Hope: Lamentations: Prayers and Poetry

                 Hope

                Homelessness a continual

                reminder plays like a

                movie reel mocking

                

                her previous splendor

                rancid bitterness coats

                mouth, seeps into soul

                hears wind's lament

                reaching every corner

                mourning her sword, yet

                hope a brief flicker when

                realizes she still breathes.

Psalm 37:16: "Better is a little that the righteous person has than the abundance of many wicked."

Reflections: Watch: Lamentations: Prayers and Poetry

 Reflection Questions:

                1. What is the difference between whether your thoughts remember or your soul remembers?

                2. Like a broken movie, from what images can you not escape?

                3. In what ways does bowing down our souls bring hope?

                4. What do you need to remember right now?

Share: What ways do you hope for God to intervene and fix your broken reel?

Watch: Lamentations: Prayers and Poetry

 Reading: Lamentations 3:19-21: "...Surely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope."

Watch

Our soul remembers.

Thank you Lord, for this reminder--each day--that we need to focus on Your ongoing presence and not let fears take over.

You are our strength when we no longer have any left.

And you will lead us foreword on Your path in Your time.

Whatever each day brings we give thanks to You for carrying us through. And also for holding on to our families. Please restore each one of us to a true relationship with You, and daily walk in Your light.

Your Thoughts,

Watch: Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

Watch

Shall be a day

Watching, listening, waiting

in hope, in trust, in faith

for the promise long ago given

in grace, in mercy, in love.

Will we be as committed

to each day’s possibilities

for words that change lives

to listen in obedience.

With our vision steadfast

in anticipation

for guidance, clarity, support

in expectancy.

Will we go

when the Spirits calls

whispers or shouts

walk now.

Romans 8:6, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Kingdom Manna

Hour

Luke 17:21, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There is it!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.

Quickly we follow the magician’s movements, eager to catch his secrets. As the object vanishes we are sure we know the hiding place. There. A groan. He has successfully masked the signs.

Diligently Israel watched through the centuries, eager to discern Messiah’s time. With study and prayer and scripture, leaders and people together knew the signposts. Now. A sigh. God’s silence weighed heavily.

Quietly Jesus moved among them, eager to share God’s love. Visible representation of all the promises. Here! A call. Unrecognized, unnoticed, He did not fit their symbols.

Daily I look to discover God’s counsel, eager to prepare my day. With schedule and plans and projects, I present a litany. Stop. A pause. Whose signals have I followed?

Lord, You do not hide Yourself. You disclose Yourself in stars and seas and seasons. And although I trust and depend on Your physical realm, I forget to follow Your spiritual guideposts. And I try to make my own magic. Instead may I recognize Your kingdom.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 145:13

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.

Kingdom Manna

Treasures

Luke 17:20, Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed;”

“Sunshine expected early this afternoon. Warm weather inland.” In other words, bring an umbrella, we mock at the announcer. Despite scrupulous efforts to determine weather patterns, everyone has experienced so many opposite predictions that we often listen with a jaded ear.

Unless we are tracking with the scientists the paths of possible hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves or floods. Then we are relieved when the expected onslaughts dissipate. We listen with a joyous heart.

Stargazers study the heavens for comets, for nebulae, for galaxies. Seasons dictate seed plants and harvests worldwide. Seamen navigate by stars when modern technology fails. “And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,..”.

Observable things given by God as gifts, bringing varying degrees of order to our lives, offering stability in repetition.

Unlike God’s kingdom. Coming unexpected, coming in clouds, coming like a thief in the night.

So we’ll stay alert, watchful, Lord? Ready to receive changes with courage. Ready to hear Your whisper in the midst of storms. Stretch my heart beyond observation, beyond expectations, beyond stability. Stretch my heart to watch for You.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 34:15

I sought the Lord, and he answered me,

and delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him, and be radiant; so your

faces shall never be ashamed.

Tabernacle

Outer Court

Unmeasured outer court

wait

watch outside the temple

trampled

by the nations

until tribulation is over.

Revelation 11:2, “..do not measure the court outside the temple;”