poems2004a

1. See Results!
2. He Used You
3. Two-way Call 
4. On This Rock
5. It's Not About You!
6. You Have to Open It!
7. You Can’t Just Add Jesus
8. Fans and Disciples
9. And Some Believed Not
10. There's no Pleasing Some...Pharisees
11. We Walk in Hope
12. Dissecting  Hope
13. This Corruptible
14. To Step from Earth
15. God Bargains
16.  Winter's Last Gasp

I don't know whether expectations of instant results are a modern malady. I do know that such expectations are not Biblical. It is no accident that Jesus used the parable of the Sower, or that Paul talked about some who plant and others who water. Seedtime and harvest still cannot be hurried. Growth takes time.

See Results!

 We want everything to be
like Aaron's rod:
leaves, blossoms, and almonds--
overnight.

 We want the spiritual equivalent
of info-mercial promises
for weight loss and muscle gain.

 We expect a 1:1 result ratio:
answer to prayer;
conversion to conversation. 

 Waiting?
Waiting?
We shrink from the lessons learned
in waiting.
We want to see results.

 lori fiechter
June 12, 2004

He Used You

(Isaiah 50:2, Ecclesiastes 4:9,10, I Thess. 5:14) 

I prayed, "Draw me closer,
shake the dust from my soul."
Nothing happened;
I felt a long way from that goal.

I was looking within;
God was working without.
He used you to remind me
what this life's all about.

He used you as the vessel
to get through to me;
He used you as the lens
through which I could see.

He used you--and I thank Him--
Now I pray He'll use me.

lori fiechter
5-28-04

Although we think of God calling us to repentance or service, the call is really a two-way street. Have we called on Him?  Have we said "Here am I" to His call (as did Samuel, and Isaiah, and Ananias)? 

Two-way Call 

Acts 2:21

He's calling you;
Will you draw near?
At least, get close enough
so you can hear
what He is saying
and then call back to Him,
"Lord, Here am I."

You have been called,
Why won't you answer?
You have been called,
What do you fear?

All He wants
is all of you;
To make you His;
To make you new;
Oh, the plans He has for you!
If you will answer...

lori fiechter
6-03-04

On This Rock

(Deut. 33:27, Jude 24)

 On this rock,
with waves crashing,
I'm surrounded by storms
and hungry-mouthed creatures
with devilish forms.

On this rock,
I am standing,
gripping toes, holding fast,
but the island is shrinking
and my spirits are sinking,
and I cannot help thinking,
"How long can I last?"

On this rock,
if my eyes were but opened to see--
the invisible arms that are underneath me!
He will not let me fall;
I can lean upon Him;
He will not let me drown
even though I can't swim.

On this rock, I will stand
To this Rock, I will cling
And I will not lose heart.
I will hold on--and sing!
I will stand on this rock
And I’ll sing!

lori fiechter
5-28-04

It's Not About You!

 Step outside of yourself,
It's not all about you;
cut that skin on your own little
self-contained world.

Cut that skin and climb out--
see how small you'd become
in your miniature house
with its minuscule rooms?
And your God was small, too,
He was all about You--
helping you with your own little problems and plans. 
And of course, He was faithful;
of course He was true.

But what about His plans?
Have you asked Him that lately?
Asked how you could  help--without credit or thanks;
without recognition or pats on the back--
to bring glory to Him,
to bring honor to Him
to do something for Him that was outside of you?

So step back, let Him lead,
and just see what can happen.
For it's not about you,
it's much bigger than that,
It's not about how you've let God
fit into your life;
It's all about how you fit into His.

lori fiechter
5-4-04

This poem is tongue-in-cheek. I looked over my grubby, once-white Bible (given to me in 1971 by my mom and dad; looks like Dad's writing on the flyleaf). Threads are peeling away at the edge of the binding, it easily lies flat, no matter where you open it; it is heavily marked with occasional notes jotted it. It's not just a Bible; it's MY bible.

You Have to Open It!

 I have a pristine Bible,
circa 1971;
the pages are somewhat yellowed
but crisp with nearly uncut edges.

If I were selling it on Ebay,
I'd call it "like new".
But I'd never part with
my dearest possession, never.

It gives me such comfort,
just seeing it resting (closed)
on my nightstand.

It is not like some of the Bibles I've seen:
dog-eared, bindings cracked and split--
Disgraceful!

I don't know what these people do
that their Bibles are in such a state.
(Perhaps they actually read them?)

Well, I take better care of God's word than that.
I admire it lovingly and dust it weekly.
I give It the place of honor on my
nightstand;
(just not the place of honor in my heart).

lori fiechter
5-21-04

It never worked in the Old Testament times when the Israelites would try to just add the Creator God to the idol gods of the land.  We can't just add Jesus to our unredeemed lives, either. Something more than addition is needed.

You Can’t Just Add Jesus

You can't just add Jesus
to the pie chart of your life,
nor add God to all your little gods.

Christianity is not about you adding God;
It's about God adopting you,
turning you into His child.
He takes the "old" you
with all your unregenerate
desires, motives, and deeds
and makes a "new" you, 
A "you" that is being
daily aligned to God's purpose and plan,
daily transformed into His image,
thought by thought
and habit by habit.

Did you think this was a simple room addition?
It's not; it's demolition down to the foundation
and then a slow rebuilding.
It's not tacking on another chapter to your book
but doing a complete rewrite.
It's not a botox treatment, but a heart transplant.

You can't just add Jesus to your life;
You have to lose your life to Him
so that He can redeem it
and give you a better life,
a better house for Him
to call home.

lori fiechter
5-20-04

fan: an enthusiastic devotee, usually as a spectator.
disciple: a pupil or follower of another

Fans and Disciples

This Jesus--Who is He?
What do you think of HIm?
Do you love Him or just admire Him?
Would you follow Him anywhere?

Are you a disciple or just a fan?
It's easy to be a fan,
there's not much sacrifice required.

This Jesus--what does He think of you?
Is He a familiar presence in your home
or just the dusty hero of that thick,
neglected book on your nightstand?
You've never really read that Book
because it feels safer not to know too much;
you might lose yourself--
lose your heart and soul and will--
to that Hero
who is not so old and dusty after all.

lori fiechter
5-7-04

Are you among those who have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back? 
That is the great dividing line and always has been.

And Some Believed Not

(Acts 28: 24; Acts 17:32)

 The message is spoken,
the gospel presented;
Some will hear it again,
Some have heard quite enough.
Without the catalyst, faith,
There can be no reaction,
and no transformation,
it's just foolishness.

Ears refusing to hear,
They will snatch up a lie,
There is Truth, right before them
But they just walk on by.
They will run after darkness,
stumble on in the darkness,
sneaking sly through the darkness,
so afraid of the light.

But some catch the scent--
the fragrance of Jesus,
they drop all their belongings,
and run after Him,
There is something refreshing, compelling, inviting,
They come and they follow,
all the way to the end.

lori fiechter
5-13-04

We can't make our own God--or Messiah. 
We can't take the parts of Jesus that we like and disregard the parts we don't like. It's all or nothing.  

There's no Pleasing Some...Pharisees

(Luke 7:30-35)

Nazarene--
You're not what we expected--
or wanted--at all.
Why couldn't You be more like us?
Not like John the Baptist,
all lo-carb and locusts
an ascetic desert-dweller
in that scratchy old cloak;

But not like this!

--Eating and drinking with all the
worst sinners,
acknowledging women,
fishermen as your followers!

No, You're not what we wanted;
You look down on us,
You don't give us the respect
our position deserves.
You are not the sort
we'd imagined or pictured,
not the Messiah we looked for,
not the Messiah we need.

So we'll wait for another,
a better Messiah,
or we'll manage without one
we've done nicely without one.
so we'll wait for the right one
or for no one, You see?

lori fiechter
5-14-04

We Walk in Hope

We don't know how long the road is;
We just walk it to the end.
We keep on walking expectantly,
heads up,
walking in hope.

We do not sit down in protest
because our feet are sore;
We do not get sidetracked by
better-traveled roads;
We do not look back.

We are on the right road
and so we walk it
with joyful anticipation
and quiet confidence
and stedfast assurance.
We walk this road in hope,
And we will walk it to the end.

lori fiechter
4-30-04

Dissecting  Hope

I have my scalpel, scissors, and probe,
My magnifying glass and tweezers.
I cut and probe and examine,
but it is no longer hope--
this dead, cold thing on a slab.
Hope must be alive to be hope
and it must be unseen.
How can you dissect the
longing that reaches ahead,
the dormant promise within a seed?
You cannot.
You can only hold on in faith.
Hope knows that this story's ending
will be good,
because God wrote it
and He is good.
And so hope will rest in Him
and work through Him
and wait patiently for Him.
Hope will keep on hoping.

lori fiechter
4-30-04

This Corruptible

(I Corinthians 15)

This corruptible waits,
anticipates,
Waits for the trumpet
that changes everything.
This weary heart listens
and allows itself to dream
the "what if's".
What if today
the gears will mesh,
the clock strikes midnight,
the time is fulfulled?
One nod of Father to Son,
A shout to raise the dead
and snatch the living--
all those who answered His first call
now answer His second.
Vile bodies changed to glorious ones and
weakness transformed to power.
And so,
This corruptible waits.
This burdened tabernacle groans,
longing for home. 
This mortal cries,
Come, Lord Jesus!
But if You do not come today,
We will not stop looking for You.

lori fiechter 5-1-04

To Step from Earth

This musical, melodic ache,
gazing at bright clouds
and wanting the sky to 
rend itself into a road for Him.
How will it be to
step from earth to sky to heaven,
To feel that clean energy
that transforms my every cell?
To bid goodbye to clouded vision
and myriad cares
and most of all--
goodbye to every vestige of sin?
And then,
Hello to Heaven,
Hello to Him.
Oh, the fearful joy
of meeting my Redeemer,
to be recognized by Him
and purified by Him
and welcomed by Him.
Ah, Lord,
I will never be truly ready;
but I will always be willing.

lori fiechter
5-1-04

God Bargains

 They are God bargains,
desperate vows,
panicky princess promises
to the golden ball retriever.
"Get me through this and I'll serve You."

But there are reasons enough
to serve Him now:
life and breath and meaning
and hope beyond the grave.

They are God bargains,
 pitiful pleadings
and yet such attitudes of
humility and dependence
pave the way for grace.
It is no God bargain,
no bargain at all,
just an unrecognized gift
from a generous Giver.

lori fiechter
3-16-04

It will not last. That is the difference between a snow storm here in late March and one in early January: hope.

 Winter's Last Gasp

 This is no January storm;
This snow will pass;
It cannot last.
It is forecast to melt--and rapidly.

So blow, snow.
You cannot depress me now.
Oh, blow and howl and blast
(ridiculous bombast)
You will not last much past tomorrow.

This is no January sun;
There is more warmth and heat
and lengthening of hours.
The apple buds and tulip shoots
can wait a little longer,
can rest a little longer,
but they will waken.

So blow, snow.
Give us a one-man, one-day show--
over-acted and underfunded.
Next week's marquee reads
"Spring".