Followers not just believers

It may be easy to say we believe,
but does that mean we did receive,
that Christ offered himself for us,
so we in him could live victorious? 
We may call ourselves believers,
but does that mean we are seekers,
desperate to know & live out his word,
so His message will be seen and heard?
To say we follow Jesus, must be more,
more than mere talk, that is for sure,
it calls for obedience to walk in His way,
anything else causes our souls to decay. 
To follow Jesus is a life long commitment,
there is no in-between nor being dormant,
we must strive for our walk & talk to be n'sync,
if we do not, then are we whose we think? 
Because following Jesus means denying self,
so we can be conformed to Christ himself,
following Jesus means taking up our cross,
and for Christ's sake, we count all but loss.

A Prayer

Heavenly Father:

You are awesome. We love you. Thank you that through Jesus we are called and appointed to serve you. Help us to remember that we are not to serve in our own strength. When we do it will lead to frustration, tiredness, and burnout. We make the mistake of viewing the call on our lives to serve as wholly ours. So we work without relying on you. We serve without seeking you. The thought is that it is solely our responsibility to succeed. Therefore, success is viewed totally from our perspective and based on our efforts. This, in essence, becomes success from the world's perspective. Change our mindset. Change our perspective. Cause us to see our calling and opportunities to serve from your heavenly purpose. Help us to lay everything down at your feet. May we enter into your rest today. May we present every area of our lives to you. May your will be done in our lives as your purposed for today. Help us to wholeheartedly seek to fulfill your will today with joy. Be glorified in and through us. For yours is the kingdom. Yours is the power. And to you belong all the glory. Blessed be your wonderful name. Amen.

Unshakable

God is unshakable! Nothing and none can trouble, unseat, or unsettle him. How many times do we attempt to convey that we can unseat, trouble, or unsettle him? How many times do we look at the magnitude of our situations as too much for God? How many times do we think the turmoils we see and hear about are more than God can handle? How many times do we think we should help God? How many times do we think that God needs our help? How many times do we view the magnitude of the world's problems as proof that God is no more? How many times do we choose to believe that man's philosophies and methods have made God obsolete? Do we think the I Am is now the Am I? Do any of those concerns actually shake God? Do they make him less God? Absolutely not! Can anything change the fact that a man or woman or boy or girl is a human being? Nope. Why do we think, then, that we or anything can change the fact that God is God? God is God! Unshakable! He is His own foundation. Always was. Always is. Always will be. Therefore, we, who belong to God, have an unshakable, immovable foundation. Our God is unshakable!

Grace and Good Works

Saved by grace through faith. Incredible! All God's doing! Even faith is a gift. Works is our response to God's grace, not to obtain God's grace. Grace is free! Grace cannot be earned or bought. That is why works for salvation is useless. Utterly useless! Works done to stay in God's favor is also useless. Get the picture?

We are called to do good works, but, again, not for our salvation. Salvation belongs to our God ... (Revelation 7:10)! We are admonished to, however, work out or live out our salvation (Philippians 2:12). Isn't is cool that God prepared good works beforehand for us to walk in them (Ephesians 2:10)? Why? So we would not entertain the idea that our good works can effect our salvation. So we would not hold committee meetings to determine what are good works and how they should be done. So we would not be trapped in legalism.

Also, note that He prepared the good works for us to walk in. It is a relationship, not just actions. It is a lifestyle, not fad. Good works are to be God works. Meaning? It is God doing them in and through us in light of our relationship with Him. He equips us to live them out. In essence, grace effects us to walk in God's good works. Grace for the walk. Grace in the walk. Grace to walk in God's good works which He prepared beforehand.

For Being God

Dear God:

Thank You that You are God. You stand alone. You did not become God because it was passed down to You.  You did not become God because You were elected or chosen. You did not become God because You won a “battle of the gods”. You did not become God because You surpassed your mentor or your creator. You did not become God because ….  You are God because You have no equal. You are God because You are Holy and incorruptible. You are God because You are sovereign. You are God because You are just. You are God because You are unconditional in love. You are God because You are merciful. You are God because You are omnipresent. You are God because You are salvation. You are God because You are life. You are God because You are light. You are God because You are creator. You are God because You are all mighty and almighty - omnipotent one. You are God because You are unsearchable. You are God because You are omniscient. You are God because You are self-existing. You are God because You are infinite. You are God because You are all this and so much more. And I thank You for being God!

Insufficient

I have tried my best and do try my best,
but even my best is insufficient.
Can I save myself?
Can I sustain myself?
Can I salvage the world?
The deception in thinking that I could
do all of those and more.
Exhausting, frustrating, futile.
Yet the attempt to still continues.
Really!?
Well, in some ways.
But there is hope.
There is change.
A realization.
An acceptance.
No longer deceived.
There is a fight.
A fight!? 
Yep. A fight to surrender.
A fight to submit.
A fight to sacrifice.
Attempts? Works?
True. 
Still deceived then.
Am I? 
Hmm. Why not just surrender?
Really submit? 
Willingly sacrifice?
Can I really?
You can.
You will have real hope.
You will experience true change.
It begins with a realization.
And an acceptance
of the Truth.
Do you see it now?
Yes I do. In myself, I am insufficient,
and will always be,
even if I were to live forever.
All attempts at sufficiency are insufficient.
The choices are:
Still attempt to be sufficient,
or surrender to the One who is All Sufficient.
So what do you decide?
Well, having tried the first and failed.
I choose the second!

My Righteousness

I want to believe that I am so good,
that somewhere within I am getting this
life figured out, to hit more than miss,
always doing the best that I could.
But I do not have to look hard to see,
the evil within and without daily exercised,
my tries falling short, slowly being capsized
by pride and efforts to control my destiny.
I want to give the impression I really care,
but tend to hold on the selfish things I do,
so far from the surrender God calls me to,
I keep on blinders, caught up in my own affair.
The good deeds done so myself I can applaud,
and tout my righteousness here and abroad.


Isaiah 64:6
I am like one who is unclean,
and all my righteousness deeds are like a 
polluted garment.
I fade like a leaf,
and my iniquities, like the wind, take me away.

To Go On

I remember you in better times, your smile,
your passion, your dreams, your desires.
Yes, I do remember your dreams and desires
to be a positive influence. Now you are gone.
Am I dreaming? If so why is it not a sweeter dream?
Why not one filled with your smiles?
Why not one filled with you changing lives?
Why not one with us arguing? We'll reconcile later.
We always do, and are the better for it.
But they said you have gone and won't be back.
We did not get to say goodbye. We did not hug.
I did not get to say for the last time, "I love you!"
I will shout it anyway and hope you hear it.
I will pray it and believe that you will hear it.
"I love you! My beloved I love you."
God has you now and you are safe.
You are in His arms and can rest in peace.
But I tell you it is hard without you here.
I will grieve. I also need God's arms now.
I need His peace to comfort me.
In His peace I can also rest.
My prayer is that your leaving will be a positive
influence on others like you dreamed and desired.
We will be together again and it will be sweetest.
Your smile brightest. Your passions strongest.
Your dreams and desires most alive.
Because in His presence everything is glorious.
Until then, I will go on and seek to be
a Christlike influence on others.
I love you and will miss you.
But I will go on in the strength of the Lord,
until that time when we are reunited.


Written for a couple, one of whom lost a sibling. Dedicated to them and all who have lost loved ones.

Thoughts of You

I admire the person you are
and I desire to know you,
but it seems am unable to act
and when I do it's not on queue.

More often than not I fumble
trying to say the things I think,
muttering nonsense and stumbling
it's evident that am not n'sync.

My actions have been puzzling
well, that's not a surprise,
am trying to keep it real
so my feelings I disguise.

But I think about you
in sweet & wholesome ways,
it thrills my emotions
and for you my heart prays.

Have I told you before
or was I just dreaming?
that, I do like you lots
it's real, tis no scheming.

My heart desires you
and my mind agrees,
yet I do and do nothing
to set them at ease.

I ponder: Should I tell you or not
or do you even care to know?
Should I be bold and let it out
or is it better kept in the shadow?


The above was a for real admiration experienced some time ago and written at that time.

FAITH

Faith is more than words yet it involves words.
Faith is more than works yet it involves works.
Faith is active yet it rests.    
Faith is bold yet it is gentle.
Faith is assured yet it wrestles. 
Faith is powerful yet it is fully dependent. 
Faith is loud yet it is respectful. 
Faith is intangible yet it is real. 
Faith is complete yet it is being perfected. 
Faith is strong yet it has to be exercised. 
Faith is a gift that we receive.
Faith is a gift we must live out.
Faith is a gift that is more than us.
Faith is a gift that makes it possible for us to please God.
Faith is a gift that holds fast to all of God's promises.


Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, 
the conviction of things not seen.