Photo by Zain Ali
The heat hung in the air like wet cotton today
The Texas dance of August has begun
The manicured lawns will soon be parched brown
Even the humming of the cicadas has gone still
Venus burns ever so brightly racing me to dawn
The majestic Oaks stand still as centurion guards
At my core the keen edge of Joy bids me come
And reach for the poetry that lives in my heart
Photo by Josh Willink
For many years I have tried to manage Christian “doctrine” and the “Truth of Jesus and His Cross.” I write about this a lot because following Jesus Christ and being used by Jesus Christ to further his Kingdom has been the greatest longing in my life. I was basically and literally born into it. I am more than grateful for my raising, even the hardest parts where I learned what a mess I am.
I say this because while my deepest and strongest desire in this world is to be a disciple of Jesus I am now in my sixth decade and feel I am just beginning to understand what that means.
It is really quite simple. Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could be put “in right relationship with God.” Which is marvelous in and of itself however God’s plan is to put the whole world right as well. Not just you and me. Salvation is NOT just me and my loved ones but ALL the people in ALL the world.
This has been quite diluted in the Church since the moment Jesus ascended. This Revolution Jesus started on the Cross, this most powerful declaration of God’s love for us cannot be reduced to formulas or catchy slogans or politics or religious formulas and traditions.
Again this quote from Martin Luther says it so much better than I can…
“things must happen NOT according to your own knowledge but rather immerse yourself in the abandonment of understanding and Jesus will give you true understanding. You cannot find the way of the cross. Jesus must lead you there like a blind person. Not the work you chose for yourself, not the sufferings you think up for yourself, but what comes to you contrary to your choosing, thinking, desiring, that is where you must follow, there He is calling. There you are the pupil, there is where your teacher, your Savior has come and is found.”
You see, our LORD has walked this path before us as a human. His Holy Spirit is here walking this path with us, teaching us, guiding us…
As we walk so closely to Jesus, like a blind person. Trusting Him (Jesus) the way He trusted God, our Father, becoming a true disciple is about these things… giving up control, not being my own god…Yes Lord.
Photo by Gladson Xavier
Oh how all the Kings have fallen
From their high and lofty thrones!
The white Knights are soiled with black death
none of them call upon Almighty God!
All the people lie constantly so the innocents die
Their evil makes a mockery of Almighty God!
Oh if only they would cry from deep hearts
and give up their ego and selfish ways!
I, Almighty God have made a way to redeem them
Only I have saved them with my own right hand!
I desire mercy and compassion above all else
I, Almighty God have spoken for all to hear!
Photo by Pixabay
Part of me just won’t show
what she needs or what she knows
The anger lies beneath the wind
the fury stirs it up again
What did I think would happen
what do I have to lose?
Turn my mourning into dancing
I put on my high-heeled shoes
I can’t drown my sorrow
breathe through the smoky haze
I don’t want to work tomorrow
but the Fiddler must be paid.
Photo by Aneta Foubíková
To be rescued one must have a solid knowledge from what we are being rescued. In the case of humanity we need to be rescued from Sin. We do not like to admit sin. We do not like to talk about sin. We definitely spend a lot of time trying to hide our sin so why would we not receive rescuing? Because being rescued portends that we give up all of our own control and humble ourselves.
As a child growing up in a Christian home and church I was taught often that I was a sinner. I did not however understand the nature of Sin nor did I understand The Fall of human kind that occurred one black day in the Garden of Eden. I did not realize I was born an enemy of God and that I hated God and was in rebellion toward God!
The good news of God’s grace is that he loves and came here for his enemies. He did not wait until I was all cleaned up outwardly. He did not wait for me to pray the “sinner’s prayer or walk down the aisle of my church. He did not wait for me to study theology or memorize the Bible.
The point of the Cross of Jesus is that on that Cross hung the vehicle of my rescue. The man of Jesus would provide the greatest rescue of all time. Understanding and receiving the Cross of Jesus is not so we can congratulate ourselves for solving theology or religious formula but that we may understand the cost and the humility of the Great Rescuer in it’s heinous, bloody, awful Glory. We have not been rescued from sin so that we can be great thinkers of abstract ideas or to make sure everyone around us is doing what they should be doing. We have been rescued by being put right with God and becomin part of God’s family and God’s plan to save the whole world. That is how The Great Rescue works. Once we are put right with God we then go and share with kindness and compassion how while we were sinners and enemies of God he still loved us. There is a Rescuer and His name is Jesus! His rescue is final and perfect.
Photo by Jonathan Petersson
There is something Holy about the Sunrise
I picture angels filling the heavens behind the Sun’s rays and even more angels among us on earth
All of them singing in worship to God each day
Like a daily Resurrection of His Glory evident to humans once again
I see the center of my own self
.All the garbage and the pearls
My heart opens up like a bleeding Rose cleansing me from within and once again The Holy brings peace out of chaos
I am reminded the well -designed small life I live is not by chance and this is a new day…
Photo by Fancycrave.com
The heavy burden of baggage, the relentlessness of clocks. No none likes to see something break. It would not be normal if we liked to see something or someone break yet we are all broken. The day we are born we begin the journey into decay. Some see this as morbid. I see it as part of the “fall” or disobedience. The brokenness that had to be reconciled. The healing that had to happen in such an earth shattering, heaven and hell kind of way. Complete light and complete darkness collide and God’s light wins.
Everything about us, our appearance, the miraculous functioning of our bodies and brains are designed. Some of us dress plainly. Some wear costumes of bright plumage. Some of us are Primary clay. Some of us are transformed by miles of rain, wind, and ice.
I was once broken but have been transformed into his marvelous light.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. Colossians 1:24
Photo by Simon Matzinger
The days move like mercury
the horizon is melting in the heat
I can smell the burn of asphalt
the summertime songs playing on repeat…
The rhythm of life drumming through my skull
the heartbeat of longing comforts me
I can smell the scent of new life
rising up from the salty sea breeze…
Drifting on a sunny day
The days move like mercury
There is nowhere else I’d rather be
than dreaming in this life with you…
Photo by Jens Mahnke
The summer sun is baking the side walks and streets.
The Texas horizon looks like a melting mirage.
Summer solstice has arrived and a few things never change.
Even in the shade it is one hundred degrees.
My grandchildren have begun their love affair with the sprinkler and popsicles.
In the backyard with their parents.
And wonderful cool sheets for an afternoon nap.
And all is right with my world today and I am grateful.
Photo by Dominika Roseclay
You can look for me on the streets or home
my footprints are there but I may be gone
There is a scent of rose and a south wind breeze
a slight Texas drawl and a gospel hymn…
They say no one knows where they belong
without a doubt I know this is wrong
For every step taken must be redeemed
this journey’s path is seldom what it seems…
You can look for me in this Texas town
where all my roots lay deeply in the ground
A sense of strength and a southern swag
and a Gulf Coast pull that calls me back…
You can look for me on the streets or home
Some familiar paths and some still unknown
You will hear my laugh dancing in the trees
the cottonwood’s shade as the church bells ring…
Jill Autrey Dorman 