YaHWeH's Job #6 (Psalm 50:21)

what should You be
doing, Lord?

we think
peace...
our idea of peace
is what the world
needs:
if only everybody
could just get
along.

why don't You
MAKE
it happen, Lord?
You have the power,
right?

but
there is a deeper thing than
all this...
an order
in all that is...
everywhere.

deep inside, we know
this to be
true.

we know
there is a rhythm
in which You lead the whole
cosmos...
that
You wish to install in our soul.

your rhythm is the only
shalom
that can remake
everything.

overwhelm our resistance,
Lord.

overwhelm us.

woo us into Your great
dance.

YaHWeH's Job #5 (Psalm 50:21)

what is it,
Lord,
that You do in Your
day job?

do You laugh at us?
or
with us?

play games with us?
weep for us?
grieve over us?
enjoy us?
much at all?

are You concerned
for us?

do You even notice us
except in
anger?

the evidence is in...

Jesus,
You are ALL the evidence there
is.

You came to us with
YaHWeH's full-force-love
inside You...
spilling out of
You
all over us...and
it didn't matter to You
who drank of it...

Jew...
Gentile...
believer...
pagan...
poor...
rich...
strong...
weak...
You loved all & each
of us
regardless of our
packaging.

YaHWeH's Job #4 (Psalm 50:21)

what
is Your job,
Lord?

i mean...after
You created the cosmos...
what have You
been up to?

what
are You up to?

is all this
just a grab for
a bunch of thank you notes
from us finite folk?
are You looking
to have choirs & bands
telling everyone how
cool You are?

from time to time
it feels that way...
and
i know we act that way
giving praise out of
duty &
fear of bad
consequences
if we hold
back.

do we think
we can out-sing
the stars?

do we think
we can out-shout
the oceans?

do we think
we can out-paint
the sky's breath
at day's end?

You get so much
advice from us...
about everything,
Lord.

please love us anyway & forgive...

am i getting warm,
Lord?

seeing #2 (Isaiah 42:1)

watching
a man walk
who
has never taken
a step
since birth...
is not necessarily
seeing him…is it,
Lord?

watching
a man look
through eyes
that have never seen anything
before…
should change every
nearby heart…
right, Lord?

miracles
should make a difference
in our lives…so
how did we miss
the YaHWeH-heart-of-mercy
Who thought them
up?

help me see You today,
Lord…
i know you’re here.

Mercy # 12

to withhold mercy
is to choose to become
a false god…for then
we see power as
an absolute NEED…
and
showing mercy
is to abdicate
power & to renounce
our NEED for it.

being the God-of–all-gods
is something that You
do not NEED,
Lord.
since if you did have this
NEED…
mercy would never have been
born.
ever.

You simply ARE God.

what is it that You
ARE
that we do not
get?

Mercy # 11

choosing revenge
over mercy
is something that even You
have not chosen
to do,
Lord.

what is it that You
know
that we do not?

Mercy # 10

there is always a cost
attached
to mercy...

mercy given
costs the giver
any pleasure
that might be gotten thru
revenge...

mercy withheld
costs the withholder
any chance of
looking like You,
Lord.

is it possible to follow
You
without bleeding out mercy
everywhere?

is this why
it is so difficult to
follow You
for very long at all,
Lord?

Mercy (& Faith) #9 (Luke 8:9-14)

mercy
notices
the small things...
the little people...

mercy
honors the weak
people...
the over-looked
ones
by shouting
forgiveness into the
face of blind
hatred & contempt

mercy believes
that You notice
all this...
am i right,
Lord?

Mercy (& Faith) #8 (Luke 8:9-14)

mercy
can breed faith
in those who
receive it...but
not always.

yet...mercy
never grows without
faith
to sink its
roots into...

is this why
You told us
that if we show mercy
we will receive it
from you, Lord?

is this why
You taught us to pray
"forgive us our sins
in the same way
we forgive those
who sin against us,"
Lord?

Mercy #7

mercy
honors desperation
along with the faith
born in that dark crucible.

we fool ourselves when we see
faith & mercy
as being born in a palace
worthy of heaven’s
glory…

in Your heart You carried
all mercy
so when You heard:
“Remember me,
when You come into
Your kingdom,”
You recognized the
desperate faith
that was beginning to grow
in the dying thief.

You did remember him…
isn’t that right,
Lord?

is he with You now?

Mercy #6 (Luke 8:9-14)

mercy
burns huge mountains of
faith
like a jet burns fuel
on take-off…

You told us
to withhold revenge
to deal in kindness
to bend our own backs
so that others might be served…

THEN You showed us
how to do mercy
by the life You led…
by the blood You shed…
even
in the anger You showed.

always You depended on
Your Abba’s protection
even
when He withheld it.

what is it that You
know that we don't,
Lord?

Mercy #5 (Luke 8:9-14)

to offer mercy
takes enormous
faith…

to dole out forgiveness…
to NOT
punish those who
deserve it
requires a reckless faith...
kinda like stepping out
of the boat onto the
water...
to meet You.

is it true that
we meet You
each time
we walk toward mercy,
Lord?

Mercy #4 (Luke 8:9-14)

receiving mercy
means that we must trust
the one
who
offers it.

to give mercy
by definition means
that we must offer
to an untrustworthy person
the precious gift
of the one thing they
do not deserve...
a clean start...
a re-do...
a reboot.

is that why
there is so little
real mercy given out...
and received,
Lord?

Mercy #3 (Luke 8:9-14)

what makes
mercy
so hard to receive
is that
we know what we
deserve…
we can’t believe that any
sane person
would forgive us for free…
with no strings
attached

there MUST be a catch…
right?

are we really
that mis-trusting,
Lord?

Mercy #2 (Luke 8:9-14)

what makes
mercy
so hard to give out
is that it can
only
go to those
who do not deserve it
and
those who will most likely not
appreciate it.

isn’t that right,
Lord?

Mercy #1 (Luke 8:9-14)

mercy
is what we need…

mercy
is what we are afraid
to ask for
feeling we might
be turned down

mercy
is very hard to give out
since
you usually get nothing
in return…

isn’t that right,
Lord?

Fraud (Luke 13:10-22)

we are indeed frauds,
Lord,
when we stand in judgment
against
Your Grace
Your Patience
Your Mercy.

You give us all
a lot of room
to live in...
You give us enough
room to damn ourselves
should we choose to do so...

for us to deny this
to others
is a fraud of
the highest magnitude.

forgive my own fraud, Lord...
teach me how to live
defrauding
no one of mercy.

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!

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)

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?