trees

bearing new seeds

buried deep within.

To see heart

brings hope’s vision.

Pain: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Romans 5:5, “and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

When our circumstances become a roller coaster ride of disappointments and frustration, or emotional and physical pain from a crisis, it takes very little effort to resist or ignore hope.

We acknowledge the gift of life in our breathing but can still lose the vibrancy of living under a season of numbness. When pain becomes the center of our lives hope often seems to be wishful dreaming—a maybe one day possibility.

But that isn’t the hope that God gives. He brings His definition into all of our days regardless of the circumstances. God’s gift touches our hearts, which impacts everything from the inside out with His grace instead of the outside in crushing us with despair.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest…and you shall find rest for your souls.”

His truth goes deeper than the situations we struggle with as well as those we joy in. His hope is a poured out gift of presence and relationship and understanding. When we see through His vision, then disappointment cannot take root and blind us to restoration and renewal.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 119:116

“Sustain me according to Thy word, that I may live;

And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.”

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Choose Path

Forward or backward

decisions clamor

for resolution

design choices.

Further to vision

described by hope,

faith in possibilities, or

depend on past.

Familiar territory

despite pain, brokenness,

forever a companion.

Desire beckons. Choose path.

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 11:10, “For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

A fresh calendar, a new slate is often how we anticipate a new year or month, week or sometimes even a free day, and yet there also lingers the undone from yesterday and conflicting emotions.

Are we running ahead with anticipation or running away?  Standing on tiptoe to seek God’s vision, or burying our heads under staggering concerns.

Abraham dwelt in a tent and dreamed of God’s city. Some might think it only as a myth, a fairy tale, or an exaggerated sense of imagination, yet he knew the architect personally and already had been the recipient of God’s grace. So the disconnect between daily life on desert plains, sandstorms, and unfamiliar routes and his long-term destination were not incompatible, not an emotional escape.

Every day he stood on that farseeing hope for guidance, choices and purpose. Was it easier then to see his horizon without the time clock frenzy that interrupts our ability to pause and dream and wonder with awe?

Lord, please set each of us firmly on the path You choose for us to journey and give us hearts to live into Your vision. No matter how difficult a day may become, keep our faith fixed on Your foundations as we build our lives with Your words.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 9:9-10

“The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,

A stronghold in times of trouble,

And those who know Thy name will put their trust in Thee;

For Thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those who seek Thee.”

Kingdom Manna

Found

Luke 21:31, “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”

We all try to live by our convictions. They resonate within us—who we are—why certain choices—how we react. They are the fuel that burns within us. Without them we can shrivel, become robots, empty.

“Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness.”

What do I see, Lord? Do I see You at work in my life? In Your world? Or is my vision clouded by bias or ignorance or self-centeredness? Am I blind to Your touches of grace and mercy that soften rough edges? Without recognizing them I can become bitter, close-minded, narrow.

Your light transfuses our senses. It spreads out in rainbows, scatters in prisms, shatters in diamonds. Sear Your light into my heart and will and vision, Lord.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 36:9

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

Kingdom Manna

Found

John 3:3, Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

Many animal species are born blind. They ‘see’ with their senses—smell, touch, taste. When their eyes open they see the den prepared for their birth: a cardboard box, a thicket, a cave. Curiosity draws them further. They peek around corners, peer through foliage. Sometimes receiving encouragement. Sometimes a cuff. The daring press forward, the timid retreat. As their strength gains their world expands. Their vision is enlarged. They begin to see the world through their parents’ eyes. Towards maturity.

I too am limited to my senses and my experiences. I can relate only to what I see around me—where I am--whom I’m with—in relation to me. Unless.

Miracle of birth. Born from above? A perspective completely foreign to my capabilities but given by God. Sight to see His kingdom. Vision to encompass His world. New territory to explore under His direction.

If I am willing to look through His eyes—His heart—His will. Lord, may I seek Your panorama.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 14:2

The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.