You brought me through again.
You always do, though I always doubt.
I wish I could let them all go.
Still, as many times as You prove faithful,
It seems I turn out just as often faithless…

I know that I KNOW
You will come through every single time,
As well as I’m aware
How easy it is for me to
Fall all over myself in my willfullness.

God, I wish You would… something!
I don’t know what to ask even
Other than to keep on changing me,
Keep molding me, but more–
Soften my heart and keep me
Willing to be changed and molded
Into the image of Your Son.

Help me, Holy Spirit, to withstand
The draw of my fleshly desires.
Instead, Lord, help me
Focus my vision where it should be
…Directly and only on Jesus.

Father, in my weakness I can only fall on You.
Holy God, forgive me; help me, Holy Spirit, too…
Please, I want to turn away from ugliness of sin.
I need Your light of truth, God, on the root that lies within.
This process, Lord, is painful, yet I long to just be clean.
Please, dig it out and burn it so that I can be serene.
Wash me in Your water and cleanse me in Your Word;
Cover me with Jesus’ blood and let my prayers be heard.
Thank You, God, for mercy, for kindness, and for truth,
And when I fall again I pray I’ll trust again in You.

The Healing King is officially published and available for purchase! I am including two links here. The first is to the Createspace estore where you can order the paperback version. Although the paperback is also available on Amazon (under my full name), I receive a larger royalty from the estore purchases. The second link is for the Amazon Kindle version, for those of you who would prefer to have it electronically. Many of you have asked about it, and I am grateful. May the book bless you as you read it!

Paperback version: https://www.createspace.com/3710453
Kindle version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0083J4LQE

I’ve seen so many faces
Friends and loved ones,
Strangers and acquaintances,
Co-workers, peers, children, and elders—
Famous and unknown…

But only One face that I truly long for…
The One I so fear disapproval from and
Pray for mercy from.
When I shall stand before His throne,
That Visage of infinite glory and light,
Then maybe I will find final satisfaction,
Fulfillment of all my eyes’ yearning
In this pale imitation of the eternal reality.

Until then I keep searching,
Looking into all the faces that surround me
For some brief glimpse of Him and His Life,
Hoping that someone else
Can see Him in my face… somehow,
Despite the self-wrought shadows
I have struggled with.

O Lord Jesus, clear this clouded mirror,
Remove my veil of shame, and
Let Your Spirit take me
From glory to glory in You.

When life is full of hard things,
And no one knows what’s next,
You always step up to the plate
With help we don’t expect.

Your kind and generous nature
Shows supernatural grace,
So once again, we want to pray
God shines upon your face.

May the Lord bless and keep you,
And make His face shine on you,
His countenance be set toward you,
And His peace be upon you.

The love of Father towards you,
The grace of Jesus with you,
The fellowship of Spirit, too,
By His great power surround you.

I pray that God, in every way,
Will meet your every need,
May harvest ten- and hundredfold,
Return from every planted seed.

So many words of worship, Lord,
So many melodies and harmonies,
So many hearts poured out in praise…
Yet I somehow want to say more
Somehow to sing and to play so much more…
Give me utterance beyond understanding.
All my words are used up—
All my melodies are spent,
Till I lie before You empty.

Break my heart wide open in
Rivers and fountains of Your Spirit.
Only You have the words of life.
Be the
Speech speaking through my stillness,
Symphony swelling in my silence,
Fullness filling my vacuum,
Because You cannot not be…
YOU ARE!!!

Been thinking ‘bout you a lot lately.
It’s easy on the mind to let it go that way,
Just like you’re easy on the eyes.
Hey, baby, can we just hang together today?

I think about the way you walk,
Intent on getting somewhere, anywhere,
And you don’t slow down because
Strolling along hurts your back.

I think about the way you focus
So intent on figuring out a solution
To a programming issue or whatever
That you forget to stop and eat sometimes.

I think about the way you shyly reach for my hand
Like we just met yesterday or something.
Then you wriggle like a big furry dog
Excited just to be close to me… and grin.

I think about the way you kiss me
Softly, slowly, waiting for my response, and
Never intruding too far when time goes
Flying away from us and I have to rush off.

I think about the way you let me give you
Little kisses on the side of your face gently
Till you can’t stand it anymore and
You hug me to make me quit torturing you.

I think about the way you REALLY think
All about the way things are,
The way they ought to be, and
How in the world we could possibly get there.

I think about the way you care so deeply
For the things that matter to you—
Preaching the gospel, worship, prayer,
And obeying the scriptures because you love God.

I think about the way you look at me
With those serious eyes,
Till a glimmer bursts out and
You are laughing again at some inanity.

I think about the way you laugh…
Shrugging away my “too serious-ness”
And enjoying all the little things
That can be appreciated with humor.

I think about the way you make me smile
By just standing there grinning
Or saying something stupid on purpose
So that I have to chuckle all the way in to work.

I think about the way you love me
With gentleness, kindness,
And deep passion that hides inside
Careful not to let others see too much.

I think about all the ways that you are
Uniquely you around me and others,
And I come to the same conclusion
Every single time… I love you!!

Cleanse my heart; Lord, make me new.
Draw me closer, please, to You.
Take the sin within my heart.
Grant me, God, a brand new start.
For I am weak, and I am worn.
I’m tired of feeling, oh, so torn.
My eyes and heart have wandered far.
Please, Jesus, be my northern start.
In my stupid foolishness,
Lord, I hear You and confess:
Father, You alone are God,
And I will bow beneath Your rod.
Correct the path that I have walked.
Plant my feet on solid Rock.
Although the dark obscures Your face,
I trust in Your amazing grace
To cleanse my heart and make me new,
So, I will want to follow You.

Each morning, Lord,
I come over the hill and see
The vista You’ve laid out for the day.
Sometimes, it’s bright and sunny.
Sometimes, it’s cloudy and overcast,
But whatever it is, I am fascinated
With the way You paint the landscape.
The foggy mornings with a bit of sun,
Peeking out between multi-colored clouds,
Make my favorite scenes!
The rolling hills alternate with smoky valleys
Till Your handiwork hides all the buildings
That mar the image of a grand wilderness.

Every morning, Lord,
I am reminded once again that You,
And You alone, are the source of beauty—
That You only can delight my soul
With the peculiar twist of something unnamable,
Which no person has ever quite given me…
Joy unspeakable, perhaps, but in a quieter sense.
Here, I am replete with contentment,
Sure of Your goodness.
Here, I contemplate and meditate
The brief moments I have for Your new view
Before I am forced to turn the wheel and
Refocus on the drive in to work.

Thanks, God, for the pleasure of Your presence
In the exhibition of Your exquisite earth!

Hello, Orion, brightly shining in the winter night.
As time moves on, your stars aligning give my heart delight.
I still declare when seeing you that there is always hope,
For you’re prepared, you’ve set your view with all encompassed scope.

The hunter’s bow is ever ready to supply the food you need.
The warrior is always steady meeting every foe with speed.
Your eyes are focused forward to the goal with cool command,
Yet ever conscious all around the place in which you stand.

Your knees stay bent with arrow notched to move at slightest whim.
So, I am sent by God who’s watched me, called me out in Him.
To watch, to learn, to hear, to move as Holy Spirit leads—
To pray, to burn with holy love—He through me intercedes.

I still repent on bended knee, convicted when I sin.
We war against my enemy, in battles fought within.
Father meets my every need and gives me daily bread.
So, on my knees I rest indeed, submitting without dread.

Hello, Orion, brightly shining in the winter night.
As you shine on, you are reminding me of Father’s Light.
Keep running through the skies above despite the winter chill.
Your hope anew blooms while God’s love enfolds me in His will.

I saw the sun the other morning
Peeking through a crevasse in the clouds
Like a brilliant iris of light,
(Too bright to see the color)
Staring through the vast, dark grey eyelids.
Even when the sun rose to its hidden place
Behind the upper mass of moisture,
The brightness of that spot drew my vision
Till all the last remnants of radiance
Faded to the jaded blue of the indifferent sky.
But bright hope kept shining within me…
Beyond the canopy of clouds,
Sun shone with all her beauty and
I felt touched by it, gifted with it,
As if I were a carrier of that light
In some supernatural, ephemeral way.
But no one else could see it, feel it… touch it.
So I curled the hope up inside me,
Snuggling with the joy already there
Until it blossomed into fresh faith.
Father sure knows how to paint a beautiful sky!

Upon reflection, I must disagree with you.
The Spirit still comes with wind and fire
To those who need His mighty touch,
Whether we are babes or long in the faith.
He is the I AM after all is said and done…
Great in power, mighty in deed,
Overwhelmingly here when He is manifestly present.
I will not dispute that He comes,
Quietly whispering peace to the soul’s distress,
But all of us need His unmistakable touch at some point,
To a degree that we cannot contain our reaction
Within some meekly restrained outward appearance of calm.
To rigidly constrain the Spirit as He flows through us
Is to quench the work that He is doing in us.

More times than not these days,
I find myself sitting still beneath His weightiness,
His unmoving, “I-AM-doing-something” presence.
I weep with the outpouring of His healing oil on me.
Even so, on occasion the sense of HIM, here,
Causes me to let go of my physical restraints
Till I am drunk with divine wine, and
He graces my soul with the joy of easy laughter.
Sometimes, the electrical shock of Spirit meeting flesh
Shakes me all over until my flesh submits and
The Spirit has His healing, life-changing way with me.

When He is done, I am more myself than before…
Just a little more light of heart, a little more rich with Him,
A little more deeply rooted in His all-sufficient grace.
There is no more refreshing experience
Than to be overcome by the Holy Spirit’s power,
But it is not the experience itself that is refreshment.
It is His explicit manifest presence and
My submission of self with all its flaws
So that I may know Him in the power of His resurrection,
As well as I am coming to know Him
In the fellowship of His suffering.

Life is a river richly flowing,
Freely teeming with people, nations, and happenings,
All mingled in Your Spirit’s purposes.
Past, present, future…mesh together because
Nothing limits Your hand at work.
You are our life.
You give us our very existence.
You pour through every moment, every molecule
With the power of Your love—
Sparkling with newness,
Brilliant with Your glory
Revealing every shadow of hidden darkness till it flees…
And the river flows on, full of us, brimming with You
Life is ever moving, ever changing, ever new,
Because, O LORD, of unfathomable, beyond-imaginable You!