In The Morning

in the morning when I awake,

You are there,

flooding my soul with hope,

removing the darkness,

bringing comfort and relief,

renewing my strength,

providing the joy and peace,

that I so desperately need;

being where You are

is all that I ask,

standing at the foot of

Your throne,

all that I desire,

for You shall provide

everything I need,

You shall wipe away

every tear;

what words can describe

Your mighty glory?

what thoughts can compare

with Your magnificent truth?

You who made the heavens,

You who command the seas,

You who control the winds,

You who know the hearts

of every man;

I fall down in humility and awe,

at the feet of Your wondrous

presence;

let every breath be breathed

for You,

let every lip praise

Your holy name;

mighty Lord,

let me worship You

forever.

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The True Vine

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”   John 15:1-5

You are the true vine,

I am the branch,

apart from You,

I am nothing,

within You,

I become fruitful;

within You,

I am a son of the

living God;

Your light is greater

than words can express,

Your love fills even the

deepest valley,

Your words speak truth,

far beyond what my

limited mind can

comprehend;

hold on to me

forever.

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Deliver Me

within nighttime dreams,

I walk in cold, forsaken places,

dark, dead lost places;

far beyond the reach of hope;

I listen to the suffering,

I hear the sorrow,

I feel the pain,

I know the emptiness;

they are places through which

I have walked before;

when I awake,

You are there,

standing by my side,

never letting go,

never walking away,

renewing and healing me,

blessing me when I deserve nothing,

forgiving me when I cannot

forgive myself,

reminding me that without You

I can never overcome;

deliver me O Lord,

from dark, dead places,

lost and forgotten places,

hidden within the shadows of dreams;

take away the emptiness

as only You can;

hold me now,

bathe me in Your light,

fill me with Your love,

surround me with Your glory,

let me belong to You forever;

my Savior,

my King,

my God,

my Everything.

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Teach Your Children Well

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.   Ecclesiastes 1:9

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.   Ecclesiastes 8:16-17

we said we would change

the world;

a new society,

the great experiment,

we were different,

a higher standard,

we knew more,

knew better,

we were the solution,

not the problem;

make love not war,

tune in, drop out,

hell no, we won’t go,

rebels with a cause,

defenders of the righteous;

instead we became

more of the same;

just more hypocrites,

in a world of hypocrites,

masters of enlightenment

without the light,

monsters disguised as

children of peace,

dogs licking up their own vomit,

white-washed sepulchers,

dry bones,

sheep without a Shepard;

we fooled the world,

we fooled ourselves;

we became activists,

poets and musicians,

stock brokers and analysts,

doctors and lawyers,

anything but our mothers

and fathers;

we became consumers,

we became users,

we became takers,

we became the future;

we pointed our fingers,

we blamed the man,

we blamed the over thirty crowd,

only to realize we had become

the man,

we were the over

thirty crowd;

it was all about us,

The ‘me’ generation,

gods of our own making;

we taught our

children well.

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Walking Through the Valley

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.   Psalm 23:1-6

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.   Ephesians 6:12

once again,

I enter this dark place,

this cold, empty, deserted place,

this place from which most

never return,

my enemies wait outside,

gloating over the misery,

laughing within at the naivety,

mocking from afar,

standing firm in their ‘moral’

and ‘intellectual’ superiority,

waiting for the fall;

once again,

You stand by my side,

letting me know You

will always be there,

helping me to rise when

so many others would not,

softly reminding me that

I never have anything to fear;

“Don’t be afraid, just believe”

once again,

You prepare me for

a battle most will

never see,

in a war that

rages continuously,

around everyone

and everything,

rescuing me from places

which no man could overcome;

teaching me that through You,

I can do all things.

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Greater

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.   Romans 8:37

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”   Matthew 19:26

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in  you is greater than the one who is in the world.   I John 4:4

I awake in the middle of the

dark and silent night,

helpless and afraid,

surrounded by the still

and quiet depths,

overcome by the worries and cares,

reminded of an uncertain tomorrow,

fearful of all that lies beyond my control,

then You softly speak,

filling me with Your love,

overwhelming me with Your grace,

cleansing me of sin,

restoring my soul,

reminding me that I will never be alone;

that with You there is

no condemnation, no rejection;

I sometimes wonder just where

this road is leading,

but I know no matter what lies ahead,

You will see me through,

You will be by my side,

You will provide a way;

through every trial,

through every test,

You are there,

holding me up when I can

no longer stand,

providing strength when

there is nothing left;

through You I am more than a conqueror,

through You all things are possible,

through You I am greater than the world.

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Sitting in a Mall While Growing Old

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.  What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”   Matthew 16:25-26

“The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”   John 12:25

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he as done has been done through God.”   John 3:16-21

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”   John 16:33

it’s not easy growing old,

but then again it’s not

so bad either,

there’s a calm sort of peace,

sitting on a bench

in the middle of the mall,

drinking a cup of coffee,

watching people pass you by,

knowing that it will soon be

all over,

you start to see the self-serving,

egotistical side to it all,

for the first time you begin

to understand the futility;

and it’s just not so bad;

the curtain is pulled back,

the illusion disappears,

the Holy Spirit speaks and

you realize;

nothing of this world matters,

that everything is temporary,

everything is changing,

yet everything remains the same,

that there is a truth much larger

than life or death,

all the selfishness, pride, ego, emotions,

feelings, lust, fear, anger, frustrations, greed,

are just a bunch of self-absorbed hypocrisy,

coming and going, growing and dying,

fading with each passing moment

of time;

we fail because we choose it,

drowning in the madness,

running from the light,

blaming it on destiny,

making friends with the prince

of this world,

wallowing in our self-pity,

crying at the hopelessness,

preferring the darkness;

hiding from the truth;

without Jesus there is nothing,

He is the vine, we are the branches,

the beginning and the end,

the Alpha and the Omega,

the great I am,

the Truth,

the Light

the Way;

through Him are all things possible,

without him nothing worth having

is obtainable

no man cometh to the Father

but through Him;

praise His holy name forever!

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