Welcome to our Poetry Link up for Wednesday! Praying that the link-up will work properly this week. Thanks to all who are contributing and sharing, and those who are encouraging with their comments. This is something special, thank you for making it so!
My poem for this week is found here:
Sunflower Poetry - Where Are You?
If you wish to write something new, you could join me in this.
Where is God when we seek Him? Are we finding Him in unexpected places?
Answer the question:
Where Are You?
Link up below...many bright blessings!
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Trust is the issue
Titus 2:10 "and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."
Are you having trouble with trust? I have trust issues. I trust too much, or I trust in the wrong ways at the wrong times. God asks us to trust though. To trust each other. To be trustworthy. To trust Him. He expects us to act in a manner that shows faith and trust in all we do.
I discovered something the other day, in a conversation with a friend in ministry, that disturbed me deeply. She said she couldn't trust, even her sisters, and she felt she had to hold close what was 'given to her by God'. I was so sad for her. What a burden to bear alone.
But I don't think she is alone, nor is she entirely without cause. Our churches, our missions, our very denominations have a long and checkered, even bloody history, of stealing trust. Of being untrustworthy. Of taking for their own what belongs to God and the brethren. (Brothers and sisters that'd be us!)
However...that is not reason enough not to trust. Jesus advised us to be wise, crafty even, but He never said don't trust. Instead He told us be trustworthy. Trust worthy. Worthy of trust. Worthy of being counted on. Worthy of giving a piece, an acre, a bucket or a page of someone's work to take it to somewhere new for the glory of God.
So hard. So very very hard.
I made this. or did I?
This is MINE! or is it?
Trust me with your child. Trust me with your fears. Trust me with your need for an intercessor. Trust me with your money. But can you trust me to use my gifts, that God blessed me with, to make your ministry greater? I wonder why it is so hard to trust each other, when really, and you gotta admit at least this, WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM HERE!
Team Jesus. Team God. Team Faith.
Team Grace.
Team wearing jerseys covered in the fruits of the spirit, in the armor of God, in the definition of love from God's own hand.
Can I give you my God filled dream, and trust you to work side-by-side with me to make it like the walls in Nehemiah? Can I? Can you?
What is the downside then? If we don't trust? We don't grow. We don't transform. We don't show God's love in the deep, ugly, still raw and hurting places. We hand over victory to the devil and tell the world they shouldn't trust us either, after all WE DON'T EVEN TRUST OURSELVES AND EACH OTHER!
Oh how I wish you could see that I am saddened to the soul about this and not angry. I'm not laying blame, but am asking for ownership. I believe we all can be given trust and be taught to be trust worthy. Little steps at a time. Baby steps like the disciples who had to learn it all with an incredible hidden deadline looming over them. Jesus was patient and forgiving. Can we be?
Brothers and sisters, it is not often I challenge you. But I am going to do just that. We are in Lent, approaching Easter when the biggest gift was given to us. Here is your challenge:
Trust your brothers and sisters to be a part of the vision you have for sharing God's word. For spreading the Good News! For those cities on hilltops and lamps on stands.
Trust one another with small things, and move on to great things.
But start trusting!
They want to sing - let them sing!
They want to share - let them share!
They want to serve you by carrying a burden - let them carry!
They want to pray - let them pray!
If someone wants to be a part of your work for God, consider that perhaps God is the one who sent them to you...
170 times the Bible talks about trust...can you try one more time?
Are you having trouble with trust? I have trust issues. I trust too much, or I trust in the wrong ways at the wrong times. God asks us to trust though. To trust each other. To be trustworthy. To trust Him. He expects us to act in a manner that shows faith and trust in all we do.
I discovered something the other day, in a conversation with a friend in ministry, that disturbed me deeply. She said she couldn't trust, even her sisters, and she felt she had to hold close what was 'given to her by God'. I was so sad for her. What a burden to bear alone.
But I don't think she is alone, nor is she entirely without cause. Our churches, our missions, our very denominations have a long and checkered, even bloody history, of stealing trust. Of being untrustworthy. Of taking for their own what belongs to God and the brethren. (Brothers and sisters that'd be us!)
However...that is not reason enough not to trust. Jesus advised us to be wise, crafty even, but He never said don't trust. Instead He told us be trustworthy. Trust worthy. Worthy of trust. Worthy of being counted on. Worthy of giving a piece, an acre, a bucket or a page of someone's work to take it to somewhere new for the glory of God.
So hard. So very very hard.
I made this. or did I?
This is MINE! or is it?
Trust me with your child. Trust me with your fears. Trust me with your need for an intercessor. Trust me with your money. But can you trust me to use my gifts, that God blessed me with, to make your ministry greater? I wonder why it is so hard to trust each other, when really, and you gotta admit at least this, WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM HERE!
Team Jesus. Team God. Team Faith.
Team Grace.
Team wearing jerseys covered in the fruits of the spirit, in the armor of God, in the definition of love from God's own hand.
Can I give you my God filled dream, and trust you to work side-by-side with me to make it like the walls in Nehemiah? Can I? Can you?
What is the downside then? If we don't trust? We don't grow. We don't transform. We don't show God's love in the deep, ugly, still raw and hurting places. We hand over victory to the devil and tell the world they shouldn't trust us either, after all WE DON'T EVEN TRUST OURSELVES AND EACH OTHER!
Oh how I wish you could see that I am saddened to the soul about this and not angry. I'm not laying blame, but am asking for ownership. I believe we all can be given trust and be taught to be trust worthy. Little steps at a time. Baby steps like the disciples who had to learn it all with an incredible hidden deadline looming over them. Jesus was patient and forgiving. Can we be?
Brothers and sisters, it is not often I challenge you. But I am going to do just that. We are in Lent, approaching Easter when the biggest gift was given to us. Here is your challenge:
Trust your brothers and sisters to be a part of the vision you have for sharing God's word. For spreading the Good News! For those cities on hilltops and lamps on stands.
Trust one another with small things, and move on to great things.
But start trusting!
They want to sing - let them sing!
They want to share - let them share!
They want to serve you by carrying a burden - let them carry!
They want to pray - let them pray!
If someone wants to be a part of your work for God, consider that perhaps God is the one who sent them to you...
170 times the Bible talks about trust...can you try one more time?
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Free to breathe
Everyone will be welcome to link up to their work, new or old, and I encourage you to visit the links and leave some encouragement for each other.
Today's poem, to start us off, came to me last night.
Free To Breathe
The world is built on pressure.
Gravity keeps us held down.
Jobs, family, expectations
keep us held tightly too.
It can be hard to breathe.
Feeling the tight chest, panic.
Too little, too much, too soon
and sometimes way too late.
Sin weighs heavy when the
devil lies and we believe him.
Sin crushes us, a weight that
is not ours to carry alone.
We hold on too hard to the
things this world promises.
We let go of the gifts that
come with no price tag.
We sink back, and wait to die.
Our spirits weigh heavy in us.
We fall to our knees and pray.
We wait for judgement to fall.
Holding our breath, we wait.
Yet when we trust in Him
we can fall back and learn
to breathe the freedom of grace.
Free to breathe, free from sin.
Free to breathe, free from shame.
Free to breathe, past the pain.
Free to breathe, costing only faith.
Fall deeply into grace, all the way.
Let grace cover your face,
fill your mouth and nose, eyes and ears.
And find there you are free to breathe.
Souls find space, spirits find the sun.
We can breathe in freedom.
We are redeemed, free to breathe.
A second chance called grace.
Copyright 2012 Shanyn Silinski
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
This love we have
There is a song by Patty Loveless, You don't even know who I am, about the day a marriage dies. The spouses realize that they do not know each other and she drives away. He calls to say sorry but he doesn't know what for.
Are you saying sorry to make someone feel better? Do you know what you are sorry for? This used to be such a trying thing between my husband and I early in our marriage. We would have a misunderstanding. We would argue. I'd say sorry even when I had no idea what I was sorry for! Sorry for fighting. Sorry for not being good enough. Sorry for what....
1 Peter 3:1
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,
I was using words to fight battles that didn't need to be fought at all. We teach each other how to treat us, forgetting that God already told us how to be. Throughout the Bible there are rules, directives and instructions for both husbands and wives. Being people with our own strengths and weaknesses it is not reasonable to expect every Christian couple to look, sound or act the same. We are not the same. No one is.
Some wives I know trick their husbands into doing things, they nag, cajole, bribe and beg. They offer bodily rewards for good behaviour and withhold them when they are not pleased. We don't do that. We can't. Neither has the time nor inclination for marriage games.
Other couples I know work so very hard to never disagree, never argue or fight. They think they will be over if they say a cross word or do something thoughtless. Their feelings are squished way, way down. Their needs put aside as they think they are serving the other.
Everyone deals with the stress of life in their own way. Some snip and use sarcasm. Some degrade and demean. Some gossip or vent to their friends. Some drown it in drink or other vices. More horrifically some resort to abuse to regain the illusion of control. Some sadly cut pieces out of each other day by day until nothing is left.
My dear husband and I are like the Alabama song, She and I. We have our own world. We live there happily most of the time. When we don't we work it out. In prayer and in action. In word and deed. It wasn't always that way though.
We struggled. We really did. Each wondered at the lure of walking away and yet we never took a step. God honoured our vows to each other, and helped us honour them as well. We learned to communicate. We learned to share. We learned that we are going to fight sometimes.
I honour my husband, I respect him. I defend him and adore him. He is my best friend. No one else has to feel that way. They don't even have to understand. I do. He does. It is enough.
We are conscious however, that as a Christian couple, we are showing a Godly marriage to those around us. A living, breathing, real life marriage. Of equals but not the same. Of best friends who are not clones.
There are a lot of 'models' out there that we don't fit. It doesn't make them wrong. It doesn't make us better. We are who we are, and God created two unique people, brought them together in an amazing way to love in ways that are totally out of this world!
We surrender to each other's strengths in life, in faith and in love. The roles we have balance our marriage and honour God. We have said the same promise to each other every night since our marriage, and before that even. It always ends with, thank you God for him/her. Always.
Whatever the day brings, we face it together. We don't agree always, wouldn't that be boring? We are both strong willed in different ways. Talk about oxen and asses in the same hitch (you pick who is who...he knows and so do I! It changes daily! ha! ha!)
I know the way he looks at me that he loves me more than words can say. He knows the way I look at him that I love him more than words can say.
Feelings get hurt but we know it isn't intentional. Angry words get said but no one walks away. Life gets stressful and brings us to our knees, we join hands and we pray.
Where do we fit in this world of plans and programs? How does my marriage, blessed by God and one of surrender to each other and to God, fit in? It doesn't. It doesn't have to. Surprised? Don't be. God designed each of us from the womb, through the experiences of our lives to be who we are right now, where we are right now. Seek counsel. Seek advice. But always seek it prayerfully. Seek it looking to the Word of God as the final answer.
This love we have is so wonderful and yet it does not even begin to compare to His love for us! Love one another as He loved us. (Read John 13:34-35) They will know we love Him when they see how we love each other. Don't struggle to fit in with a plan or program, don't force your husband into a role that isn't his and don't be pushed into one that is not yours. Trust God to lead your marriage and your life. Trust each other in faith.
And don't forget to live, laugh and love! Fully. Every day. Every moment is a precious gift. Cherish it. Be blessed by it.
Are you saying sorry to make someone feel better? Do you know what you are sorry for? This used to be such a trying thing between my husband and I early in our marriage. We would have a misunderstanding. We would argue. I'd say sorry even when I had no idea what I was sorry for! Sorry for fighting. Sorry for not being good enough. Sorry for what....
1 Peter 3:1
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,
I was using words to fight battles that didn't need to be fought at all. We teach each other how to treat us, forgetting that God already told us how to be. Throughout the Bible there are rules, directives and instructions for both husbands and wives. Being people with our own strengths and weaknesses it is not reasonable to expect every Christian couple to look, sound or act the same. We are not the same. No one is.
Some wives I know trick their husbands into doing things, they nag, cajole, bribe and beg. They offer bodily rewards for good behaviour and withhold them when they are not pleased. We don't do that. We can't. Neither has the time nor inclination for marriage games.
Other couples I know work so very hard to never disagree, never argue or fight. They think they will be over if they say a cross word or do something thoughtless. Their feelings are squished way, way down. Their needs put aside as they think they are serving the other.
Everyone deals with the stress of life in their own way. Some snip and use sarcasm. Some degrade and demean. Some gossip or vent to their friends. Some drown it in drink or other vices. More horrifically some resort to abuse to regain the illusion of control. Some sadly cut pieces out of each other day by day until nothing is left.
 |
| He is my best friend...even when we don't agree, we still love each other. |
My dear husband and I are like the Alabama song, She and I. We have our own world. We live there happily most of the time. When we don't we work it out. In prayer and in action. In word and deed. It wasn't always that way though.
We struggled. We really did. Each wondered at the lure of walking away and yet we never took a step. God honoured our vows to each other, and helped us honour them as well. We learned to communicate. We learned to share. We learned that we are going to fight sometimes.
I honour my husband, I respect him. I defend him and adore him. He is my best friend. No one else has to feel that way. They don't even have to understand. I do. He does. It is enough.
We are conscious however, that as a Christian couple, we are showing a Godly marriage to those around us. A living, breathing, real life marriage. Of equals but not the same. Of best friends who are not clones.
There are a lot of 'models' out there that we don't fit. It doesn't make them wrong. It doesn't make us better. We are who we are, and God created two unique people, brought them together in an amazing way to love in ways that are totally out of this world!
We surrender to each other's strengths in life, in faith and in love. The roles we have balance our marriage and honour God. We have said the same promise to each other every night since our marriage, and before that even. It always ends with, thank you God for him/her. Always.
Whatever the day brings, we face it together. We don't agree always, wouldn't that be boring? We are both strong willed in different ways. Talk about oxen and asses in the same hitch (you pick who is who...he knows and so do I! It changes daily! ha! ha!)
I know the way he looks at me that he loves me more than words can say. He knows the way I look at him that I love him more than words can say.
Feelings get hurt but we know it isn't intentional. Angry words get said but no one walks away. Life gets stressful and brings us to our knees, we join hands and we pray.
Where do we fit in this world of plans and programs? How does my marriage, blessed by God and one of surrender to each other and to God, fit in? It doesn't. It doesn't have to. Surprised? Don't be. God designed each of us from the womb, through the experiences of our lives to be who we are right now, where we are right now. Seek counsel. Seek advice. But always seek it prayerfully. Seek it looking to the Word of God as the final answer.
This love we have is so wonderful and yet it does not even begin to compare to His love for us! Love one another as He loved us. (Read John 13:34-35) They will know we love Him when they see how we love each other. Don't struggle to fit in with a plan or program, don't force your husband into a role that isn't his and don't be pushed into one that is not yours. Trust God to lead your marriage and your life. Trust each other in faith.
And don't forget to live, laugh and love! Fully. Every day. Every moment is a precious gift. Cherish it. Be blessed by it.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Live, don't die alive
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:12-13
Have you ever really thought about this verse? Really thought about it? About how it could mean so much more? The laying down your life means more than dying.
Laying down your life for a friend...what could that mean?
Jesus did it for us. With great grace. In our fallible and human way can we try to do less?
What in your life can be laid down for a friend? Your expectations? Your need to judge or be right. Perhaps you need to lay down the need for them to 'pay you back' or 'set things right'. Maybe it is bigger than that!
What if laying down your life meant laying down a dream? Bending down to help someone stand up again? What if it meant leaving behind the life you made for the one God created for you?
After reading my Bible and praying I believe that there is more to this verse than our physical death. It is our physical life! The food in your freezer (or garden). The extra clothes you've been keeping. The LIFE you build and cling to needs to be let go in love. The thing you want to sell, maybe needs to be shared? That desire of your heart should be surrendered to the desire of God's will.
Our lives are meant to be lived fully and lived full of grace and that requires living. Not dying. No in acting like we've died because we are giving. We need to face life full of love, and joy and in that loving joy share our lives. Our time, our bread and wine (figuratively and literally).
Do you understand why? It isn't ours to start with! God provides us with everything we need, we provide the loving labour to work for His kingdom. It is HIS anyway. Why are we so selfish with what isn't ours? Share a smile, a hug, a quick text.
Lay down your reputation and speak up for someone. Lay down your life to show someone living grace. Speak up for people trying again and again. Speak up for those with no voice, no hope and be the vessel of God's hope, love and voice. Lay down your uniform of the day. Bare that soul down to the laugh lines and fearful moments. God wants our lives to be lived.
Do you want a life of 'wish I had' or a life of 'glad I did'?
It is a sad and horrific fact that many saints have died for Jesus. But it is an even sadder and more horrific fact that many thousands more have failed to live on day for Him. Millions cry for relief, some of them are in your home, your family, your church.
Willing to die for our faith has long been held as a 'gold standard' but I truly believe the real challenge in laying down our lives is to continue doing so, and finding in the sacrifice that we begin to live the life God wanted us to live all along!
Love without shame. Show grace with radical freedom. Don't stop believing that God has something amazing waiting for us to step towards Him in utter faith.
Laying down your life for a friend...what could that mean?
Jesus did it for us. With great grace. In our fallible and human way can we try to do less?
What in your life can be laid down for a friend? Your expectations? Your need to judge or be right. Perhaps you need to lay down the need for them to 'pay you back' or 'set things right'. Maybe it is bigger than that!
What if laying down your life meant laying down a dream? Bending down to help someone stand up again? What if it meant leaving behind the life you made for the one God created for you?
After reading my Bible and praying I believe that there is more to this verse than our physical death. It is our physical life! The food in your freezer (or garden). The extra clothes you've been keeping. The LIFE you build and cling to needs to be let go in love. The thing you want to sell, maybe needs to be shared? That desire of your heart should be surrendered to the desire of God's will.
Our lives are meant to be lived fully and lived full of grace and that requires living. Not dying. No in acting like we've died because we are giving. We need to face life full of love, and joy and in that loving joy share our lives. Our time, our bread and wine (figuratively and literally).
Do you understand why? It isn't ours to start with! God provides us with everything we need, we provide the loving labour to work for His kingdom. It is HIS anyway. Why are we so selfish with what isn't ours? Share a smile, a hug, a quick text.
Lay down your reputation and speak up for someone. Lay down your life to show someone living grace. Speak up for people trying again and again. Speak up for those with no voice, no hope and be the vessel of God's hope, love and voice. Lay down your uniform of the day. Bare that soul down to the laugh lines and fearful moments. God wants our lives to be lived.
Do you want a life of 'wish I had' or a life of 'glad I did'?
It is a sad and horrific fact that many saints have died for Jesus. But it is an even sadder and more horrific fact that many thousands more have failed to live on day for Him. Millions cry for relief, some of them are in your home, your family, your church.
Willing to die for our faith has long been held as a 'gold standard' but I truly believe the real challenge in laying down our lives is to continue doing so, and finding in the sacrifice that we begin to live the life God wanted us to live all along!
Love without shame. Show grace with radical freedom. Don't stop believing that God has something amazing waiting for us to step towards Him in utter faith.
Monday, September 19, 2011
The people you pass by
3 John 1:5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you.
Have you ever prayed for people as you drove? Stood in line? Got passed on the shoulder? Maybe experienced someone honking their horn or washing your windows at a red light? Have you ever thought about praying for them?
My husband phoned to tell me this story today, "I was driving and I saw a woman, with her life in her car and U-haul. Stuffed animals on the dash, dog on the front seat, and she was on the move. I thought about her, and said a prayer for her to have a safe journey and that she finds what she needs when she gets to there. I wonder if someone prayed for you, dear, when you ran away to start your life again? Maybe we need to pray more for the people we pass by in life."
Maybe we need to pray more for the people we pass by in life.
The frustrated bus driver. The horn honking road rager. The slow checker at the express lane. The server who needs to ask again what you ordered. The red faced Mama and the screaming tired babe. The sad boy watching Daddy go to work. The dog owner putting up posters for their lost friend. The pastor with dwindling flock and confidence. For the police officer on their way to a call. For the farmer in the field.
Who did you pass by today? Perhaps they were an angel, they could have been a brother or sister in Christ. They could have been at the well looking for water that soothes a soul's thirst.
Instead of watching the world go by, what if we prayed it along the way?
Radical grace. Loving grace. Children of a loving, living God can we do any thing less?
Have you ever prayed for people as you drove? Stood in line? Got passed on the shoulder? Maybe experienced someone honking their horn or washing your windows at a red light? Have you ever thought about praying for them?
My husband phoned to tell me this story today, "I was driving and I saw a woman, with her life in her car and U-haul. Stuffed animals on the dash, dog on the front seat, and she was on the move. I thought about her, and said a prayer for her to have a safe journey and that she finds what she needs when she gets to there. I wonder if someone prayed for you, dear, when you ran away to start your life again? Maybe we need to pray more for the people we pass by in life."
Maybe we need to pray more for the people we pass by in life.
The frustrated bus driver. The horn honking road rager. The slow checker at the express lane. The server who needs to ask again what you ordered. The red faced Mama and the screaming tired babe. The sad boy watching Daddy go to work. The dog owner putting up posters for their lost friend. The pastor with dwindling flock and confidence. For the police officer on their way to a call. For the farmer in the field.
Who did you pass by today? Perhaps they were an angel, they could have been a brother or sister in Christ. They could have been at the well looking for water that soothes a soul's thirst.
Instead of watching the world go by, what if we prayed it along the way?
Radical grace. Loving grace. Children of a loving, living God can we do any thing less?
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