These are links to blogs that I write:
Journeys (personal and devotional) ... http://windowtochristianministries-journeys.blogspot.com/
The Still Small Voice of God (poetry) ... http://still-small-voice-of-god.blogspot.com/
Heavenward Bound ... (address changed) http://achristianviewondeath.blogspot.com
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'Tis the Season …
devotional thought
by Cathy Orrick Luders © 2013
by Cathy Orrick Luders © 2013
FOR COMPASSION
People hurt the feelings of another every day. We don’t see, we don’t hear, we don’t stop to consider. We just spout off. We respond to their actions, but we don’t think about the why of their actions. We don’t consider what they are going through. We only think about how it affects us. Someone hurt my feelings. Someone has probably hurt your feelings too. Remember -- God did not send His son so we could turn a deaf ear or an unfeeling heart to another. He shows us loving compassion, mercy. How can we have compassion if we aren’t genuinely sorry for hurting another? Then too, how can we have compassion if we can’t forgive. God forgave you and me, so we must forgive another. Jesus hung on a cross, gave His life for mine, for yours; we hurled hurt after hurt upon Him and we showed no mercy, yet He loved us so much, loves us still. Where is our love, our mercy, our compassion? Where indeed.
I’m sorry
I’m sorry I hurt your feelings
It wasn’t my intention
I’m sorry my words were damaging
my tone sharp and critical
I’m sorry I missed your pain
and only saw how your actions
affected me
and affected my perceptions
of those around me
I’m sorry I hurt your feelings
I’m sorry I did not hear
your cry for help
I did not see
your need for a loving embrace.
Have we lost our first love?
It is not for a fellow Christian to tell
what you should do or should be
God alone will do that
to each individually,
when we are in His Word,
one with Him,
seeking His answers.
And for those times we are in despair
for whatever the reason --
and there are many --
we do not need another to pull us
further down
but to build us up
to give encouragement
Words can help,
Words can hurt
We reach out – however we can
and we are slapped down
further broken.
Is this how Jesus responded?
Is your life showing how Jesus
would do or would be?
Honoring God is not about preaching
the ought to’s and should be’s
Honoring God is about being obedient
to Him and to His will,
trusting in Him,
loving others as He loved us
and loves us still.
No one is guiltless.
We have each gone astray
in our walk with Jesus.
We do not show the love of Christ in all we do.
And many, within Bible-believing congregations,
wonder, question,
and some leave or stop coming,
believing there is no place for them.
No place for the downtrodden,
whoever they are,
whatever their circumstances.
Knocked down and out
and those left behind wonder too ….
Why?
Why?!
because, as Jesus said,
“You have left your first love.”
“Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” – Revelation 2:4
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35
Where is our love, our compassion?
Why has cruelty and condemnation taken hold of our hearts?
Where is your first love?
FOR SALVATION
The Lord beckons
The Lord’s presence
dwells within me
He knocked --
for years He bid entrance
but I recoiled
fearful of what He would take away
sure I could do fine alone.
His continual knocking
I finally heard
and into my heart
He came.
But His abiding will
was not always one with mine
Our relationship
faltered
I could not or would not
see His way as best
yet He persisted
and in time
through worship
and Bible study
and prayers
and fellowship
I accepted --
He knew best.
All of everything
He offered a better plan
He offered guidance
He offered love
and peace and hope
He offered
It was free
No strings attached.
Except one --
Follow Me
Be like Me
Lead others to Me.
FOR WHOLENESS
Jesus said…
“Do not be afraid; only believe, and (she will) be made well.” ~ Luke 8:50
Do not fear in what life brings
but trust in Me
I will make you whole
Keep your focus all on Me
Do not wander places
that take you beyond Me
Through My Son
your life that you have now
can be made new
cleansed
as white as pure fallen snow
Walk with Me
I will show you new worlds to explore
new people to know
new ways to live your life
Oh you of little faith
or of no faith
Come to Me
Do not fear in what life brings
or in what you do not have,
but want or need
I know these things
I desire your best all ways and always
Trust in Me
Believe in Me
Come to Me
Do not be afraid.
FOR LOVE
a hidden treasure
God sees
your deepest wish
and desire
your agonizing pain
and frustration
You think you alone
know the depths of you
and the despair surrounding.
There is a hidden treasure
It lies deep
within your heart.
It is called Love.
Wanting to surface
Wanting to share with another
Wanting to spread joy and happiness
to those without
Fear grips tighter
Words spoken in anger
out of frustration and miscommunication
become a higher priority
Our own needs and wants and desires
have taken a backseat
Only the pain surfaces
and that we do not handle well
But God sees
our deepest wish and desire,
our pain and frustration
God sees it all
He watches you every minute
of every day
You are His child
whether you acknowledge it or not
He loves you
There is a hidden treasure
It lies deep
within your heart
It is called Love
and God holds the Key
God wants to surround you
with His love
He wants to bring you
healing and comfort
He wants to give you a hope
He wants to shower you with
abundant blessings.
The hidden treasure
lies deep
within your heart
It is called Love
Unlock the door
of your heart
and reach for Jesus.
FOR CHOICES
Is it God’s will?
We say it is God’s will
to so much
to even death
But is it
Is it really His will
or is it
because of that first sin
begun with Adam and Eve
which we carry with every breath taken
that makes it so?
It was not God’s will
that all should perish
There were instructions set in place
to guide us along the path of life
God gave us each
the right to choose,
make our own decisions
but because of that freedom
we often refused to follow
guidelines suggested
by The Holy One
It was, It is
Not
God’s will
but our own will
that determines
our eternal destiny
Our eternity --
our choice
our will
Things fall apart, collapse
Is it God’s will?
Is it not?
No, none should perish
He loves us all
Yet His judgment comes
to all who fail
and all have failed
at one time or another
We are not complete
without Him
Do you blame God
for what comes your way?
or what doesn’t?
for hopes and dreams and expectations
gone sour?
Your choice
Your free will
is the determining factor
If ,
When you seek God
accept Him into your life
believe on Him
and trust His promises
allow Him to lead
instead of you
The path of life –
Although still filled
with thorns and thistles --
will become smoother
You will stumble less
because That One
who is beside you,
in front of you,
behind you,
all around you
That One is Jesus.
With Him
We are complete
That is God’s will.
FOR UNDERSTANDING
Signs and Wonders
Signs and wonders
what you see
that you believe
but what has been foretold
and what I Jesus have come
to fulfill
you question
failing to understand
what has been prophesied
from times of old
by prophets faithful unto death
John the Baptist
sought answers
Am I the forerunner
of you --
Are you The Coming One
The Messiah
The Promised One,
or is there another?
Signs and wonders
what you see
that you believe
but the Truth
of which I AM
you do not see
proclaiming instead
that I am a liar
a blasphemer
a false prophet
deserving of death
Hanging
I go to your death
you who are deserving
you who are ignorant
of the Truth
for I AM the Way
the Life
the Truth
no man shall go
beyond
Except through Me
Paradise awaits
My eternal home
Yours too, perhaps
Signs and wonders
what you see
that you believe
But I AM
More
Signs given
wonders foretold
I was there
all along
but you did not see
you did not believe
I AM here
There are some
who believe
follow
obey
They are My disciples
There are many more
who fail to believe
do not follow or obey
They are not mine
Still seeking
signs and wonders
Come and gone
and come again
I AM here.
Still.
Yet.
Where are you?
Judgment will come
End times
Only those truly My disciples
will go beyond
will go home
will live in Paradise.
Why do you wait?
You’ve seen the signs,
the wonders
Do you not see the Truth
Have you lost the Way?
Follow Me.
FOR THANKSGIVING
Turning a sorrow of life into a joy
Pain is inevitable
misery an option
but the sorrows of life
can be turned into joy
We have an adopted family
A son
A daughter
A grandson
Not mine
Not his
Not ours by birth
Not ours by a court ruling
But simply and most preciously,
through love
The sorrows of
no child of our own
became the joys of
a grandchild
to love
and be loved by
Thank you Lord
for this precious blessing!
Thank you Lord
for turning a sorrow of life
into such a joy.
FOR SADNESS
I think of you, I miss you
I think of you
I miss you
We were friends
As others believed they were too
Although you said,
you had no friends
I see another
and see you
but you are not here
You are gone
I think of you
I miss you
I considered us friends
as others did too
But you said,
you had no friends.
I tried to tell you
about God
about Jesus
but you would hear
none of it
You didn’t believe --
He didn’t exist
Yet,
I think of you
I miss you
But you are not here
You are gone
Your body laying low in the ground
Your soul in a place of eternal torment
There is no joy, no happy bliss
where you spend your
days and nights
You gave yourself
to the devil
the path he led you
far removed from
where and what
the Son of God
desired for you
I am saddened
Still,
I think of you
I miss you
FOR FORGIVENESS
Forgiveness …
“For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” ~ I Corinthians 13:12
Forgiveness is hard to bestow on another
Whose at fault isn’t so much the issue
as doing what is right
in the eyes of The Lord Jesus
We say or do
or we stay silent
and act accordingly
The Lord sees
He knows
you and I
you and me
He tells us in His Word
He shows us
by His example
how our response should be
It is not about me
or you
It is about Jesus
It is hard to forgive another
God sees the heart
God sees it all
We see so little
Our perceptions are faulty
We see so dimly
We or those around us
proclaim
that cannot be
He or she couldn’t do that
but we can …
we do.
None of us,
no, not one is perfect
The best in us
is not good enough
to proclaim otherwise
Only Jesus is perfect
On Jesus is good enough
We need Jesus beside us,
all around us,
and within us
to be able to walk the path He trod.
We need His Word,
His example,
His love and mercy
to be and do as He desires of us.
We need to forgive
without thought of what it costs us.
It costs Jesus far more
He gave His life for me and you.
Have we forgotten?
TO SURRENDER
Fill me with the pure light of Jesus
I see,
I see Jesus.
Don’t you see Him?
I sing
praises to His name.
Upward
I glance
toward the heavens
and He is there.
Not hidden .
For just a brief moment
the face of
my beloved Savior
I see.
Hovering, watching,
And then,
all too quickly,
He is gone .
The light …
a light we can only imagine
and not very well
at that.
Our ill equipped minds
can’t grasp all that God,
all that Jesus
and all that the Holy Spirit
Is.
We see …
not with our eyes,
and we hear …
not with our ears,
but totally with our heart
that moment when
God’s pursuing of us
becomes so real
we are enveloped
within His tender touch
not wanting to escape
but only to embrace
and be embraced
with His love and kindness.
The light …
sometimes we see it
sometimes we do not.
We surrender
our selfish lives
and accept God’s will
for our new life,
but have we forgotten
we must walk,
we must follow,
we must obey.
We cannot simply
give up our past,
accept a new beginning
and then do nothing.
We cannot sit idly,
coming to weekly worship
to only think of other things
while the preacher speaks,
and then go home …
going through the motions
week after week
missing it all.
The light …
We need the light.
All of us.
The light
brings us face to face
with Jesus.
The light …
God’s power.
The light …
my faith.
We need His pureness.
Not the black darkness
of the world we live in.
The world can give us nothing.
The Lord is our all …
Our strength,
Our power.
We can do nothing
without Him
We must surrender.
Live
In Him.
Not in ourselves.
Believe In Him
He is the treasure
we seek.
Open my eyes
Open my ears
Open my heart Lord.
Fill me with You.
So I may show another
Your love,
Your precious love.
And so I may be
and think
and act
like a believer,
a follower,
who lives in
Your light
and not in the darkness
that draws us
into ourselves.
FOR HIM
A river flows
A river flows
eastward
as a trickle it begins
and we
see ourselves
stepping in, stepping out
taking care of things
we do not see a problem
We do and go and carry on
A river flows
eastward
more than a trickle
It’s depth to our knees, our waist
harder to navigate
yet we trudge on
toiling day in, day out
struggling
worrying
A river flows
eastward
the current is rough, deep
We cannot cross
There is no way
We are stuck where we are
or we drown
A river flows
eastward
God shows us the way
If we ask, seek
we will find
God sees all
we do
all we undergo
the steps we take
beginning to end
The Garden of Eden
eastward planted
God-created
as He did Adam
… and Eve
instructions given
to obey
A river flows
eastward
a trickle
of disobedience, sin
grows
becomes a way of life
We will do it our way
Caught in a net
no way to escape
A river flows
eastward
Yet God remains
His anchor holds steady
He is the calm
we seek
within ourselves
and through the circumstances
we are dealt
He is.
FOR REJOICING
Bud, Flower, Bloom
The darkness
The gloom
invades our every pore.
Trapped.
We envision sunny skies
and warmth
to remove the tiredness, achiness
and negative thought that permeates
our mind, body and soul.
The darkness
The gloom
Evil surrounds us
so subtle
it is missed
we let it pass
It is as it is.
But No!
Not as it should be.
Never God’s plan
The darkness
The gloom
The pain
The grief
We decide.
The consequences
ours to bear.
“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
It is for a season
Today, maybe tomorrow
and another.
The Lord has made everyday.
The darkness
The gloom
We can overcome.
Spring is coming
New life is near
Jesus will return
Bud, Flower, Bloom
Today!
No more darkness
No more gloom
Live each day rejoicing
and be glad in it.
TO HEAR HIS VOICE
If you hear … when you hear, do not turn away
“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” – Psalm 95:8
What God created
Man destroyed
When God expected obedience
Man rebelled
When God judged
Man cringed
Of the blessings God had bestowed --
To be fruitful and multiply,
To fulfill the earth and subdue it
To have dominion over all living things
Man was cursed
Our sorrow and pain was multiplied
Thorns and thistles were plentiful
upon the earth we toiled to bring food
Animals fought against all creatures
God had provided a beautiful and heavenly
place for us to live our lives --
The Garden of Eden
But our disobedience, our rebellion
sent us away – out into the World
The world, where sin was rampant
where our fears got the better of us
where we fought and clamored and lusted
and laughed and stole
where we no longer heard God’s voice
where we no longer cared
God gave us life
and we chose death
And then,
God sent His son
God gave us a second chance
A chance to return to the Father
to be blessed
to live with Him
forever
Do you hear His voice
perhaps its so very quiet….
Listen!
Listen carefully
and if, when you hear His voice
calling you,
do not turn away.
TO REMEMBER
We must remember again and again
Every day we forget
we must remember again
Not as a must do
out of obligation
But a must do
out of love
Only love is worthy
Only love keeps
remembrances alive
Who is worthy
Who is loved
We remember
Memories lie within us
and no matter
where we are
where we go
memories remain
love remains
God's Word
His love
His grace
His salvation
His judgment
is worthy of remembering
Day after day
To move forward
we must remember
always
God loved us all
Loves us still
Gave His Son
His only begotten Son
So we, whoever,
believe in Him
would not die in
our self-made world
but have a new life,
a new quality of living,
a life redeemed.
God loved us all
Loves us still
Sent His Son
into the world
of untold sin
not to condemn
but to save
To save from
forever damnation
We must remember
again and again
If we do not remember
we have forgotten
and if we forget,
we are lost
and if we are lost,
who is there to find us?
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." - John 3:16-21 NKJV
TO WALK AS HE
Jesus is the Light
Paint the Light
Love is the greatest Light
Walk in the Light
BE obedient
BE His Hands, His Feet, His Voice
Write of the Light
See the world
See the pain
See the hardships
Consider it all
But share the Light
through what God has empowered you
His hands – yours
His feet – yours
His voice – yours
Go and do
Go and be
Be the Light
Live the Light
Paint the Light
Share the Light
The Light
Jesus is the Light
As He spoke in John 8:12,
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Let it be so. As He walked, let us walk.
