Tag Archive | first stone

When is Your Moment?

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Esther through marriage became a Queen to King Xerxes.
She too was an Israelite, a Jew, like many in the land.
Haman had planned all the Jews alienation.
It had been decided there was no question,
She could lose her life by her intervention,
Or lose her life, by keeping silent,
While others too died by this extermination decree.

Her cousin Mordecai reminded her perhaps this was,
Why she was there, for such a time as this,
God spoke and Esther answered many lives were saved.

The woman caught in adultery,
Was gleefully brought to Jesus to be judged,
In the pious presence of those who plied the Law,
Jesus knew what her accusers claimed they saw,
Telling them that the one among them,
Without sin could throw the first stone,
One by one stones fell unthrown to the ground.

The adulterous woman met Jesus,
She had her moment with Jesus to choose change,
An experience of truth in love meant she was a new creation.

The woman came mid-day to the well,
She met Jesus there at the siesta hour,
He knew before she arrived of her deepest shame,
And she was never again the same,
For in the mirror shared in Holy love with her,
She faced only His and her own truth,
And forgiveness unexpected flowed in.

This woman who avoided the company of society,
Met Jesus and stepped into the light,
She immediately shared her experience and changed.

Judas met Jesus and was trusted,
From Jesus he was never treated different,
Although his underlying nature rose,
Judas put God's best aside to dose.
Although the Lord knew all along,
He was the one to betray Him,
Judas's decision was his own.

This disciple was with Jesus nearly everyday,
Never believing enough to change,
Never able in his moment to open his heart to love.

Mary Magdalene to Jesus's tomb came,
To finish preparing the body of Christ,
Found the stone that covered the tomb,
Stood open to reveal an empty womb,
When she ran she saw Jesus in the garden
Mary's faith was rewarded and unconfused,
Jesus was the victor over death.

She had her faithful witness moment,
And she hurried off to tell,
Jesus gave her the joy to share He was alive.

Each of the apostles were specifically called,
From life as they had known it until then,
They came of their own free wills,
Their hearts to God's service were sealed.
Though they were persecuted, imprisoned, stoned, beheaded,
After Jesus's resurrection these men held to Jesus true,
Eleven who in their moment still chose Jesus.

These ordinary men took a leap of faith,
And carried the Word to the world,
Faithful to the ends of earthly life and beyond.

Saul began becoming Paul,
On the road to Damascus,
He temporarily lost his sight
Jesus spoke to him outright,
He followed Jesus' instructions,
Regained his sight, and in his moment,
He now accepted Jesus as the truth.

In such a dramatic and unusual way,
Saul became Paul as he changed,
Becoming one who he once sought to kill.

What moment are you waiting for?
What call do you still need?
What keeps you hardened within yourself?
What chains does evil have left?
Is this perhaps the moment?
The change you were meant to make?
You and you alone must choose.

What stands between you and Jesus?
If you choose Jesus you will never again be the same.
Were you born for such a time as this?

----dfav
4/10/21, 6/7/21

First Stone

With aching heart I turned to God,
“How can she treat me so terribly?
With no respect or understanding?
Dismissing my love so carelessly?”
I quickly named Him a top ten list,
Of the examples of her rude behavior.
And followed that by all the things
That left me with a bitter flavor.
When I at last grew silent and waited
For my Father to validate my hurt,
He said softly, “My Dear Child”,
You too have stomped my feelings into the dirt.”
Puffed up with foolish pride I said,
“No, my dear Lord, never have I!”
But I caught hold of countless memories,
That could fill the canvas of the sky.
The times I failed to thank Him,
For His provisions of the day.
Or times I didn’t try to hard at all,
To follow anything He had to say.
By my actions I have denied His place,
As my God, my Savior and Friend.
Truth is, I all too readily forget
To speak to Him for hours upon end.
Aren’t my sins what condemned my soul?
Aren’t they what put Him on the cross?
Wasn’t I the one upon His mind,
When the Son paid my sins cost?
Suddenly my complaints sound small,
My head is clearer and I can forgive,
I will think about my own attitude,
Pray harder for the life God have me live.
Before I can cast a stone at someone,
For a wrong they’ve done to me,
I must first be without sin myself,
My relationship with God where it should be.
          —dfav 7/18/17

—Donna

The Sound of Silence

image
Ahhh—The silence.
Though the click of the fan,
The ting, tingling of the rain,
The hum and bubble of the concentrator,
Reach my ears,
They don’t reach my heart.

Ahhh—The stillness.
Luxurious, welcomed stillness,
In house, mind, heart, no stirring,
No useless scurry,
My soul is still,
This. Is. It.

Ahh—The awareness.
Absence of accusations,
Absence of fluff and flash of justification,
Jesus says one thing,
…he without sin—
—he may cast the first stone.

Ahh—storm of my existence.
Suspended, here and now,
Suspended, free fall, Satan grounded,
No stones hurled, screaming thuds,
None can be—first.

Ahh—The silence.
Though the tweets of birds,
Though the ting, tingling of falling dust,
The hum and bubble of weakening judgments,
Soothes my heart,
He fulfills my soul.
                d.f.a.v.  5/18/15
—Donna