Lying in bed by the open window
Under cottony darkness
It is late summer and already
The leaves are giving up the summer rain.
Here is how I can tell:
The wind stirs them and
They rattle their rainy songs.
Every fall since then
I lie very still,
Listening for that chiming percussion
© Copyright 2020 by Marc W. Richardson
Are we all looking
For the fist-sized cloud
To rise from the sea?
For the hand that stills the waves?
The same Lord
Who calmed the sea
Is the one who first breathed the storm.
Walk out on the water
To whom else should we go?
Walk out on he water
To whom else do we go?
You alone have breathed words of eternal life for
Tomorrow, the wind and waves shall rise again
© Copyright 2020 by Marc W. Richardson
In these troubled times, it is good to remember Who our God is. These are taken from scripture. Some of the references are located at the bottom of this post.
In posting these, I am not suggesting that we ignore the fact that our God is also a great and terrible God who proclaimed to Moses in Exodus chapter 34:
The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty…
So pray these words back to God. Implore His mercy; fast, pray. Let us rend our hearts before the Lord our maker.
God is our
Shield
Buckler
Dwelling Place
Shelter
Refuge
Fortress
Tower, strong, high
Rock
Deliverer
Protector
Rescuer
Healer
Saviour
Strength
Song
Power
Redeemer
Hope
Defence
Glory
King of old
Reward, exceeding and great
Help
Sword of thy excellency
Horn of our salvation
Lifter up of our heads
Sun
Goodness
Help, a very present help in trouble
our Habitation
my portion in the land of the living
In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence
a strength to the poor,
a strength to the needy in his distress,
a refuge from the storm,
a shadow from the heat
my refuge in the day of affliction
He is the tower of salvation
our Stronghold
Our Father
Psa_18:2 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
Psa_62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Psa_91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
2Sa_22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
Psa 144:1 A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: 2 My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
Isa_4:5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
Deu_33:27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
© Copyright 2020 by Marc W. Richardson
The Church has always used litanies as a way to recount the virtues of our God. An example is Psalm 136 where the phrase “For His mercy endureth forever” is repeated in all twenty-six verses. Vain repetition? Repetition is vain only if you recite the words with your lips and not with your mind, heart and will.
This litany is composed of all the times the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Even though the references to the Holy Spirit are scattered throughout the epistle, when one gathers them up and arranges them in a list, we cannot help but see how they present a comprehensive teaching on the Holy Spirit and His attributes. They begin with the receiving of the faith of Messiah Jesus and end with everlasting life. This should not surprise us because, after all, The Holy Spirit Himself breathed these words through Paul as he wrote them.
Blessed be our glorious God and let us exalt His name forever!
Holy Spirit
By whom we have received the faith
By whom we have begun our faith journey
Who is ministered to us by Messiah Jesus
Who was promised to us by Messiah Jesus
Who cries out Abba! Father! in our hearts
Whom Messiah Jesus was born after
By whom we wait for the hope of righteousness by faith
By whom will will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh
Who fights against our fleshly desires
By whom we are led
Who causes His fruit to be born in us
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self Control
By whom we live and walk
By whom we shall reap everlasting life
Amen
© Copyright 2020 by Marc W. Richardson
Open the door of your heart when Jesus knocks,
Receive Him into your home.
One thing is needful: choose the good part, which shall not be taken away from you.
Sit at His feet and hear His Word
As advised by His heavenly Father, “Hear ye Him.”
As advised by His earthly mother: “Whatever he says to you, do it.”
Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him; for He is meek [gentle] and lowly in heart [humble]: For His yoke is easy and His burden is light and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
If you wish to be His disciple, Come after Him,
Deny yourself,
leave everything and everyone behind,
empty yourself.
Take up your cross daily and Follow Him.
And never, never, never take your eyes of Jesus.
© Copyright 2020 by Marc W. Richardson
The use of litanies in worship goes back as far as anyone knows. An excellent example is Psalm 136, upon which the following offering is based. Far from being empty repetition, it is full of the richness of the Word of God as we explore many of the ways God’s attributes endure forever. Our Father, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
All scripture is taken from the King James version. The verses in which the different attributes are found are listed below the litany.
There is a little tune to go with it if you’d like to sing along.
Ephesians 5:18-20 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for
He endureth forever
His fear endureth forever
His glory endureth forever
His name endureth forever
His Seed endureth forever
His mercy endureth forever
His truth endureth forever
His righteousness endureth forever
His praise endureth forever
His judgments endure forever
His kingdom endureth forever
His word endureth forever
O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 9:7, 19:9, 104:31, 72:17, 89:36, 100:5, 100:5, 111:3, 111:10, 119:160, 145:13, 1 Peter 1:25, Psalm 136:1&2
His Seed
David’s Seed, Jesus
His praise
Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory!
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come!
© Copyright 2020 by Marc W. Richardson
Whenever you fall, Grace flows
Over you, Under you,
All Around you.
Grace Lightens you,
Overwhelming sin’s gravity.
Get Up
Get going
If you don’t give in
you will never feel
like giving up
Never give up on those
Who are more broken than you.
God doesn’t.
God has given them their entire lives
To find Him.
Remember the thief on the cross?
Why would you ever give them
Anything less?
The ice has gone out of the lakes and the trees are greening. All around us life is coming up. The early morning sunlight seems stronger as it shines on my old cat. I’ve been up since 6:00 AM on this Saturday morning, up and down to the coffee shop for my standard “Four shots of espresso in an eight ounce cup and fill the rest with water, please.” It is the rest that interests me today. The space we feel and believe needs to filled. Air, water, sunshine, food, a sense of belonging, of being one of two or being one of many. Lover, partner, friend, community.
I talked to the homeless guy (I don’t know his name) outside the coffee shop where he stations himself early every morning to sell the local street newspaper. He said that in summertime, sales drop off because “It’s summer and it’s warm and because people know we won’t freeze to death on the streets at night, we’re basically OK.” He has serious spaces to fill.
The space can be an emptiness caused by something lost or never obtained. It can be as voracious as a vacuum, sucking up everything that comes near. It can become filled with the crushed expectations of long-forsaken dreams. It can become the repository of grace. It can be what is left when space itself is removed.
Meanwhile, my old cat lies basking in the sun, the warmth filling her bones which were emptied by the long winter’s cold. I am still searching for some kind of sun. I am like the little birds in the nest in the Sweet Gum tree outside my window, heads up, beaks open peeping “Fill me up, fill me up, fill me up!” It always ends with the searching.
There are a set of wind chimes on the balcony. They play a major scale, you know, the happy one, the kind Handle used in his Hallelujah! Not the kind Beethoven used when he wrote his fifth symphony. There is a slight breeze which rings them in a cadence at once random and in time with the winds. Things like this matter at 5:00 AM when you’re done with all your fitful sleeping for the night. Sometimes the easiest thing is just to give up and get up.
Now and then I hear a crow complaining as it is displaced from its perch by another crow higher in the hierarchy.
The clock ticks. The refrigerator cycles on and off. The occasional car passes by. A plane flies overhead. Mostly, it is still. This stillness is a state with which those of us who find ourselves up at all hours are familiar. The darkness wraps around you like a cloak of no colors, conferring a sort of invisibility, even from yourself. There is a certain relish in the quietude even though you know another day of fatigue, red eyes and yawning stretches out ahead of you.
It is chilly on this Easter morning. I have gone out for a walk. It clears the mind, lifts the spirit even if only by one or two degrees. Sometimes that is enough. On days when it is not enough I wait for the light to come creeping though the trees. It always does, without fail. If you can just hold on; wait until the light.
Waiting for Daylight
I am my Father`s son 