You're Gonna Say, 'Yes!' (Poem)

As I walk in righteousness,

You walk in me.

As to others I witness,

You speak through me.

As I do unto others,

You will do unto me.

As I make my request,

You will certainly bless.

So I believe…

You're gonna say, 'Yes!',
to my request.

As I give to others,

My needs You will cover.

When others I forgive,

To me You're attentive.

When strife I do avoid,

Your peace I will enjoy.

When Your Word I have read,

By Your Hand I am fed.

So I believe…

You're gonna say, 'Yes!', to my request.

As evil I detest,

By it I’ll not be pressed.

As my walk people witness,

May they see Your Word’s promise.

When in Love I have endured,

Your presence is then assured.

It's me You are endearing,

Who hopes in Your appearing.

So I believe, Lord,

You're gonna say, 'Yes!', to my request.

~o~

Trust in the Lord, and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait on the Lord shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more. Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. (Psalm 37:3-11)

~~~

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

The 4th Delegation of Authority (Poem, Part 3)

(See the series here)

The Bible: The Mind of Christ, synopsized.

Believe It, Become Love Evangelized.

(B.I.B.L.E.)

Summarizing life’s complexity:

Life, Internship for Eternity.

(L.I.F.E.)

It reveals God’s plan very clearly,

To reverse our sin calamity.

To restore righteousness on Earth, sustainably.

He gives 4 Delegations of Authority. (DOA)

He gave the 1^st to our 1^st parents, Adam and Eve.

They blew it big time and plunged Earth

into its current mess.

The 2^nd was to a childless man's kin, all men to bless.

This people blew it as to God they failed to cleaved.

Though initial DOAs were given to a few,

Blessings would come if DOAs were honored, sustainably,

But they would cease when folk were deceived, satanically.

This led to a 3^rd, much broader DOA, brand new!

DOA #3:

Centuries after the 2^nd DOA had lapsed,

God dispatched an angel to a virgin girl,

With Good News of a Savior, to save the world.

He would give us a 3^rd DOA, much more relaxed.

With foundations of undeserved Grace and Mercy,

God’s 3^rd DOA to each person would be extended.

For this present life, it is designed and intended.

It’s also designed to usher us into eternity.

Totally unique, this DOA would be effective,

After Christ’s life, death and resurrection from the grave.

And would be based on one’s faith in His power to save.

Different, eh? Call this one God’s DOA-selective.

It requires the faithful to renew their minds to His,

Live Love-disciplined lifestyles, based on forgiveness,

And reign in life over the forces of darkness.

This is the essence of what Christianity is.

Each point comes with its own set of unique challenges:

The 1st by many competing options, 

The 2nd by our selfish addictions,

The 3rd by not learning to fight and avoid sin’s wages.

As you shall see, meeting each point will be crucial,

In fulfilling God’s 4th DOA -- the final.

If you think the 3rd DOA is unusual,

Wait ‘til you see the 4th. It will be radical! 

Indeed, this 3rd DOA thrived for a very long time.

But now in this Church Age – Laodicean,

Many refuse to follow The Spirit’s unction.

Like other DOAs, we began to blow it, big time! 

Since the 3rd DOA is personally selective,

That means each one has the choice to ‘opt out’.

That many take that option, there’s no doubt. 

All of Heaven calls that choice eternally destructive.

Why? It’s because the 4th DOA will be trifurcated:

To us in three parts it will be given,

Without a choice or any discussion.

After that, God’s dealings with us will be adjudicated.

Before the 3rd DOA fails miserably,

From Earth, dead and alive, God will extract His selective,

Thus setting the stage for His last DOA, distinctive.

Stay tuned to ponder this one assiduously.

The Virgin Birth (Poem)

The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ…  

Predicted by God in the beauty of Eden,

Foretold by prophets of old: A woman with ‘seed’!

Dreaded by devils who’d been kicked out of Heaven,

Finally, what an angel to Mary decreed.

Mary, pondering in her heart, ‘How can this be?!’

Fazed, Joseph sought from commitments to be relieved!

‘With child, yet not having known a man carnally?!’

Finally, Grace intervened and they both believed.

Bethlehem, City of David, called ‘House of Bread’,

Jam-packed with folk because of what Herod decreed.

O’er 5 long miles this exhausted couple had tread!

There in a stable, Heaven’s delight was achieved.

Over the rim of Heaven, delightful JoY flowed.

For so long, believers to God’s promise had cleaved,

The promise of Genesis 3:15 outpoured,

At last, of preparations, Heaven was relieved.

Ahhh! JoY in Israel was not ubiquitous!

In a jealous rage, young boys were killed. People grieved.

About being king, Herod was assiduous!

By news of a baby King’s birth, he was aggrieved.

This virgin-born God-Man…

In His life, few had clues of what was going on.

Though His works were welcomed, His Word was not believed.

His parents, Anna, John, Peter and Simeon,

By these six, as The Son of God He was perceived.

At 30 years, it was time to ‘Let’s get it on!’

Time to ad-minister what from God He received.

Leaders despised His ‘in your face’ confrontations!

By crucifixion His followers they bereaved.

Voila! Right into God’s Hand deceived leaders played!

To deceptions of ‘doing God’s work’ they still cleaved.

His spirit went to hades. Entombed, His body laid.

To prove He’s God’s Son, from hades He was retrieved.

That’s Good News! By His death, new life has come to us.

By devil’s schemes, there’s no more need to be deceived.

In Christ, there’s freedom from guilt of sins that disgust.

By His sacrifice, judgment for sin was reprieved.

Virgin born, He is free from our sinful bloodline.

His blood and death swapped for ours, Heaven’s plan conceived.

The Kingdom of Heaven will now be fully mine.

By people the world over, He’s being received.

Friend,

This is Christmas, the heart of God’s plan and story:

God’s down payment for His Kingdom’s transfer, achieved,

By a virgin birth that changed our life’s destiny,

All because in childlike faith, His Word …we believed.

The babe born of a virgin is now all grown up.

He’s extending His new life gift this Christmas eve.

He desires in your life God’s best to develop,

When in your heart you allow Him to be conceived.

For more on Christmas, please see:
Christmas Reflections

To the 3rd and 4th Generations (Poem)

We’ve all heard of ‘generational blessings and curses’.

Perhaps you have heard of them both in and out of churches.

While one makes us smile, the other makes us all cringe!

How do ancestors’ acts upon our lives infringe??

With 7 references to such generational trends, ¹

The Bible pleads: ‘Make generational blessings your friends.

Avoid curses that across generational lines leap!’

How does what our ancestors sow impact what we may reap?

God told Abraham that for 4 centuries,

His seed would suffer slavery drudgeries.

For their iniquities, Amorites would not yet be judged,

Therefore, away from the Promised Land his seed
would be nudged. ²

Ahhh!

The make-up of Abraham’s seed destined for slavery,

Were descendants of brothers who committed treachery,

Against Joseph, Jacob’s favored and righteous son. ³

Were brothers’ sins ‘visited upon’ those yet to come??

Many other examples to us are displayed,

Lessons from The Bible’s pages, to us relayed.

Both positive and negative examples unfold,

Righteousness and sinfulness, generationally scrolled.

The Bible reveals spirits are eternal beings,

Just as we are, but a body they are lacking.

Good, bad or ugly, they desire to be a mentor.

To express their nature, they need us, an Earth actor.

Earth realm, planting field where things procreate.

Physical or spiritual, they …‘mate’.

Physical things populate: Roots grow when in hosts
seeds germinate.

Spiritual things propagate: Roots grow when in hearts
seeds penetrate.

While righteousness and sinfulness have roots, spiritual,

We are more impacted by our choices, consensual.

Like sponges, from people, we absorb, then emulate.

Thus, with spirits that spawn their acts, we associate.

In days ‘of old’ families were much tighter than now.

Generational impacts were high. Can you see how?

Today, with families much looser than then,

We are more influenced by strangers and friends.

Sins that traverse generational lines,

Result from exposure to devils’ shrines.

Exposure not resisted by your generation,

Means the same curses and judgments one day it will own. ⁴

Thus…

Beware and be careful with whom you associate,

Since so much, if not all of life, spirits saturate.

In your associations, one spirit will dominate,

And in your life, that spirit will …celebrate!

~o~

He who walks with wise men will be wise,

but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

(Proverbs 13:20)

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¹ ‘For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me…’ See: Exodus 20:5, Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 5:9 and 24:16, 2 Kings 10:30, 2 Kings 15:12, Jeremiah 31:29-30, Ezekiel 18:1-4

² Amorites is the collective name for Canaanites, an ancient people who dwelt in the land of Canaan. See: Genesis 15:16

³ See: Genesis 37

⁴ ‘Fathers shall not be put to death for their children nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin. (Deuteronomy 24:16) Some may misinterpret this verse as annulling the above verses (in footnote #1), but note well: judgments on generational sins need not necessarily be the death penalty. Death is but one type of judgment.

The 4th Delegation of Authority (Poem, Part 2)

(See the series here)

The Bible: The Mind of Christ, synopsized.

Believe It, Become Love Evangelized.

(B.I.B.L.E.)
Summarizing life’s complexity:
Life, Internship for Eternity.
(L.I.F.E.)

It reveals God’s plan very clearly,
To reverse our sin calamity.
To restore righteousness on Earth, sustainably,
He gives four Delegations of Authority. (DOA)

The first one He gave to our first parents.

For their sin, they received His harsh judgments.

Devils joined in with their own sin foray.

So by a flood, God unleashed man’s doomsday.

DOA #2:

A couple of millennia after the flood,

With a man, Jesus made a covenant in blood.

The man, Abraham, believed God. To him

righteousness was imputed.

Lands were promised, and as The Father of Faith,

he was instituted.

The expectation was through a then barren couple,

Jesus would come as Christ via a holy people.

Four generations later, Jesus was quite ready,

To issue His 2^nd DOA. T’was quite heady!

Rather than a blanket DOA, exceptional,

This time, Jesus used a DOA, conditional.

In the form of The Ten Commandments and Laws Levitical,

The weight of this DOA was indeed considerable!

As with the 1^st DOA, this people blew it, big time!

For several millennia, they mimicked devils’ mimes. ¹

While a few of them strove to make their life’s walk upright,

Most shunned restraints, and caved to devilish delights.

God’s judgments upon them fell as sinfulness amassed.

Like our first parents, out of ‘garden lands’ they were cast!

Oh the agony and such a familiar refrain!

Ahhh, merciful grace and patience of God to us, sustained!

Demands of this DOA were too much for any man!

Still it served a major purpose in God’s redemption plan:

By it, man’s hopeless and sinful nature was confirmed,

And our need for a redeeming Savior was affirmed.

Two DOA’s down, and two more to come!

Two designed to keep us out of a sin’s slum.

The first one, unconditional, issued to a couple.

The second one, conditional, issued to a people.

The 3^rd DOA, quite different in its approach.

Will it do the job as sins continue to encroach? ²

Like the 1st, will it be blanket or filled with provisos? ³

And if we still miss the mark, what judgments will it impose?

To this DOA revue, I hope you will stay tuned,

To see what God has next in store for mankind’s sin wound.

While the 3^rd DOA you may know or have a clue,

It sets the stage for the 4^th, breathtakingly brand new!

Can you perhaps guess what is DOA #3?

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¹ Mime, a form of acting without words; pantomime. 

² Encroach, to advance beyond prior limits
³ Provisos, conditions attached to an agreement

The 4th Delegation of Authority (Poem, Part 1)

(See the series here)

First, second and third person voices,

Singular, plural grammar choices.

Universe multi-dimensional?

That’s quantum physics, debatable.

Some say, ‘Stick to what’s discernible!’

In faith, I’ll stick to what The Bible says.

This is what I see when on it I gaze:

By faith, it’s The Mind of Christ, synopsized.

Believe It, Become Love-Evangelized.

(B.I.B.L.E.)

It’s God’s message to humanity,
Encompassing all our history,
Summarizing life’s complexity:
Life, Internship for Eternity.
(L.I.F.E.)

Cloaked within its allegorical streams,

Is one message that to me loudly screams.

It spans the totality of life’s spectrum,

And thus informs the title of this poem.

To us, God intends quite decidedly,

Four Delegations of Authority. (DOA) ¹

They’re in His plan to reverse sin’s calamity,

And restore righteousness on Earth, sustainably.

Earth, created in a perfect, righteous state.

One perfect couple held the key to her fate.

Thus, God’s 1^st DOA to them was appointed.

And with it, by His power they were anointed.

DOA #1:

Jesus created Earth and in it, pre-pared a Garden. ²

He then created a gardener, whom He called human,

To tend and also grow this garden globally. ³

But due to man’s sin, this plan failed …miserably!

Jesus judged their sin and from His garden, cast them out! ⁴

Things got worse when fallen angels started acting out!

Leaving their angelic domain, with humans they mated,

Until by a flood, all except eight were inundated! ⁵

The pristine, post-flood world then set the stage,

For Jesus to turn His DOA page.

He took His good time for DOA #2.

Stay tuned. In Part 2, what I see I’ll share with you.

Can you perhaps guess what was DOA #2?

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¹ While some may see these DOAs as commands, it is important to note God's Word carries His enabling, creative power to accomplish what He speaks. Juxtaposing this with His respect for the human will, what He speaks into our lives will only be achieved as we agree with Him in faith-filled words and actions. Hence, His Word is essentially His authority and power, to us delegated.
² Listen in on a conversation God had with Jesus: …But to the Son [Jesus], He [God] says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the Earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak, You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.’ (Hebrews 1:8:12. See also Hebrews 1:1-2.)

³ So God [through Jesus] created man in His own image; in the image of God [in the form of Jesus], He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ (Genesis 1:27-28)

⁴ Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you… The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son…’ (John 5:22)

⁵ See: Genesis 6 – 9

Spiritual Warfare (Poem)

Into the hearts and home of my parents so long ago,

I was born, raised, and there, Christ Jesus I came to know.

As a mere babe, into their church I was introduced.

Growing and hearing God’s Word, faith in me was produced.

Into my young heart, I asked Jesus to come on board,

Then grew to understand the meaning of Him as ‘Lord’.

Both at home and church, saints’ would pray fervent prayer,

Thus I came to know the roots of spirit warfare.

By God’s Spirit, Earth was created and richly endowed.

Into Earth, spirits of good and evil He has allowed.

He added human spirits to this design,

With the choice: ‘With which of these groups to align’.

He sent His Word and Christ so to us Light would dawn,

So we’d have a clue of what’s really going on.

His Word speaks of a war on page-after page,

That started in Heaven and now through us rage.

This war started when Lucifer wanted to be God,

And a third of God’s holy angels thought that wasn’t odd!

So in rebellion, they attempted a coup d’etat.

‘To hell with you!’ They were kicked out of utopia!

But this sentence on those whom God overthrew,

Has only been carried out on but a few. ¹

On the rest, this sentence has been postponed,

Until some future time to us unknown. ²

Meanwhile, the angelic fool who wanted to

take God’s Throne,

Works through demons to make sure in hell

they’ll not be alone.

They exalt themselves above God and

what He’s said. ³

Thus in our minds and hearts, deceptions they embed.

Some may not believe into a war they were recruited,

When in Jesus Christ, righteousness to them was imputed.

Not knowing God’s Word, or not understanding

what they’ve read,

They’re not sure what exalts itself against

what God has said.

In this war their lives may be so dominated,

Not knowing God’s authority delegated.

Things from God and devils are not well correlated,

Since deceptions into their lives have infiltrated.

Things of significance in life have a spirit root,

Like flaming arrows that at us devils love to shoot, ⁴

And blessings from God that we all appreciate.

Between the two, how should we differentiate?

If in Christ your sins have been, and are being forgiven,

All God’s promises to the righteous to you are certain.

By faith, in your life each promise must be appropriated, ⁵

So in spirit warfare, you will not be emaciated.

In-depth knowledge of God’s promises to us in Christ,

Gives clear insight into who spawned what comes

in your life.

If it exalts itself above what God about you

has said,

By all means, stand and speak against it til in your life
…it’s dead!

This is spirit warfare with which God is pleased,

How He tells us to resist His enemies.

This I learned so long ago while just a lad.

And this chance to share it with you …makes me glad!

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¹ ‘…And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode [became humans and married women  and corrupted the human race before the flood], He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day…’ (Jude 6)

² Sometime after the Millennial Reign (Revelation 20:10)

³ See: 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3

⁴ See: Ephesians 7:16

⁵ Through meditation and profession. See: Philippians 4:8, Psalm 1:2, 119:48, 119:148, and Revelation 12:11