Hope Full
HOPE. It’s a huge little word, especially this time of year. We begin a new year fueled by hope. We are eager to make new goals, have new attitudes and set out in new directions. We have hope that things will be different this year than last year. We hope that change is coming or that good things stay the same. We have hope for our families, hope for our career paths, hope for relationships and hope for a better future. Yet so often those hopes start to fade as the reality of life presses in. So often those hopes slowly turn to resignation and even bitterness as they aren’t realized. Yet sometimes not–sometimes what you hope for comes true. You work hard and press through the tough times and the low points and you meet that goal or see that change that you were hoping for. Hope is a big word, it gives energy but it also leaves room for the possibility of disappointment. I have a lot of hope too as we step into a new year. I have hope for my writing this year. My goal is to finish my full rough manuscript of my next book. It’s a goal that I’ve given myself many times before and yet let the distractions of daily life crowd it out. I’ve recommitted and then slowly lost the drive and the purpose several times over the years. I’ve wrestled with my purpose and been plagued by self-doubt. I’ve let the enemy’s lies whisper that no one cares about what I’m writing and that my voice and words are not worth sharing. I have had little hope in the area of writing and that’s sad. I love creative writing! When I focus on it and dedicated the proper time to writing, it does fill me with purpose, energy and joy. God has blessed me with purpose in this area and can use me in so many beautiful ways when I apply the gifts he’s given me. I need to remember that this year and hold on to the hope and be consistent with the work. My family and I moved to Missouri from Minnesota in 2021 with a lot of hope. We had dreams of owning acreage, building a home and having numerous animals. Some of those hopes were realized. We were able to purchase 33 acres and contracted with a builder to custom build our new house. We named our land our Hope Full Homestead. The process was anything but fun and many times we began to lose hope. Finally in July of 2022 we were able to move into our new house after numerous delays, almost losing it due to rising interest rates and issues with our builder never finishing on time. Even now as I write this the builder hasn’t followed though on his promises and there are holes in the drywall painting and staining that still remain undone and will probably have to be done by me. Communication with the builder has been so inconsistent and promises have been made and then broken over and over and over again. It could be so much worse and many people are going through things far more serious, but for us it was definitely a trial that put great strain on our family. We are so thankful that we have a house to live in now and a beautiful property with so much potential, but the process felt very hopeless at times. Life in this sin-wrecked world has a way of tarnishing and even destroying our hopes and melting...
Read MoreHere I Stand
Here I stand By Truth I live For Truth I die I cannot change I cannot deny I cannot retreat I must defy Whatever Whoever Might seek To justify To promote To glorify Any lie That might try To cloud the Truth To change the News That sets us free The Truth of God The Word The Way The Life The certain Hope: Salvation ours By Grace alone Free grace, amazing grace That God would give To sin dead souls Filled full with hate His only Son? His perfect Son? His sinless Son? A sacrifice for such as these? To take all sin To take the shame To take the guilt To take the hell To suffer all for all To die our death And rise to life To give us life forever By Grace Alone By Grace Alone By Grace Alone Nothing one can bring To satisfy the King Jesus Christ I am his sin He is my righteousness And this, this gift This gift so grand Is ours by faith The beggar’s hand Receives the gift And trusts the truth And holds it close The beating heart Of every rescued wretch This faith itself A work of God A miracle so gently done God’s Spirit breathes Through simple Word A soul is won New life begun By Faith Alone By Faith Alone By Faith Alone And this faith This gift This grace We know Declared for all On Scripture’s page In words of God Passed on to us The power of God The truth he gave The soul to save So simple a child can see And know the truth That sets us free So deep a billion years Of study could not reveal Each mystery This mighty truth That marches on Through every age Through every stage Of human history The story of our gracious God His victory Declared us free The power of God The final say In every way For we are saved By Word alone By Word alone By Word alone. And so we stand, God help us all To stand on truth, stand straight and tall No matter what the world might do We trust our God to get us through And may each day be a reformation Full of confession and restoration Relying more and more on grace Till we see our Savior face to face And we live to tell God’s truth in love And give all glory to God above So just like us, saved sinners see The Grace of God that sets us...
Read MoreWhat is Worship?
We come by invite, not by right To taste, to glimpse God’s glory bright We come our fathomless need to fill– That God-sized hole so desperate still. We gape at gifts so grand and fine On feast of priceless worth we dine. There ought to be some formality A reflection of reality That I am me and He is HE And yet some priceless familiarity That we enjoy as a sweet rarity That the King of all would speak so intimately To one as low and unfit as me. Friend. He calls me friend! How can it be? Adopted child of God…that’s me? He invites me here to be with him To lay before him all my sin To hear again his love for me To soothe my fear and set me free To point me to his empty cross and tomb Remind me that he’s coming soon To teach me truth that shapes me new To fill me with the Spirit’s view To gather with the ones who care Blend our voices to him in prayer To pour out praise from lips he made Revel in his love, joy-full and unafraid. So whatever form this worship may take Let’s relish it for his great Name’s sake Let’s respect the precious gift he gave And give him the best of all we have Whatever honors him in every place Whatever highlights his saving grace Whatever points his people best To see him as their only rest. Not proudly looking ’round we sit Or glumly bored of all of it Or busy with critiquing it Or mindless, heartless reciting it… No let’s come undone and desperate Like empty beggars for respite Awed by his cross in sight, No sense of our own right We come just as we are Every flaw, every scar His promise brings us near Gives us joy in place of fear And from worship to worship we go As we live each day below Minds on treasures stored above Lives reflecting His great love. What is worship to...
Read MoreFor Those Who Weep This Christmas
For those who weep this Christmas Hiding tears behind dry eyes Smiling at the lights and laughter But in the heart resounding “Whys?” … For those who weep this Christmas Feeling holes of loved ones gone Struggling with life’s changing seasons Wondering how to carry on… For those who weep this Christmas Pains so fresh and feelings sore Fighting for some cause that’s losing Losing strength for fighting more… For those who weep this Christmas At failures, falls and constant change Angry at the world around them Raging at all who come in range… For those who weep this Christmas In loneliness so amplified By all the joyful noise around them Emptiness echoing deep inside… For all who weep this Christmas At flaws and sins they see so clear Who hang their head in deep regretting Well-earned justice rightly fear… For we all must weep this Christmas When we see ourselves in God’s true light A world of sin within, around us Every breath a death-bound fight. Yet, for all who weep this Christmas God gives us Christmas still Far better than presents and parties A gift our greatest needs to fill… Himself! A child born among us! A Savior you can call your own The King of kings a poor-born baby Come to earth from heaven’s throne. Here to hear your deepest sorrow Here to wipe your bitter tear Here to fill your empty sadness Here to soothe your pounding fear Here to live a life that cancels Every sin of every one Here to die a death deserved by Every soul beneath the sun. Here to rise in triumph mighty Prove God’s victory is true Alive and on his throne in power Ruling all and loving you. And so for all who weep this Christmas Remember what your treasure is Even through earth’s tears and troubles You have Christ, your...
Read MoreThe Price Paid for You
Reflect on this poem as we contemplate the cost our Savior paid for us. You are worth all of this to your loving Savior. Hands That healed pain, opened blind eyes And even beckoned the dead to life That cradled children, blessed them tenderly That pointed lessons on the way That drew in sand for mercy’s sake That blessed the wine and broke the bread That lifted up in holy prayer Hands that cared and gave and loved At work; at rest a brief life long Sinless hands Hands of God Come as man To touch the world with love divine Perfect hands Oh see them now… lifeless and red torn through with nails Pounded by hate, Hands stretched high over the cursed earth Raised in undeserved blessing Innocent hands enduring endless pain For all my hands have done and failed to do Hands that paid the guilt of all In crimson currency dripping down. Voice That comforted the hurting Challenged the proud Silenced the howling storm Stilled the tossing waves That opened eyes with truth well taught And pierced through sinful argument Hurled demons from their hapless prey That praised the Father perfectly That spoke life into places dead Voice that cared and gave and loved At work; at rest a brief life long. Sinless voice Voice of God Come as man That spoke God’s truth in holy love Perfect voice Oh hear it now… Silent as a lamb for slaughter While liars lie and mockers spit Then raised up high on pulpit cruel Pain-filled voice proclaiming grace Prays for them as killers kill Strains in all the depths of hell Cries out in human thirst and ache Voice forsaken by Father’s love For all my voice has done and failed to do Voice that gives forgiveness great Announces truth of sin-debt paid For every soul of every age Voice that rests its life in God And let’s death steal the lung’s last breath Oh see him lie there Mighty, loving hands lie limp unfeeling on the grave’s cold stone Eyes that pierced the world with light stare lifelessly in death’s black night Voice that spoke the truth of God is wrapped in breathless silence now Feet that walked the perfect path are pierced in blood and move no more Heart that beat to love us all is stopped in death’s cold awful grip Life of God come as man given for all human sin Died the endless death we all deserved Laid in grave where we should be Oh see Your soul’s salvation there The cost it cost to set you...
Read MoreJoy From Sorrow
As we work our way through Lent may the following poem help us reflect on our daily need for repentance as well as the confidence we have in Christ. The opening reminds us of the joy in heaven over a sinner who repents. See Luke 15:7,10. The world is not awed No crowds applaud People barely notice or care Most are totally unaware A few might pass head shaking But behind the scene all of heaven is quaking Echoing with roaring peals Thundering joy as one sinner kneels Unseen miracle changes the heart And a dead slave of the Deceiver Awakes a repentant believer. This scene we long to see Is part of our own history! A little water and the Word In our lives a miracle occurred Ripped us free from living death Gave us life by Spirit’s breath Now no longer Satan’s slaves Confident we’ll burst our graves See our Savior come again The one who died for every sin. And yet the struggle day to day Our future feels so far away The sinful nature roars within We often feed it, fall in sin Seek our glory here on earth Ache for things that have no worth. On our trust may grow a crust, A feeling that life’s up to us, And if it were, we’d sure be lost We cannot hope to pay the cost Despair is where we must arrive When humans human hope contrive. And favorite sins we don’t call “sin” Because they’re so ingrained within And hard we try to justify But in the end cannot deny The truth that stands in Holy Law That bares our every hidden flaw. And if God’s law truth might sink in If we felt in full our state of sin We’d go insane and die right then Unable to handle what we’ve been So day by day we walk through life The new and old in constant strife Our best works still stained in sin How deep the problem deep within! And so we daily truth confess That we are hopeless, helpless mess Sinners lost if left alone Trembling at God’s judgment throne But greater is God’s awesome grace He lifts each down-turned shame-filled face With words of promise, life and love We have a Savior from above! God’s Son came here to live on earth He fought our fight and gave us worth He lived each moment flawlessly Yet received each sinner’s penalty Felt in full hell’s endless pain For every single sinful stain Died and killed the death we owe Washed us whiter than the snow And burst the grave, alive with might So we stand perfect in God’s sight We fix our eyes on mercy great We live his grace to celebrate So struggle on and fight the fight God’s promises in constant sight And ever may our hearts confess The truth of all our sinful mess Yet cling in faith to hope that’s real That nothing in this life can steal The truth of all our Savior’s done The life we have from God’s own...
Read MoreBuy the Book!
