Before I knew You loved me
Life was a desperate chore
A crashing bore
A quest for more
Before I knew You cared
Life was painful torture
A dissonant overture
A misplaced embouchure
Before I knew Your plan for me
(Or at least that there was one)
Life was confusion
A strong delusion
An ugly contusion
And then I knew —
And all was bright
And all was light
If only for a while
Now I go about in the dark
Working out Your plan
As best I can
Right here, right now
Is where I’ll find God’s will,
Somehow.
Not far ahead,
Not far behind,
But in this place,
God’s will is found.
Not in the future,
Not in the past.
Only what’s done for God
Will last.
Every burden
Borne with grace
Advances all
The human race
Every cheek,
To other turned
Absorbs their violence —
Hate is spurned
Every insult
Not rebuked,
Will throw your enemies
For a loop
To not strike back,
Withhold revenge,
Shows strength and power
In the end
You don’t need that gun,
That automatic rifle,
To show that you have needs —
The hate that anger breeds.
To show that no one cares;
At least that’s what you feel.
You don’t need that rotten drug
To make you feel good and snug —
An empty self you’re trying to hug.
You don’t need that candy,
Or doughnuts by the dozen,
Or calories galore —
You need something more.
You don’t need that woman or man
To satisfy your lust —
You need to learn to trust
That God will meet your every need —
Love you without condition.
False self you must uncover,
And then you will discover
Hope and truth and grace
Through friends in the human race.
You need a sense of belonging;
For that you have been longing.
Let Jesus fill your heart —
Then begins your beginning.
Your broken body,
Your fractured faith,
Your shattered dreams —
To the cross now take.
Your failed friendships,
Your social gaffes,
The misunderstandings —
Under the cross, now past.
The things you wanted,
The things you lost,
All worldly dealings —
Now bring them to the cross.
Let them go and
Let them be.
Just put them down
Under the tree.
Release the burden,
Let go the weight;
Then God, His love
Will demonstrate.
What made America great?
People with a faith, lived well —
Not those who merely said the words,
But from their lives, their faith would tell.
What made America great?
People who did persevere —
Through sickness, famine, poverty;
Through trials, hardships, deadly fear.
Have we lost the vision now?
Too cynical, too rich, somehow?
Too comfortable and too well-fed;
Too easy life, our sin to dread?
Then faithful voices, being quenched;
The kind, the gentle, with poison drenched.
Poison of criticism, poison of hate —
The voices of reason, many berate.
But lest we despair, let’s now give pause.
For all of this, there is a cause.
The devil knows his time is short;
All reason, love, he will abort.
When times are dark,
When love’s light dims,
Look for the light
You’ll find in Him.
I smile through my tears,
I laugh through my fears,
I have joy when I’m sad,
You may think I am mad!
Life is a paradox;
We can’t put it in a box.
God will do what He wants,
Though the devil may taunt.
I am strong when I’m weak,
I have power when I’m meek.
No joy without pain,
No gain without strain.
A plant in His garden,
A stroke of His pen,
A thread in His tapestry —
I’m part of God’s plan.
A brushstroke on canvas,
A raindrop in storm,
A beam in a building —
I’m part of God’s plan.
A link in a long chain,
A fiber in rope,
A prayer among many prayers —
I’m part of God’s plan.
Beams in His building,
Strokes of His pen,
Flowers in His garden —
We’re part of God’s plan.
Selfless Love
Jesus, Mary and Joseph are amazing examples of selfless love Even in the midst of great joy, grief, pain, or challenges, they thought of the welfare of others.
Mary, upon learning that she would conceive Jesus the Messiah, the son of God, went off to help her cousin Elizabeth, who was also with child, though further along in her pregnancy. At the wedding in Cana, Mary thought of the distress of a married couple running out of wine. Mary also stood at the cross of Jesus when many had deserted Him.
We never hear Joseph, Mary’s husband, speak a word in the Bible. But his actions speak loudly. Like his namesake in the Old Testament, he was a dreamer, and as far as we know, he always obeyed God’s leading, which often came through dreams. No matter the embarrassment (of Mary’s pregnancy), or inconvenience (having to travel long distances or pull up roots), he obeyed God and fulfilled his role as protector of Mary and Jesus.
Jesus, when he heard of his cousin John the Baptist’s beheading, went off to grieve privately, but when the crowds discovered His location, he had compassion on them and healed their diseases. Later that day, he multiplied loaves and fishes to feed the crowd. How often in our grief do we want to just curl up in a ball and pull the covers over our head?
While Jesus suffered excruciating pain on the cross, he still thought of us. He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
When we have a vision of how God wants us to cooperate in His plan, we, too, can be selfless, through His grace!
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