Short Stuff

When Christ receives us to himself, above green pastures and mountain elm, where snowbound peaks are specks, starlights, the Bride, prepared, bejeweled, shall shine. Her fervent hope, by Abba arranged, shall be fulfilled when trumpets blaze, and she is taken quicker than sight makes comprehend...

From 1 Timothy 1:6-7 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. Sometimes, in tomes of seeking minds we find how far the erudite can stray from love, that life...

The Lord paid the Spirit-bail over my destiny,* to walk on, my soul set free! The old master, sin, wields no whip to make cower. Scars of the past are just that: a past hour. “Done left the plantation”, I have for some time. Each step within Jesus’ will recalls the sublime that New Jerusalem...

...after reading Isaiah 40:27-31 We can have strength without fully understanding the depths of God’s seas and the timing of waves, those fresh days when gales gather over the oceans, the moments when gray skies loom over the lakes. When we no more question the answers of each day, we log every...

...from Isaiah 62:7 6...You who call on the Lord , give yourselves no rest, 7and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth (NIV-1984) Matthew 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (NIV-1984) What now, Bethlehem? You...

Pondering... Micah 5:2 (KJV) But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. & Luke 2:8:17 8 And there were in the same...

(thinking about Luke 2:8-20) Every day is Christmas-like, the graced belief in Incarnation’s gift. Yet, what is special on this Eve is the masses feel the void, Heaven’s mark missed. The Church? We feel a strong but happy impulse: to share the Good News of Salvation come. So sing the...

Trust, the hallmark of the union of the Father-Spirit-Son, each forming forever the One true God, Whom believing Israel adores. Though we read not, "Trinity", revelation thrusts Him forward, instilling in us awed allegiance to the One who thus sovereignly comes forth as loving Father, sending...

A few thoughts on John 2:23-25 (NIV-1984) 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for he...

Concerning 2 Samuel 11:14-17, 2 Samuel 23:8 and 2 Samuel 23:39. Then, imagining Uriah the Hittite’s last day of loyal service to the Lord G-d and King David: As men, set ‘round Uriah, slunk deftly away and enemy arrows struck sinews and veins, could these have stung more than being betrayed by...

(Scripture is taken from the NIV1984; information in brackets is taken from the Interlinear on biblehub.com. Italics are mine) 1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you [2nd person singular] so that you [2nd person singular] will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we [2nd person plural]...

He is not served by human hands, rather by hearts, his breath in them.* Though he lacks nothing, God wanted us for fellowship, desire filled from dust. If he had made us from the best of things of heavens glory, what delight would that bring? Instead, he made us, mere to majesty, to just lesser...

Love is ultimately a description of fruit growing in our lives, in the “Garden of With All”,* where the divinely commanded grows naturally, having roots of belief, trunks of hearing, waters of faith.** Love’s seeds, full of zeal, find receptive soil in heart, mind, soul and effort—these...

Matthew 19:16-17 (NASB-1995) 16 And someone came to Him [Jesus] and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the...

It's been a good while since I thought of the sea as a friend. I've come to the waters to reconcile God's call to peace with all of life's frictions. But the Lord has a way of busting up crutch paradigms. He says lean not wholly on reasons, but, yes, we can on words from the Christ. Here is the...

Lord, how we love your appearing! Lord, appear! Lord, appear! The Spirit says the hour is a mystery. Yet, desiring your Kingdom-come cheers. It’s not as if our restless yearning, of itself, could turn to the time. Yet, You earnestly wish that our turning in expectation is always ripe. Lord...

Come up from your wounds as deep as the sea,^ enter the Lord’s ark for comfort and healing.^^ Every inch of man, once plundered and poor,+ shall leave the soul sick—Oh God, such hearts restore! Jerusalem, jewel and joy of the earth, fell into captivity and callous-cruel scourge.++ Prophets...

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. There we have it: divine encouragement already given and...

A poem, after considering these Bible verses: Jeremiah 17:5; Jeremiah 17:7-8 5 This is what the Lord says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord , whose confidence is...

Our well-being in the Lord puts his splendor on display. From Isaiah 61:3 (NIV Bible 2011): They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.