Cry from the clay

A thousand sins, painfully written
On my heart, my soul is stricken
I heartily long for You to stay
And wash, these wretched sins away

Make me new as the morn,
Please mend my heart; as it is torn.
Catch my tears as they fall,
I know You see and number them all.

When at last my soul is free
O, dear Lord Your praise will fly from me
A new life has been given
Pray I, my God, my soul be wholly smitten

Visions of Thee

Loosen the bonds that hold me back from Thee, O Lord
That I may fly into Thy waiting arms.
The view from atop my tiny thimble is nothing, O Lord
Compared to the mountain tops you call me to.
You, O God, are my Strength, my Hope, my Home
You, Father, cradle me to Your bosom when I need comfort.
Leave me not to my own devices, my own dreams, but show me my place, Beloved

In Your bigger picture.
Though my heart is wounded, weary, and scared
You, my King, long for it.
O God, my God, how You pine for me!
I am a terrible lover in that I am prone to chase after others
All the while I leave behind, You, O Faithful One.
The One who bled for me, died for me, and rose for me.

For this, Redeemer and Friend, I confess a thousand times,
I have not loved as You love, nay, not even close.
I have not sung Your praises loudly enough, frequently enough
Though 'tis a lovely melody indeed, my Rock.
Undeserving as I am, Savior, I ask that You continue to devastate me.
Make my heart, Your dwelling place, abide in me.
In deed, Beautiful One, be Thou my vision.

Am I too heavy for you?

I was sitting here in my blue chair, singing, reading Scripture, and sipping coffee when I decided to take another stroll down memory lane, and read some old poetry and songs I wrote way back when. There were poems from ten years ago, but the one I'm about to share was written on 7/10/2003. I'm thinking the title may need some tweaking, but the original inspiration was one of my favorite songs written/performed by Mitch McVicker; called "Deeper In Love".

Soaring on Wings of Grace

Once I was trapped, shackled by my sins; life was not worth living.
Then I heard Your voice calling to me,
bidding me to make the leap of faith into Your waiting arms.
Satan and His minions mocked me, saying,
"Your Prince will never come through"
I turned to You and saw mercy and sweet forgiveness in Your eyes.
With that, I jumped...my only words being,
"Lord, I have nothing left to lose, and all of You to gain, so please...catch me as I fall deeper in love with You."

I wrote this early in my relationship with Christ...and now I find myself praying, "Lord, don't drop me."

(PS: I'm aware that the title of this post may have lead you to believe the post was going to be about something else entirely...please know that that was purposeful/for my own amusement).

Join with all nature in manifold witness...

As I was cleaning my apartment, I found this poem I'd written under a pile of papers. It was written on May 9th of this year. I make no promises about the grammatical correctness of this poem.

Come

From the darkness came the voice of my Beloved. he wooes me gently with soft words and loving-kindness.
Strong and steady as a mountain is His love for me
Nothing and no one will tear me from my Beloved's arms
I am my Beloved's, and He is mine.

He adorns me in righteousness, because of Him, I am beautiful.
Sheltered by His never ending grace, I know no fear and no want.
Minions of the evil one cannot harm me
I am my Beloved's, and He is mine

Patient, kind and unselfish is His love, I am the apple of His eye.
Though I flit and run into the arms of others, my Beloved remains;
great is His faithfulness.
Each day He awakens me, that I may know His mercy in a new way
Battered & bruised, broken & scorned, I came to Him. He has made me new.
I am my Beloved's, and He is mine.

jl