Reduce Me to Love

It’s been on my heart lately to really work on my love walk. To be Jesus in the skin in this world. I allow my pride and impatience to get in the way many times. I’m always in such a hurry, I don’t really need to rush anywhere, I just want to be efficient. I have that type of personality. I’m a person who can be thinking about one thing, talking on the phone about another, and writing something completely different. I am efficient. This leads to impatience and I know that impatience is a manifestation of pride.

Pride shows itself in my life these ways: (1) impatience, like I already pointed out; (2) being critical or judgmental, someone is not doing something as well as I think they should, or as well as I think I could; (3) being late frequently, I’m important, they will wait for me before they start; (4) arrogance, being insensitive to other people

I’m sure that pride shows up in many other ways, conceit, bragging, haughtiness, etc. But, pride in my life is mostly this list of four. I don’t really mean to be cold or insensitive, I just come off that way because of my impatience and that drive that’s in me to be perfect and efficient.

I’m reminded of Mark 8:22-25 “And they came to Bethsaida. And (people) brought to Him a blind man and begged Him to touch him. And He caught the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands upon him, He asked him, Do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people, but (they look) like trees, walking. Then He put His hands on his eyes again; and the man looked intently (that is, fixed his eyes on definite objects), and he was restored and saw everything distinctly (even what was at a distance).

I’ve been seeing people that look like trees lately, I find myself looking right past them or through them. I am not focused on definite objects, I am focused on what task I am doing at the time. I see many people daily in my job, and I’m not being sensitive to them as people. I’m not being Jesus in the skin and I’m not walking in love, I am just doing my task.

The following poem is my prayer.

Reduce Me To Love

Lord reduce me to love,
The love that’s from above.
Let there be nothing left inside of me,
Except Your love, for others to see.

I pray Your love shines so bright,
That others are attracted to the light.
That we may all have love for each other,
And not hide continually under cover.

Reduce, refine, workout the changes,
To be made until we are blameless.
A church without blemish or spot
Is what Your blood has bought.

You paid by dying on the tree,
Long ago at Calvary.
For believers, You promise to return,
For that day we all yearn.

Until then, Reduce Me to Love…

Beauty for Ashes

God will give us beauty for ashes, joy for mourning and praise for
heaviness.

My job as a Housing Inspector II gives me many hours in my car. In
fact, most of my day is spent driving from inspection to inspection
in my district. This gives me lots of time for prayer, worship and
listening to teaching tapes, which I do over and over and over!

Today, I was out in my car driving around, listening to my favorite
Christian Contemporary radio station; K-LOVE and I heard a song that
I haven’t heard for a long time, “Beauty for Ashes” by Crystal
Lewis. I love this song, and I love the Bible verses that inspired
it.

The following is from Isaiah 61:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed
Me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the openings
of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort
all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness. That they may be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.
(Vs. 1-3)

And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former
desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the
desolations of many generations… (Vs. 4)

Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of
confusion they shall rejoice in their portion, therefore in their
land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.
(Vs. 7)

These promises are so rich to me. God WILL rebuild all of the ruins
in our lives, He WILL give us double honor instead of our former
shame, everlasting joy WILL be ours. He WILL give us beauty for
ashes, joy for mourning and praise instead of heaviness. We WILL be
solid righteous people that He may be glorified! This is so
inspiring to me!

I started thinking about these promises and realized that in order
for us to fully experience the joy, praise, honor, and beauty; we
need to give to the Lord our shame, ashes, mourning and heaviness.
We cannot experience all that the Lord has for us and still carry
around with us all of our junk! We need to give it up, make it
ashes, and die to it! We need to take it all and lay it down at the
foot of the cross, and LEAVE IT there. Give it to Jesus, that’s the
reason that He died–for all that stuff, for our shame, our
heaviness, our mourning, all of it!

Here is a poem that the Holy Spirit inspired in me to write. It
speaks of some things that I needed to make into ashes and give to
Jesus. I pray that you be blessed by it.

BEAUTY FOR ASHES

Have you ever felt you’re crossed off someone’s list?
Just tossed aside – never to be missed.
And you thought you were so close,
A relationship that was unlike most.

One day you see them at a restaurant,
With old friends and what you really want,
Is to be accepted by them again,
And return to being a close friend.

The cold reality of it all sets in,
You realize it’s just somewhere you’ve been.
They’re moving forward – not looking back,
You’re part of the past, that’s a fact.

You shared your life, you feel betrayed,
You pray that feeling will somehow fade.
You turn to God; you want to know,
How to forgive and let this go.

You fear having close friends again,
You don’t want to let new one’s in.
The friends you have are precious and few,
You know (pray–hope) that they are really true.

Giving God our ashes brings beauty in return,
It’s a Kingdom principle we must learn.
Only when we lay our ashes down,
Does God provide beauty all around.

Masks

Sometimes I wonder what life’s about
Sometimes I have answers, other times I doubt.
God’s been showing me the masks I wear,
I wonder if underneath, anyone is there.

These masks have been part of me for many seasons,
I have different ones for different reasons.
I discovered them slowly – one at a time,
Found a comfortable fit and made them mine.

I wonder about the mask of pride,
If it really keeps me safe inside.
The mask of confidence – I seem so bold,
My insecurities don’t need to unfold.

The mask of coldness that I wear
Makes me look like I don’t care.
Then there’s the mask of the clown,
I wear that one when I feel down.

Some call these my coping skills
You may call them what you will.
Out of woundedness they were born,
And without them I feel torn.

I don’t know how to act or be,
Without these masks defining me.
They’ve been me such a long time,
It’s hard to tell what’s really mine.

I use them to feel accepted,
But in reality, I’m being rejected.
The acceptance that is shown to me,
Is for the me I pretend to be.

The masks must be put aside,
The real me can no longer hide.
In living falsely, peace isn’t found,
Only in truth does love abound.

We find love and truth when God is near,
Standing in His glorious atmosphere.
Seeking Him through His word, praise and prayer,
Brings the awareness that God is always there.

From glory to glory He’s changing me,
Soon the world will only see,
The me I was created to be,
As Christ gets formed in me.

Created by Design

Many years before I was born,
Jesus knew my shape and form.
With His loving ways, so divine,
He created me by design.

A beautiful, wonderful, piece of art,
Holding a special place in His heart.
Everything that God creates,
Is perfect, He makes no mistakes.

I am a masterpiece, still underway,
God will complete His work in me one day.
Until then, I need to be patient and kind,
Loving the imperfections of mine.

Goodbye to Friends

Over four years ago, I was such a mess,
I thought I couldn’t be anything less.
The bottom is where I seemed to be,
That’s where I was when you met me.

You let me in, you showed me grace,
I learned my life was not a waste.
You taught me to boldly approach God’s throne,
And give Christ inside of me a home.

Since then, I’ve never been the same
I learned my life was not in vain.
Where I am weak, He is strong,
I follow Him, I can’t go wrong.

You openly listened, you were always there,
Anytime I needed friends to share
My joys, confusion or turmoil,
You were friends that were always loyal.

Now it’s time to say goodbye
It’s hard for me, but I will try
To express in words how I feel for you,
Friends like you are ever true.

God has put a call on your heart,
Your answer has meant a new start.
I love you and I send you my prayer,
That God will keep you in His care.

Birthday Blessing

As you’re sitting there in your cell,
You could think it’s your private hell,
Looking at the window, seeing only bars,
Or look at the same window and see the stars.

Now, it’s your birthday, and they’re tough enough,
Without having to deal with all of this stuff.
I know God is working in your soul,
To heal and make you spiritually whole.

Tenderly and gently allow Him to touch you,
Let His love and powerful Spirit come pouring through,
To saturate your being to the core,
As you honor and worship the Lord.

For your birthday, this blessing I pray,
On Jesus’ lap, you spend your day.
Knowing you are His precious child,
And his love for you, makes Him smile.

In this love, let yourself rest,
In you, Jesus always sees the best.
Your sins are forgiven and forgotten
His mercy and grace cannot be bought en

Rejoice! You’re a new person in Christ,
This transformation lasts for life,
The ways of old are in the past,
Your new ways are what’s gonna last.

Friends

I used to think my friends were true,
But that was before I met you.
Friends were people with whom I could play,
Friends mean more to me today.

When I found Christ, I found friends that are real,
With them, my heart I can reveal.
We can share laughter as well as tears,
This kind of friendship will last for years

This is what I had been searching for,
All that time, when I wanted more.
I’ve been blessed with friends I love,
That share with me, the love from above.

Amy S.

How do I begin, where do I start
To put into words, the feelings in my heart
I love you as a sister, a dear and trusted friend
I’ll be there in joys, sorrows, and when you’re on the mend.

As I’m on this spiritual walk,
I’m thankful for you cause we can talk.
You always have time and energy for me,
When I’m struggling to clearly see.

I love you for everything you are,
You challenge me to “raise the bar”
God put us together in ministry,
And I’m as thankful as I can be.