Monthly Archives: December 2021

“Real”

Posted on December 30, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real”and “because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to every one.”
…the quotes are from the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

This Christmas I was reminded of the book The Velveteen Rabbit, first published in 1922, and discovered the quotes above woven into it’s tender story.  I know it’s not a perfect comparison but I saw a likeness to how God becomes real to His children and how in that relationship those children become real.  “It’s a thing that happens to you…because he loved you.”  The notable thing that caught my attention is that the caps in both quotes are not mine, they are the authors. Those capitals are the gift that pointed my mind to these other timeless Words that are a “Real” check about ”Real” love.

o you are a teacher of Israel,” said Jesus, and you do not recognise such things? I assure you that we are talking about something we really know and we are witnessing to something we have actually observed, yet men like you will not accept our evidence. Yet if I have spoken to you about things which happen on this earth and you will not believe me, what chance is there that you will believe me if I tell you about what happens in Heaven? No one has ever been up to Heaven except the Son of Man who came down from Heaven. The Son of Man must be lifted above the heads of men—as Moses lifted up that serpent in the desert—so that any man who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that every one who believes in him shall not be lost, but should have eternal life. You must understand that God has not sent his Son into the world to pass sentence upon it, but to save it—through him. Any man who believes in him is not judged at all. It is the one who will not believe who stands already condemned, because he will not believe in the character of God’s only Son. This is the judgment—that light has entered the world and men have preferred darkness to light because their deeds are evil. Anybody who does wrong hates the light and keeps away from it, for fear his deeds may be exposed.  But anybody who is living by the truth will come to the light to make it plain that all he has done has been done through God.”              John 3:16-21 J.B. Phillips NT

 

 

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Posted in John, New Testament, Reality

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To Put the World Right Again

Posted on December 26, 2021 | Leave a comment

He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3:16-18 MSG

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Posted in John, New Testament, Stand Alone Scripture, Sunday

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Merry Christmas from Shirle, 2021

Posted on December 23, 2021 | Leave a comment

God is still offering this world His annual reminder to celebrate Christ’s   birth, even disguised by what we call the chaos of Christmas.  This year in the midst of my very different kind of personal chaos I have been reminded that first Christmas was disguised by chaos too!  People lived in a world where harsh circumstances became the evidence they mistakenly used to form their judgments about God and each other.  They lived as separate pieces of chaos with no connection to one another.  Sound familiar?  But…then The Gift of Connection happened.

 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called  “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Jesus is The Gift of Connection!  He is the real Gift sent to us with God’s divine expectations…hoping we would recognize…and receive…the one Gift that could reclaim chaos.  The Gift that could connect old Words and Light to overcome darkness. The Gift that would find, and custom-fit, the unrelated shapes, mismatched patterns and varied colors of chaos together to become a perfectly designed whole cloth; every piece connected in just the right spot, at just the right time to become part of something eye catching and unique.

This Christmas, 2021, God still persists in reminding the world he chooses to make whole cloth from pieces of chaos so the world might see how the many parts of His Body and His church can fit together to become proof that His character and promises are made visible by The Gift of Connection and His perfection. Amen!

“All the persons of faith I know are sinners, doubters, uneven performers. We are secure not because we are sure of ourselves but because we trust that God is sure of us.” ― Eugene Peterson 

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Posted in Christmas Day, Isaiah, Old Testament, Remember

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Poetry by the Book Finale – Galatians 6:11-18

Posted on December 22, 2021 | Leave a comment

Poetry: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style, rhythm and structure.a

See with what LARGE letters
I am writing to you with my own hand —
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
BE WITH YOUR SPIRIT, BRETHREN.
I bear on my body the marks of Jesus
by which[through whom]
the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
HENCEFORTH LET NO MAN TROUBLE ME.
FAR BE IT FROM ME TO GLORY
EXCEPT IN THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
PEACE AND MERCY BE UPON ALL WHO WALK BY THIS RULE.

Those who want to make a good showing in the flesh
would compel you to be circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh.
They desire to have you circumcised
in order that they may not be persecuted
for the cross of Christ.
NEITHER CIRCUMCISION
COUNTS FOR ANYTHING
NOR UNCIRCUMCISION
BUT A NEW CREATION!
AMEN!

a My poetry structure was created from the RSV Bible using sentences and phrases verbatim.

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Poetry by the Book – Galatians 6:1-10

Posted on December 19, 2021 | Leave a comment

Poetry: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style, rhythm and structure.a 


Brethren,
bear one another’s burdens
and so fulfil the law of Christ.
He who sows to the Spirit
will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
So then,
as we have opportunity,
let him who is taught the word share all good things
with him who teaches.
Let us do good to all men,
and especially
to those who are of the household of faith.

God is not mocked!
Whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap.
He who sows to his own flesh
will from the flesh reap corruption.
If any one thinks he is something,
when he is nothing,
he deceives himself.

Do not be deceived.
Look to yourself,
lest you too be tempted.
Let each one test his own work.
Each man will have to bear his own load,
then his reason to boast will be in himself alone
and not in his neighbor.
Let us not grow weary in well-doing,
for in due season we shall reap,
if we do not lose heart.

a My poetry structure was created from the RSV Bible using sentences and phrases verbatim.

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Poetry by the Book – Galatians 5:16-26

Posted on December 15, 2021 | Leave a comment

Poetry: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style, rhythm and structure.a 


Walk by the Spirit!
The desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.
The fruit of the Spirit is:
love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control;
against such there is no law.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires.

The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit,
Do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
The works of the flesh are plain:
fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger,
selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy,
drunkenness, carousing, and the like.

These are opposed to each other
to prevent you from doing what you would.
Have no self-conceit!
If we live by the Spirit,
let us also walk by the Spirit;
no provoking of one another,
no envy of one another!
If you are led by the Spirit,
you are not under the law.

a My poetry structure was created from the RSV Bible using sentences and phrases verbatim.

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Poetry by the Book – Galatians 5:1-15

Posted on December 12, 2021 | Leave a comment

Poetry: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style, rhythm and structure.a

You were running well!
Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
If you receive circumcision,
you who would be justified by the law,
you have fallen away from grace.
You are severed from Christ!
Christ will be of no advantage to you.
I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves!
He who is troubling you will bear his judgment,
whoever he is.
But if you bite and devour one another,
take heed that you are not consumed by one another.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail.
Every man who receives circumcision
is bound to keep the whole law.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
In that case
why am I still persecuted?
The stumbling block of the cross has been removed
if I, brethren, still preach circumcision.

I have confidence in the Lord
that you will take no other view than mine.
For freedom Christ has set us free.
We wait for the hope of righteousness,
through the Spirit, by faith;
faith working[made effective] through love.
You were called to freedom, brethren.
Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
Through love be servants of one another.
The whole law is fulfilled in one word—
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

a My poetry structure was created from the RSV Bible using sentences and phrases verbatim.

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Poetry by the Book – Galatians 4:21-31

Posted on December 8, 2021 | Leave a comment

Poetry: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style, rhythm and structure.a


This is an allegory.
These women are two covenants.

For it is written…
Abraham had two sons;
one by a slave,
born according to the flesh
and one by a free woman,
through promise.
At that time he who was born according to the flesh
persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit,

Hagar,
is Mount Sinai,
she corresponds to the present Jerusalem.
She is in slavery with her children,
bearing children for slavery.
The children of the desolate one are many more
than the children of her that is married. 

It is written…
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and shout, you who are not in travail.
We are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
She is our mother!
The Jerusalem
above
is free.

Tell me
do you not hear the law,
you who desire to be under law?
The son of the slave shall not inherit
with the son of the free woman.
We, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.
So it is now. 

a My poetry structure was created from the RSV Bible using sentences and phrases verbatim.

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Poetry by the Book – Galatians 4:8-20

Posted on December 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

Poetry: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style, rhythm and structure.a


Brethren, I beseech you.
Become as I am, for I also have become as you are.
I bear you witness,
I preached the gospel to you at first
because of a bodily ailment.
My condition was a trial to you.
You did not scorn or despise me.
You did me no wrong,
but received me as an angel of God,
as Christ Jesus.
You know
you would have plucked out your eyes
and given them to me
if possible.

Formerly, when you did not know God,
you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods,
the weak and beggarly elemental spirits,
whose slaves you want to be once more.
I am perplexed about you!
What has become of the satisfaction you felt?
You observe days, and months, and seasons, and years!
Have I then become your enemy
by by telling you the truth?
I am afraid I have labored over you in vain.
They (the Judaizers) make much of you,
but for no good purpose.

You have come to know God,
or rather to be known by God,
for a good purpose.
It is always good to be made much of
and not only when I am present with you.
My little children,
until Christ be formed in you,
I am again in travail!

a My poetry structure was created from the RSV Bible using sentences and phrases verbatim.

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Poetry by the Book – Galatians 4:1-7

Posted on December 1, 2021 | Leave a comment

Poetry: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style, rhythm and structure.a

The heir,
the owner of all the estate,
is no better than a slave
as long as he is a child.
Until the date set by the father,
he is under guardians and trustees.

 So with us!
We were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe
when we were children.
But when the time had fully come,
God sent forth his Son,
born of woman,
born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law.

God has sent the Spirit of his Son
so that we might receive adoption as sons.
So through God,
crying, “Abba! Father!”
into our hearts,
you are no longer a slave
because you are sons.
And if a son then an heir!

a My structure was created from the RSV Bible using verbatim sentences and phrases.

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