Revelation 21:21-23
21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls,
each gate made of a single pearl. The
great street of the city was of pure gold,
like transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city,
because the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are its temple.
23 The city does not need the sun...
When Christ receives us to himself,
above green pastures and mountain elm,
where snowbound peaks are specks, starlights,
the Bride, prepared, bejeweled, shall shine.
Her fervent hope, by Abba arranged,
shall be fulfilled when trumpets blaze,
and she is taken quicker than sight
makes comprehend...
Matthew 26:31-34
31 Then Jesus told them, "This very night
you will all fall away on account of me,
for it is written: " 'I will strike the
shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will
be scattered.'
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead
of you into Galilee."
33 Peter replied, "Even if all...
From 1 Timothy 1:6-7
5 The goal of this command is love,
which comes from a pure heart and a
good conscience and a sincere faith.
6 Some have wandered away from these
and turned to meaningless talk.
Sometimes, in tomes of seeking minds
we find how far the erudite
can stray from love, that life...
What is dark to us is not even dark to You, O Lord.
That which is brightened by your Light ushers You in.
Dark is dispelled from us. Your Presence--Light occupying the seized.
Basking, here is the new creation you’ve made of your shining saints.
Change undeniable! This knowledge...
The Lord paid the Spirit-bail over my destiny,*
to walk on, my soul set free!
The old master, sin, wields no whip to make cower.
Scars of the past are just that: a past hour.
“Done left the plantation”, I have for some time.
Each step within Jesus’ will recalls the sublime
that New Jerusalem...
(After reading John 15:1-17)
Father, I extend my soul to follow your rules,
to befriend your heart, do service for you,
because your Son sought you, fulfilled the Law,
I seek you, too, demonstrate love.
First by the knowing he gave all for me.
By this grand mercy, I show grace secondly.
Thirdly...
Over the past few years, I've noticed that in praise music, emphasis on
the Lord taking our shame away has been the norm for many song lyrics.
All well and good when we isolate the emphasis to its meaning. But,
the trend also seems top-heavy and out of proportion to what a balanced Christian...
...after reading Isaiah 40:27-31
We can have strength without fully understanding
the depths of God’s seas and the timing of waves,
those fresh days when gales gather over the oceans,
the moments when gray skies loom over the lakes.
When we no more question the answers of each day,
we log every...
...from Isaiah 62:7
6...You who call on the Lord ,
give yourselves no rest,
7and give him no rest till he establishes
Jerusalem and makes her the praise of
the earth (NIV-1984)
Matthew 6:10
your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven (NIV-1984)
What now, Bethlehem? You...
Pondering...
Micah 5:2 (KJV)
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
&
Luke 2:8:17
8 And there were in the same...
(thinking about Luke 2:8-20)
Every day is Christmas-like, the graced belief in Incarnation’s gift.
Yet, what is special on this Eve is the masses feel the void, Heaven’s mark missed.
The Church? We feel a strong but happy impulse: to share the Good News of Salvation come.
So sing the...
Trust, the hallmark of the union
of the Father-Spirit-Son,
each forming forever the One true God,
Whom believing Israel adores.
Though we read not, "Trinity",
revelation thrusts Him forward,
instilling in us awed allegiance
to the One who thus sovereignly comes forth
as loving Father, sending...
A few thoughts on John 2:23-25 (NIV-1984)
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the
Passover Feast, many people saw the
miraculous signs he was doing and
believed in his name.
24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to
them, for he knew all men.
25 He did not need man's testimony
about man, for he...
Concerning 2 Samuel 11:14-17, 2 Samuel 23:8 and 2 Samuel 23:39. Then, imagining
Uriah the Hittite’s last day of loyal service to the Lord G-d and King David:
As men, set ‘round Uriah, slunk deftly away
and enemy arrows struck sinews and veins,
could these have stung more than being betrayed
by...
When I have a party, dancing is part;
the joy of companionship is how it starts.
We clap for the fiddler as he taps his toes,
and the swaying of happy collaboratin' flows.
As we are one Body, we rejoice as one kin,
the joy of our fellowship is how it begins.
We clap for the Master, who in...
Contemplating Philippians 1:3-6
3 I thank my God every time I remember
you.
4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always
pray with joy
5 because of your partnership in the
gospel from the first day until now,
6 being confident of this, that he who
began a good work in you will carry it on
to...
(Scripture is taken from the NIV1984; information in brackets is taken from the Interlinear on biblehub.com. Italics are mine)
1 John 2:1
My dear children, I write this to you [2nd person singular] so that you [2nd person singular] will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we [2nd person plural]...
Life before light,
before substance illumined.*
Life before light,
grace, before saints’ soul-soothing.**
To each dead of night,
Daystar came pursuing^:
a crash per dark’s knights,^^
for us, soft-landing to His bosom.+
___________
All scripture quotes are taken from the King James Version
*...
When we are thinking about the relationship between our "faith" in Messiah Jesus and our "works",
it helps to consider the words that Jesus said to the Apostle Paul:
Acts 26:17-18
I am sending you to [the Gentiles] to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of...