Tag Archives: Poems

Preparing the Ground

24 Monday Jun 2024

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Preparing the Ground

The Sower came to sow His seed 
In the field assigned to me
We would now put to the test
My preparation of the ground.
I was sure results would exceed 
Expectations and I'd see 
My field yield the very best
Grain that could be found.
By harvest I had to concede 
The books I'd read so avidly
And followed all they did suggest
Their advice had proved unsound.

The Sower came and I did plead
Not to judge me too harshly 
Instead to please heed my request 
Help me make my field renowned.
The Sower said He could indeed
Prepare the ground and guarantee 
A harvest that would be so blessed
It could feed everyone around.
He'd clear all that would impede
The growth and health and beauty 
Of the seed He would invest
The harvest would abound.

At my word He would proceed 
To help me clear all the debris 
From the field which He possessed 
The care of which confounded
Me-All I could ever need
Was available and He 
Would see I was not distressed 
Instead the yield would dumfound
Me-Following His lead 
I can see He's spoken truly
It is His ability expressed
To Him alone let all praise resound!

Harmony & Dissonance

18 Monday Dec 2023

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Last week’s post was my 200th!

I felt I ought to do something special to celebrate the milestone so, this week, I am taking a break from my study on the Whole Armor of God and posting a poem. 

This poem flowed out of an odd week where I felt constantly off-kilter. Nothing extreme happened: things I used to enjoy reading suddenly bothered me and others I wouldn’t have given a second thought were now a bother. I wondered why I was feeling the way I was and also whether or not I ought to be feeling as I was so spent as much time as I could in prayer and meditation. I realized it wasn’t so much a question of ought so much as familiar things and/or things I would not have thought twice about years ago, either no longer resonated with me or-as was true in some instances-were causing dissonance in me. 

The Apostle Paul speaks of “putting away childish things” (1 Corinthians 3:11) and I have never known with absolute certainty just what he meant. This has always been one of those “yes, but…” scriptures for me: if Jesus says we must be as little children but then Paul says to put away childish things…I’m confused…

I can’t go into depth in this post and so, briefly, I wonder if Paul wasn’t talking about those things we used to enjoy or at least never gave a second thought but which do not contain the life of Christ in them and now have no place in our New Creation Lives. This poem is my attempt to express how this last week has felt.

Enjoy my 201st post!

Harmony & Dissonance
A walker in two worlds am I
While I still dwell under a darkened sky
I am translated into a kingdom so high
Above all I could think or dream

Various fruits are offered to me
I need the Holy Spirit to help me see
Which fruit will bring me to the reality
Of life in His living stream

Because they all look good to my naked eye
It's only by tasting each one that I
Can tell which is truth and which filled with the lie
That brings only ruin and blight

From deep inside the He enables me
To discern which fruit comes from the Tree
of Life and brings me to harmony
With Jesus who floods me with light

Light He is and the very life in my veins
As His realm waxes this one wanes
I cannot abide what doesn't echo the strains
Of the music that flows from His heart





Good Gifts

28 Monday Aug 2023

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Hello Readers and welcome-or welcome back-to Renaissance Woman!

I am taking a brief break from my study on the Whole Armor of God. Instead, I read a passage in Andrew Murray’s “With Christ in the School of Prayer” which inspired the following poem. I hope you enjoy it and will join me next week when I return to my study.

The Best Gift

Precious Holy Spirit
Sent to us because The Son
Lived and died and rose again
And shares all He has won

You are the Spirit of the Father
You teach us how to live
In the love You have shed abroad
The Father's pleased to give

You are the Spirit of The Son
He is formed in us by You
His relationship with The Father
Is the same one we have too

Spirit of The Living God
From inside of us You lift
Us each into Your fellowship
Our best most wonderous gift!

Confession

27 Monday Mar 2023

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Confession

How it feels
Like freefall
There is nothing I can do
I am plummeting toward the ground
With nothing to grab onto
Yet I feel You all about me
The only One I can cling to
I remind myself I chose to jump
And fall deeper into You

How it feels
Like limbo
I'm in a vague and formless place
I see shadow forms around me
But cannot discern a trace
Of the path I thought would be so clear
When I chose to run this race
But I know You are always with me
I can rest in Your embrace

How it feels
Upheaval
Please heed my appeal
My world is wildly rocking
Return me to an even keel
Remind me I am close beside You
Love me, hold me, and reveal
It is only with my eyes on You
I can perceive what is real

How it feels
Committed
I to You and You to me
I am aware of Your presence
Despite all my uncertainty
I resolve to trust in You
For You are my assurity
You will guide me ever onward
And give me eyes to see

Reconciled

13 Monday Feb 2023

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Hello Readers!

My shoulder injury acted up so I couldn’t type up a post for the Isaiah 45:7 study. Instead, I’m posting a poem I wrote years ago after a particularly devastating crisis. The poem still resonates with me and makes me think of 2 Corinthians 5:19: “It was God (personally present) in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against (men) their trespasses (but cancelling them), and committing to us (of the restoration to favor)” (Amplified).

While living any aspect of the Christian Life is impossible without the Holy Spirit, perhaps especially so is seeing those who have done us great wrong as beloved of and reconciled to God. But, because the Holy Spirit dwells within us, it is possible to see even those who have terribly hurt us with the eyes of Jesus Christ and know what His heart longs for them. That is the message I tried to convey in this poem. I hope the poem blesses you.

Reconciled
How could I have made such a mistake?
How could I have missed when he lied?
My God, where are you?-I looked deep inside;
Where are You? Where are You?, I cried.
I'm a fool, a failure, I've damaged my pride,
How could I have not seen at all?
My God, where are You?-I looked deep inside;
Where are You? Where are You?, I cried.
I am flooded with doubts-they come on all sides,
I cannot escape them-I've tried.
My God, where are You? I searched far and wide;
Where are You? Where are You?, I cried.
Did I ignore them? The warnings? The signs?
Were they in fact there all the time?
My God, where are You? I feel like I've died.
Where are You? Where are You?, I cried.
Perhaps I was wrong-the Shepherd's voice,
Perhaps I can't hear it at all.
My God, where are You? I looked deep inside;
Are You there? I need You?, I cried.
I am here, He answered, I was here all along,
Every moment-along for the ride.
My God, where were You? I searched far and wide,
I need You to hold me!, I cried.
Always, My Child, you are here in my hand,
Be still and know I am Yours.
My God, forgive me!, I sobbed and I cried.
Help me forgive him, I've tried.
My blood covers all things, both his faults and yours-
Do not let them trouble you more.
My God, I thank you. I breathed and I sighed.
I know it's in You I abide.