Poetry for the Soul

I have always loved to write poetry, probably because I think it is the most beautiful way to say something. Here is a piece that I wrote when contemplating the struggles of last year.


Why could I never see Your love
As if blinded by a cloud of Law?
Your smile bent down with compassion from above,
But dirty hands were all I saw.

But brokenness and fallow ground though pain You gave,
My soul's ears hear a joyful sound,
I am no longer a slave.
The light dawned...I can see
You purchased my reconciliation and I am free.

Hunger Pains...?

This post is for all my single ladies out there. First of all, HANG IN THERE! I'm right there with you.


A friend of mine once told me, in response to my complaints and confessions about being hungry "all the time," that often times when our minds tell us that we want food, they are deceiving us. The mind often misinterprets the body when it cries in need of something. For example, the body says, "Ooo. Eat that orange. I am lacking in vitamin C and would feel so much better if that need was filled." Hearing this signal, the mind says, "Oh you want that triple-layer-German-chocolate-chip-chunk-frosted cake over there. Okay! Go ahead! Enjoy!"


My friend continued to say that often times we think we are having hunger pains when really the body is screaming for one vital thing...WATER! We can go for weeks without food, ladies, but we can only live three days without water. In fact, we practically are water. Seventy percent of the body is WATER.


All this is to say, my friends, that sometimes when our thoughts seem to be screaming for the affections and companionship of Mr. Right, our heart may really be craving something or SOMEONE else. While the desires for a husband are God-given and wonderful, our souls often become fat with them when we indulge them to unhealthy, ungodly levels! I believe that I am often greatly mistaken in understanding the cry of my heart. I think it is expressing my appetite for a man, when it is really crying for the Living Water. My heart was made for Jesus Christ. In fact, I was made in His image...and when I neglect drinking my fill of His presence, that image becomes weak, just as my body does when I'm dehydrated.


So girls, life without water is impossible. Life without the Living Water is impossible. Next time you think you want that tall, dark, and handsome piece of chocolate cake and you just can't stop thinking about it, ask yourself, "Have I drunk long from the stream of Living Water today or is my soul pleading because it is so dry? Am I only feeding the desires of the flesh when my spirit longs for refreshment?"


You are not alone and this is a battle. Chocolate cake is every woman's friend, but water is her life and savior.  There is a time and a place for cake, but water is always a necessity. As you walk along the path on this journey, don't forget to drink.


"For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth." Isaiah 54:5


"The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" ( For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." John 4:9-10

Remembering not to Forget

One thing that the Lord taught me over the course of last year is that the Gospel is something I must be reminded of every day. I used to think that hearing the Gospel daily would just make it mundane. Then I realized that if I didn't just hear the Gospel, but listened to it every day with the ears of need, it can make a radical difference in my life. Just as I put on clean clothes every morning, I must clothe my mind with thoughts of the Gospel daily. Amazingly, it never grows old. It only dims when I stop looking at it. There further I move away from an object, the more hazy my view of it will become. This week the Lord has flooded me with reminders of this truth.
On Sunday, my pastor preached on the Exodus. What a powerful story where God shows His awesome nature through the heart of a stubborn king! I mean, His power and His devotion are so clearly displayed in this account it's nearly unbelievable. As my spirit rose high on these thoughts, I was struck with a sobering reminder. Right after God had carried out the 10th and final plague, allowed the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians by asking nicely, split the Red Sea into dry ground, and defeated the entire Egyptian army that the Israelites began to whine and complain! Their complaints were about food and water when God had already given them so much! They had forgotten what God had already provided in His mercy and faithfulness. 
The people's spiritual short term memory also showed in their actions at Mt. Sinai. When Moses was in the mountain and the cloud thundered around it shrouding God's glory, the people were gripped by terror. Under the influence of their fear and Moses's brother Aaron, the people took the very gold which God had given them from the Egyptians as a sign of His provision and melted it to create the golden calf. They were afraid. They became desperate. They had forgotten.
After my initial response of frustration at such a stiff-necked people, the Spirit whispered to me, "Anna, how many victories have I given you from captivity to sin, and you took that very freedom and turned it into self-sufficiency, self-worship, and idolatry? This is no different from the Israelites making an idol from the gold that I gave them. When you forget the Gospel, you fall as well." 
Another pastor spoke on 2 Corinthians 3 this week. He told us of Moses and the veil which he used to cover his face as the glory of God faded from it into mere humanity again. The pastor reminded us that we become what we behold. When we are beholding the Gospel there is a difference about our countenance, speech, attitudes, and actions. When we stop beholding Christ and forget the Gospel, our passions dim and his likeness begins to fade in us, just like the glory on Moses's face. In response we cover ourselves with a facade of religiosity to veil to others the truth that we have not spent time in God's presence. When we forget the Gospel, we lose the fuel of our passion  and we stop displaying God's glory to the world. 
Forgetting is a dangerous thing. It fills us with world instead of wisdom and self instead of Savior. Remembering the reality of the Gospel, our utter deadness and God's unfathomable compassion is the best solution to apathy, worldliness, selfishness, and pride. A professor said this week that we are are all part of a story. In this story, God is the main character and our goal is to find where we fit into His story, not how He fits into ours. We may come and go in the storyline, but God remains constant throughout each chapter.
Let's say I am writing a story. After three chapters, I forget who I was writing about and why I was writing and I begin to write about someone completely different than the main character. Then two chapters later, I remember my old focus and switch back to it for the next few chapters, eventually repeating this process several times. When I finished the book, would it not be frustrating for you to read? You would wonder why I could not stay on topic and would probably be very confused. You may finish the last page and ask what my point was, that is, if you got to the last page before you put the book down. 
This is what our lives look like when we forget the Gospel. When we forget all that God has done for us in bringing us from death to life, often times our lives change focus from God to ourselves. The story becomes about us. Not only does this hurt us, but it confuses those around us who are watching to see what God will do next. How important is it for us to remember. 
Let's ask God to remind us boldly of the reality of His Gospel every day. Forgetting does not befit followers of Christ. He NEVER forgets us. Remember Him. Remember His wounds. Remember you're blackness and sin. Remember you're chains. Remember an empty grave. Remember His forgiveness. Remember your freedom. Remember. Remember. Remember. 

What He Did & What I Have Learned.

When Jesus calls us to follow Him so many  of His children accept the call rejoicing that they are free from the guilt of sin and promised eternal life. When I was eight years-old I began this journey. The burden rolled off my back and I found new strength in Christ to fight sins that plagued me. What I didn't realize as I traveled through the years was that my walk was not just about looking more like Jesus. In fact, this wasn't the goal at all. I don't mean that it's not important to become more Christlike. I just know that when you are faced with the true devilish reality of your own filth and you see the true cost of years of compromise and non-addressed sin, and everything you possess is slipping through your fingers...you think twice about why you are alive. Jesus showed me. He showed me that my life is about reveling in His love for me...for ME! It is about meditating on the fact that I deserve nothing and I'm given the world. It is enjoying His smile and even His correction because they are both from the heart of the Tender Shepherd. When my life shows this love, then He is glorified and I fulfill my purpose to make Him recognizable to the world. So every day, every breath, is a journey deeper into His love and further on to His glory. I am just a pilgrim. Will you join me?