Waiting

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I have prayed

“Even so come.” And yet

I sit here

Silent son

Untranslated, mortal still.

First Born where are you?

Undeterred

I hold faith, refuse

sight, logic

Even sense.

I know this. He will come soon

And find me waiting.

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Luke 12:35-40

Faithful Fridays: 3-25-16 Good Friday

Faithful Fridays is one of seven weekly posts at Lillie-Put which facilitate a culture of worship.

Today is Good Friday. the day we remember the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53

Share your own Good Friday song in the comments section.

Find out more about Fernando Ortega, the artist singing this song HERE 

 

An Encouragement From Mirjam In the Netherlands

My sister Brenda, as you may know, is a missionary to The Netherlands. Currently she is here in the U.S. raising funds for the mission. She cannot return until the funds are fully raised.

Mirjam is one of my sister Brenda’s fellow laborers in the Netherlands. Mirjam and her husband Willem are both integral parts of the team over in Zaandam and they want Brenda back.

Here is Mirjam’s word of faith

Stuck at just $430 a month.
Surely there are some people out there who can help Brenda J. Lillie get back to the mission field?
We’re praying for this to be down to $230 by this time next week.
Go on – make a pledge. You know you want to.

Brenda J. Lillie's photo.
Brenda J. Lillie

4 hrs ·

Marching to the Funding Finish Line!
The Future Awaits! Just $430/month to go!
To make your monthly pledge:
http://www.tinyurl.com/brendalillie

Three Days: Weekly Writing Prompt #29

Time limitations have kept me from joining in on the SECRET KEEPER’S WEEKLY WRITING PROMPTS THESE LAST WEEKS.

I have intentionally put aside time this week to join in. You can see all of this week’s contributions by clicking the underlined link above.

This week’s five prompt words are: | WEB | LOST | BLACK | SCRATCH | LOCK |

What follows is a Shadorma in honor of the Passion Week

Shadorma (3 – 5 – 3 – 3 – 7 – 5)
six lines – no rhymes – multiple stanzas [your choice] – just follow meter

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Three Days

by JE Lillie

Day One: Death.

Scratch rejoiced as Christ

Succumbed on

Man’s black cross

Had love lost the day? Night reigned.

Captivity wept.

Day Two: Chained.

Scratch locked Christ in Hell.

His web wound

Bound Christ tight.

Jesus smiled and love woke life

In Hell. Demons shook.

Then He Rose.

Scratch’s keys were lost

Captive hearts

Shouted loud.

As Christ led through the black night

To third day freedom.

Midafternoon Meditation: 3-24-16

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But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 2 Cor. 2:14-16

What does it mean to you to “spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere?”

The Road Through Romans: God’s Goodness

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Yesterday we acknowledged that God is eternal in nature. We came to this in our study through Romans 1:20.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

If you have missed any of these discussions you can find them on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Today we are discussing the goodness of God. What do we mean when we say God is good?

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Ge. 1:31

He loveth righteousness and judgment; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Psalm 33:5

 

Thankful Thursdays 3-24-16

Thankful Thursdays is one of seven weekly posts here at Lillie-Put dedicated to creating a culture of worship.

This week I am focused on the passion and what Christ’s work on the cross has accomplished.

Have you allowed Christ to carry you to the table? If so tell me what that means to you?

You can find more about the artist group  Leeland who sing this song HERE.

The Road Through Romans: Eternal In Nature

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We are currently doing a study through the Book Of Romans verse by verse. We have been stuck in verse 20 of chapter 1 for some time as we study the invisible qualities of God using A.W. Tozer’s book, The Attributes of God.

If you have missed any of these discussions you can find them on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Helping us today to understand the eternal nature of God is Pastor James McDonald. God being eternal is not about God having a long life. God being eternal means He has no limits in expanse or in time. He can focus on everything and everyone at once while being in and out of time all at the same time. It means He can accomplish anything at any time in any place under any set of circumstances because He is without limit. He never runs out of power or strength or resource. He is eternal.

Eternity just blows my mind! How about you?