PictuRest (Poem)

Into His great rest, Christ calls you, His servant,¹

Then into the fight of your life, you’re dispatched! ²

To you, is all this one confusing mismatch?!

To one, you’d go; to the other, you wouldn’t?!

Rest... in the midst of a fight, what does it mean?

Into His rest, you may gladly heed His call,

But resist diving into a fitful brawl,

When those who resist you are... spirits unseen.³

The rest into which we all are invited,

Is the keen knowledge of who God really IS.

He’s ‘The Great I Am’, so over all, HE IS!

Hearts thus ignited, a fight is requited!

The fight, into which we are all dispatched,

Is that of faith against enemies cloaked.

They once knew Truth, but then Truth they revoked.

Now, devilish schemes against us are hatched.

I’ve found three key weapons to aid in my fight.

They keep me in rest into which I’m called,

When before me devilish schemes are sprawled.

Use them well; on them, there’s no patent right.

Consider... your unlimited imagination,

As a great canvas onto which you can paint,

Pictures of Truth that is, routing lies that ain’t.⁴

And not only pictures. Add faith-filled animations!

The more colorful, detailed images you paint,

Of God’s great promises to your life being applied,

Assures that, as requested, in Christ you will abide,⁵

So that in your fight, your faith will not become faint.

Consider... that awesome tool just under your nose,

Designed to make imaginations audio-visual.

Words streaming from your mouth are
so powerfully mystical,

When they are God’s promises of victor’s repose! ⁶

Consider... the formidable power of a prayer log,

A dated record of prayers prayed, and answers manifested.

Keeping this record assures your heart is carefully vested,⁷

And equips you to see clearly through devils’ lying fog.

So go ahead...

Speak! LOUDLY anchor your life in God’s promises!

Paint! With BOLD colors, using broad strokes and wide brushes!

Log! In CAPS write God’s answers, His prayer responses!

Make sure, in your life, devils won’t be nemeses!

Study well these three tools, and you will be richly blessed.

As you apply them, in Christ’s rest you will remain.

And in your great Fight of Faith, you will be sustained,

Enjoying vivid images that are... ‘PictuRest’.

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¹ Matthew 11:29

² 1 Timothy 6:12, Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11

³ Ephesians 6:12

⁴ For wrong use of your imagination, see Genesis 6:5 and 8:21, Proverbs 6:18, Romans 1:21, and 2 Corinthians 10:5

⁵ John 15, the great ‘ABIDE!’ chapter.

⁶ Faith speaks! (Romans 10:6-10)

⁷ Both invested, and also well covered/protected.

Our Movie Trailer (Poem)

Imagine this with me...

God has a video that’s full of human history.

Scenes of our past and future repeat continuously.

In His keen desire with us all to commune,

He’s streamed a trailer into which we could tune.

We call it The Bible.

Every movie comprises scenes and transitions,

Some more pivotal in unfolding progressions.

While all His highlights to us are in transcriptions,

We supply pictures to decode His transmissions.

Our version of this vid needs a bit of editing.

To understand story lines, shifting and emerging.

In the hearts of all Christ believers lives our ‘Editor’,

Who ‘renders’ this vid so understanding is easier.¹

Our Editor is The Holy Spirit,

Who reveals to us God’s open secret.

God’s Word daily read, studied and meditated,

Ensures our Editor remains activated.

The full trailer to us is very L-O-N-G.

Knowing our impatience is soooooo headstrong,

God has sprinkled snippets of what the end will be.

Activate The Editor, this is what you’ll see...

For most of us, t’will be one of dark, lamenting torment,

For believing lies about Jesus that devils foment.

For a wise few, t’will be one of perpetual beauty,

For finding grace simply before Christ...

to bend our heart’s knee.

You see...

It all comes down to one clear, simple choice,

One that God will record in ‘your heart’s voice’.²

It’s all about Jesus, what you’ll decide—

Him, will you embrace, or Him will you deride? 

The Bible...

God’s movie trailer highlights of human history.

Read it often. Learn its Truth. Play your role heartily.

As you read it, you it will read, reward and record,

Whether it you have adored, or it you have abhorred.

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¹ Rendering is the final step in producing a video.

² Indeed, your heart has a voice, and it speaks... through your mouth.

(Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45

Life, Redefined and Redesigned (Poem)

Friends,

There is a considerable ‘fine’ extracted,

For each part of God’s design we have redacted.

God defined us ‘male and female’, with no ‘blur’.

We’ve ‘crossed’, and even push to erase...gender!

To God, Christians repent of sin and accept Jesus as their Savior.

We redefined them as ‘admiring some of what Jesus stands for’.

We ignore ‘I AM The Way!’ that He said near His life’s end.

Our president doesn’t recall ever repenting of sin!

Jesus made believers ‘evangelicals’ with His Great Commission,

But we redefined ‘evangelicals’ as ‘right-wing’ Republicans.

God says ‘Workers are worth their hire, so pay up!’ ¹

The rich say, ‘I’ll stiff them when I file as bankrupt!’

God designed our life to learn of animals and tend the earth.

We redesigned life as raping the earth and animals’ worth.

‘Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him’
is what God requires.

We say, ‘Be the best Type A, so YOU can be the one
who hires...and fires!’

There are seeds we all plant, whose fruit we absolutely hate,

Yet still we plant, even as fruit from past seeds are

on our plate.

Seeds of which I speak are what God calls sin, and their fruit

is death.

There are different kinds of this fruit, not just the

loss of your breath.

Though some may disagree, it’s still not too late for humankind,

To get our lives back on track, and heed our Creator’s design.

It will be quite a challenge, and things will

not change overnight.

From His seeds in hearts of ‘good soil’, we’ll have fruit that

He calls, ‘Right!’ ²

By now it should be clear -- our cumulative history,

Proves our life redesigns are not working so perfectly!!

Could repeating actions while expecting different outcomes,

Suggest that of insanity... we’ve likely become victims??

Revelation mentions sins ‘reaching to Heaven’.³

Here’s a question that I hope may be a beacon.

Ask yourself this: Have ours? Or have yours?

Before they do, let’s change our life’s course.

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¹ 1 Timothy 5:18 and James 5:4 paraphrased

² Righteousness

³ The Book of Revelation 18:5

Dad, I Wish You Were Dead (Poem)

Has anyone ever said that to you?
Or have you ever said words like these to your Dad?
These words reveal a very deep heart view,
And sentiments that sound mean, but really are sad.
 
Yet we’ve all ‘said’ them in one manner or another,
In words or actions toward people with whom we disagree,
In disobeying both our Mother and our Father,
And in rejecting God, who and how He wants us to be.
 
‘God, die!’ That’s how we act, wanting His blessings and benefits,
Without having to be bothered with Him.
‘If only He’d just move out the way, Him and all His hypocrites!’ 
And thus we live life’s Godless paradigm.
 
This is what one son said, him who would become prodigal,
As, for his Dad to die, he just could not wait!
For him, getting his hands on Dad’s wealth was so palpable.
He was blind to what sin would heap on his plate! 
 
Many have even acted this out much more directly,
Destroying their parents in some devilish craze.
For the sake of some short-term benefits, so worldly,
They destroyed those who gave them the start of their days.
 
Imagine the fruit that will sprout from such an evil deed,
Whether in this life, or that which is to follow.
That is unless this child falls on bended knee, 
And repents for the sin of being... satan’s hero.
 
This points to Heaven’s greatest enterprise,
During this Age of Grace through which we now walk.
That is one sinner to find and catalyze,
To repent and stop cold sin’s repayment clock!  
 
‘God, die!’ Like this toward God, are you still talking? 
Of this sin, have you wiped clean your slate?
Or down sin’s ‘payment promenade’ are you still walking?
If you’re still breathing, it’s not too late!  
 
For the child who has destroyed his parents,
For his ‘peace’ or a ‘piece of their wealth’,
And for you who are satan’s ‘God, die!’ clients,
Receive God’s forgiveness. Free yourself!  
 
Again..
It’s still not too late to escape being satan’s sin toy,
To accept this opportunity life to you NOW presents,
To be the center of, and enraptured within the Joy,
All Heaven experiences when just... ‘one sinner repents’.*

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* Luke 15:10