Relationships

The burden of Merit…We can’t get religious enough. We can’t be good enough. We cannot do better for God. Jesus did it for us. 

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Photo by cottonbro

“The fact is that sin is a bigger disaster than we think it is and grace is more amazing than we seem to be able to grasp that it is. No one who really understands what Scripture has to say about the comprehensive, every-aspect-of-your-personhood altering nature of sin would ever think that anyone could muster enough motivation and strength to rise to God’s standard of perfection. The thought that any fallen human being would be able to perform his or her way into acceptance with God has to be the most insane of all delusions. Yet we all tend to think that we are more righteous than we are, and when we think this, we have taken the first step to embracing the delusion that maybe we’re not so bad in God’s eyes after all.”   Paul Tripp

  1. You better pray everyday
  2. You better read your Bible every day.
  3. You better join the choir, teach Sunday school, be a missionary, or do some kind of ministry.
  4. You better tithe.
  5. You better be at Church every time the door was open. (This one was easy because my Dad was a Pastor.)

 So, if you are out there trying to earn your way into relationship with God it is a burden that you need not carry and when you realize this Truth it is actually a relief. Then you can start to actually do and say the things that please God by letting His Spirit live in you.

It can be a rough ride and not a pretty sight, but Jesus did not come and die for us because it was comfortable or pretty. He did it because he understood and still understands that it is HE who brings life from sin and death, and it is Jesus in you that will produce “good works and fruit.”

Your behavior will change because Jesus transforms our hearts and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, the hands serve, and the love overflows. I know, because I spent years trying to be good enough and failed and then as I lay all of that down I began to change.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Getting “likes”…

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abstract board game bundle business

Photo by Pixabay

I am passionate about the following:  my relationship with Jesus Christ, my marriage and family, friends, my nursing career, and last but not least my writing and other arts.

It is the world of the internet and social media that has prompted me to examine the reports from the creators of Facebook and other mediums  in regards to the human need to be heard and apparently ” liked. ” These young men and women stated they they knew when they designed facebook, twitter, etc.,  they would be tapping into the actual chemical function of the human brain. There is an effect on our brains when we get likes on any media, selfies, blogs like this, twitter, instagram, and on it goes. I do not believe wanting to be liked is something to be ashamed of. It is in fact the core element in our being that connects us to God and others. However true self worth comes from our identity in Christ if we are his followers. This longing to be accepted wains as one ages so now days I am not so bothered by likes or dislikes…

To be validated about something I am passionate about, a gift or talent that I long to share is not wrong but I can see many have been manipulated by these companies which can be easily observed by the crazy things people will do to get “like”. 

Here is how I know if what I am doing is going down an ego rabbit hole. The Bible teaches us that the things from above, in other words Godly goodness is easy to recognize.  Godly wisdom, Godly gifts and “likes” are first pure (no other motive), peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full or mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.  James 3:17

 

 

 

That place where we bleed

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Photo by Lum3n

It is an early morning rain

blue crystals falling from the sky

Oh all the words won’t come my way

the search for them makes me high

I saw you sleeping in the candle light

coming round to that place where we bleed

Oh all your thoughts won’t come my way

each idea planted like a row of seeds

It is an early morning rain

a symphony falling from the sky

Oh all the dance steps are ours

or at least to give a try.

it would be a lie…

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ball ball shaped blur color

Photo by Pixabay on

It would be a lie to say I have always been honest.

I thought a time or two about moving on when we were young,

when I did not value the promise.

The Grace Covenant that covered forever our offenses to God,

now established in His Mercy removed any fear that you would hurt me.

While it is true, we cannot fully know another person,

staying with you was more than worth it.

I hope this is a comfort to you, as it is to me, as we round this last bend.

If I could I would choose to stay with you again.

Night So Long

/ jill autrey dorman / 4 Comments

grayscale photography of train station

Photo by Wallace Chuck 

I think I missed my cue

in the seismic gap between us.

The drama is widening it all the while.

There is a rawness in your eyes

burning ashes fill the sky.

The midnight train is passing by

is this my cue to cry?

A night so long and you move on

and I never say goodbye.

 

It Is A Civil War

/ jill autrey dorman / 4 Comments

crashing waves

Photo by Ray Bilcliff 

As I sit by the ocean and hear it’s deeply powerful roar.

The waves seem so angry and crash on the shore.

Brother against brother like I have not seen before.

My heart cries at the hatred, it is a Civil War.

Everyone is talking but it is just a screaming noise.

Oh God show us mercy for all we’ve destroyed.

 

 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1John4:8

John 3:16.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

 

 

Of All the Rooms…

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rain of snow in town painting

Photo by Lisa Fotios 

 

This snow takes me back to Memphis.

A little girl with a crooked smile.

Oh how magical that Christmas was.

Boot prints of Santa on a snowy blue lawn.

 

So secure in the dreams of that gospel mile.

Daddy was my hero, such warm and simple times.

Of all the rooms my life has passed through,

Memphis was the sweetest time I ever knew.

 

You thought I never noticed you

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shallow focus photography of a woman

Photo by Tainá Bernard

 

You thought I never noticed you

in those hallowed halls of high school angst.

Like Breakfast Club we each played a part

and everyone said I would break your heart.

 

You thought I was a Golden lady with no scars.

You said my blue-gray eyes shined like silver stars.

Truthfully I thought no one really cared.

Only you could  see that  I was a little scared.

 

You were my best friend and always true.

I went to the parties and always looked for you.

You were too afraid to come my way

and then you faded black one day.

 

Years came and went till we met again.

We talked and laughed until the sun shined in.

We professed our love and gratitude out loud.

Friends to the end we made that vow.

 

Now I am old and you have crossed the pale.

I can see the halls of heaven prevail.

Nobody ever was or had a friend more true.

How wrong you were to think I never noticed you.

 

(this is dedicated to Tim C.)

 

 

 

In the Eyes of It All

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photo of person covered with brown textile

Photo by Noelle Otto

 

I don’t know where you went when you left me.

I have to believe you were sure you had to leave.

People always seem to have to be, have to go, have to hear what someone else has said.

The Truth running away like a spool of thread.

Still, I remember it felt like drowning in a rip tide.

There is a sadness in the end, in the eyes of it all.

I am much the stronger for it but I don’t wait for your call.