Photo by Garon Piceli
I lie down under the burden
of the courage that I lack
For you to see the sin in me
cannot be taken back
It is my greatest fear at times
you might finally know
The dark and filth I tasted once
I never want to show
Exposure of who I really am
could it drive your love away?
After all you’re only human
dare I hope that you would stay?
The truth of exposure that I fear
is a mystery not of loss
But a debt that is fully paid
willingly hung upon a Cross
Photo by Fabio Gasperoni
Sunshine in my window I heard the screen door slam
The more I lose the more I win guess it’s just the way I am
Leaving the rain behind me living a brand new way
Taking the view I’m given being thankful every day
Swept the illusions all away cobweb’s about what is true
I cleaned out the hidden places guess that’s just what I had to do
Spring rains clears the skies I close my eyes to pray
There is still so much to know guess that’s just my way
Leaving the rain behind me living a brand new way
Taking the view I’m given thanking God every day
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon
She sees musical notes in color
and the tunes flow like a breeze.
Minor keys are her blue notes
and her hope is the colors of Spring.
She can rush on rum and beat on drums
and can play all the chords of strife.
She sees musical notes in color
and writes songs in the key of life.
Photo by Matheus Bertelli
Once I was the girl on the side street flashing in and out of the dark. I was taught a role to play for the well being of my family and for my Dad’s livelihood. I played it well. Such a mix of tender family moments peppered with the fear that maybe Jesus didn’t really come for me…
…now the ocean’s wind catches each regret, each sin, and sorrow throwing it into the eternity of a perfect God to be forever forgotten. In the light of the moon a young woman, who thought the stars would stop shining above her found the Maker of the stars and the freedom and love and the lullaby when He sang a Holy song baptizing over her in waves. So now I am drifting, sailing and it was you who came for me.
On that day when the sun tipped over the edge of the earth and spilled colors like buckets of orange, pink, and violet as a reminder of the power of Holy light. The young woman once ravaged and scarred by guilt and shame found joy in the warmth of The Son. Lifted from the darkness you came for me. You hold me in your arms and by your own wounds, scars, and stripes you heal me. The girl on the side street finally came home…
1975
She is still keen on being loved for who she is inside
Her gray – blue eyes can still cut through a room looking for true hearts
and she still feels poetry in music and loves a Rocky Mountain high…
I’ll raise a silver chalice to the girl I was in my youth
She is always with me never far from where I am
and she loves the life she is given walking strongly in the Truth…
Her thoughts still flow on paper and she still gazes at the stars
A few times we have both flown too close to the Sun
I am older now and wiser and that girl is never far…
Photo by icon0.com on Pexels.com
I have a Story given me by my Maker
A heart fierce yet ravaged ever in need of saving
I’ve been given clear eyes to see the Holy One
To shed tears of remorse washing away bitterness
And I’ve been given healing in these two hands
To share the balm I have received and know that Hope remains
I have not seen all the wonders of this world
I have not walked with the noble nor do I own anything of worth
I have not known wealth or fame but I do know joy and pain
And I’ve been given life and love far beyond all earthly gain
I pray for humility and a heart full of gratitude running over
To share the balm I have received and know that Hope remains
Photo by Lum3n.com
A yellow garden cart
Blooms of love and rhyme
Crosby, Stills and Nash
harmony so sublime
Upon a garden cart
grows a creeping thyme
abiding with country roses
And a hint of sweetest times
Photo by Designecologist on Pexels.com
At times my heart is like a quivering bird in this cage of Flesh and bone
I know it will not withstand such a relentless seige
At times my heart is like a big bass drum
I know it will strike strong with the rhythm and the beat!
It feels as if I am dying and I cannot stay the course
Then it feels as if I am a warrior crying out “all is victorious!”
Some say this is a fickle heart but I know this is not true
For I know this heart in me comes from the heart in you!
Photo by freestocks.org
He heals the wounds of a ravaged heart
oh fathom lavish love!
Drink his grace straight up
fill oh fill my cup!
No one else will care like this
oh death where is thy sting?
Drink his grace straight up
fill oh fill my cup!
Cannot add to him or take him away
oh pure the bread and wine!
Drink his grace straight up
fill oh fill my cup!
Photo by HARSH KUSHWAHA
God spoke, “I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my righteous wrath upheld me.” Isaiah 63:5
The theology (meaning study of…) of the Cross vs. The theology of Glory jumped out at me while reading again the book called The Gospel According to Job by Mike Mason which I have been reading for over five years along with The Discipline of Disturbance by Hud McWilliams, who has been my spiritual mentor for over twenty-nine years.
All of that to say it absolutely astounded me when I realized that there is no glory in the Cross. The monumental indescribable event that took place on that cross was one of absolutely NO glory yet it is exactly that event on that cross that makes Glory for you and I a legitimate option through the obedience of Jesus to die on that cross. and be given by God the Father the Sovereign rule forever. It stirred me so that I could not eat or sleep.
The spirituality of the Cross and those of us who trust in The One who died up on it is that it seeks God and ONLY God and here is the kicker, the work on the cross of Jesus would accept NO GLORY! There is no glory in sin. God himself is the significant value of the Cross!!! Jesus humbled himself only seeking God’s will and then doing it.
Glory to God is useless if humans conjure it up in themselves. We see it all around us in the Church. A mega church boasting about their numbers of attendance. The church member who judges others who cannot seem to overcome their sin issues but never repenting of their own or the supposed Christian celebrities that millions follow on social media and accept their teachings because they are popular.
The Glory belongs to Jesus and Jesus alone, who’ s very essence is God, yet on that cross he was a son, a man who had not sought ANY glory for himself only his Father’s.
“Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because he loves us. God forgives sin ONLY because of the death of Christ…anything that LESSENS the holiness of God through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as REVEALED by Jesus Christ…” Oswald Chambers
The lesson is that the Cross is for those who will walk by simple faith seeking no glory of our own. Oh that I might grasp this Truth today and everyday for one day my Faith will be made sight and the glory will be more than eternity can hold. Not mine but His.
“The Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18
Jill Autrey Dorman 