It’s about the people. It’s about those faces; humble, hungry, hoping, honest. To be happiness for them, make them smile, somehow fulfill; this is all. We listen, we see their hearts. Having touched the Christ, they crave more. Clearer, greater, a basket without bottom is God new-found. You and me and them; we are all conduits of joy, gardens of flower, trees of apple and pear, apricot and lemon. It flashes through us, we bathe necks, waves come belly-basket, a bale of wheat. We dine at sacred table, the foe watches; he cannot mess. Love shields, we are whole, and in finger-less embrace the souls hug. They broaden love, they widen freedom, they coat the multitude; they mask all defamation. The broken heart finds bond, mended souls synchronize, blazing passions quell, devil-fright vanquishes; I am now Him; He is now us. His is in heaven and so to me; sorrow,…
Healing at the Cross Posts
1 Corinthians 6:7 Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Living Bible Luke 6:29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Why not let yourself be cheated? When slammed up-side the head, offer also the other cheek; chase down the cloak thief and give him your coat also. What religion is this? Ours. Friends, “be gentle with all men, apt to teach; in meekness instruct those who oppose themselves.” Perhaps God will grant them repentance. Really? Those who oppose you, actually, oppose themselves. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. And Proverbs 25:15 says; By long forbearing is a prince persuaded,…
There is a river where mercy flows, I’m going to follow where it goes, where it goes, where it goes, I’ll follow wherever it goes. There is a fountain that will cleanse, all those who wash there from all sin, from all sin, from all sin, all those who are washed from all sin. There is a refuge for wounded souls, their broken hearts will be made whole, be made whole, be made whole; their broken hearts will be made whole There was a death that empties tombs, there is a scar that heals all wounds, heals all wounds, heals all wounds, a scar that heals all wounds. There is one name that leads us home, it is no other than Christ alone, Christ alone, Christ alone, no other than Christ alone. Have you ever expected punishment but instead found clemency? Expected rebuke but found compassion, expected a repulse only…
There is a river where mercy flows, I’m going to follow where it goes, where it goes, where it goes, I’ll follow wherever it goes. There is a fountain that will cleanse, all those who wash there from all sin, from all sin, from all sin, all those who are washed from all sin. There is a refuge for wounded souls, their broken hearts will be made whole, be made whole, be made whole; their broken hearts will be made whole There was a death that empties tombs, there is a scar that heals all wounds, heals all wounds, heals all wounds, a scar that heals all wounds. There is one name that leads us home, it is no other than Christ alone, Christ alone, Christ alone, no other than Christ alone. Have you ever expected punishment but instead found clemency? Expected rebuke but found compassion, expected a repulse only…
For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged. Proverbs 28:2. When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting. By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 11:10-11. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Proverbs 29:2. Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34 Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on Proverbs 28:2 writes; The transgressor “breaks through the limits fixed by God.” “The land that apostasies from revealed religion becomes at once the victim of party spirit, and a subject of contention to many would-be rulers…” Lets review some terms used in old psychological circles.…
Dust accumulates, so does our soul’s cleaving to it. A soul catches by pursuit the powdered clay, and melts, cheapened, and dissolves for lack of lift. A soul can faint as a body lacking bread, hugging gravity’s drag. Love defies all, flies away. I noticed something; I wanna go down, I’m one with the tow — “O just a little slumber in myself.” A beckoning, a sirens call, a lure, a lust, a hell-bent, “come down, come on, it will feel so nice.” Now, self-respect cannot accompany; it too walks away. The tax-collector wants his, also; as the wind of waste, so the debt of treachery. Give hell a place, incur a debt, let your hair down; it will yank you lower. Caught; we cry, “O who will deliver me from myself?” “Love, please return to enlarge this tent, set my steps as springs, inspire my well-being, O Word of grace!” “Why…
God seems a mere fancy to me — spooky, hiding in the shadows, not really concerned. If love and anger are two feelings which are in people, I guess God don’t have these. In one story about Him He is a big Hand in the sky — of His Son, Jesus; a tough “figure out” for me. “What does He want?” I wonder! – the answer could fill a big void with the other “what you have to do’s.” At church and grade-school we think about God. Statues of Jesus help at some picture making. In our church’s statues He seems a shepherd type, but I have never seen a real shepherd. These stir up notions more than real bytes. None of my senses make God out to be really real. He is not laughing nor crying; has no facial air. He speaks another language; Latin. I don’t know what…
“So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, none at all exalts Him. How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned over within Me, All My compassions are kindled. I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, And I will not come in wrath.” Hosea 11:7-9 Here in Hosea, bent to backsliding, God’s people still refuse to exalt Him, though often exhorted. God reveals His heart. “How can I give you up?” How can I treat you like the dirt or like a herd of gazelles? My heart is turning within, and My desire to console is…
“Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Exodus 19:19-20 The place of austerity carried sacred implications; no man could look at God and live. Old Israel learned early to fear the voice of God as it resembled thunder. God’s people were forbidden approach to God’s mountain, and begged Moses that God not speak to them directly. Only through Moses did they dare receive communication from Yahweh. In the midst of fire and brimstone came the ten commandments through Moses. In…
“A girl came home to discover that her mother wasn’t there. Her mom was already in a column marching toward the Umschlagplatz. She ran after the column alone, from Leszno street to Stavki Street. Her fiancé gave her a lift in his riska so that she could catch up, and she made it. At the last minute she managed to merge into the crowd so as to be able to get on the train with her mother. (The train, of course, was one of those whose passengers never returned to their point of departure.)” This story, told by Tzuetan Todorov in “Facing the Extreme” is a heartbreaking one of “ordinary virtue” but stirs the heart maybe more than stories of national heroism. This is a tale of tender caring for the sake of another human being. In this occurrence a daughter and mother cleave to each other and face an…