an easy death

at the end
of 33 years of following Your Abba
thru
the tangle of our sin-shattered world
our mangled lives
our broken bodies
our over-powered spirits
always giving in...to Your Abba's leading...
in word
in deed
in heart
after the dark-of-night-struggle
     with the enormous bulk of our sin-load...
after never really considering DIS-obeying
     Your Abba's lead...
after begging
     for another way
     for any other alternative...
the dying
was easy...
until the dark descended like a midnight
on Your heart & ours.
at noon.
then
the heart that always listened first
before speaking...
the soul that always watched Your Abba
for a clue before acting...
pushed thru the DARKest DARK
to offer up Your Own Spirit
to Your for--the-first-time-ever silent Abba
breaking 
the DARK.
our sin.
death.
into pieces.

our hosanna-prayer-hopes
came true.
real.
forevermore.

how hard #2...

“how hard,”
You said, “it is for a rich man
to enter YaHWeH’s kingdom.”

“the odds
are better for a camel
to get through a needle’s eye,”
You continued.

we laughed.
it was a comical image…
then
we quit laughing.
it wasn’t so funny anymore.
“Lord, who is there that CAN be saved?”
we asked.
You were quick to reply,
“God makes it possible.
there is no other way.”

really, Lord?
no OTHER way in…
than YaHWeH’s grace and mercy?
no great acts of charity can do it?

or
was that Your whole point, Lord?

at first we’d thought
You were asking the young man
to give up his money
as a sacrifice…
to earn YaHWeH’s notice…
His favor.

then
it dawned on us
that giving it ALL away
was the minimum
requirement
to join You on the road…
&
joining You, Lord,
is the ONLY way into the forever-kingdom
of YaHWeH…
the kingdom that
hums with LIFE…
full-on-LIFE!

(for the back-story
to this post...
see Mark 10:17-31)

how hard #1...

“how hard,”
You said, “it is for a rich man
to enter YaHWeH’s kingdom.”

“the odds
are better for a camel
to get through a needle’s eye,”
You continued.

we laughed.
it was a comical image…
then
we quit laughing.
it wasn’t so funny anymore.
“Lord, who is there that CAN be saved?”
we asked.
You were quick to reply,
“God makes it possible.
there is no other way.”

really, Lord?
no OTHER way in…
than YaHWeH’s grace and mercy?
no great acts of charity can do it?

or
was that Your whole point, Lord?

at first we’d thought
You were asking the young man
to give up his money
as a sacrifice…
to earn YaHWeH’s notice…
His favor.

then
it dawned on us
that giving it ALL away
was the minimum
requirement
to join You on the road…
&
joining You, Lord,
is the ONLY way into the forever-kingdom
of YaHWeH…
the kingdom that
hums with LIFE…
full-on-LIFE!

(for the back-story
to this post...
see Mark 10:17-31)

conformed #3 (Romans 8:28-31)

shaped
by YaHWeH’s Spirit to be
like You, Lord,
why…
why are we surprised
when
there is a cost
to pay?

You purchased
our lives
at a much greater cost
than ever You
ask of us.

never
have You…
never
would You
ask us to die
without Your comfort…
without Your Presence...
would You,
Lord?

conformed #2 (Romans 8:28-31)

looking
like You, Lord,
we lose
ourselves
our own will
our own freedom
so that
like You...
we will
please
our Abba-in-the-heavens
and
in pleasing Him,
fierce joy
like a flood rises
unstoppable
to drench & wash away
the blood we have
shed
for Your sake.

clean &
REALLY alive
we will rise in You,
Lord.

sacrifice #3

future joy
is what drives a person
into true
sacrifice

fierce joy
sustains each person
giving a true
sacrifice

full joy
is the pay-off
to each person
engaged in true
sacrifice

just like You, Lord,
when the joy in front of You
pulled You toward the
Darkest Dark…
You did NOT flinch…
nor
did You stop
until You had poured out all
of Yourself
for us all…

to enter into this
joy-of-sacrifice is to look
a lot more like You
than we do now,
Lord...
am i right?

sacrifice #2

conformed to the image of
His Son…
this is YaHWeH’s goal
for all of us…
for each of us…

to be like
the Son of YaHWeH
Who gave Himself
up
for us all…
Who endured everything
for us…

if He did all this
for us…just
to please His Abba…
why do we think
we can ever
NOT
sacrifice ourselves
for our brothers?
for our sisters?

how
could we even think this would
please You,
Lord…
in the slightest?

sacrifice #1

sacrifice
is NOT loss…
it is choice...

a voluntary choice
to give up ourselves
on behalf of another…
just like You did, Lord

the only loss
in this transaction
is a loss of
pride
and
self-importance…
each of which are brothers of death…

so in a sense,
death is diminished
each time we make
even the slightest sacrifice
in Your Name...
for anyone...

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?

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.

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)

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.

The Killer App

love is the "killer app"...
or at least so says
Yahoo's Chief Solutions Officer.

Lord,
long before Yahoo had an
identity,
You knew this to be
literally true...

is that why
You did what You did?