Whatever is Pure, Inspiring Christian Poetry, Devotionals and Testimonies January 2007

Ephesians 2:11 -18 (NIV)
Remember that ... you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Colossians 3:15 (NIV)
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

God's main priority in sending Jesus to Earth was to reconcile man to himself, he himself fulfilling the requirements needed in order to bring about this reconciliation, Knowing full well that outside of Him, mankind was incapable of following though on our part of the covenant forged so long ago, He became our peace broker. By his birth, life, death and resurrection, he became the doorway for mankind to enter into true unending peace with God. We were given full access to the throne room of God and his door of friendship was swung wide open. Man no longer needed to be at odds with God, the peace treaty's requirements were met through His son and we only had to agree to the terms of this new covenant and enter into his kingdom through repentance and surrender to his Lordship.

Not only did Jesus's death and resurrection offer lasting peace between man and God, his sacrifice brought the potential of the same peace between his children. As we give Christ's peace lordship over our hearts in relation to him, he asks us to extend that same offer of 'peace' to our brothers and sisters. He asks us to lay down our weapons of self-defensiveness, self-righteousness, unforgiveness and bitterness and to tear down the distrusting walls that we have built around the kingdoms of our hearts due to past hurt and offences.

Lord, we so easily embrace your offer of forgiveness and reconciliation and eagerly enter into a new relationship of peace with you but it is so hard for us to reach out to those around us who we have been at war with within our hearts. Oh, we may sit beside them at church, sit across the family dinner table from them, we may be in an uneasy truce of sorts, both sides pretending that there isn't a problem, but we know full well the wall we have built between our hearts. Give us the humble grace to reach out a hand of peace this new year. Father God, we are willing to be the first to extend the hand of peace, in true forgiveness, repentance and humbleness of heart, in order that we as members of your body obey your call to peace. We ask you to give us the courage to step forward in obedience as we go forth to seek reconciliation with those specific people you have laid on our hearts as we have prayed this prayer.

Wisdom will seek out the humility of man
Long suffering is not a weakness but a strength
Continuing those words, "I CAN"
no matter what my fate
Silently I pray
Humbly I wait.

I know God hears each cry, each word, each wound
His promises to answer come to stay
Perhaps he hasn't healed me yet and yet I believe
It is because of this he will not leave
or let me grieve
too long, or too short.

How does one exemplify the grace in Christ
A gift on high, a two--fold sword and dove
to stab us into shape to mold our love
into perfection while he waits the day
his purpose becomes prose
Silently, while we pray.

What is better than a prayer I know not
For everything we ask, he's surely got
If worldliness the aim the wait is long indeed
If love well then, he already met that need.

I humble my heart each moment of each day
the world around me fruit that slows decay
my whispers heard oh every word of thought
I pray to be like Christ when I am not
and not to me like men in every way
still yet I am so silently
I pray.

© Lisa Maria

Please email author for permission to reprint or use in any format.

May Jesus

May the Lord Jehovah grant you
a sound body, spirit, mind,
May He show you what to press toward
and what to leave behind,
May His richest blessings seek you out
and chase you down the street ~ and
May Jesus be more real to you
than anyone you meet.

May the One who loves you, favour you
and crown your home with peace,
May He fill your heart with special hope
and faith that shall not cease,
May you learn to seek His refuge first
and worship at His feet ~ and
May Jesus be more real to you
than anyone you meet.

May you always strive to please Him,
seek His face before His hands,
May you hunger for His wisdom
that no mortal understands,
May He fill your rooms with love and joy
until they overflow - and
May Jesus be more real to you
than anyone you know.

May the things you lay your hands to
tend to prosper and succeed,
May it please Him to fulfill your dreams
and meet your every need,
May He satisfy your soul's desires
until you crave Him so ~ and
May Jesus be more near to you,
more clear to you,
more cheer to you...
May Jesus be more dear to you
than anyone you know.

In the twilight of the evening, I wonder where the day has gone.
Did I find its full potential with the rising of the sun?
When I yawned and closed my eyes in the midday's burning heat,
Did my body need the rest while the hours skipped a beat?
Did the loss of those few minutes cause the day to go awry?
Did I need to gain them back again? Should I have even tried?
When the dark turns then to midnight and my hours all expire,
Will they be renewed again as another day transpires?
These are things we'll never know until they come about
For no promises were made for the time we try to count.
As the tides go in and out, so our lives will ebb and flow
and the number of our days only God can ever know!

NKJV Psa 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

NIV Ezekiel 36:26
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

NIV 18 :31
Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.

How often I pray for a new heart!

The good news is …God is in the heart transplant business. He takes my stony, hard heart and replaces it with a strong, soft heart that beats for our Lord and His works.. When an earthly heart transplant takes place, the person receiving it has the choice to begin life anew, cherish their new heart, exercising and eating well, learning a totally new way of living.

Those who have had to have a heart transplant after a life of unhealthy eating, sedentary life style, lack of rest and too much stress have to make radical life changes or they will only damage the new heart. They are on a strict regiment of anti-rejection drugs and vitamins for the rest of their life.

Those who have lived with a diseased heart because of hereditary factors or illness have to deal with the same factors plus the added challenge, that of using their new heart to the full. No more do they have to restrict their activity out of fear of overtaxing an already weakened organ. They are encouraged to take advantage of the new world their new heart provides them. Life abundantly.

Isn't that the way with our walk with God? He gives us a new heart. No strings attached. He paid the price, covered our medical bills and blesses us with new life. How do we treat that new heart? Do we continue in our old ways? Abusing our gift by eating our fill of spiritual artery clogging anger, resentment and bitterness? Are we feeding ourselves the junk food of too much television, too many distractions and not enough of God's healthy diet of bible reading, fellowship and prayer? Are we holding back in fear, not worshiping him with our whole heart out of fear that the strain would be too much? Do we still live in the mentality of holding back out of a sense of caution?

Let us worship our God with our whole heart; let us love our God with our whole heart. Let us serve Him, live with Him and His people with our heart. Let us live abundantly, running the good race, confident that the heart He gave us will see us through to the very end if we follow the prescription he set before us at the time of our 'heart transplant'. May we be like David who danced with all his might before the Lord, with no fear that it would be 'too much for him to handle'. Let us enjoy the new life and new opportunities this heart gives us. The second chance and perhaps the third or even fourth chance to be alive, truly alive. Active, vibrant, glowing, robust and energizing.

Don't we as earthly gift-givers rejoice when we see a gift that we have given is used to it's fullest potential by the recipient? How more so our Heavenly Father must rejoice when we fully utilize and rightfully treat the heart that he paid such a sacrifice in order for us to receive it.

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