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What Seems a Circle

What seems a circle is really a line,
Not straight, but with a start,
And with an end; and in between
We race to follow plans of the heart.

The journey may be good or bad,
Each step determines where we’ll finish;
But finish we will, whether we add
To love and peace or from them diminish.

What gladness to know that God can use
Both good and bad, that we might grow
Complete in Christ, might better choose
The path of hope, and up to heaven go.

Our Father in Heaven, holy your name!
In Jesus cleanse us, walking in light,
The end in view, his blood for our shame —
May faith become the joy of sight!

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Never Make Light

Holy Father, may I never make light
of the faith given me by parents
and pious men and women in the church.

Help me to respect their commitment
to doing your will in every way,
in spite of — or because of — their faults.

Keep me from judgments, for I, too,
err and fail in many ways,
which my children and descendants will see.

May they judge me by my good intentions,
and my desire, like those before me,
to walk in the light, as Jesus did.

Remove from me the critical spirit,
the caustic jokes, demeaning humor —
In me breathe thanks for earnest faith.

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We Turned to You

For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. 1 Peter 2.25.

Father and Guardian of our souls,

We turned to you and truly converted
From failed adventures, to follow Christ.
Give us sight for the surest path,
Enliven our feet to walk in faith
By the power of your Holy Spirit.

As wandering sheep far from shelter,
In cold and wind and wild confusion,
We know not where our notions lead us.
Throw light upon us, lead us safely
To tender pastures by eternal waters.

At every turn, on every rise,
Call out to us to keep our focus
Upon your leading, upon our Lord,
When storms or inner stirrings distract us.
Your chastening rod to truth return us.

By Jesus Christ, our Guide, Amen.

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Back to the Bible

I remember reading the assembly instructions as a kid for something my dad was putting together and was told that we didn’t need them.  My protests over a handful of screws when the contraption was built were dismissed with the explanation that companies always put in extras.  The product worked, yes, but not like it should.

The Manufacturer of mankind has left us a manual, God’s Word, the Bible.  So, it would make sense, for maximum effectiveness, to follow the guidelines set forth by the One who designed you, created every cell, breathed life into you, and then “beforehand” planned works for you to do (Ephesians 2:10).  This is why Jesus, the Word made flesh, came—to give us life abundantly (John 10:10).  Underscoring its importance, every time Jesus said a version of “Have you not read …?” He was bringing His listeners back to the Bible.

Now I know that each of us can point to neighbors, coworkers, and friends who have never followed the Bible or perhaps live its precepts in a randomized way, picking and choosing tasty tidbits like dishes on a buffet, and they all seem to have pretty good and functional lives.  This can be particularly hard on preacher’s kids (PKs) in small churches in the Northeast as they see their friends in public school seemingly having life more together than the handful of kids in their Bible classes and VBS.

But, do they really?  Even though I ministered to others from the Bible, I realized pretty quickly that I had a compromised version of my Christianity early in my wife’s ongoing eight-year battle with cancer—but especially in the past six months.  My foundation of faith was not as solid as it needed to be to endure the trials that forced us to live separately since January and unable to help each other with the other’s battle front.

Just as Moses was told to build everything according to the pattern shown to him on the mountain (Hebrews 8:5), I dug deep to return back-to-the-Bible to build up my prayer life and trust in Him.  Reasoning that God, who loved us unconditionally and was working for our good (Romans 8), knew what was best for my life and was entirely in control of the circumstances, I have flourished in my faith where many believed I should have floundered.

‘Back to the Bible’ is more than just an academic exercise or pithy saying.  It is a deep and determined commitment to delve into doctrine that saves and enriches your life.  It fortifies the foundation of your faith so that you may function well in the best of times and are prepared to fight during the worst.

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How Much of Faith?

How much of faith I’ve yet to learn!
The Arch is high, and progress, slow;
The Way is strait, hard headwinds blow
As I pass beneath its scaffold’d span.

What narrow lane I was called to brave!
But why complain? His love constrains —
His lessons draw from all my pains;
His patience is long, his will, to save.

What, then, must be my prayer to ascend,
But for faith to bear, and time to repent?
For haste to obey? To feel content?
Let all my will to his purpose bend.

Photo from the city’s official site.

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Never in a Thousand Years

Never in a thousand years could I
Imagine your tender lovingkindness toward me.
Never across a thousand worlds of space
Could Science’ wisest minds measure your greatness.

How small am I! Yet you see every step —
Every stumble — every turn and tear.
How great you are! The smallest inch of faith
You use to pull by the roots the stubborn mountain.

Keep complaints from blocking the flow of power,
For I — yes, I! — can cancel the Spirit’s work!
Oh, God, let not my enemy be myself!
I ask you crush my last reserve of resistance.

Shine — shine — shine with fullest glory!
Fly me to the high transfiguration,
Where Jesus stands alone among the mute.
Put words of praise upon my silenced mouth.

  • Please share this prayer with your loved ones.
  • What verse does this prayer call to mind?
  • What phrase or stanza stands out to you?
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Thank You for Relief

Lord, thank you for relief
From suffering, pain, and grief,
From mental anguish, harm,
And sharp emotion’s alarm.
Thank you, God, for rest
From labor and cares; for blest
Eternal hope — I give
All praise to you, to live
And move and deeply breathe —
O Father, I believe!

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The Evil Slippery Slope

The gospel brings salvation for mankind,
The only power to save the maimed and blind;
O Lord, keep me from ever feeling shame,
But always offer to all the blessed Name.

For saving grace obedient faith’s required;
By Christ confessed is righteousness acquired.
In him, O God, resides my glorious hope —
Preserve me from the evil slippery slope.

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If the Lord is With Us

In the midst of a culture that was reaping the consequences of sin and turning away from God, God calls Gideon and declares that He is with them.  Citing the great ways of the past in which God showed Himself to truly be with them, Gideon asks a question that Christians could certainly ask today, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?”

I. Matthew 14:28-33.  We have the same reassurance that Gideon received–that God is with us (Matthew 28:20) and that He will never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6), yet we, like Peter stepping out of boat, take our eyes off Jesus because the winds around us are so fierce.  Our circumstances and situation in a dark world are going to rage (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).  This doesn’t mean that God is not there.  We must fix our eyes on Him (Hebrews 12:1-3) to not grow weary or fainthearted.

II. Judges 6:11-32.  More than just his circumstances, Gideon was overwhelmed because he saw his weaknesses and helplessness in the midst of the culture he was a part of.  Most Christians feel this way today.  We, like Gideon, can take great reassurance that this is exactly the situation in which God works (1 Corinthians 1:25-29) so we may not boast.  Paul, in pleading for the ‘thorn’ to be removed from him, was told that God’s power in his life was made perfect in Paul’s weakness (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

III. Judges 6:33-40.  Jesus said if we had faith as small as a mustard seed, then nothing would be impossible for us (Matthew 17:20).  God readies Gideon to take on His people’s enemies by first taking a ‘smaller’ step at home.  After he tears down his father’s altar to Baal and burns his Asherah pole, Gideon is defended by his earthly father and his heavenly Father sends him an army.  We too need our faith tested if we are to become mature and complete (James 1:2-4).  Are you willing to take that step?

Are circumstances or weakness coloring your perspective?  Or, are you seeing clearly through faith?

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The breath of our being

Glorious God,

  • May prayer become more and more a constant in our lives, the breath of our being.
  • Bring to faith those who are searching Scripture for evidence of your goodness.
  • Convert us all, O Lord, that we might be truly converted.
  • Make the Kingdom arrive in many hearts so that many children are brought to your glory.
  • We trust that you will provide for our every need, Father. Send us forward well supplied.
  • We walk by faith, not be sight, and we love him whom we do not see. Strengthen our hearts and minds in this walk!
  • Our hope is in you — may our Lord Jesus come quickly!