Category: Poetry

Abide My Love, Dance With Me

Last night, I attended an “Ask the Author” event with my Writing Group.  It was different in that it was setup like more of a poetry workshop.  We were given several handouts of bible verses, and we had to pick one.  I decided to use John 15, since this particular chapter on love and abiding seems to be the theme of the last two weeks for me.  God has definitely been speaking through that chapter.  The poem below is what I came up with last night.  I added a few more words this afternoon.  It tells the journey of how God had me to relearn what love is after being in an emotionally abusive marriage for 20 years.

abuse, love, healing, trauma
Photo by Burst-Brodie Vissers

My breakthrough came when I heard a message by Joyce Meyer, stating that in order to heal from abuse, we need to study as many bible verses on love as possible.  Romans 8, seemed to tear me up the most.  After studying about God’s love for a while, he allowed me to feel it.  I was so overwhelming, that I was almost knocked off my feet.  God never does anything halfheartedly.  The reckless love that God showed me cannot be put into words.  Sometimes, I would praise dance, and pretend as if I was a tree, and his love would take over.

abuse, love, healing, trauma
Photo by Matthew Henry

At the beginning of the summer, I had to face some very tough trials, and as God revealed himself to Moses, he revealed himself to me, allowing his entire Spirit to penetrate through me for a good four to five hours, reminding me that he was there, holding my hand, and ready to walk me through another storm.  This poem combines the love God taught me a few years ago, and the love that he poured on me a few months ago.  Blessings!

abuse, love, healing, trauma
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Abide My Love, Dance With Me

Let his love so overflow,

Through my veins from head to toe.

Fill his presence on overwhelm,

Till that love tank is set at helm.

I now know no other love,

It’s not abuse,

Exploiting of doves.

For his love, we can’t explain.

No real words,

just like the pain.

Helps us heal from the abuse.

No more doormat,

He cut me loose.

Thought it was something that I’d just heard,

Your love engulfed me,

Felt so absurd.

The love you showed,

So overwhelmed,

Your love, it jerked me into a kiln.

Oh, now I know, “it” was the One,

Given to me,

Straight through your Son.

You are so dear, so dear to me,

To let me feel to this degree.

Oh, my Lord, almost too much,

To let me feel your Loving Touch.

Healing those places hurt by trauma,

Loving so fast,

it’s like my momma,

For it’s your love that healed my trauma,

Loving so fast,

it’s like my momma.

No greater love,

No one can copy,

You have the patent,

You own no sloppy.

It makes me dance, Just like a tree,

My arms are waving and feeling free.

I dance and sway, move to the right,

Your love reminds me

“No need to fight”.

Abide in Me, and I in you

Your love protects and helps me through.

You see when everyone is gone,

Your love is constant,

Helps me go on.

It makes me wonder,

How can it be,

That you decided to dance with me.

I can’t believe I danced so high,

And with your love, we touched the sky.

I can’t believe you came so close,

To showing your Spirit,

It made me roast.

In your embrace,

It took some time,

Just pouring and pouring,

Now I’m new wine.

 

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.  John 15: 7-8

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The Flow of the Tongue

Tonight, I sat at the kitchen table hoping and praying for God to give me the words for a poem.  Three days ago, I felt him nudging me about writing a poem on the power of our tongue.  For those of you who write poetry, you know that you can’t just write a poem.  The words have to come to you.  You have to feel the words and the rhythm.  Then, after they come to you, you have to write them down before they’re gone.

I sat and waited, and God delivered.

tongue, fire, james 3, proverbs. life and death
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The Flow of the Tongue

It’s our mouths we can’t control.

Full of poison, can’t make us whole.

Giving the cursing and the blessing,

Giving our faith for sure a testing.

Filled with bitter and the sweet.

Asking for life for us to repeat.

Setting on fire the pit of hell.

Sharing the gospel that it entails.

Filling with power, and hate, and love.

Edifies sisters and brothers from above.

Knowing that it is one of our members.

Showing our grace, our warmth, our tenders.

 

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit. 

Proverbs 18:21

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.  James 3: 6-12, NKJV

 

The Call of Wisdom

She Cries in the Streets

It is very hard when we are going through things in life.  The immediate response when trouble hits is to panic.  It is natural.  God created us to have emotions.  What tends to happen is that when we panic, we oftentimes forget to give ourselves room to breathe.  Room to pray, think about the situation, and breathe some more.  Satan usually have our minds in such an uproar, that anxiety often takes over, and then instead of us praying and asking God for discernment in these situations, we become reactive instead of responsive.  Anxiety and fear tells us that we have to come up with a solution right now.  Wisdom tells us to wait on God for promptings of the Holy Spirit on the how, when, why of the response.  Praise God that all we have to do is ask!

James 1:5:  “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

 

 

wisdom, trust, anxiety, fear

 

Wisdom, She Cries in the Streets

Wisdom, Wisdom, She Cries in the Streets:

“Put the knowing into doing,

And discernment we will greet.”

Wisdom, Wisdom, It is ours for the asking.

Helps us make the right decisions.

Fills the blanks in the lacking.

Wisdom, Wisdom, Right with God in the Beginning.

Everything ever so perfect,

Right before there came the sinning.

Wisdom, Wisdom, it is given to us freely,

All we have to do is ask,

Get right down to praying and kneeling.

Wisdom, Wisdom, far more precious than those rubies:

God’s great grace poured out to help us,

To perform our earthly duties.

 

Be blessed,

 

Katina

Warmed and Filled

 

warmth, beach, sun, Son, God, empty, Psalms 23
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I like to go to the beach to feel refreshed.  I love watching the ripple of the water hitting the rocks, feeling the breeze, and placing my feet just so in the sand, and reflecting on God’s creation, along with taking a few minutes to just breathe.

 

When we are sitting in “The Son”,

Getting our warmth from “The One”.

Whose burdens are light,

When we surrender our fight.

He’ll fill that empty void.

With his power, sin destroyed.

Running our cups on overflow, 

His name is Jesus, don’t you know?

There is nobody like our Wonderful Saviour Jesus!  We can rest in him when we feel the temptation to get filled up by all the other things in this life that will leave us feeling more empty and void of joy!

What are some of the things that you do in order to feel refreshed during the day?  Feel free to comment below.   Be blessed!

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Psalms 23:5

Oh, the Pain of Waiting

It can be rough when we have to wait on God for his promises to come to pass.  I know myself, there have been times when I went ahead, and did my plan B, instead of waiting for God’s plan A, and then had to suffer terrible consequences.  God later helped o remedy my situation.  Oh, but the painful consequences in not trusting in God’s word, and knowing that it is enough.  God can still bless us when we circumvent his order of things.  However, his way is always the best way to go.  It saves us a lot of extra heartache, pain, and disappointment.  Plus, we are able to enjoy his blessings even more!

Sarah, Abraham, waiting on God, impatient, devotion, reflections, encouragement for the soul
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We are waiting, we are waiting, for our son don’t you see,

Name is Isaac, it means laughter, waiting for the fam of three.

We are waiting, we are waiting for a boy to arrive.

We’ve been waiting, way too long, will we still be alive?

What you think, my dear Abe, should we wait any longer?

Getting wrinkled, getting old, can’t ignore this baby hunger.

Take my handmaid, my dear Hagar, she will make our dreams come true.

Oh the opposite, with her Ishmael, she will make your heart so blue.

Oh, but God, kept his word, even in all this mess, 

Here’s dear Isaac, here’s your son, you are now extremely blessed.

Hagar’s mean, I can’t stand her, just can’t take it any longer.

I despise her, will deny her, kick them out and make them hunger.

Oh dear Abe put them out, sent them packing in the desert.

Oh but God, he provided, brought them springs in this mess o’ hurt.

Just in case you get tired from God’s promise when you wait,

Think of Abe, little Isaac, and then Sarah, his dear mate.

Feel free to share in the comments below of a time that you wished that you had waited on God, and you took matters into your own hands.

Have a blessed weekend!

Isaiah 40:31 King James Version (KJV)

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

 

The Story of Joseph

I love the story of Joseph, and I love how God’s favor was all over his life.  When I think about Joseph’s coat, it makes me think about my favorite coat as a kid.  It was coral blue with a red heart just below each shoulder.  I called it my “Heart to Heart” coat.  It is good to know that even when we are in our worst of times, God’s favor can still rise above the situation.  God can still put us in situations where people are doing things for us, and they don’t even know why they are doing them.  Praise God for his favor!
joseph, prayer, poetry, prison, favor, God
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Coat of Favor
 
It was Joseph, it was Joseph, he had favor don’t you see,
It was favor from our God from the Lord Almighty.
 
Coat of favor, coat of favor, filled with stripes, awe, and wonder.
Filled with power from his dreams that the brothers would bow under.
 
Feeling lost, hurt, rejected from our daddy don’t you know?
He can’t stay here …let’s just kill him, he can’t stay here… he must go!
 
Sold in slavery, faked his death to our father, and he grieved.
Oh thank goodness… he is gone, and we are granted our reprieve.
 
God of Joseph, Slave of Pharaoh, gave him elevated power.
Wife of Pharaoh, full of needy, stripped it all within the hour.
 
Put in prison, with the baker and cupbearer of the king.
Placed in charge by the warden, God’s good favor it would bring.
 
These two prisoners, had their dreams told, to them then, right by Joseph.
Don’t forget me, with the king, need release from this low self.
 
They forgot him, yes they did, till the king had his dream.
Couldn’t sleep, someone help, can you tell me what it means?
 
Oh yes, Joseph, he can help you…he can tell you what it means.
Oh no, God, he’s the Father and interpreter of dreams.
 
Oh then, Joseph, oh yes Joseph, told the king what would happen
You’re released, you’re promoted, get this plan right and mapping.
 
And he did, with God’s help, he saved Egypt from the famine
Saved his brothers, Growth in character, and his faith, as you imagine.
joseph, prayer, poetry, prison, favor, God
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2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. 5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. 6 Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate.

Genesis 39: 2-6, NKJV

 

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Self-Worth

One of the main things that the enemy uses against people is self-worth.  His tool is a cycle of our brokenness, insecurities, and self-condemnation to continually run to people and things to fulfill us, instead of running to God.  He blocks out the knowledge that these things will only give us a temporary high, and lead to more emptiness if we are not being filled by God, our Living Water.  He makes us forget that our dependence on these things and people lead us right into the never ending game of idolatry. 

self-worth, approval, God, enough, portrait, grace
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The Source of Self-Worth

We all want to attain it,

From people and things we know.

Forgetting your death has sealed it,

Some thousands of years ago.

 

When we look to an “other” to fulfill it,

Makes us lonely, empty, insatiate.

When we look to the one who revealed it,

Makes us joyful, peaceful, gratiate.

 

All the people and all the things,

Become blessings with two wings.

As we worship the true King,

Giving everlasting springs.

 

Well of Life

We have all been found guilty of idols in our life.  Some of these surface idols cover up deeper issues.  Because of the trauma and rejection that was placed on me at an early age, my surface idol showed up as striving/ overachievement/perfectionism.  My deeper idol was to get approval from others.  It has taken me a long time to realize this.  When we lay our idols as Jesus’ feet, he quenches our thirst every single time.  Satan makes it his business to make us think that Christ isn’t enough.  The truth of the matter is, we aren’t enough without him.  Daily, we have to go to the tree of life, who is the only one who will fulfill us.  Be blessed!

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The Quench

Lord, I want their approval.

My child, you’re filled with fear and doubt.

Just come to the well.

Drink from my everlasting spout.

 

 

Lord, I want their approval.

Don’t you see me on the hill?

With the woman at the well.

Her jar left quite unfilled.

 

 

Lord, I want their approval.

Oh my child, can’t you see?

They’re all broken and insecure…

Need some fixin’ at the tree. 

 

 

Lord, I need your approval.

Oh dear child, you can see.

All your striving and perfecting,

Doesn’t mean a thing to me.

 

 

It’s by grace that you’re saved.

Not by works.

You can’t boast.

And I love you.

Yes, I love you.

Oh, I’m loving you the most.

 

Reflections and Revelations

Do you ever have those moments where you sit back, relax, and reflect on what God has done, and is currently doing in your life?  I do.  Majority of the time, when it happens, it is usually right after waking up first thing in the morning, and my mind is fresh with ideas.  There are other times that it happens right after taking a much needed walk outside on a breezy, summer evening.  These walks have helped me to refocus my thoughts and regain a sense of being centered again.  I can give myself permission to take note of all of the things that God has created, and feel his presence at the same time.  The poem below was written after having a trying day, and me pressing into Jesus for comfort and reflection on the important things in life.

backpack, inspiration, reflections, freedom
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The Revelation

When our focus is on you,

Then our life begins anew.

When we see there is no coincidence,

There is only divine Providence.

 

When we listen for God’s perfect plan,

Then we’ll know that he is the only Man.

Who can fulfill all our needs,

Have people plant all those seeds.

Work at erasing all those greeds.

 

They say that the best things in life are free.

I had to think to myself,

“Is this what I believe?”

Stop, focus, and count to three.

 

But I opened my eyes and then I saw.

He pulled away the layers and he stripped me raw.

I could feel my eyes fill up with tears.

As he bent down low,

And whispered into my ears.

 

“Have you heard?

Contentment is the secret word.

I AM enough!”

 

 

But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 

1 Timothy 6:6-12, NIV

 

 

 

Our Burdens and Grief: His Plans

I am often amazed at how we think we have our days all planned out down to the minute, and then, out of nowhere, things get shifted around.  Oftentimes, it comes down to one phone call, a text, or an encounter with someone that changes our plans to God’s plans.


For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)

About a year and a half ago, I had a day of fighting with grief off and on.  I decided that after not feeling any better, I needed to take a walk, get fresh air, and get out of my own thoughts.  Walking to the beach to watch the sunset seemed like the perfect idea.  After walking a few feet, I ran into my neighbor, and after our encounter, God pressed upon my heart to write this poem:

Christianity, backpack, poetry, burdens, prayers
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Providence

 

Lord, what did my plans look like for tonight?

It was watching your sunset with a ton of delight.

As I walked out the door, the sky grew dark.

Should I walk to the beach, or fly home like a lark?

 

I walked a few feet and ran into a neighbor.

Then taking my bag of grief, you whispered, “No labor”.

Catching up on life, we talked for a while.

A bless you, a wave, and it ended with  a smile.

 

Lord, what did my plans look like for tonight?

Sharing my backpack of burdens, making my load ever so light.

 

Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

(Galatians 6:2, KJV)