The Zombie Next Door (Poem)

Opioid and street drug abuse are running amok,
America seems to be rotting from the core.
Growing addictions, will we be able to shuck?
To opioids and drugs, have we become ...like a whore? 

A recovered drug addict said, ‘I was like a zombie!’ 
‘Could only think about getting my next fix!’
I well remember the days when the problem was whiskey!
Oh, how far we’ve slid on how we ‘get our fix’!

It only took less than one thousand years,
For the human race to deteriorate,
To the point of bringing The Lord to tears,
And to decide Earth to de-populate.

It has been several thousand years since then,
And once thing to us is abundantly clear:
The human race is as it’s always been,
So is the time to ‘de-populate’ again near???

As a result of a seven-year tribulation,
Comprising judgments on this God-rejecting world,
Flesh will be rare! Imagine such a situation!!
Afterward, a refreshed earth will then be unfurled.

Until then, must we all grow more accustomed,
To the dark and very foreboding notion,
Which to each of us may be so unwelcomed,
That your neighbor may be ...on his drugs potion?

If thoughts of a druggie so close to your portals,
Are seriously shaking you to your inner core,
Consider that bad friends will spoil your good morals.
Make sure friends don’t turn YoU into

...the zombie next door! 

Now consider this unique, awesome perspective,
That to some may sound somewhat gloomy.
God says a life that to Christ is not receptive,
Is just like living ...as a zombie! *

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* See: Are the Unsaved Dead or Alive?, Humans, Rare on Earth (Poem), Earth 5.0, The Final Version (Poem) and Hell: A Preview (Series)

  Also see: What does it mean to be spiritually dead?

Stuff ‘n Status Protection (Poem)

Locks, keys, alarms, passwords, smoke detectors, vaults,

Insurance, strong boxes -- intrusions to halt -- 

A few of the ways we protect things important. 

Protecting our stuff, we must not be imprudent.

To aid our quest, we employ technology,

And now seek to do it bio-metrically. 

There’s no stone left unturned to protect all of our stuff,

‘Cause when intruders get in, things vanish ...in a puff! 

But look carefully across landscapes of our lives.

You’ll see places where intruders don’t have to strive.

Places we have practically left wide open.

No doubt they have been violated. That’s certain!

In these places, most intruders are known, some are not.

Our lives unveil the damage these intruders have wrought.

Yet we refuse on these places to put good protections,

Nothing close to those for computer virus contagion. 

Perhaps it’s because to these places we are all blind,

And because intruders don’t take, but leave stuff behind.

The stuff they leave is, at first glance, inconspicuous.

Thus, we tend to overlook its insidiousness.

Are you wondering what are these places of which I speak?

Which intruders, what stuff? Is your curiosity piqued? 

Quite simply, the places are your mind, gateway to your heart.

The stuff is ‘seeds of thought’ whose fruit may be your ‘future’s chart’.

Intruders are those whose words and ways corrupt good values,

Anyone or thing that seeks your good morals to abuse.

Without warning bells that sound the INTRUDER ALERT,

Their brash or stealthy intrusions you will not avert.

Then all of the junk they will have dumped and left behind,

Will infect your life, as to their fruits, you’ll be inclined.

Unless you’re perceptive, you may never realize,

Just how much of your thoughts, words and ways they catalyze!

So learn to guard and protect the gateway to your heart,

One day your heart will thank your mind for doing its part.¹ 

That which you allow your mind lengthily to dwell upon,

Will in your heart spread roots, from which fruits will one day be drawn.

To help with this task, God gave us a 6-point checklist:

On things true, noble, just, pure, lovely & good, dwell, persist.²

We work all our lives on ‘right stuff and status’ collection.

Now let’s not omit God’s ‘right stuff and status’ protection!

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¹ My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:20-23)

² 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)

Imagine Doing This (poem)

Quick, quick...

Honestly, to which do you rejoice mostly -- receiving something tangible of considerable value, or God’s Word and testimonies of His ways?? Our carnal minds naturally gravitate to the former, leaving the latter in the ...distant dust!

May we all commit to cultivating the root of God’s Word in our lives, till it produces in us the sweet and pleasing fruit of ‘right-minded rejoicing’. Then and only then will the unsaved world sit up, stand up, and take notice of God’s great power at work among His own. 

I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,

as much as in all riches.

(Psalm 119:14)

Imagine yourself doing this.
Then practice until it’s sheer bliss.
As you do, be attentively mindful,
Of how God responds, as you are faithful.

Pleeeese Answer, God (Poem)

See the Prayer and Praying Series here

Remember the ‘dayz’ when people openly prayed,

‘Let his days be few, and another take his place!’ ? ¹

Their prayer was answered! We ALL were wowed!!

I wonder what they are praying for NoW.

With the ‘shoe now on the other foot’, let’s all be mindful,

As we ponder and pray for our situation, dismal.

For what we pray, let’s be very careful.

Let’s not waste our prayers in selfish babble!

God may very well answer with a, ‘YES!’,

Especially one that’s cloaked … in a TEST! ²

Our test is a five-letter word that starts with a ‘T’.

No, not who you think, but His invitation, ‘Trust Me!’

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¹ Psalm 109:8, in reference to the former American president

² I, The Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:10)

Poor, Chosen to be Rich (Poem)

Of all world populations, across all ages, 

It’s true, according to world history’s pages:

‘The poor you have with you always’ …the majority.^*

The wealthy have been and remain …a minority,

Pray tell, should Christ, in selecting His ‘kingdom recruits’,

Turn to those so enraptured by their wealthy pursuits,

Those pridefully rooted in their wealth-making prowess, 

Or to those who, to faith, may have a unique proneness?  

The poor, weak in things material,

Receptive to hope, spiritual.

Poor in spirit, thus very receptive.

To faith-building Word, very retentive. 

The poor, to become rich in faith toward God …selected.

The poor, by the powerful and wealthy …dejected.

If applying faith and patience, no longer poor!

So then, onto the poor, Grace they’re able to pour.

Poor men, made rich, who retain their Godly fervor,

Will, in satan’s kingdom, crack open great fissures!

Consider the Godly wealthy whom God once used,

Then of the notion -- God wants you poor, be disabused! 

     --Abraham to be the Father of all faithful believers
     --Centurion Cornelius, first of Gentile receivers
     --To burry Jesus, rich Joseph of Arimathea
     --A rich eunuch to bring Good News to Ethiopia

     --Joseph to save all Israel in a famine
     --David to gather riches from nations foreign
     --Solomon to use Dad’s riches to build God’s Temple
     --A rich, young ruler to demonstrate lessons tearful

     --Noah stepped up to the task to build an ark of log
     --A Roman centurion had built a synagogue
     --High Priest, Caiaphas, who advised,

          ‘One man should die for all!’
     --He was totally clueless that his advice was God’s call!

Reflect to recall Godly rich men in your lifetime,

People whose wealth did not drag them into devils’ slime.

Of course, blessing men with great wealth can be

quite a risk.

For many, their fall from Godliness has been quite brisk!

Here’re some things on which there is a consensus:

--Rich people who reject God are not blameless. 

--Wealth tempts us all to become more money-conscious than God-conscious. 

But how bad things are when the poor majority

…become Godless!

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* Jesus, in Matthew 26:11

You're Gifted (Poem)

Into broken, leaky, discolored earthen vessels,

God pours His gifts across the spectrum of humanity,

To be treated as valuable, heavenly crystals,¹

Received and appreciated with great humility.

He intends for us to utilize these gifts, first, Him to bless,

With our hearts full of praise, worship and gratitude,

Then answer gift use-opportunities’ with a heart-felt, ‘Yes!’

Thus serving Him, then man with a right attitude.

Like stars in a dark corner of the universe,

So to us all God’s gifts are given.

Their glory is revealed as their ‘light’ is dispersed.

But what if gifts, unused, are hidden?

We hide our gifts when we’ve shifted our focus,

From the gift Giver and those who need them most,

To our ‘earthen faults’, and those who are famous.²

Thus we despise God’s love gifts to the utmost!

While despising our love gifts is pretty bad,

Consider the opposite end of this matter—

Selfish use that makes us happy, but God sad.

So whom are you serving the gifts on your platter?

Between these extremes, lies the intended balance,

Finding ways and means, first to bless God,

then mankind.

That way, we’ll find our ‘melodic gift-use cadence’.

Along the way, abundant blessings ‘self’ will find.

Friend, ask yourself, ‘By my gifts, who is being served?’

Pose this question while doing your ‘love gifts inventory’.

If for The Gift Giver first place is not reserved,

Warning: You may have well slipped into ...‘gift idolatry.’

God has put His heart in His gifts to you,

And expects your heart to Him in their use.

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¹ Have you heard/read? To those who overcome the tempting trials of this life through faith in Him, Jesus will give a special white stone with a new name written! (Rev 2:17)  Guess what: He doesn’t give cheap gifts! Want one?

² Famous in using gifts somewhat like yours.