Chubby toes, arms flailing
in awkward desperation as I cradle your
squirmy body close to nurse. I
trace your smooth face and earnestly search for
traits of your father.
Maybe it is your deep gaze that causes my soul to long
for things this world cannot offer.
Or the gentle coos of Word made flesh.
There is so much more
To you than I understood.
I am shaped in your image. And yet you grew in mine.
Your presence is truly
too substantial for me to carry and
so close I can snuggle the cheek of God.
Turning the Page on Suicide-The Best Gift this Christmas is Choosing Life
Read Romans 8 https://www.chirpapp.com/audiopost/WYKQekOKBy
You may feel surrounded by darkness. Turn the Page and discover what God is capable of doing through you.
Your bones feel picked dry of hope,
yet still,
truth echoes in the souls you touch.
Poetry Posts every Thursday at 7 pmÂ
Turning the Page on Suicide-It Takes More than a Whisper
www.lookwide.com/audiopost/BdKy6pWNwZ
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 ESV).
The needs of others press into my soul and I want to help. Almost weekly, family, friends, and strangers reveal to me the toll suicide is taking on them. My heart breaks for so many who struggle with despair, and I desire to be present for anyone in need of comfort, a listening ear, and God’s love. But I cannot maintain, was never meant to sustain, ministry alone. I cannot be your vine.
God is a good gardener and within his care, we bear much fruit. Apart from him, we cannot do anything. Believers fall away because we attempt to MAKE fruit grow in our own skills, time frame, and energy. We count heads in the pews, facebook likes, ministries we are involved in. This is not where the fruit happens.
Fruit grows in the vine of Christ. So right now I stop trying to produce and submit to God’s pruning and cultivation. He uses scripture (currently reading Job), prayer, worship, pastors, nature, wise counsel, and music to nourish me. He is slowing me down and causing me to be more intentional in action and follow through.
Supporting, encouraging, and loving those who cross my path in their time of grief consistent connection with Jesus. He is the vine, and I am a branch. Notice Jesus doesn’t say the only branch; because many others will bear the fruit of sharing God’s love. Christ points at you in the middle of a vineyard of luscious ripe grapes and says. Abide in me, and out of that abiding comes fruitfulness. We are nourished by his will, love, strength, and compassion. But, too often we attempt to sustain ourselves and others in our own abilities and we wither.
Our model to this vine and branch relationship is Jesus and God the Father. He said his purpose was to do the will of the father (John 6:38). The son of man remained firmly planted where God placed him, even on the cross. As a believer, I am grafted into Christ and I will bear the most fruit by remaining in his will even in hard things.
Devotionals are Posted at 7 pm every TuesdayÂ
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35)
Deadlines are awesome…when they have to do with writing, but the word’s origins are steeped in death. Prisoners could not cross a “dead-line ” without being shot. By choosing hope, I have crossed the dead-line Satan attempted to draw into my life. “You can do your christian thing, but stay in your religious box and do not touch the other side.”
But on the other side, I see a neighbor who just got fired from his job, the teenager who can’t look you in the eye because they are so tangled in sex, drugs, or doubt they feel no one can forgive them. I am aware of the preacher, who feels stuck in the muck of depleted finances, a wife and two kids, and righteous sinners critical of his work, contemplating a way out. The businessman who has scrapped the way to the top and is lonely and finding success hollow and shallow, now holding onto the amber bottle of escape. And that child not given a chance from birth, whose only known pain. They are all on suicide’s doorstep.
So I cross that line. At nineteen years old God crossed the dead-line for me. He plucked me from suicide’s grave and even now when Satan thought he’d have the last laugh with my son’s death to suicide, I find abundant life in grief.
I was given a new dead-line. Cross over into despair and possibly be swallowed whole by Satan while pulling others to safety is worth the risk. Finding the words to express God’s love became my diligent work in grief. My deadline is Heaven with Jesus, and I want you there with me.
Devotionals are posted every Tuesday at 7pm
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 ESV).
(Originally Shared October 2014)
Fall is my favorite season, and as I hiked through the woods, I was reminded of why. It isn’t just the fall colors or the cool nip in the air that revive and remind me of the divine. It is that even in death, life is given.
Take this log for example. It is brimming with life! Fall reminds me that death is not the end of God’s story. There are millions of possibilities that lay hidden beneath the surface ready to burst forth and display his provision and splendor.
Some of us feel like an empty shell, dead inside, nothing could possibly grow from us. I declare to you with complete confidence that there are a million seeds of life planted inside you ready to spring forth! I once thought that I was without purpose, but I see clearly that life is in every cell of my being! I want to give that life to you.
This season is one of hidden possibility. But God’s promises are true. They are observable, and repeat I’m nature and the testimony of many the world tossed out as dead. Trust God’s provision for your life and let him reveal the life growing inside of you.
Love you dearly!
Karisa
Devotionals are posted at 7pm every Tuesday.
Concrete life is ground up by grief
Exposing the naked foundation of what I believe.
Slowly you softened my soul with tears,
fill me with the mortar of faith
And build brick by brick, a temple of Grace
Love and Hope for others to come in.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (NIV).
The devil whispered, “You are not good enough.”
I just returned from a writers conference. I learned more about the writing market, my skills were honed by great speakers and faculty. Interest in my current manuscript was tangible and God forged relationships with other warrior writers. But among so many amazing people the ugly accuser crept, seeking to reveal weaknesses.
I made an embarrassing mistake, and every last one of my insecurities erupted making it hard to breathe.
And the devil hissed, “You are not good enough.”
But unlike my childhood self, I now know the truth of Romans 8:28. I love God, and his purpose for me redeems even my worst mistakes. Errors are not permanent, and there is a purpose in every experience. I still couldn’t get my body to catch up with my head knowledge of that truth. I was exhausted and felt awful. I sought out the prayer warrior on the team. She prayed in a way I could not, and I agreed with the reality of who God says I am. The feeling of unworthiness passed.
Are you coming into agreement with who God says you are? Here are steps to take:
God has a good plan for you, and when you choose to love Him above all else, the enemy cannot defeat the purpose God determined for your life.
The devil may accuse, “You are not good enough.”
But God shouts back, “In my image, I created her/him!”
Devotionals are posted every Tuesday at 7pm
The snap of surprise,
as the ragged watch you
boldly clear a temple bustling
with the commerce of greedy self-worship.
Freeing frightened birds flapping wildly in cages of false belief.
Awakening truth in the hearts of prostitutes, liars,
and outcast.
God leans on sinners.
Asks the wicked to pray for him.
Chooses friends among enemies, and
intimately sweats the blood of flesh, to meet
his own righteous expectations.
If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call the National Suicide Lifeline at 988 or go to the website at https://988lifeline.org/