Reflection: Further: Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1. What measuring line do you feel you are walking right now?

2. What word do you most hold onto, or need to hold onto, to give you emotional strength to keep going forward?

3. What hill is a friend climbing and how you can give support to them?

4. What does moving with purpose look like to you?

Further: Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

Jeremiah 31: 39 “And the measuring line shall go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.”

Further,

The measuring line continues further than can be seen.  It is not a short distance and once reached it will turn towards another distance.

References say that the name Gareb means a scab, and possibly a name for Leper’s Hill. Goah means a place near Jerusalem. Two very different locations and yet both a part of the journey. The first seems to go through a path of illness or rejection, and the second a path towards holy ground.

The journey here seems to require endurance and a commitment to go out further—to go past the hill. To overcome the hill of the lepers—outcasts—those who have been turned away from community and family.

The measuring line expands beyond our comfort zones, beyond our failures, beyond our brokenness. To reach the Lord we are given His directions—no matter how far the road is in distance or how long the reach extends to accept His refuge—His love.                                                                                                                                    

Maybe we need to trust that there is a call to go further and deeper into His relationship that will lead us to grace beyond our scabs and towards healing.

Lord, we narrow things down—out hearts, attitudes, opinions, belief, acceptance of others, all things negative we sharpen with precision and target. You open up everything beyond all our comprehension to expand and embrace and look beyond the horizon to the unseen. Please replace our fears with trust and anticipation.

Your thoughts,

Days Are Coming: Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

                                               Days Are Coming

                                               

                                                Rebuilt

                                                for the Lord.

                                                His purpose

                                                His plan

                                                Restored

                                                from destruction.

                                                Hear and see

                                                Hope and pray

                                                Reconcile

                                                fractured lives

                                                Hearts mended

                                                Healed by grace

                                                Rebuilt

                                                for the Lord.

                                                His protection

                                                His possibilities.

Romans 8:38, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,”

Reflection: Shall Be Rebuilt: Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1. What debris is filling with you with despair?

2. What does the cost of rebuilding look like emotionally?

3. Prayerfully acknowledge what your first steps need to be to begin.

4. Choose a word of hope and commitment to remind you of His ongoing presence whenever you feel despair.

5. Take the first step to rebuild.

Shall Be Rebuilt: Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

Jeremiah 31: 38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.”

Shall be rebuilt,

Sometimes it doesn’t feel as if any rebuilding is possible when only debris and rubble fill our life.

It’s hard to see restoration, or any kind of new beginnings. Especially when we are wearied in body, soul, mind, and heart.

Yet the Lord will help us to lift up our eyes from the destruction and see the possibilities through His vision for each of us. He will enable us to keep our faith steady in the days ahead.

He will keep our hearts faithful and watch over us in hope, not letting grief darken any of His light.

He will help us to rebuild, one small step at a time, steadily moving towards purpose instead of only seeing loss.

All our days are in Your care, Lord, if we would just give them over to You instead of trying to run our own lives from self-centered reasoning. Which only brings destruction whereas Your way brings restoration. Lord, we ask to live each day building into Your truth and by Your Spirit’s guidance. For Your purpose.

Your thoughts,

No Limits: Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

                                                No Limits

                                               

                                                No limits

                                                to God’s mercy

                                                love infinite

                                                immeasurable

                                                expands like

                       

                                                the universe

                                                beyond grasp

                                                never ending

                                                depths

                                                of possibility.

Romans 8:37, “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

Reflection: If: Grace in the Wilderness: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1. In what ways have you experienced His inexhaustible love towards you?

2. Or what barriers have you put up against accepting His mercy? Why?

3. How can the idea of no limits to His love bring discomfort or comfort?

4. To whom can you extend your love and compassion this week?