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!

December 21, 2011…Coming Soon!!!

The Healing King… a book of my poetry (and some of my prose) collected between 2000 and 2011. I’m just waiting on the proofreading now, so hopefully it will be available for purchase within the next month or so. I’ll post more details when that happens.

Angel feathers falling from the very throne of God
From the holy heavens bringing wonder from above.
There the living creatures worship where no man has stood
Crying, “Holy. Holy. Holy is the LORD…”

Golden glory cloud of dust hangs weighty in the air—
Holy Spirit manifests His love for all to see.
So, the sons and daughters in the kingdom stand in awe
Crying, “Holy. Holy. Holy is the LORD…”

Take our ordinary lives in these days full of dread
Radiate your grace and glory to the world around
Let light and life and love come permeate and bring all near
Crying, “Holy. Holy. Holy is the LORD…”

Jesus, Name above all names, let every tongue confess
Your majesty and resurrection power over all,
And every knee will bow before the very Son of God
Crying, “Holy. Holy. Holy is the LORD…”

For Holy is the LORD Almighty and the Lamb, who for us bled—
Everlasting Splendor, Sovereign Love, and King of kings.
He Who sits upon the throne as brilliant, cleansing Light
Calls us all to come to Him, redeemed by His own Life.

How does fall manage to look so pretty
Even when the rain permeates the day?
I just noticed it this morning—
All the brilliant colors in the sunlight
Take on a sort of royal austerity
When gray sky reigns in the atmosphere.
No matter how drab the day feels
The colors remind me that time keeps passing.
The dreariness will give way
To another sunny day.
The leaves will keep falling until
The brown gets trampled underfoot
As bare trees raise their limbs
Looking for the snow to clothe them again.
Knowing fall is just another
Season of transition,
I can settle in for the ride ahead,
Enjoy the scenery alongside,
Revel in the rain even…
Because I appreciate all the facets of fall,
Not just the bright and shiny sides.

You sift the wheat from the chaff,
Separate the barley from the hull,
Till all that remains is Your harvest.
You call us all to let go of the stuff, the fluff,
The unnecessary things and habits we cling to
Till all that remains is Your perfect work
Forming us to Your character
So that others can see real substance in us.
You also separate those who turn away
From those who choose to follow…
Those whose hearts are not truly committed
From those who will never look back.
These are difficult times but
The winnowing process is meant to be hard.
The winds of trouble are blowing
Through the threshing floor now…
O Lord Jesus, let me be of the substance that matters,
Not of the stuff that You are blowing away.

Fingers of the morning sun pierce the clouds,
Like Your hand extended over the landscape,
Hovering above us all as sweet reminder of
Your goodness, Lord…
Your mercy, Lord…
Your continual grace that allows us to
Begin each new day with Your breath of life.
The deeply blue-gray clouds outlined
With golden filaments of light
Starkly contrasts pale blue-white sky
Like the wounded world against the healing heavens…
All held together in Your palm.

Today I feel like sunshine
Though it’s cold and wet and gray.
Inside my soul I feel fine
Though the storms of life hold sway.
It is odd but I can stand fast
Feeling rest and grace and peace
Never minding as I sail past
Other ships and harbors’ ease.

For the way of strength in Jesus
Is to know that I am weak
To acknowledge in my stresses
That His wisdom helps me seek
Past the folly of man’s goodness
Into truth and faith and love
And to stand upon God’s promise
With His new life from above.

Today I know just who I am
Though I sometimes forget
I am a child held in His hand
And should not grasp regret.
Repenting, I receive new life—
Confess, release, advance
Through Christ whose awesome sacrifice
Gives me a second chance.

I can feel the season changing.
Seems God’s always rearranging,
And I wonder what new strange thing
He is doing in my life.
As I look towards tomorrow,
I am hoping I that I will grow
Moving forward as I follow
Leaving worrying and strife.

I have learned so much the hard way
When I try to do things halfway.
Still there’s really only His way,
If I want to do them right.
Can I use what I’ve been learning
To obey Him without turning
And to use what I’m discerning
To trust God without my sight?

Faith is following His guidance
As He leads me in this romance
With the loving grace that He grants
When I’m stumbling along.
As I move into the next phase
He is changing me in new ways,
Giving mercy to me always—
He reminds me I belong.

In His everlasting promise
I can take each step with calmness,
Knowing He will hold me harmless
In the refuge of His wings.
He’s my dwelling place and fortress.
I will trust in His great goodness
Through the seasons’ steady progress,
Though I don’t know what they’ll bring.

Interesting, Lord…
The way You do things
Never ceases to amaze me.
So many “suddenlies” recently
In my life and those around me
Teach me again that
The waiting is always worth it.
I never know when it will end
(And it always seems endless),
But then You turn my life inside out
Or upside down… or right-side left.

I never know quite how
Things will end up these days.
I can sense though that
One of those “suddenlies” is almost here.
I’m not really stressed about it—
Just pondering how different
My life will be in just two months.

It’s like the anticipation I felt on
The first day of every school year.
What new things will I need to learn?
What new people will I meet?
How will I feel when
The holidays come this year and
I am in a different place?

Knowing that change will come, but
Not knowing what change will look like…
This is a good thing.
My faith grows every day because
You did say, after all, that
Father causes his sun to rise
On the evil and the good, and
Sends rains on the righteous
And the unrighteous.

So I know I can rely on You to be
“My strength and my fortress,
My God in whom I trust,”
Whatever change and happenstance
Brings my way.

You are astonishing, Lord!
It amazes me to stand here
As your hand slowly unfolds
To reveal the tiny gift inside.
The waiting isn’t over, but
It seems as if Your plan is clear.
My friends are rejoicing
With some reserve as of yet.
But life bundled up in a baby boy
Just bounces around and
Smacks you in the heart with joy!
It’s hard not to hope that
Your hand is holding grace, that
Your goodness will be the sure hand–
Even though, for now, we still wait,
I’m going to trust You to know best
Still hoping for long years of prayer
To be answered in THIS gift.