Poured Out (Ps. 22; Romans 8; John 15:20)

You were poured out,
Lord,
on an apathetic planet
by the God of All Mercy.

You
gave up all Your rights
as YaHWeH’s Son…
as YaHWeH-in-the-flesh…
to make a way
for us to be made
into a shape that looks
like You.
inside & out.

why then
are we surprised at
the pain that comes…even
shedding our own blood
as we follow
You?

He Asks (John 1 & 15)

Always
He asks.
He never demands...and
though some may doubt this,
even Hell's gate
is entered by our choice.

Always
He waits.
He never twists our arm
behind our back
to make us cry,
"Uncle!"

Always
He knows what's best.
He never lets us go
too far
for grace to catch us
later on...unless
we refuse to stop destroying
those He loves...
those He is bent on saving.

this is our God...
the God of All Power!
the God of All Grace!
the God of All Mercy!

Near #2

in You, Lord,
The One-Broken-For-Us...
YaHweH himself came near
at the cross-moment of history
by
accepting Your act of
obedience
as the Sin-Breaker
clearing the path to
His mercy
once & for
all time...
all people...

even though YaHWeH withheld
His help to You,
choosing to help us instead...
still
You obeyed Him thru death...
You refused to listen to
the damning crowd...
You remembered Your Abba's
Voice saying,
"This is My Well-loved Son!"
"He pleases Me!"

and listening
to Him,
You blazed the path
to life
to love
to wholeness
for every one of us!

Near

You were near,
Lord,
coming to us as
Emmanuel on two legs
walking through our
hearts…
sometimes quietly and
other times in thunder
but
always carefully
with an eye & a strong heart
to save us
from ourselves.

You were never nearer
to us
than when You laid Yourself
down
on the rough wood to
bleed out the way
for us…and
no one seemed near You
with any help
when You most needed it.

You are
The One-broken-for-us…
only a mother can understand
how near that is...
how near You are.

life as dialogue #2

to see our lives
as a monologue
causes us to miss ALL of You,
Lord.

since
we live in Your gigantic story
which we
call “history”…
&
every story worth telling is...
dialogue

and
every time we call on You
we find You
already to be listening
&
at work
for the very best
all around us…

what is it that You
see in us,
Lord?

God-portrait #1

are grace & mercy
always
bleeding & busted up
down here?

do they never raise
their voices in the
street
or lead loud
demonstrations?

are they always so centered on
faithful obedience to
YaHWeH?

do they,
like You,
NEVER give up
when it comes to
bringing in justice like
a flood?

looking at You,
i think so...

(see Isaiah 42:1-7)

when God is silent

Isn't it just fun being
in a place where ONLY Jesus knows
what's going on?

and like He's asleep
in the back of the boat?

and like the waves are coming in
over the side of the boat?

and....

Lord, save us!
we’re drowning…
don’t You care
what happens to us?

and…

worship by grenade (Iraq)

is not worship
focusing on the real worth
of something?
of someone?

a man
falls on a live grenade
saving
his friends lives
&
losing
his own.

what greater love?
what deeper worship
is there than this,
Lord?

is love
worship?

does real love
always
lead to ultimate worship,
Lord?

You should know.

disciples made

Lord,
what is it about
making disciples?

why
was it so vital
to You?

why was this Your main
YaHWeH-driven-task
before Your cross-work?
before You killed death's
power?

is it indeed true
that whenever we make
disciples
they make us more-discipled as well?

did You learn that
by Your experience
down here among us?
amid our failures?

was that part of what You meant
when You prayed,
"for their sakes...
I sanctify Myself..."
was it?

lazy hearts

our hearts...
our eyes...
our ears...
gratefully take in
the constant offerings
our culture displays
for food
for life
for joy
for to not-think.

why, Lord, are
we
so lazy?
so easily misled?

a king

Lord, we need
a king.

we want one so
desperately that we
have learned to make one
from nothing.

why, Lord, does not this
in itself
cause in us
a deep dread of kings?

are we truly so
stupid?
so lazy?

over-blessed

Lord,
each & all
we are over-blessed.

too many
to count...
to adequately notice...
to respond to...
Your grace-gifts flow
over
around & thru
us.

why then
are we discouraged
so often?
so long?
so much?

do we love
misery that much?
are we so easily
deceived as to the true
shape
of our lives?

lies we believe

Lord,
we believe a man
asking for our vote
can save us
where You could not...

we believe a group
wanting power
from us & over us
can save us
where You could not...

we believe a relationship
with another broken person
like us
can save us
where You could not...

why are we
so continuously
so gullible?

lost grace

Lord,
every four years
men fight
with words.

they un-grace Your world
so that they might win
power
to re-make it
in their own image.

they dis-grace one another
so that they might win
power
over the others of us.

can they not see
that it is Your hand which raises up one king
while deposing another?

daughters

they laugh their way
into our hearts, Lord...
the daughters You
thought up.

they weep their way
even deeper.

we laugh and weep
because they do.

blessed & amazed
all the way.

finding ourselves 3 (Mark 10:17ff)

Lord,
when he came to You
young & rich...
we all envied him.

when he left
he was sad because
he was too rich
to follow You
into Life...
and
we felt ourselves poorer
than he was
even more than before.

why then did You begin
to teach us about entering
the YaHWeH-kingdom?

did You fear that we
might follow him
into his new half-life?

finding ourselves 2 (Mark 10:17ff)

Lord,
can we ever find ourselves
outside relationship?

are we ever so lost
as when we seek
ourselves
in a plan? a program?

the rich young man
who came to You
was that lost.

You offered him
not a plan…but
Yourself as the Life-Way.

he was very sad…

finding ourselves 1 (Mark 10:17ff)

Lord,
is finding ourselves
ever as complicated
as we think?
or so simple?

like the rich young man
we look for a sure way…
something that cannot fail…

that is what fear
does to us.

yet
all the time
our identity lies
hidden in plain view…inside
You!

an echo from Isaiah 6

Lord,
when isaiah saw
an echo
of an echo
of Your glory
it broke him
in half.

even seeing only a
shadow-echo of Your worth
isaiah was convinced only of
being unworthy...
without hope.

yet You stepped out
from behind Your glory-echo
to make him ready
for a one-on-one
with You...
You then
talked with him...
listened to him...
accepting both his suggestion
and
a partnership with him
to save Your people.

how can we
ever doubt your
passion for saving us?

God of Jacob 4 (Psalm 46:7 & 11)

Lord,

the psalmist calls You
"The All-Mighty God"
in one breath
and
with the next, he installs
You as
"The God of Jacob."

You rule the cosmos
yet
You find the liars & cheats
and
go head-to-head with them
until
they beg You for
a grace
a mercy
a blessing.

we are all liars & cheats
whenever we think
our plans are best...
we all need
some time wrestling with You
so we
can lose...
so we
can beg You to bless us...
so You
can leave us a reminder
of just Who
won the fight!

You did!
You won the fight
to bless us...
You won the fight
to save us...

God of Jacob 3 (Psalm 46:11)

Lord,
did the psalmist see You
as the Only One
Whose grace & mercy
could not be
outrun...
unless a person
runs all the way into
Hell?

You, Lord, are our
fortress...
the only safe place
in all the cosmos.