Tag Archives: Jesus

GENTLE SPIRIT

19 Nov

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: Acts 9:15

—

Oh, Jesus,

work through this vessel.

Spread peace through this church,

settle your children.

Precious Jesus,

precious Jesus.

 

Close you eyes church,

listen with your spirits,

listen with your souls.

Do you hear it?

Do you feel it?

Gentle Spirit blow.

 

Feel the cool breeze,

flowing between the saints.

Feel the billow of His robe

caressing you cheek as He passes by.

 

Reach out to Him,

reach out.

He hesitates a moment,

He turns and touches the tips

of Your outstretched fingers.

Only a moment,

the gentlest touch.

 

What Heaven.

What joy.

What peace.

 

Blow, gentle Spirit.

Touch your children.

Precious Jesus,

precious Jesus.

—

Written July 15, 1993

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Simple Peace

27 Oct

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15 (KJV)

This has been a most unnerving year. Going back to college has opened my eyes to a side of life I was completely unaware of. I had to fight to maintain my faithful fruits and pray continuously to be able to explain why my faith is correct and true.

At the same time we were preparing our home for sale; packing those things that made our home personally ours, those little treasures and comforts that mean so much. All of this culminated at its highest peak in December, a week before the celebration of the Birth of my Lord.

With packing for a move and sorting out what to take and what to leave, we gave away our Christmas tree; we figured we’d already be moved by Christmas.

Shopping was all last minute with a minimal budget. I was overwhelmed and frazzled with each stop; people pushing, crowding, blocking the aisles, children crying and screaming, adults screaming and threatening; I just wanted to hide and let Christmas go by without me. Depression stepped in.

Sunday before Christmas came and the children were doing their program that morning. The adult worship team was going to sing a few songs and as we practiced the children were being transformed into angels. It all seemed so mechanical, lacking Jesus.

I had to get something out of the prayer room. When I opened the door I walked into a tiny forest of Christmas trees, simply decorated and set there to make room for the Children’s set. I stopped. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the trees. The depression and tension lifted. Jesus! Jesus! Over and over I heard his name. He had come as a baby, announced by a star.

Memories of past Christmas trees flooded my mind. Nativity, ornaments, angels, a star on the top, Christmas carols honoring my Lord. I hadn’t realized how much a tree meant to me. I hadn’t realized how much the tree spoke to me of Jesus. I hadn’t realized the peace of sitting at the base of a lit Christmas tree brought, lights twinkling, glowing in wonderful colors in a darkened room. All the story of Christmas played in my mind.

We borrowed one of those little trees to put our presents around, just a simple tree. It was a small symbol reminding me to thank God for sending His son as a tiny vulnerable baby; a baby that would hunger, be cold, be hot, be confused and filled with awe, just like us. It was a tiny baby, humbled by a simple birth, honored with my Christmas tree. This baby would one day give His life for me. Thank you Abba Father.

—

By Linda J. Humes

Written 12-27-09

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QUIET PLACE

15 Oct

“My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.” Isaiah 51:5

—

Gathered in His arms, resting In His lap.

A daughter held safely in the tender arms of her Father.

—

We rock gently, back and forth,

To the song You’ve placed in my heart.

—

The warmth of love radiates through me.

It is a preciousness I feel nowhere else.

—

And as the pressures of the day begin to push in,

I will step away to a quiet place.

 

I will wrap Your arms around me,

And taste the sweetness of Your love,

That burns always in my heart.

 

 

Written 6-15-2002

 

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Friends

29 Sep

“A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”   Proverbs 18:24

 

When I was happy,

You rejoiced with me.

..

When I was troubled,

You listened.

..

When I was sad,

You shared my tears.

..

When I saw despair for tomorrow,

You reminded me of yesterday.

..

When I saw hopelessness,

You turned my face toward Jesus.

..

Thank you for being . . .

My Friend.

 

 

..

Written 4/22/2002

..

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YOU’RE THERE

23 Sep

 

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:  And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.   1 Kings 19:11-12 (KJV)

 

I can't hear You, Lord,

I can't hear You today.

Just a quiet whispering;

A rustling.



There was a day when we walked together, 

Talked together,

Closest friends.



Your words were loud and sure,

I knew Your will,

No doubt which path to take.

But I can't hear You, Lord,

I can't hear You today.



There were joyful times,

Times of tears,

Times of intercession,

And deepest prayers.



I felt You then,

You heard my cries and held me tight.

But I can't hear You, Lord,

I can't hear You today.



Somewhere I fell faint,

Neglected to listen,

Perhaps I disobeyed.

Or is this a testing time,

To see if I will remain,

Even in Your silence.

How will I know, Lord,

I can't hear You today.



I'll go on, as You've taught me,

I'll overcome,

Walk in joy,

Sing Your praises,

Again and again.



And when You've finished,

Testing and trying,

Pruning and purging,

Loving and lifting,

I will know.



Even in silence You are there,

Even in darkness You are there,

Even in diligent unanswered prayer,

You are there.

In Your word,

 And in the hearts of Your children.

Written 9-3-91

 

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TINY FLAME

22 Sep

No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.   Luke 11:33

Being burdened down by the flu on New Year’s Eve 1999 kept me home from the outstanding event our church had been preparing for the previous 4 months. I sent up my prayers for my church family and the events they had worked so hard on – then I lay back down and prayed for relief from the symptoms I’d been fighting the previous 2 ½ days.

The year 2000 was about to become a reality, 2000 years since the death of our precious savior – 2000 years of salvation by faith, by grace, by the blood of Christ. 2000 years.

We’ve come from traveling by foot, to traveling by jet plane. From writing on the bark of a tree with the juice of berries, to computers and the internet. From never traveling farther than 30 miles from where we were born, to the moon, mars and beyond.

We come from a way of life where our entire days were surrounded by the teaching of the ways of the Biblical Fathers, to the days where people walked with Christ – God made flesh, to the time where it is difficult to work 10 minutes of prayer into our busy daily schedules. We have advanced our civilization in the last 100 years at a pace that has outreached any imagination the early pioneers could have had. We have created, and created, and created at such a rapid pace that we have left ourselves little time to remember, let alone thank, the creator of all.

I prepared my candle and matches, just in case the Y2K “doomsayers” were correct and I needed to travel from one end of the house to the other in total darkness. I lit the candle and realized how I’ve always been drawn to the tiny flame. It has always intrigued me how lighting a candle during the day gives off so little light, but at night, when all other light has been extinguished, that one tiny flame can light an enormous room.

Drawing close to the flame you can feel the warmth that it emits. A warmth far beyond its tiny reach. This light and warmth draws me together with those who have shared this very moment for hundreds and thousands of years. Long before the birth of Christ. Before Moses and the burning bush; that burned and yet wasn’t consumed. Long before Pharaoh and Noah.

A light and a warmth that comforted Adam and Eve, expelled from Paradise, sent into a land of unknown sounds, shadows and total darkness – caused from being apart from God. I envision their being drawn to the flame, like the many times they drew near to God’s glory; warm and comforting.

Like that tiny flame, I wonder what part I play in the spiritual darkness that has spread across the world. Can the small flame that burns inside me, lit by the Holy Spirit and fed by the anointing, create enough light to show others the way to Christ? Can that flame generate enough warmth to draw the confused to a place of comfort and understanding?

Lord, I pray that as long as I remain on this earth, that I will always share the light that’s within me. Help me to feed the hungry and comfort the comfortless. Let me always remember that the reason I have been placed upon this earth is to praise and give all glory to You!

Written 12/31/99 – and yet it still applies today!

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In His Love

14 Sep

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV)

My birth father was a very “unkind” person. Children weren’t to be seen or heard. The least infraction or word spoken out of order resulted in a backhand to the face and a tumble across the floor. It was just the way thing were in my home in the 50’s.

A memory came back to me of an event that impacted my life in a difficult way. I was 8 at the time, my brother was 6, and my sister was close to 3. My sister had been given a medium size baby doll. One day my dad decided to rip the head off of that doll and turn it inside out. To a child a doll can be very real and I remember the horror I felt when he ripped the head off, and the intensified feeling when he turned it inside out; the eyes bulging out and showing the hair stitched to the scalp.

He found great pleasure in the fact that it frightened my brother and me. He put the head on a stick, thrusting it at us, and screaming something as we ran around the outside of the house, trying to get away. He found where we were hiding and repeated his thrusting, time after time after time. My brother and I screaming with fear. When he grew tired of chasing us he mounted the head on the fence post of our front yard gate. We were too afraid to go past the head to go through the front door and into the house. It remained there for weeks. I never wanted a doll after that. I could not get the pictures of that event out of my mind.

It took a long time for me to completely believe in and trust God. I didn’t find relationship with Jesus until I was 38 years old, and I didn’t completely believe that the promises of God were for someone like me – a nobody – a loser – an unwanted person.

I struggled with who I was and how an almighty God could love me when I never had felt the love of an adult. How could I believe the words in the New Testament when I had never had a practical application to compare it to.

I continued to battle with myself about God and who I was until the night I received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. I had prayed at the altar every Sunday night for almost 2 years for the Baptism. The long period of prayer seemed to mock my low self-esteem. One day a woman gave her testimony in service. She said that she had tried and tried to receive the Baptism without success, and kept repeating that she wasn’t worthy enough to receive the Baptism. Then she heard the voice of God tell her that no one is worthy to receive it; it’s a free gift from the love of God. When she heard those words she relaxed, praised, and received. The next week I received the Baptism and with it came warmth and peace and an incredible feeling of being wholly loved by someone that would never let me go.

When a person steps out of abusive relationships they find it so difficult to trust God. They want so strongly to believe in His promises, yet they are terrified that once again they will be betrayed. It takes special people to help them step past that fear and understand the love and peace found in God.

Lord, help me to be a catalyst to the wounded, to help them to believe in who You are. Help me to help them believe in pure love, pure faith and in themselves – the person You see, and not the reflection of the past they see in the mirror. Let me be your hands and feet to the world. Let me be Your testimony.

 

Written  5/11/12

 

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God’s Perfect Gift

10 Sep

 

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.  Song of Solomon 2:1 KJV

 

You came up,

 out of the desert,

 as a pure white rose,

 born in a wilderness,

 breathtakingly fragrant.


You stood for all that was true,

 in a land without water,

 in a world wroth with sin,

 forged in pain.


People searched you out,

 grasping at your petals,

 a sweet scent to hold on to,

 until only the stem remained,

 circled about with thorns.


When it seemed to all,

 that nothing was left,

 You bloomed again,

 as the Phoenix bird,

 rising from the ashes,

 lifted high above the crowd,

 on an unfinished wooden cross.


In your final flower,

 the new petals fell,

 each bearing the name,

 of sin and pain,

 all that was removed,

 from our condemned lives.


The petals falling,

 willingly given,

 to redeem the lost,

 every provision considered,

 every provision met.


First fell shame,

 for not recognizing,

 who You were,

 then guilt,

 for the pain You endured.


There was sickness,

 depression, fear,

 sins of the past,

 broken in travel,

 to the generations,

 of the future.


On and on they fell,

 one by one,

 stripping away hopelessness,

 giving new life,

 in the sight of eternity.


As the last petal fell,

 Your Father, our Father,

 gasped,

 shaking the earth with His pain,

 dimming the light from the sky.


There You hung,

 looking no more,

 than a dry broken twig,

 soon to be buried,

 in the bowels of the earth.


Yet, inside that twig,

 lay a seed,

 a new life,

 taking root in the earth,

 preparing to grow,

 preparing to bloom,

 as Aaron’s rod,

 a sign to the nations,

 of God’s perfect love,

 in the gift of,

the Rose.

 

Written 11-14-98

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HUMBLE BIRTH

10 Sep

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.     Luke 2:4-7 KJV

 

It wasn’t that they had to travel,

travel was a way of life -

travel to the place of sacrifice -

travel to the special feasts.


It wasn’t the taxation,

that too had become a way of life.

It wasn’t the number of people -

traveling to their father’s lands -

waiting - walking - crowding.


It wasn’t being heavy with child -

ready for the precious birth -

difficult to ride -

impossible to walk.


It was that all had come together on this momentous occasion,

even with careful preparation -

not really prepared -

for the events to come.


And in all the disappointment of the evening,

the kindness of a stranger -

a humble and rugged resting place -

became the catalyst of a birth.


As the night grew its darkest,

the light pierced the sky -

to announce the hope -

of generations to come.



Cutting the sky, as the pillar of fire,

drawing those with the pureness of heart -

the star spoke the joy -

of the new life to come.


In His earliest moments of life,

He the same as others -

tiny perfect fingers -

tiny perfect toes -

the miracle of birth every parent admires.


Yet, with the sameness came the new,

the anointed glow -

with the very first breath -

drawing God’s servants -

from near and far.



A humble start - for the humbling of the heart.

No wealth or grandeur - the capture of pride.

The kindness of a stranger - to instill mercy.



And the family of flesh mixed with the family of Spirit -

surrounding - comforting

to build a solid foundation of love.


It didn’t happen the way they had wanted -

Mary and Joseph -

but it was the plan of God.



Not one moment of His precious life was wasted,

every moment etched the path of tomorrow’s grace.



So tiny - so frail,

a King was born -

a King sent to gather the humble -

to exhort the meek -

to teach love to all who would listen -

to live - and - to die -

for every precious child -

that has graced God’s earth.

 

 

Written 12-21-97

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DEPRESSION

8 Sep

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.     Psalms 42:5-6 (KJV)

Depression started for me in my early teens. It is a dark consuming pain – beyond tears and hope. It is the feeling of helplessness – no control over any portion of your life, not your thoughts, your appetite, not even your emotions. It is difficult to focus, it is difficult to breathe. It is Satan’s greatest tool to stop God’s children from striving.

When I became a Christian my battle with depression ceased for a long time. I quit my well-paying, secure job and went into full-time ministry. What a delightful and faith-testing time. I dove head first into Biblical study and worship music (playing and singing). I think that God allowed me this peaceful time to build the strong foundation of faith that I was going to need to stand during the trials and storms of the future.

Challenges came – life changing events and situations that threatened to destroy our family and our faith – but we stood. Each time we grew stronger. The Depression there, but not consuming as it had been in the past, until recently.

For all the times we’ve faced life’s challenges in the past, this year has been a series of events that far surpassed anything we could have anticipated. I looked at our circumstances, I looked at our resources, I took my eyes off of our true Source – the darkness overtook me.

Well meaning friends offered words they thought would encourage – but cut like a knife. “If you have Jesus in your heart, you will never be without peace.” “If you have faith in Jesus you wouldn’t be depressed.” I guess they haven’t read passages in Psalm, Ecclesiastes or Job! Some of our greatest Bible leaders suffered terrible depression and wrote as they cried out to God.

I have a good friend and pastor who once told me that Depression was anger turned inward. I agree. You realize how little control you have over problems and situations and feel so helpless at your own inabilities; you turn inward.

I remember crying out to God for hours to help me get out of the dark hollowness. When I went into deep worship my darkness lifted. I asked God why He allowed me to go so deep into despair, why He wasn’t there with me. He showed me how He had been right next to me all the time, reaching a hand down to pull me up, waiting for me to reach back. He showed me where His hand had been moving on the situations all the time. I was able to see the miracles blooming all around. I could see His teardrops on my shoulder when He cried with me in my pain.

King David said that God taught our hands to war and our fingers to fight – I war with the enemy of our soul with my pen and paper. I will war for King Jesus – and hope my words will help others overcome the darkness that overcomes even the strongest saint. God, hold me ever near that I may never loose sight of You and who You are. I know You will always stand with me – and cry with me in my pain. Keep my mind set on you that I might never slip again into that pit.

 

 

Written 6-24-2008

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