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Sunshine stay with me a while I haven’t had you for so long
You are gentle and make me laugh and sing a happy song
We will not speak of love unless it should happen to grow
We will just run and play, you are a shelter from the cold
You are just the thing I need to help me heal again
There is no way of knowing if we will ever end
Sunshine stay with me a while we will both be free
You are just the thing I need, you let me be me
Photo by Marta Dzedyshko
Like the vaults of God’s Holy temple
the blue spruce branches arch over me
Each heavily draped with new fallen snow
I kneel down in grateful prayer under the Cathedral Tree
I have never been one to love easily and trust
but You Oh God have loved me with perfect love
I was heavily draped in sin and you washed me white as snow
I kneel down in humility under the Cathedral Tree
Photo by V gtrei
You took the hammer and rang the bell
Won me a stuffed animal with a cotton candy smell
but I dropped the dream and walked away
there was just no more games I wanted to play
I wish our story was prettier than it is
I stared for days at that Ferris wheel
no carnival or a carousel left to ride with you
at least I finally saw the Truth
You took the hammer and rang the bell
you said it isn’t working out so well
I wish there was prettier story to tell
like all the horses on the carousel
Photo by Matthew T Rader
Everybody moving blindly forward, like fish in a shoal
How long have we been losing touch with our souls?
Everybody hating what they can not understand
We surely did not gain good from the knowledge of evil
We surely forsook the only wise God and Creator
We tried to be our own gods but could not do it better
I know this is not how the story ends for His image bearers
I know the Master Writer’s plan can not be thwarted
Let it be oh Lord I pray our Faith be made sight today
Photo by Ionut Cerchia
As I sat in the still and In the mess
In the emptiness of my own conceit and arrogance
The old man with white hair said,
“these are your thorns to bear…”
When the only free person in the room
Is the one who is in chains
Then it is time to look at what man calls “justice”
Pontius Pilate could not deny his claims
It is in vulnerability that God’s Grace comes
It is in the mourning that the Grief is fulfilled
It is in the freedom of Truth that I want to run
It is in humility that true courage is spilled
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood
She never scoured with tears
Not her face, not her life, not her floor
She was as strong as the Mississippi’s speed
And tougher than the man who made her bleed
Relentless in love, quiet and strong was her way
Not hardened but not taking back her living
Until one day she took that shotgun round
The shot that rang out put him in the ground
She did not scour herself with tears
She washed herself clean in the blood
She held her head high for her children
That man would never make anyone else bleed again
When you stand close to His gypsy fire
your heart will hear a blue cold note
He will burn you with his lies
but His truth will hurt the most
He has always been a runner
and cares nothing for all he has not been
He will stoke his gypsy fire higher
and steal your heart away again
Gray against gray the dawn awakens
the grayest ashes have all turned cold
Just when you believe his dreams were real
you will find to the highest bidder you were sold
Photo by luizclas
He was the only one there in that dark still night
I was flayed open with a razor sharp knife
He said are you ready to rise from the dead?
Through sobs and his blood yes was all I said
He said I am the love you are counting on
I am the only One when all others are gone
I am the one who carries you when you fall
Through doubts and sorrow I’ve paid it all
He is the one who gave His all for me
He fought for me to the bloody end
And on that day when He rose again
He said I am all I have ever been
He held me there as life seeped in
He is everything no one else has been
He is my champion, teacher, Redeemer, and friend
He is the one I will count on until the end
Photo by Pixabay
I am not anyone’s authority on what they read, or who they listen to or what blogs they like to follow. I just know that for me, a little caution bell went off in my head the other day about “rightly dividing the Word of Truth” and the heavy responsibility that goes with it.
Jesus said, “See that no one lead you astray.” Matthew 24:4
We often think of humility as an awareness of our faults, but humility is an awareness of our limitations.
Here is why I am discerning a red flag in my head and am being led by the Holy Spirit to “check” myself and who I am following.
Over 20 million women (conservative number) are known to follow someone like Glennon Doyle Melton, Jen Hatmaker, Beth Moore, Priscilla Shire, Jennie Allen (If:Equip ministry), Ann VosKamp, Shauna Nyquist, Lysa TerKeurst (Proverbs 31 Ministries) or a group of women under the umbrella of “She Speaks Truth” ministry, and many more on Social Media.
Most of these ladies started out sharing their stories via Blog, or by writing books, and speaking engagements. The things they have to say obviously resonate with women. Whether it is how to cope in marriage, Motherhood, single life, health issues, spiritual issues, sexuality issues or just light subjects like decorating your home or cooking healthy.
This type of teaching and leadership, if you call it that, is taking off in “The Church” culture for women but are often para-ministries meaning they are not under Biblical authority, or are they? You must choose for yourself with the guidance of the very real and present Holy Spirit of God. Just because you agree with some things a woman might say doesn’t make her a Truth speaker.
Truth stands alone, “outside of us” in our humanity until we become the daughters of God through Jesus Christ the Truth then dwells in us through the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. We must not lose our humility and always walk in the fact that we are God’s children and we, who follow Jesus, are under his authority. He is Truth, this God/Man is Truth. Truth is a person not an ideal. Truth is not a feeling.
Humility is not seen much in this world. We must believe what God says about us and that is that we were dead in sin. Hopelessly lost, now saved by Grace through Christ Jesus.
Wisdom is always needed. Not earthly Wisdom but True Wisdom that comes from God.
I read in scripture that Jesus first gives us strong and serious warnings to be aware of anyone’s teaching and the way to measure them is by “whose authority” do they speak, lead, guide, or teach?
So, Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” John 8:28
In James 3:1 James implores us “do not run” to teach and/or lead…”Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.) These gifts are surely costly gifts and come with heavy accountability before God.
What does Wise Living look like? In James chapters 1 and 2 is a pearl for living well and whole and fleshing out what we believe…
The wise woman will persevere
She cannot stop praising God or referencing God in her daily life.
She is slow to speak and quick to listen.
She is gentle, gentle, gentle!
She is a “doer” of God’s Word.
She leads a life of purity, not innocence but purity. There is no malice in her heart. She is not trying to gain reward for herself only for Jesus. We are called to “know Jesus” (intimately), and to make Him known (by our words, actions, and the intent of our heart.)
She does not show favoritism.
She controls her tongue.I
So knowledge without Truth is evil. Truth stands alone without my opinion. Who I let teach or influence me matters. I shall I my self and all friends out there to take the time to really read and know the Bible so you will not be led astray. I can only hold up each one to the test of God’s Word outlined above.
Thinking on the page…
Photo by Pixabay
She said I can’t go through this again
I can’t cover up your sin
Anymore…
She just kept walking down the road
Trying to drop that heavy load
Somewhere…
Oh the days go better than the nights
The prayers crack through a little light
Sometimes…
The storm blows in like a runaway train
Jesus is standing there calling her name
Again…
Jill Autrey Dorman 