Minding Your Cups (Poem)

‘Mind your manners!’, we likely heard often from our mothers.

‘Mind your cups’ is never heard said to sisters or brothers.

Manners are taught, learned and some are caught.

Cups are given. Only one can be sought.

At each human birth, to the child, a cup is given.

It’s invisible, so to it we pay no attention.

In time, parents will know the contents of this cup,

And with age, filling this cup, the child will speed up.

The cup of note is the ‘cup of iniquity’.

It is God’s measure of our ‘sin accountancy’.

Though invisible to us, all know well its contents.

They are the outward results of our inner intents.

We don’t know if our cups are short, big or tall,

Or whether they all may be one-size-fits-all.

This, to you, may be a point that’s insignificant.

Perhaps so, but it could also be quite relevant.

Not only to babies are these cups apportioned,

But for peoples and nations, they’re also fashioned.

About the Amorites’ cup, God and Abraham had a chat. ¹

That made me stop, take note, and then ask,

‘What’s up with that?!’

A noteworthy point about that cup to them,

Was when it would finally spill over its rim.

This, you see, is when God’s judgments would certainly fall,

And when to Him, in repentance, Amorites might crawl.

Paul told Timothy of what we experience today:

To judgment, the sins of some very quickly lead the way,

But others won’t know their fate until God’s Judgment Day. ²

With sins during their lives, do they think they’re getting away??

There’s a cup that can be sought with elation.

It is the cup of God’s great salvation.

Receiving, and then daily minding this salvation cup,

Ensures your cup of iniquity...will never fill up.

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¹ See: Genesis 15:16.

² See: 1 Timothy 5:24 poetically paraphrased.

Dirty Circumstances (Poem)

See the Lessons from Trees series here

Circumstances are to us as soil is to plants,

Soil changes over time; so will a circumstance.

Not everything in soil is beneficial to plants’ roots.

But roots are wise enough to avoid soil’s forbidden fruits.

God stuffed this wisdom deep in each plant’s seeds,

Just as He designed soils to meet each plant’s needs.

Plants and soils embrace their symbiotic relationship,

Relying on very wise choices that plants’ roots will ‘grip’.

Plants also send signals to things near and far away,

To come and help them change their soil’s chemical buffet.

Birds, insects, pollens, and other things, thus serve

Plants so they can follow their DNA curve.

We, too, are ‘planted’ in soils of dirty circumstances,

Many of which may do us harm, and a few may enhance.

Like plants, we’re given wisdom to influence our choices,

And to reach out for help from many different voices.

But in our world, I notice many very strange results.

They’re common among kids, but should not be in us adults.

With evil running amok, and people dropping like flies,

I ask myself, between plants and us, which ones are most wise??

We complain about situations in which we grovel,

Thinking all OUR circumstances indeed must be novel.

We blame and judge others when things do not improve.

Then we settle down into our depression groove.

Until, BAM, something happens to trigger an explosion,

Or our world suffers a considerable implosion.

Much of what is reported in the news doesn’t need to be,

If only we would stop, take stock and learn ...wisdom from a tree!

Into dirty circumstances that we all seek to flee,

Our loving Father has planted us there purposefully.

He uses them to test and develop character, fully.

So.....

Before you flee, learn wisdom from …an immovable tree.

God’s Word is designed to give us wisdom on which to draw,

To help make us better, or reveal and correct a flaw.

So in dirty circumstances, don’t cry and lose your shirt,

Just remember, in our world, plants grow very well...in dirt!

God’s Word is to me,

Wisdom on what He sees.

May it be also to you!

Had Jesus Been Aborted (Poem)

What if Jesus had been aborted from Mary’s womb one day,

And Joe had heard, but not obeyed what the Angel had to say?

What if he’d told Mary, ‘Abort this child, or I’ll put you away!’ ?

Would God have allowed it, as He allows us to abort today??

Some say the world would be better had Hitler not been born.

But imagine if Jesus from Mary’s womb had been torn.

Many no doubt would opine, ‘Fine with me!’

‘One less irritant to disturb my peace!’

Imagine the guilt His parents would have comported,

After learning just Whom it was they had aborted!

Then imagine the awful shame they would then display,

In their Face-to-face encounter with God the Last Day.

What about all the lives His healing touch impacted?

Though they were healed, from earth 

their lives still were extracted.

Yes, the quality of their lives was greatly improved.

Healing was His calling card to help spread The Good News.

Had Jesus been aborted, how would we know of God’s Love,

And we Gentiles get forgiveness that only Jews knew of?

Would works of devils in our world be even much more obscene,

Having escaped that ‘blow’ promised in Genesis 3:15?

What about my own life, and your life, too?!

With no Jesus, how would we make it through,

Without The Name of Jesus to daily call upon,

When so many devilish schemes against us are spun?

Yet, though He indeed was born, and remains very much alive,

Many have aborted Him from every aspect of their lives!

As with parents who chose to abort rather than babes to rock,

The spirits of their aborted babes still at their hearts’ doors knock.

This Christmas season, by this poem I hope you are supported,

To hear knocks on your door if Jesus Christ you have aborted.

His knocking will not stop. He will never go away.

No, He’ll just keep on knocking...until your dying day.

When you ‘open your door’, and on bended knee fall,

And take Him up on His ‘close relationship call’,

He will be so much closer to you than the rays,

Of sun warming your face on cool winter days.

You will discover this that fools deny.

When with God’s requests we do not comply,

One day they will know it is not as they had purported.

They, the ‘abortionist’, will have become the aborted!

Forever self-aborted from Love, Mercy and Grace.

For more on Christmas, please see:
Christmas Reflections

Speed Dating, Sped Up? (Poem)

 

With rampant increases in human populations,

Come innovations in our dating situations.

Technology now aids us in making our choices,

In selecting mates from among so many voices.

Speed dating is but one presenting opportunity,

To select and meet prospects within our ‘community’.

With a small ‘investment’ of our time and attention,

We may examine, and to some endow... honorable mention.

Our objective is to find that special one with whom,

We might have relationship that will help us ‘bloom’.

Who knows, maybe children and a life, long and pleasant.

Could it be the one who before us is now present?

Consider this: Life is akin to a dating scene.

Take a moment to listen; understand what I mean.

God gives life to many, but He only seeks a few.

He's said, ‘120 years to her, him and you’. ¹

Jesus, The Lord, is scouting for friends for His Bride,

This is why God sent Him, and also why He died.

Unlike us, very picky this Father is going to be,

When it comes to friends for His Son's Bride ...for all eternity. ²

He allotted so much time to date you and to take you out,

To see if with you, for eternity, They’d want to hangout.

But with people on the Earth now well over 8 b-billion,

And sins exponential, have They changed Their ...dating paradigm??

Without a doubt, our time now on Earth has clearly been cut!

For many, life’s very short, seemingly way too abrupt!

Could ‘speed dating’ possibly be a tactic,

To address this situation ...so drastic??

I don’t know about you, but I have a very clear plan,

To make my ‘special date with Him’, last as long as it can!

I am making myself as attractive as I can be,

Doing things so He can clearly see His nature in me.

God is so very pleased with Jesus, His first Son,

That promises are to us who embrace this ‘One’.

So if pleasing to God, we really want to be,

‘Dressing up in Jesus’ is how, obviously!

Learning of His life, ways and character,

And in hard tests, learning His composure;

Gazing at His face through His Holy Word,

Ensures that, on my date, I’ll be favored.

To those in Christ, whom God favors, He’s made a special promise.

As I embrace it in faith, I receive a special calmness.

Psalm 91, verse 16, penned by David, with God’s permission:

‘...With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.’ ³

With so many of us dropping out of life, just like flies,

Ponder how on your ‘date with Him’ to avoid ...quick goodbyes.

Check out God’s Word, The Bible, packaged brilliantly.

It’s full of great examples...good, bad and ugly.

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¹ Poetic paraphrase of Genesis 6:3.

² See: The Bride of Christ (Series). Prepare to have your traditional understanding challenged.

³ Also consider:

    Psalm 1:4, 6. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

   Psalm 55:23. But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction; Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; But I will trust in You.

   Ecclesiastes 8:13. But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

The pH Scale - Extended? (Poem)

No doubt you’ve heard of this thing called the pH scale,

Used to gage alkalinity and acidity.

But pH scale extended, what might that entail?

Come along; let’s explore this curiosity.

Science says all illnesses start with similar bruises.

They start with acidic body chemistry.

The cell-attacking acid in our ‘bodily juices’,

Kills one cell, then starts to spread atrophy.

God said man and animals would eat fruits and herbs,

Which the pH scale cites as alkaline.

But after the flood, something happened…that perturbs.

God told Noah that He had changed His mind.

The change was we could now eat ‘living things that move’. ¹

It took time for animals to repopulate,

Before we could get into our ‘meat-eating groove’.

Then our life spans rapidly began to...deflate. ²

What if we had the pH scale back then when we dined,

And connected the dots as we can today?

Would it have made any difference to all mankind?

We’ve got it today, but look at our meal tray!

Acidic juices from what we eat and drink,

Are really taking a toll on our health.

Now we learn …it’s also from the junk we think!

These insights are clear, not hiding in stealth.

Would it help to have a pH scale extended,

One that measures acidity levels of thoughts and deeds?

Would such help us enjoy lives much more contented,

And help us get out of our ‘health care weeds’?

Epigenetics says thoughts control biology.

Now it’s your turn, so about this, what do you say?

God puts it quite simply: As a man thinks, so is he. ³

First think: ‘What things do I allow my thoughts to sway?’

~o~

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble,

whatever things are just, whatever things are pure,

whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report,

if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy

—meditate on these things.

(Philippians 4:8)

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¹ Genesis 9:3
² There may be other reasons God expanded human diets to include meat. For example, what if the global flood significantly diminished (washed away) soil nutrients such that the original diet would be nutrient diminished?  

³ Proverbs 23:7

My Parents ‘n Me (Poem)

My Mom was a musician, a poet and Word teacher,

And my Dad was a minister, an ardent Word preacher.

They did what God said, ‘Train up a child 

in the way he should go...’ *

So why do I spread The Word in songs, poems and prose?

Now you know!

In me, God’s now honoring seeds they dutifully planted.

I deeply appreciate Grace that, to me, has been granted.

Though my path hasn’t always been straight,

indeed it has been slanted,

With all the fruit of seeds sown in my life,

I’m now enchanted!

In sowing their seeds in me, my parents passed the baton,

Trusting to God the life of their ‘only begotten son’.

God honors faith! To them He’s been faithful!

Now there’s a stirring....deep in my ‘bowels’.

How might God honor His seeds planted in my two children’s lives,

As they navigate slanted pathways of satan’s crafty lies??

I pray they, too, will escape becoming his prized captives,

And as they age, will still maintain their ‘Godly perspectives’.

God does love to honor our faith, indeed.

But this requires us to plant His ‘Word seed’.

If His seed you’ve sown across your life’s ground,

Just keep on believing....Fruit shall be found!

No matter how long children’s lives appear fruit barren,

If sown in faith, don’t allow this, your faith to dampen.

Just back off, pull back, much sooner, even faster!

They’ll remain safely in the Hands of The Master.

He said to train them up in the way they should go,

And when they are old, those lessons they will still know.

But beware, those middle years may be full of many tears.

Godly fruit late in life ...dampens mem’ries of yesteryears.

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* Train up a child in the way he should go,

  and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

  (Proverbs 22:6)