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.

Study War No More?

You may have heard old Negro spiritual the song, ‘Down by the Riverside’. I used to like the chorus:

I ain't gonna study war no more,

I ain't gonna study war no more,
 Study war no more.
I ain't gonna study war no more,
I ain't gonna study war no more,
Study war no more.

As a lad, I understood this generally related to Biblical passages that give insights into the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ on earth.

He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.

(Isaiah 2:4)

He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.

(Micah 4:3)

Now, as an adult more intimately familiar with Scriptures, I ponder and wonder… where did the notion of ‘study war no more’ come from, when most versions of The Bible speak of ‘learn war no more’. Perhaps the songwriter was seeking a two-syllable substitute for the word, learn. While the difference may appear insignificant, it isn’t. Why?

The prophecy (expanded in Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-3) applies to the entire millennial reign of Christ, yet Ezekiel 38 and 39, along with Revelation 20:7-9 clearly predict a massive, attempted war (Gog and Magog) at the end of this millennium! This attempted war will be satan-inspired, using as a ‘draw’ the considerable wealth (what Ezekiel calls, ‘booty’) that will have accumulated in Israel and Jerusalem – the seat of the worldwide kingdom, during the thousand years.* The size of the army is cited as being ‘as the sand of the sea’. (Revelation 20:8) Pretty big, I’d say!

So after a thousand years of no wars, no military institutions in which to ‘learn’ war, and no capabilities to produce armaments, would it seem rather stupid to mount a massive, attempted war, especially against Jesus, who will have proven Himself for a thousand years to be God Almighty?! What gives? Moreover, consider the probable ages of these soldiers!

It is very important to distinguish and understand who will populate earth during this millennium, a point that the above-noted song seems to miss. It is safe to presume this massive army will only include mortals who will have survived the tribulation punishments, along with their (long living) offspring (hundreds of years according to Isaiah 65:20), and will not include The Church, redeemed and then immortal, serving as ‘kings and priests’ in Christ’s kingdom. After all, what would we (then) immortals need with such earthly ‘booty’?!

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* I once speculated this booty might be the recent, massive oil and gas deposits found off the coast of Israel. Now I understand this relates to wealth accumulated in Israel/Jerusalem during the millennial reign. (Isaiah 60)

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