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- I did not Dread
- Run with Shepherds
- The Babe and Dragon-Slayer
- Something Unpleasant
- Ask How I Am--poem for a wretched week
- This Gift is not for Hiding
- Billy Doubts Gruff
- Small
- And Then We Die
- Led
- All Mine
- Pale Comparison
Have you ever dreaded something
only to find that the reality was not half so bad as the fear? Or perhaps, occasionally,
the reality was actually worse. Have you ever been justly punished or
reprimanded or admonished--receiving what you honestly deserved? Then you've had a
taste of condemnation and sentencing, a taste of righteous justice. The taste is not
sweet.
The reality is that, right now,
you are living under either God's righteous wrath or His benevolent mercy, under Law or
Grace. You are either guilty and forgiven (by the effect of Jesus' blood which takes
away your sin) or you are guilty and condemned. You think you'll try looking for
another way? Salvation by doing good works or by displaying a modicum of
human decency? Salvation by happy accident? By default? No. You cannot save yourself. Only
a fool would try.
And such a fool would die in his sins. (See John 8:24)
I did not Dread
(Hebrews 2:1-3; Hebrews 3:15; Psalm 103:13-17; Habbakkuk 3:2)
I did not dread it half enough--
the wrath that was to come.
I knew I hadn't measured up,
I knew what I had done.
But judgment fell, most swift and sure,
a judgment I could not endure.
Is it too late for mercy now,
too late for grace, all-undeserved?
I offer no excuses,
I am ashamed to speak.
I beg for time, another chance,
You know my frame is weak.
I beg today while there is time;
Today I seek Your face;
In wrath, remember mercy, Lord;
I fall upon Thy grace.
11-20-04
Oh, to share that feeling of bursting joy that the shepherds must have felt!
Run with Shepherds
(Luke 2:15,16)
Run with shepherds;
See the Savior;
Worship Jesus;
Find the Babe.
Run with shepherds;
Spread the tidings:
Christ has come
at last to save!
Run with shepherds;
"We have seen Him!
Come with us and
meet Him, too!
Such great joy
must not be secret--
Run with us and
share the news."
lori fiechter
12-18-04
If "Christmas" means "Christ-sent", then I
am waiting for that second Christmas, when He is sent again. Are you?
(Romans 8:21;
Revelation 20 & 21)
He will return as Warrior-King,
And in between the manger and the throne,
we find the pivot of the Cross.
Small as a manger,
Sweet and harmless as a babe?
Would you keep Him on the Cross,
bleeding, weak, and wounded?
The world needed the Babe
and the dying Savior;
The world also needs the risen, conquering King
to slay the Dragon--
all the dragons;
To lift the Curse and
To trample death and sin,
To refresh this tired earth
and make it new again.
a final, glorious Christmas;
and I can hardly wait.
12-18-04
from John 12:43 "For they
loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."
I Corinthians 4:10 "We are
fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak,
but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised."
Something Unpleasant
"I want you to do something for Me."
--Anything, Lord! I would lay
down
my life for You.
"I'm not asking that of you, not
now.
I just want you to do something--unpleasant--for Me."
--Unpleasant?
"Yes. People will misunderstand
and criticize you,
accusing you of false motives.
Some of those you consider friends
will malign you behind your back.
Are you willing?"
--Lord, You know I love You.
I would lay down my life for You. But--
"I see. I will ask someone else."
lori fiechter
11-20-04
It is so good to read God's
word and get an eternal perspective on life. It is so good to know that God changes
not, that His mercy endureth forever. And sometimes, it is good to be reminded that this
life is fleeting--that it is only the unseen things that are eternal.
Ask How I Am--poem for a wretched week
I am fine;
Jesus' blood still
covers all my sins, and so
I have no fear of Judgment Day.
He is still my Rock,
my Strength, my Hope.
I can face tomorrow.
Jesus is my center, and
my center holds firm.
Ask me how I am--
I am fine.
how my week was.
Away from the center,
the winds were fierce.
I was knocked down,
wounded, humiliated.
It was a week most un-fine.
I survived.
My ego got battered,
but the rest of me is intact.
Now what?
I can mend my bruised and shattered ego
or I can try to live without it
and stay broken
in His strength.
11-20-04
Jesus did not commend the servant
who hid his gift; He did not praise him for his prudence or humility. Whether you
see the talent in this parable as money or a spiritual gift, you are not glorifying God by
hoarding it and hiding it away.
It is not humility to leave a gift unwrapped and unused.
thou art an austere man.
I was afraid--afraid to risk anything,
Afraid to lose the little
(only one talent!)
that I was given.
I hid it.
Here it is--intact, smelling slightly of dirt,
but untouched.
I was afraid to use it,
afraid to lose it.
(It was only one talent.)
So I kept it safe and hidden.
No one knew I had it.
Your gift--your investment--was my secret.
No one ever knew.
11-20-04
Mat 25:24 Then he which
had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard
man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
One word in my morning devotional jumped out at me "unsettled". From that, this:
Billy Doubts Gruff
The first doubt tiptoes through my mind, silent and stealthy.
I heard nothing, really.
But I am uneasy, unsettled and ask,
What was that?
--Nothing. It is nothing.
The first returns with a heavier companion,
and the two go trip-trapping boldly.
I feel these footsteps and call out timidly,
"Who goes there?"
--Why, it's just us--two wee, little harmless doubts;
Let us pass.
I let them go and breathe again, relieved.
Appeasement worked.
When the third doubt arrives--
large, menacing and confident--
I am startled into action.
I do not wait for it
to lower its head and toss me on its horns.
I do not confront it.
I do not question its right to my bridge.
I flee.
It chases me.
I run faster.
It gains on me.
Then I--
Why can't I wake up?
lori fiechter
11-13-04
Small
(I Samuel 15:17; Romans 12:3; Philippians 3:14)
Help me, Lord, to be
small in my own eyes.
Small, like the ant.
Ants do not belittle themselves,
chanting,
"I think I'm small; I think I'm small"
Only a Disneyfied-ant
would muse over its own smallness.
Ants just keep on working together,
pressing toward the goal, together,
Each ant with its own task,
according to its own talent and ability,
not fearful of the future,
not bewailing the past.
small, and pressing on,
with good cheer and confidence.
Help me,Lord,
to be small
like that.
lori fiechter
10-23-04
Aren't you glad you have Jesus as your Savior? Don't you wish
everyone did?
But will mere wishing make anyone choose to serve Him? We dare not
ask; we dare not offend.
We will politely allow people to blindly choose Hell by default.
Philippians
2:10; Acts 17: 26-31; Hebrews 4:7
We breathe and smile,
work and weep and sleep,
Feel and think and
worship--something.
And then we die.
And then what?
with our Creator,
As either a stern Judge or merciful Savior.
Will He know us?
Ah, then nothing else matters!
We will go with Him
to continue thinking and feeling and living;
worshipping and fellowshipping;
joyfully bowing before His sacred head and
wounded hands.
"I know you not"?
Then nothing else matters:
not our reputation or bank account,
not our philanthropy or philosophy
or dusty trophies.
We will continue thinking and feeling
and suffering,
Apart from Jesus, forever.
Apart from everything good and lovely
and pure and honest.
Alone among billions.
Alone with our endless regrets.
Alone.
Alone.
10-22-04
by [that] man whom he hath ordained;
[whereof] he hath given assurance unto all [men], in that he hath raised him from the
dead.
Led
(Isaiah 30:21; Mark 8:23; Romans 8:14)
Forgive me, Lord--
For all the times that
You would lead me
and I chose not to be led;
When You pointed out
Your path to me
and I took my own instead.
How it must have grieved
Your Spirit
to watch me go astray,
to ignore Your gentle guidance
and insist on my own way!
When I was blind,
I let You lead me,
firmly take me by the hand;
But now, I trust my own eyes
and refuse to understand
That I will never see without You,
You must always be my Head.
I'm directionless without You--
make me willing to be led.
lori fiechter
10-21-04
All Mine
No, not yours--
It's all mine,
And I'm not sharing.
You cannot have any of it;
I've staked my claim;
I will take it.
It is all mine, and only mine.
Let go.
It is all my fault,
my mistake,
my bad.
I will take all the blame;
Pile it on.
For long ago, the faultless Son
took all my guilt and sin and shame.
He is my Savior, all mine.
And yes, yours too--
If you ask Him.
lori fiechter
10-18-04
"look full in HIs wonderful face, and the things of earth will
grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace"
(James 1:17, Romans 8;17-25, I Cor. 15; Hebrews 11:16)
and all these good gifts:
life and joy and beauty;
grace and faith and love,
will be sown and raised up
into something greater,
higher, more glorious.
We thank God for His good gifts
but we do not set our hearts on them.
This life is real indeed
but oh, so brief:
Just fading shadows, grass, and vapor.
All glories here pale next to His.
All joys here pale in comparison
with the joy of seeing His eyes
and hearing His voice.
There is another city,
with better light,
and brighter colors
than any in these
Shadowlands.
Yet a little while,
a very little while.
10-16-04