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i see a person alone
waiting
i approach to share a thought
listening
for them to express their deepest need
in all honesty
i hear a hint of pure love
in this new friendship
they enter into dialogue
or leave when they are ready
we learn a little bit from life
we are not parted though we leave the space
we found a meeting a brand new face
every conversation a bit of spice.

The Psalms are poems, and poems intended to be sung: not doctrinal treatises, nor even sermons. Their chief formal characteristic, the most obvious element of pattern, is … the practice of saying the same thing twice in different words. A perfect example is … ‘He shall make thy righteousness as clear as the light; and thy just dealing as the noonday’ (Psalm 37:6). If we have any taste for poetry we will enjoy this feature of the Psalms. Even those Christians who cannot enjoy it will respect it; for Our Lord, soaked in the poetic tradition of His country, delighted to use it. ‘For with whatever judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you again …’ (Matthew 7:2)

It seems to me appropriate, almost inevitable, that when that great Imagination which in the beginning, for [His] own delight and for the delight of men and angels and (in their proper mode) of beasts, had invented and formed the whole world, submitted to express [Himself] in human speech, that speech should sometimes be poetry. For poetry too is a little incarnation, giving body to what had been before invisible and inaudible.

— Reflections on the Psalms.

• Remember the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:18);
• Remember the wonders He has done (1 Chronicles 16:12);
• Remember the commandments (Numbers 15:39) and the words of the prophets and of Yeshua (2 Peter 3:2);
• Remember how the Lord delivered us from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 13:3) and led us in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:1–2);
• Remember the prisoners (Hebrews 13:3); and
• Remember the poor (Galatians 2:10).

From Bibles for Israel.

“News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.” (Matthew 4:24)

Jesus was at work in Syria in Ancient Times. I believe Jesus is traveling through Syria today. Even amid much conflict and much “bad news” … may the Good New of Jesus go forward with many signs & wonders to accompany it.

This phrase and the entire verse from Galatians 2:20 makes a great motto. It is a wonderful slogan.

The reality behind it is not nearly as glamorous.

One would think that identifying with the leader of 2 bilion people would be a thing of honor. Think again.

Notice the verb: am crucified.

First, this is passive.

Once someone understand who Jesus is, has faith, commits to Him, loves the Lord above all else, etc. … there is an inescapable process that follows. If you think you can escape what follows knowing the Lord, you are deceived. Holiness follows. Not a little halo. Not angel wings. Not a white robe an harp on cloud nine. No. A life of love dedicated entirely to God.

Being passive means that this need not be a prominent nor especially public activity. I do not mean that we should keep the truth a secret, far from that. Rather the very nature of the process necessitates that it be a passive one. It is acted out upon you. It is a matter in which you really have no choice, once you have submitted to your Creator.

Indeed, the very lack of submission to this nature, is why the religion called Submission (Islam) is so full of hypocrisy. Islam denies the very nature of submission and certainly and rather explicitly, Islam denies the extent of submitting to Allah (that is, to God).

Second, this is a matter of crucifixion.

Islam refuses to suffer dishonor, disgrace, shame, ignominy, disrepute, hatred, spite, malice from anyone, or any real discomfort. While claiming to honor God, the real god of Islam, that is the real allegiance is to the self.

The way of Righteousness is not the same. Rather, the righteous, the saints embrace humility, even humiliation. We accept silence in the face of slander. We speak up to testify to the Love of God, though we risk our own comfort, our reputation, our jobs, our homes, our families, our very lives. Often, this suffering is hidden: in homes where one bitter family member attacks or persistently rejects a believing family member. At other times, it is a matter of a business owner seeking simply to conform to the will of God rather than putting the profit motive at the fore and so being penalized by the state which is in bondage to the evil one simply because they acknowledge no authority higher than the authority of God.

We look to Jesus for help, and so we are treated by the world as though we are helpless. We take the Lord as our defense, and so the world tramples on us as though we are defenseless. We acknowledge only One Invisible, Eternal God, and so the world calls us godless. We trust not in our riches, and so the world slanders us as poor when we receive help from the Lord. The world slanders us as greedy when we have nothing left to give. The world calls us beggars when we share our needs. The world calls us boastful when we share our riches with them. Though the Shepherd has found us and will not let us wander into harms way, the world call us lost because we have left the ways of the world.

The world calls us fools for we reject the wisdom of the world, yet we have the mind of Christ. The world calls us as weak for we do not fight them, yet we are triumphant in the Name of the King of the Universe. The world calls us nobodies and nothings for we hold nothing as our own, but God Himself holds us in His arms as His beloved.

We speak the secret things of God openly, in the hope that some will join us in the Way, but the world calls us madmen. Yet inwardly they burn, for they will know the truth of what we speak one day, that we are not mad, but made anew in the mercy of God.

The cross was not a piece of jewelry.

We are called to be tormented, rejected, hated, despised. We are instructed to suffer with joyful expectation and eager hope. We trust in the face of adversity and definite uncertainty as the world accounts things. We love in the face of spittle, instruments of torture, trauma, beatings, mockery, poverty, isolation, and all manner of evil, for we live in the presence of God.

ISIS aims to establish a caliphate and yearns to rule like an Arab Prophet.
Everywhere they turn, destruction follows them.
They in turn will be destroyed.
They claimed to have cleansed the earth of the pollution of Nineveh, but the land will also be cleansed of them, for they rule with bloodshed.
For years this region was filled with oppression of justice and restriction on the proclamation of the Gospel, as a result, the good news of Peace is withheld and war is loosed across the lands.
Israel is weighing whether they will allow freedom in the land the Lord has assigned to them.
Meanwhile, refugees are running from terror and finding the fear of the Lord to be their delight.

Egypt was once like a beast on the river, then it was subdued by a beast from the desert. Now, the kingdom of God is spreading from Egypt to Assyria, with Israel as the third partner. Peace will come to those in Judea and Samaria when arms are put down and fences are replaced with face to face worship of the Lord. Jews and Arabs will reconcile in the Spirit Who Gives Life. The Prince will visit his peoples again. He will ride out against the beast marked on head and hand with the number of a man-made system that rules with lawlessness and is anti-Messiah. Claiming to be the cause of righteousness, they are in fact counter-Christ, so one Word is felling them as nations turn away in disgust.

The wilderness will bloom with the rain of the King. The Law that leads to liberty will bind the beast that entertains the false prophet. Mystery Babylon will fall into the sea, and the sea itself will be washed away by the blood of the lamb who shall cut down the proud mockers.

Then the gentle and the humble, those who are have bound themselves as true slaves of God, shall inherit the earth. The meek will scavenge the treasures of those who measured out their wrath. Joy will be made full when these treasures, from all nations, are laid before the Lord. The Shepherd who laid down His life will lead His lambs, his saviors up Zion. He will hold dear all those who rejoice on the heights, all those who hide in His holy temple.

O, let us gaze at the beauty of the Lord in His temple! Let us behold His majesty, trusting His Hand, following His eyes which roam throughout the earth looking for those who are wholeheartedly seeking to serve Him. Come Lord. Come.

Ruin small dreams and selfish ambitions, establish your desire in our hearts.

Have you ever felt the least bit sorry for prisoners of war, either in Gitmo or held by ISIS?

Pray for your enemies and also for those held captive by the Islamic state of mind.

“Jesus, please send messengers to visit those being tortured by both sides. Deliver prisoners from the evil of their own hearts and the evil of their captors hands. Visit them Yourself as well. Be with them in the prisons of their enemies, for You know how best to serve them, Lord, for You Yourself were held captive and tortured on an old rugged cross.”

Amen.