the message of the Gospel

the world was good, all that God created
all taking shape and form just as He had stated...

then came the serpent, crafty and lying
deceiving, distorting, degrading, denying

a taste was taken, then passed to the man
who tasted too, motion now given to the Master plan

sin entered, clouded minds, bringing curse, veiling the divine

sacrifices now required, atonement demanded
blood brought forth, not enough, final life from heaven handed

Jesus sent, as infant enters
fallen world around His life now centers

charges brought, cross erected
Jesus hung, no sin detected

blood streams down
cleansing, saving, unveiling, redeeming

hope restored, life is given
forgiveness won, promise of heaven

death for life
souls now secured
love is seen
eternal life assured

-nettie hogan

He Leadeth Me...

He leadeth me, O blessèd thought!
O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.

Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
By waters still, over troubled sea,
Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.

Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.

And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me.

-words, Joseph H. Gilmore
-music, William B. Bradbury

creation groans

...and my heart groans with it
aches for heaven
yearns for audience with the King
cries out for His presence
longs to kneel before Him...

so, until heaven...
my heart will bow here
love here
worship here
rest here
find peace here
be anchored here...

...to Christ.

He keeps, sustains, leads, nourishes, provides, loves.  And, He's showing me that's enough.  He's enough.

hidden in Christ

park walk
evening sun
setting in the west

shadows cast
thrown east
tall in the grass

sun on my left
sweet daughter on my right
keeping stride on the trail

two of us
one shadow
hers hidden in mine

remembering Colossians 3
died with Christ
now hidden in Him

my shadow melds with His
hidden in Him
united with Him

let it be

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:3-4

the gospel in Revelation 1:17-18

with passion in her eyes and conviction in her voice, my friend proclaimed her love for Jesus, His life, death, resurrection, Word, and His revelation to John... 

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Revelation 1:17-18 

She said, "I see the gospel here.  I get that Jesus loves me; I do, I get that.  But, my mom loves me, too.  Why should it matter that Jesus loves me?  Because He died for me, He rose, and He holds the keys of death and Hades; He is alive forever."

I love my friend, but I know You love her more.  Please keep her near You; remain in her...

her heart is pounding with love for You...

my heart is refreshed by her...

keep her...

quiet tears

the kind that form, gather, and fall unannounced

the kind that speak volumes on behalf of the heart

the kind that fall slow, steady

the kind that wet cheeks

the kind that reveal burdens, aching

the kind that fall quietly

my girl has quiet tears today...she doesn't feel well

Lord, please heal her...

intimate conversations

intimate conversations between two people known to each other

among true friends with a connection through Christ

between husband and wife

between believer and God.

if we are strangers to God, there is no intimacy

we don't know Him like we might know a good life-long friend

so, how do you talk with someone you don't know?  how do you share your heart, fears, struggles, joys with a stranger?

intimate conversations with God are possible when we really know Him, really know Him.

do you know Him?

"Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
 ⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
 ⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. ¹² I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing..." John 14:6-12

I love how Jesus shows us that we know God through Him, they're One, which is such a beautiful picture to me.  They are united, undivided.  What a treasure that if we know Jesus, we know God, too.  

How do we come to know Jesus?  What does that mean?  

The Bible says that it's as simple as believing Him.  

I believe that He came from heaven to earth as a baby, growing through boyhood, into manhood.  He healed lots of people - from heart-healing to demon-driving-out-healing to skin-healing to hunger-healing and more.  

He came to broken people living in a broken world needing to be helped in it, through it.  

He was tried publicly because He stood for and preached Truth.  He was whipped till His flesh was torn, He was bloodied from spikes of thorns pressed into His head, skin, He was insulted in the most horrific manner, and He was attached to a cross of rough-cut wood.  He was nailed to it.  The soldiers with nailing and execution orders continued their murder of this Man.  They stood the cross, sliding its vertical post into the ground.  

Jesus was nailed to and hanging on the cross.  

Why was He there?  

If He didn't do anything wrong, what was He dying for?  

He was dying for the people He had created, the people who turned against Him and sinned, bringing a death curse on themselves and on the world.  He was dying so that His death, His sacrifice of Himself, would speak for us...on our behalf.  He died for sin once for all that day on the cross.  

I believe it.  I believe I need Him, the Savior, because I was born with sin.  I couldn't pay for my sin myself.  My kind deeds for others wouldn't ever be enough.  The death of Christ was recognized as payment for my sin, for the sin of all because He is "in the Father, and the Father is in" Him.  

His sacrifice/payment is complete when He snuffs out death by rising from it; the grave couldn't hold Him.  He is the Life-Giver.  His life gives life.  

So, believing in His death, His coming back to life, believing in Jesus, calling Him my Master, my King, my best Friend, leads me to knowing God...because Jesus says they're One.  It is then that I can talk with Him...I know Him.  We can have intimate conversations.  We listen to each other; we know each other.

Do you know Him?