Saturday, April 23, 2011

 


Me? An Instrument of Righteousness?!?

Eph. 2:6 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Rom. 6:13 13 ...but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

But I did not know I would do THIS sin!
I accepted forgiveness for all I had done,
and all that I should have but didn't achieve
And now I am shocked, find it hard to believe,
the grizzly, and gristly nature of this,
my latest act of miserableness.
I must reexamine the hope that I have:
I'm called God's child, and not sin's slave.
Can I still claim the forgiveness, still be that blessed thing,
An instrument of righteousness, serving the King?
Thanks be to God for the grace He extends,
forgiveness of all sins until this life ends.
Though I try not to fail Him I do anyway.
but He saw I would fail Him, saw all on that day
When He made me the offer to die in my place,
knowing full well the filth I would throw in His face.
And this sin, my latest in a long line of fault,
makes clear I cannot seem to bring it to a halt.
If I am forgiven, as night follows day
it follows all people are loved in this way.
Lord, sharpen this instrument, polish off rust,
to serve You and Your people until I am dust.

-HJ, April 2011
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Saturday, April 16, 2011

 
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I am reading Champagne For The Soul: Rediscovering God's Gift of Joy by Mike Mason, and I'm not sure yet what I make of it. But it has made me examine my experience of the kind of joy that is everlasting, maybe even abiding.

Is joy a cloak I can pull tighter
when I face fierce stormy winds
some of which blow through the fabric
but cannot chill me to the bone?

Or is joy more like a foundation 
I stand strong on, and unshaken,
until rocked so badly that I fall,
and though fallen I still cling?

Or is joy an inner treasure
though an earthen jar contains it
with a cracked and nicked appearance
as it wears through daily use?

As I shake it out to see it,
as I test its firm endurance,
as I peer inside to see it shine
I'm just thankful that it's there.
-HJ Apr. 16, 2011

Monday, April 11, 2011


I walked to town this morning, and couldn't resist taking photos of a little girl enjoying puddles!

"Become A Child"
The Lord leads me by the hand
Though my arms swing wildly,
for He takes big steps.
I look way up and smile
because He stops to let me jump in puddles
and if I should get muddy
only smiles at me in love.
I think He made those beautiful puddles.
-HJ Apr. 11, 2011

Sunday, April 10, 2011


Struck down again I let myself lie,
My face on the rock, and I let myself cry.
Why fight it when flat on the solid ground,
Supported at least by the lowest of down,
And up is too difficult anyway
So I might as well rest on the rock where I lay
Me down to sleep or maybe to dream
Of the day I stand strong again, tall and lean,
The day when I've gotten the help I need,
All healed in the places I used to bleed.
But for now I think I will let myself lie
My face on the rock my back to the sky.
-HJ Apr. 10, 2011