Works Of A Wordsmith

In moments when I hit a wall,
Find I cannot move forward one more step,
I can only throw myself at Your feet, God,
To discover again the incredible
Depth of Your unfathomable mercy.

I face my shortcomings,
Knowing that in and of myself
There is no amount of will and determination
That will ever give me power to overcome.

It is only when I recognize my failure,
Acknowledge it to You, and cry out to You
That I find I can change after all.
By the power of Your Spirit in me—
Moving through me,
Making me more Yours every day—
Especially when I cannot do it in my own strength…

Which reminds me again, Jesus,
It is You…You…You…ALWAYS
Who makes me more like You—
Your grace, Your love, Your mercy
Moving through me to effect change,
Not only in me, Lord,
But also in the lives I touch every day.

Help me, Holy Spirit,
To hear You,
To obey Your voice,
To act and speak and move
To the rhythm of Your eternal heartbeat.

Holy Father,
Let me love You with all of me—
Heart, mind, soul, and strength—
Till I can give up my selfish, willful ways and
Find my rest in You.

Where are your hearts, my beloved bride?
When you stand here and sing,
Are you focused on Me?
Are you truly grateful for My grace,
My provision, My mercy, My love?
When you say you love Me,
Do you put your heart behind the words?

I long for you to come all the way in,
So I can give you more—
More life, more light, more love,
More compassion for those around you—
Because I love them, too!

Christ didn’t die only for you.
He died for ALL of humanity—
Redemption as a gift to ANY
Willing to accept the offer…
Not only those you know,
But to so many you don’t.
I love and draw ALL to Me.
Come with all you are to LOVE ME.

Father,
I am so incredibly grateful for Your mercy!
So many times I have passed judgment…
Even when I didn’t realize I was doing it,
It wasn’t right!
I cannot presume to know the hearts
Of those around me.

I can only press in for myself,
Crying out for Your Spirit to prevail
In the surrounding atmosphere.
I can truly trust that You are…
You are at work in all of us
Calling on Your name.

O Lord,
Break the apathy and complacency
That we tend to settle into
When things get comfortably familiar—
Like the order of a church worship service.

Holy God,
Remind us again Who we’re here for.

What do I know, Lord?
I’m a woman from a different town,
In a different church,
Looking for Your glory…
But it occurred to me just now
That surely with all the thousands
And thousands
Of church services that gather to seemingly,
Give You glory and honor,
Perhaps one gathering somewhere
Should realize that if (IF!)
We are really meeting together for You,
For Your benefit…
(I mean, isn’t that the definition of worship?)
If we want to worship You fully,
Would it not benefit us
To attend to a bit of silent reverence on occasion
To hear how we can accomplish Your purposes?
*Sigh*
Then again, maybe I’m missing
The point of worship—
The part where we give all of
What we are,
What we have,
At Your feet…simply…because…
We adore You.

It seems we are content
With the things we can
Hear and see and touch
Over the life of Your Spirit.
We think of You as distant—
Someone to pray to from afar
Rather than the Unseen Real,
More Substantial Being
Standing right in front of us.
If only we could let go of
This temporary world,
Open the eyes of our heart, and
Reach for You in return.
Your glory is already here, Jesus.
If only we could truly see…

As He spoke, His words pierced us
Like arrows at the speed of thought.
When we could not sit nearby,
His voice still echoed in our ears
Like distant thunder, but clear as lightning,
With authority we had never heard before.
His message changed us…

Even those of us who later walked away
Could not deny His impact.
We were as children then,
Desiring immediate deliverance
Without understanding the deeper need
For eternal redemption.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” He said…
And we were truly poor in spirit—
Sheep without a shepherd,
Wandering in the wilderness—
So He gave us spiritual manna,
Words proceeding from the mouth of God
Feeding us a life we did not recognize
Till much, much later.

For some of us,
It was a real beginning,
A tilling of our heart’s soil
So we could receive more…
After…
(From His nail-pierced hands.)

In the moment, however,
We sat listening,
Arrested by incomprehensible awe
As the Rabbi from Galilee
Poured out the heart of our God,
Longing for us, His people.

Your unrelenting love for us, Your children,
Leads us past the cares and fears we face
Till all that we desire is to find refuge
In loving arms that give eternal grace.

Those of us who wander far from home
Still seek something we cannot define.
Your Spirit draws us though we do not now
That You, our Father, cannot but be kind.

So, restlessly we cry out for a mercy
Beyond all that our minds can understand
Until one day we wake from unknown slumber
To recognize the offer from Your hand.

You lift us from the depths of our own darkness
Bringing us into eternal light.
You give us strength when we are at our weakest
To choose Your grace and will to do what’s right.

O Holy God, we come on bended knee,
Acknowledging the gift of Your own Son,
Who laid His life down with eternal love
To raise us up again and bring us home.

It’s such a hard thing
Knowing when it’s time
To acknowledge there’s no way…
There’s just no way
I can ever, ever, EVER
Accomplish this thing.
I try and I try and I try, but
No matter how hard,
No matter how often,
No matter how long
I beat my head against my private wall of frustration,
I have made little progress.

Oh, Grace,
Thou wholly transforming power
That offers entrance to God’s presence,
But dost not leave us in our
State of basic unworthiness,
In thy holy goodness,
Thou truly art amazing!
Thou art all of Who God is
In one great act of glory,
Offering the path of peace
By an exchange of selfish desires
For selfless, humble gratitude.
In all that you give—
Thy blood-bought atonement
Covering all our inborn sin nature—
Thou yet demandest willing sacrifice,
Simultaneously giving us strength
To lay all aside and trust Thee
In complete surrender.
Thou art the Breath of God
Breathing new life through us!
Oh, Grace,
Thou Spirit of holiness in us,
Let us recognize, once more,
All of Who you are—
Awesome, glorious God of wonder!

Wake us up, Lord!
Let the wonder of Your grace
Wash through us,
Opening our eyes to You,
To Your reality around us.

Holy God,
We want to see beyond our fears,
Beyond our finite ideas of
Who You are and how You work.

Holy Spirit,
Sensitize us beneath our skin,
In our spirits…
Help us to have
A deeper awareness of You.

Lord Jesus,
Take us to Your cross again
To lay down our lives at Your feet
That we may rise
In the newness of Your life…
Your life living through us
For Your glory and honor—
No longer us for ourselves.

Lord God,
Creator of heaven and earth,
Be…
(Oh, great I AM!)
…In us
…Around us
…Through us.