A Prayer from Hebrews 1

Over 20 years ago, I took a very vigorous Bible study course that required about an hour a day of homework, studying the book of Hebrews.  And at the end of the the homework for chapter 1, they asked us to ask the Lord for a song or prayer that would sum up the things that God had shown us.

This is what came.  In some ways, the fact that it rhymes and scans in a rather trite pattern dismayed me.  Am I just writing rhyming doggerel?  I do not claim that this is great literature.  But it still satisfies me at some deep level, so I share it here.

A Prayer from Hebrews 1

Father,

You have spoken to us through the prophets

In portions, a bit at a time--

And the word that you spoke overwhelms me,

Your law is so awesome and fine.

You spoke to the people through angels,

Great creatures of wind and of fire.

People shook at the visions in terror,

Such fear did their speaking inspire.

And now you have spoken in Jesus,

Not a shadow, but the brilliance of Your light.

The Word that created the planets

is spoken to us in the night.

The Word that holds all things together,

Came down to destroy all our sins.

When the world is changed like old clothing,

The Word that is Jesus will stand.

A better will never be spoken,

Through Him you have reached out Your hand.

The ears that I hear with are shallow,

The eyes I can see with are dim.

Father, speak Jesus into my being,

'Til my life is completed in Him.

Informed Consent

I wrote this close to 20 years ago, but I still feel this way, and need to remind myself of this from time to time.  And because this may not be crystal clear, let me say that the shape of this poem is deliberately a little bit like an exclamation point.

Informed Consent

Yes, Lord, yes!

Yes, I know there are times it will hurt.

Yes, I know there are times it will be scary.

Yes, I know You will lead me down roads

I would never have chosen for myself.

But now, I choose them freely and fully--

Any road that You will walk with me,

That You would choose for me.

And I know You will not hurt me

Any more than you have to.

And I know that I am save

Here in Your arms.

Yes, Lord, yes!

Yes, Lord yes!

I give my full permission--

To last through days and hours

When my flesh may scream, "NO!"

Do whatever You have to do.

Come in power, Lord.

Yes!

Rags

Another old poem, but one that still rings true to me.

Rags

God, I stand before you

Dressed in the tattered rags 

Of my own attempts to get it right,

And you hold out to me

The shining robes of Jesus' righteousness.

No question which is better,

But will I make the change?

Or will I choose to cling to what is mine?

The Veil

One I wrote a bunch of years ago, that still feels real to me.

The Veil

Hey!  Jesus did it!

The veil has been torn in two

The way is open now--

You can go straight into the Father's presence

Isn't this the news my heart has been longing to hear?

No more barriers

No more walls between me and the Father.

Uh, wow!

You mean, I can go now.  Right now.

Really got to Him.  Stand in His presence.

Just the way I am.

Oh, gee.

Um.

Really.

Now?

Are you sure?

God, the God of the Universe?

He wants to see me?

My presence is requested?

In the throne room?

But, um, what about the dishes?

And that crossword puzzle I'v been meaning to get to?

And? And?

Now?

Father, help me.

Help me do it

Help me draw near with confidence.

Not lightly, but not afraid.

Not making excuses and hanging back.

Sincerely trusting in the work that Jesus finished

Sprinkled with the Blood, Washed with the Father,

Walking the Living Way that Jesus opened and that He is

Let me draw near to the throne of grace

And find there mercy, and

Grace to help

In time of need

I need you, Lord.

I need you.

Amen.

In these last days...

I had just joined a new church, after some traumatic times at the old church.  A Bible study was being offered on Hebrews, and I signed up to do the most rigorous Bible study I had undertaken for years, on a book which I had previously considered very dry and boring.  And I discovered, as I have learned again and again, that there is life to be found in all parts of the Bible if you look at them seriously and prayerfully.   

In these last days, God has spoken to us in His Son

A meditation on Hebrews 1:2-3

Jesus, You are appointed heir of all things

You're the one the Father chose to have it all.

Keep me from grabbing, clutching things to myself.

In You, I have it all.

Apart from You, there's nothing left to own.

Jesus, through You, the Father made the world,

The ages past, the present,

And all the future there will ever be

Were spoken into being through You,

And You made me.

You knew me and planned me, held me in your heart,

Before the beginning.

Jesus, You are the radiance of the Father's glory,

The light that shines forth from the blazing sun.

Help me be a true mirror,

With veils and masks stripped away,

So that I can catch your light

And shine it truly into the darkness I see.

Jesus, You are the perfect engraving

Of the Father's underlying essence,

The exact representation of His being.

I am like a coin that's blurred and fuzzy

I long to be new-minted.

Melt me in the fire of your love

And stamp your image plainly on my heart.

Jesus, You uphold all things by the word of your power,

By the spoken word that creates and brings forth life

Hold me up, Lord.

Hold me together

And speak Your powerful word into my life.

Jesus, you made purification of sins,

Cleansed, purged, made it right

The work was finished, final, and complete.

Complete it in my heart, O Lord,

Bring your cleansing, purify my inmost being.

Jesus, You sat down

On the right hand of the Majesty of the Father

Your work was finished, You entered into your rest.

Bring me too, into that Sabbath rest,

That having run the race, I may sit at your feet,

And worship You forever.

Amen.

Truth

Someone just handed me a collection of poems that I gave to friends and family in Christmas of 1998.  Some of them are ones I had lost track of, but that I find are still meaningful to me, and perhaps they will be to others as well.

This one I may have originally written as a birthday card for someone, but I found that I liked it well enough to hang onto.

Truth

When the Great Creator

thought of snails, and butterflies,

and sparkling fish scales 

in the bottom of deep blue pools,

You also were thought of

And known

No mistakes were made in your making

Inside and out,

Backwards and forwards,

You are known and loved by God.

Transparent Gold

The book of Revelation is not one that has generally appealed to me, and pictures of heaven as a place with streets paved with gold don't particularly float my boat. It is not a metaphor that I love.   But one day, and I no longer remember whether it was mentioned in a sermon or something that came to me spontaneously, I was suddenly captivated by this notion of people becoming transparent gold.

You can read about John's vision of this city that is also a bride, where tears are washed away and there is no longer a need for the sun because God shines so brightly in Revelation 21 and 22.

Transparent Gold

God showed John a city,

He said the city was the bride

It was a city made of gold as clear as glass.

A city made of people with nothing they would need to hide

It was a vision that will surely come to pass.

Transparent gold, transparent gold.

How I long to see, 

How I long to be transparent gold.

The city needs no sunshine

God's glory sets it all ablaze.

And there's a river there that flows with healing grace.

With every tear forgotten, the people overflow with praise.

And now they call to all who thirst, "Come to this place."

Transparent gold, transparent gold

Don't you want to see,

Don't you want to be transparent gold?

No word from God will ever fail

In this Coronavirus season, my sisters and I are reading through the gospels together, the first time for a few of us. And it made me want to dig up a memory verse song I wrote several years back as I was working my way through making an interactive Advent Calendar that would give children Biblical activities in the days leading up to Christmas. Maybe someday I will rewrite and release that. But in the meantime, I was struck by this line in the angel's pronouncement to Mary.

 No word from God will ever fail

 The angel Gabriel came to Mary
to tell her she would have a special son.

 For no word from God will ever fail
No word from God will ever ever fail
Luke 1:37 is what the angel said
No word from God will ever ever fail.

 A boy named Jesus, the son of the Most High,
Who would also be a king

 For no word from God will ever fail
No word from God will ever ever fail.
Luke 1:37 is what the angel said
No word from God will ever ever fail.

 When Mary wondered how this all could happen
He said it would be done by God.

 For no word from God will ever fail
No word from God will ever ever fail
Luke 1:37 is what the angel said.
No word from God will ever ever fail.

So Special

One of my sisters just wrote a blog about the difficulties inherent in hearing compliments.  And it made me think of a song I wrote quite some time ago, as I was struggling with one of the ingrained messages from my childhood, "What makes you think you're so special?"  The implied message was "You're not special, don't think too highly of yourself."  I understand why my mother wanted us to absorb this kind of humility, but I don't think it's the right tack.

Because we are special, each and every one of us.  Yes, "special snowflakes", one in a million, all special in our own tiny way, but individually created by a Heavenly Father who has a unique purpose and destiny for each one of us.  The Bible says of Christians  that we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  (Ephesians 2:10, NIV).

It's difficult for me to sing the first verse of this song.  It's so deeply ingrained to say that I am nothing special.  How dare I boast and proclaim that I am special?  It's just not done.

But the more I have considered this, the more I felt that I wanted my own children to understand that they ARE special, without losing sight of the fact that everyone else is special too.  And I want my own heart to be aware of that too, because ultimately I think that this is the message that God has given us in the Bible.

So Special

So special, I am so special, I am precious in the eyes of God.
So special, I am so special, I am precious in the eyes of God.

All of creation is waiting to see
The praise and the wonder that I'm going to be.
I was created by the Father above
To stand in his presence
And pour out his love.

So special, you are so special, you are precious in the eyes of God.
So special, you are so special, you are precious in the eyes of God.

All of creation is waiting to see
The gift and the glory that you're going to be.
A world that is hurting needs us to go share
The love of the Father
With people out there.

So special, they are so special, they are precious in the eyes of God.
So special, they are so special, they are precious in the eyes of God.

For Such a Time as This

A friend posted this verse on Facebook, and I thought that the time had come to share this song through the blog.

When Esther became Queen, and then the Jews were in great danger from the plots of Haman, she was initially afraid to risk her life in order to speak out, and her uncle Mordecai challenged her that, "if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish.  And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14 NIV).  In the end, after much prayer, Esther used her position to great effect.

Esther was a queen, but all of us have been placed by God to be able to accomplish good things.  "We are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus, for good works which he has prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10 NIV). So this song came to me.

In this time of social distancing and coronavirus, we may not want to be literally touching people, but it is definitely a time for reaching out in many other ways.  What is God calling you to do "in such a time as this"?

For Such a Time as This

For such a time as this I have called you
For such a time as this you were born
For such a time as this I have given you my spirit
For such a time as this.

There are people that I love who've never met me.
There are people that I love who've never heard.
There are people who are hungry for a smile or for a touch
There are people who are desperate for a word.

For such a time as this I have made you
For such a time as this you were formed
For such a time as this I have brought you through the fire
For such a time as this.

For such a time as this I have called you
For such a time as this you were born
For such a time as this I have given you my spirit
For such a time as this.