Tag: Christians

The Case of the Buried Treasure

by Ray Stedman, Authentic Christianity

[k. e. leger Note: This article was written June 27, 1971. Please take note how this article, written 48 years ago, still holds true today. This really helps us to understand the struggle with Israel, and why the governments are acting the way they are. This goes with my article titled ‘Discovering the Hidden Treasure in Yourself.’]

In the great series of parables in Matthew 13 our Lord gave us, as He said, ‘The secrets of the kingdom of heaven.’ The kingdom of heaven is God’s work among men, God’s rule and authority in the midst of human affairs. In this series, Jesus is revealing the work of the kingdom as it is going on throughout the centuries of this present age since His first coming and before His return. We come to the fifth parable this morning, the parable of the buried treasure.

I don’t know what that may evoke in your mind. It always reminds me immediately of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, of Long John Silver, and doubloons and pieces-of-eight, peg-leg pirates, and all the exciting things usually associated with the idea of buried treasure. It is intriguing to realize that Scripture deals with this subject as well. It recognizes the allure and the mystery, which always gathers around the notion of hidden treasure. God has His buried treasures and He is speaking of them in this parable.

Continue reading “The Case of the Buried Treasure”

‘Humble of Mercy’

You Want It to Be! So Bad….

A sample from Book 12

 Humble of Mercy
  
 she shivered in the sun light
 thinking of words in the night
 take care of yourself
 make this all count
 it's not as bad as it seems
  
 –wondering...
if this is really all right
  
 she covers her eyes from the bright
 words...thoughts in her head
 filling her morning's sight
 you've heard this before
words of deception
 he doesn't want you no more
 don't let 'fool' be your salvation
  
 ‒wondering...
why the needless blight
  
 then the bible's insight
 saying it's going to be all right
  
 the unease feels her insides
 but her heart digs in tight
 it was always him‒ 
since all the darkened twilight
 why so hard to get it right
 why so much fight
  
 she washed her face
forced a smile to the light
 dawned her makeup
ignored age's height
 the saddened night
 throwing sorrow to the wind‒
 the need to cry...howl
all night
  
 her heart sits right
 she adhered to the boundaries‒ 
set outright
 time needed with the light
 she can't fight
without insight
 cleansing her insides, beautying her outsides
 letting the magic pour from God†
 as age moves on
lessening her life
 –each piece
becomes more precious, more fragile
  
 learning not anymore
to gamble
 what's wrong, what's right
 just listening to the light
without a fight

(September 26, 2018)—

Praise for Joy and Security of the Righteous—Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge. I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.’ As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom in all my delight. The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.―Psalm 16

Continue reading “‘Humble of Mercy’”

‘Knife’

Surviving the Knife of Those Who Betray You!

A sample from Book 12

(April 21, 2018)—That knife becomes weaker when we gain the support of others, when we start to see the true meaning behind our life. That knife doesn’t come out that easy especially when you see everyone’s true disclosure.

There’s so much to say, then there’s nothing to say. I have this much on my mind: If they don’t want to see you, it doesn’t matter what you say or do, they won’t see you.

I’ve said a lot here on Facebook. I revealed a lot…but there’s a lot I haven’t revealed. So you only get a piece of the puzzle…never the whole picture. Why? Because I do have a life and part of that life is private as for everyone else. There’s a lot of pain I cover up…and, yes, there is still pain. There will always be pain because an entire portion of my life has been wiped out…and not by choice.

I tried calling my daughter. It appears that she’s changed her number. I think that odd because the words I last typed her in text were answers to words she said to me, but I’m held totally accountable. Why? Oh, because I’m 49 years old and should know better. I’m the mom…but that doesn’t come into affect when I’m called by my name instead of Mom. Just saying….

 Knife
  
 it was put in there‒ 
nice and tight
 when I move around
to the left, to the right
 it reveals its price
 ‒how it changed my life
 the strength it took‒ 
robbing my mind
 the way it makes me wanna fight
 even if it isn't right
 even if I said...say...things impolite
 I was...am...gonna fight
 ‒even while speaking of the light
  
 at times, I feel like a poltergeist
 a faded memory...sliced and diced
 forgotten the way I was
 forever entombed in what I've become
 not a homicide
 ‒a genocide of all that was nice
 womanly, motherly...dignified
 downgraded to a parasite
 ‒not fit for normal's life
  
 should I be lost in contrite
 bowed down in pity...outright
 or was I absolutely right
turning childlike
 begging for help‒ 
from Jesus Christ†
  
 who has the right to decide‒ 
I'm the sacrifice
 in order for them‒ 
to have their paradise
  
 who had the right‒ 
shift truth to lies
 bury this knife
in what used to be‒
 a mother, sister, daughter, wife
  
 in me...it so mystifies
 how everyone becomes tongue-tied
 when abuse is in transcribe
 ‒the victim screams in alive
 how extreme...me...it mortifies
 that, no matter which way‒ 
death...comes in die
 twist, twist, twist the knife
 gone daughter, sister, mother, wife
  
 rebuilding exemplified
the alibis become jives
 words in wisdom...just implied
 while words...wombs...rob the mind
 memories of building the first life‒
 took one times forty-five
  
 pull, pull, pull out the knife
time in modify
 is there another forty-five
 my, my, my how it mystifies
 what comes of‒ 
pulling out the knife
Continue reading “‘Knife’”

‘Aversion’

Forgive Yourself for God Has Already Done That!

(April 8, 2019)—The commentary for my piece titled ‘Salvation’s Need’ I speak about salvation and God taking grace away if we go against Him. A friend called and told me that God does not take away grace. I beg you differ.

Ever since the incident with the Jeep, I have been reverted back to feeling like crap. I can’t seem to return to the good diet that was making me feel great, nor the tanning, nor the exercising. I’m told to get an attorney and sue these people, but, at the same time, that’s not what I’m supposed to do. Faith. I’m supposed to rely on faith. I’ve been battling with all of this lately.

I finished my vow. I’m supposed to wait now. And my relationship with the sweet man…what relationship? All my values, morals, principles are in question right now…every single thing I stand for! The voice of death has crossed my threshold several times in these last couple of months because I’m so tired of fighting, so tired of people lying to me. I’ve been in a battle per say.

I have been working late on my website and getting up late each day. I had gotten myself on a schedule, but that has been thrown out the window. I suddenly have that rush again…like I’m up against a clock. So, this morning after reading a few things on Facebook, I got my coffee and sat down. My Bible and writing tablet staring at me. The pull to cry came from way deep inside. And the tears started to fall. I started to feel sorry for myself. I see my sisters posting about their lives. My little sister and her family. I asked myself, ‘Where’s my joy? Where’s my family?’

 Aversion
  
 You† stripped me of life
 sent me into strife
 in order for me
to truly see the light
  
 I knelt...prayed for truth
 stripped of wisdom‒ 
made into a fool
 only to rise then fall in glue
 stuck in deceived...malice
 drowning in the body's surface
 lust took hold...every crevice
  
 my mind stuck in evil's drool
 lying, stealing...seeking revenge‒
 all evil's time in consume
 I surrounded myself‒ 
in the duel
 bathing in its fumes
 yelling, pulling, yanking
 trying to see truth
 ‒in all I assumed
  
 all its evilness‒ 
pulling me from the light
 pushing me‒ 
to take my very life
 over and over‒ 
keeping me in strife
 leaving...I think not!
laughing at my struggle‒ 
in fight
 holding me down from flight
 suffocating‒ 
blinding my sight
  
 I prayed to see truth
 now I see evil's embedded rules
 the play‒ 
leaving countless clues
 lust being its endless tool
 using love‒ 
in its game of fools
  
 Lord†, I see the aversion‒
 I see the message in truth
 in my mind‒ 
the careless insertion
 ‒troubled heart
sunk in its inclusion
  
 I know why they sink‒
 into drugs...sexual immorality
 they were too young
when it all begun
 to fight evil's manipulating reality
 get to the children first
  ‒You† showed me this
before any verse
 revealing truth‒ 
way before my coming doom
  
 then my 360...then the loop
 three adults in evil's coop
 the wreckage‒ 
I didn't know what to do
 for I was encaged, too
  
 get to the children first
  
 innocence‒ 
pulled from the light
 no strength
to put up a fight
 ‒growing up
with an inside strife
 splitting the mind
 evil...preventing
the thinking of twice
  
 Lord†, thank you
for the truth
 please clear my mind‒ 
fill me with You†
 evil strangles
all that's true
 I'd rather be filled with You†
 than lust's
    careless drool
Continue reading “‘Aversion’”

‘Thank You for the Time’

Let yourself learn from the lessons given!

A sample from Book 12

  Thank You for the Time
  
 I often mix up the rhyme
 wanting the rhythm
in times
 then I think
this life of mine
 has to end some time
  
 thank you, Lord†, for the time
 the silence
the frozen bones
 thinking deep...on my own
 without stories to tell
 ‒just a visit home
  
 thank you, Lord†, for this time
 everyone has seeds sewn
 everyone to everyone...cloned
 beeps from a wireless phone
 passing on‒ 
without really being known
  
 I thank you anyway, Lord†
for this time
 for bleak bitterness
in my mind
 for the tearing love
in my heart
 ‒I once fought so hard
feeling so torn apart
 in this space...I am caught
 reading words‒ 
to me...once taught
  
 thank you, Lord†
my lessons are mine
 listening deep‒ 
watching go by...the time
 wondering if enough‒ 
I've been kind
  
 no backwards
only forwards
 can I move the line
 taking the lessons‒ 
building new rhyme
 understanding the journey
 through time
is not just mine
  
 thank you, Lord Jesus†
 for all those moments
in time
 I'll bring them all in
 play with them
in my mind
then cherish the rhyme
 after all, You've† given me
the time
Continue reading “‘Thank You for the Time’”

‘Allegorium’

What it takes to keep love!

A sample from Book 11

 Allegorium
 
  
 (what is it in life
 if you can't tell
wrong from right
 to see in sight
what is of great heights
 to know
from a wrong fight
and a right fight
 ‒one worth the cry
one not worth the try)
  
 there was a yell, a scream
an act of rage
 mixed in scents of sage
  
 she would leave
she would leave today
 her bags...she began to pack
 ‒the stress off her back
  
 she voiced everything
she wanted to sack
 her mind lost in a haze
 remembering
all those great days
 ‒reasons why she stayed
  
 anger filled in a maze
this way, that way
 ‒which path to take
  
 wanting to run
 in spite of the fun
 then in comes the pun‒ 
standing eye to eye
 tears suddenly
fill in cry
  
 we just can't be together  

 shaking
coming from deep inside

 I know 

 each not willing to move‒ 
standing their ground
 knowing
without making a sound
 it all comes down
to mixes in race
 different traditions
different tastes
  
 but that's just the base
 to what lies beneath‒
 experiences
in the lace
  
 wanting her to stay
 knowing
his moments in rage
 ‒can't keep her in a cage
 from her mind
it won't fade
 searching
for words to say
  
 wanting nothing in fright
 in his dark eyes‒ 
seeing the willing light
 wanting her to seek it
 please make it bright
 understand the hard in my life
 for it, I had to fight
 sealing up everything inside
  
 confusion succumbed‒ 
the sudden in rays
 from his silent, pleading glaze
 it's not just his aces and eights
 that's on the take
  
 she adds up the sum
to it, he wasn't dumb
 every piece, every crumb
has to be sorted‒
 to smooth out
the constant lump
  
 another chance
another steady ride
 taking each side
 ‒what's buried in hide
 no matter how many lows and highs
 wobbling
through pass homicides
 all those moments‒ 
others confused their minds
 making them want to pounce‒
 in anger...quickly dive
  
 thinking through it‒ 
hearing every sound
 warnings, confusion, heart‒
 feeling the surface of found
 wondering where its bound
this constant round
 has to sooner or later
release its hound
 when wanting to stay
is all around
  
 softly relaxing
the lines on her face
 that unconditional
is not in a trace
 ‒it's in the base
of foundation's lace
 without living in a race
  
 what others see as a toxic tray
 may just be
the difference in race
 in raised traditional's case
 ‒angers set in
wanting to be erased
  
 each learning to let go‒
 what once slapped them
in the face
 releasing anger's ways
 that keeps trapping them
in a haze
 ‒exploding in a blaze
  
 what is it in life
 if you can't tell
wrong from right
 to see in sight
what is of great heights
 ‒to know Jesus'† life
why for us, He† died
  
 love is worth the ride
for it, pay the price
 for the reward
   everlasting life
Continue reading “‘Allegorium’”

‘Hands to Hold’

Is race going to continue to rule your life?

A sample from Book 10

 Hands to Hold
  
 you come at me
 you're not discrete
bold...unsure
  
 maybe there's a gun in my hand
 maybe I've some contraband
  
 or maybe I just like hands in pocket
 or wearing my earphones in my car
 so I can answer this here phone
 for this car absent of bluetooth–
 protecting me and you
  
 or maybe you're angry– 
having a bad day
 I pass your way
 through your veins runs hate
 so I become your play
  
 I'm just like you‒
 generation after generation
 passed through
without obligations
 to changing the view
  
 –it all seems like voodoo
 we both– 
not really having a clue
 ‒taking it upon ourselves
 get off that dusty shelf
change the view
 so our kids
won't suffer too
  
 maybe I do have a gun
 –anger raging in stun
 do you see inside of me
 my hard history
maybe my hand shakes
 though you can't see
 –you're so angry
 not seeing what's at stake
  
 maybe I did some drugs–
 stopping the pain
 keeping from going insane
 but soothing I didn't gain
 all looks like a game
 emotions adding to more pain
  
 then you come along
 thinking I'm a thug
 you want to cut me down‒
 stump me like a bug
 without knowing the deal at home
 why I'm here– 
a gun...all alone
  
 maybe don't yell
 talk...love– 
let it swell
  
 instead of jail– 
lead my soul to help
 without making me
hate myself
  
 I, too, want peace
 between you and me
  
 maybe instead of arrogance‒
 show understanding
compassion
  
 I don't want a free ride
 just a reason...inside
not to cry
  
 I am tough
I've got muscles, tats
 my life has been rough
 –crazy and all that
 it doesn't mean
I'm just stuff
to pluck
  
 a handshake
a hug
  
 –that just might be
enough
  
 I'm a human being
 I don't mean to sting
  
 just a little bitter
 please, your anger–
 could you reconsider
  
 look at me for me
God's† child
 making my way...like you
 through the miles
  
 –the past is gone
this is now
 together– 
we can make it all
worth while
 if we just remain calm–
 approach each other
in mild
 without death coming in fowl
Continue reading “‘Hands to Hold’”

‘Colorless Birds’

We’re all various shades of brown!

A sample from Book 10

 Colorless Birds
  
 a failed adhesion
 ‒mixed hypercritical damnation
 of all the hysteria‒
 the misunderstood mystery
hundreds of years
 still shed tears
still darkened fears
  
 what was fought
so hard for
 it doesn't seem
we came too far
 even living
under the same stars
 color‒ 
keeps bringing us back
 ‒justice lacked
white...black
 heresy in a broken-down shack
  
 tackle the government
 ‒greed's endowment
 keeping
that stupid war's enlightenment
 taking it's very commitment
back to days of judgment
  
 where are the colorless birds
 ‒haven't you heard
that war ended
 in a blood-soaked swirl
 leaving this mixed-race girl
in a confused swirl
  
 ‒still an uneven world
lost in racial twirls
  
 we're still paying tokens
 ‒what was broken
 thought to be fixed
 ‒all should be mixed
 still backwards
the clock tics
  
 years and years
suffered pain
 what did we gain
 ‒it's just insane
 still playing
this black-white game
  
 didn't king die
for a simple dream
  
 to live in a time
where there is no color
  
 just people
where each other 
 given no time to smother
no matter skin color
 you're still my sister, my brother
  
 honoring a man's life
 doesn't give war the right
 to bury the dream
 ‒words he openly screamed
 leave hatred...difference behind
 to each other
be kind
  
 it's just time
stop banking on race
 look into each other's face
 see beauty's lace
   of God's† amazing grace
Continue reading “‘Colorless Birds’”

‘Troubled Soul’

Other people’s issues are not yours!

A sample from Book 9

  Troubled Soul
  
 your mixed personality
 doesn't blend with reality
  
 your verbal kindness
 doesn't add to
your stalking rudeness
  
 returning to reality
 ‒stripping all vulnerability
 takes...taking responsibility‒
 actions of self
before experiencing life...truly
  
 changing personalities
 doesn't insure securities
 needed‒ 
to strengthen possibilities
  
 living in denial
mile after mile‒
 brings the mind
to crash
heading south‒
 once there
 ‒getting there
 you can only ask...how
  
 take a look inside
your round and round ride
 ‒a mind in hide
never subsides
 'til you stop for a while
 sink in like a child‒ 
all your wounds...untie
  
 open that book
given by God†
 look deep...deep into your I
 write down your whys
all that pain
 bringing you to hide‒ 
all those cries
  
 all those ancient words‒
 so many have heard
 let them be your guide
it takes time
  
 people won't untie‒ 
all those knots inside
 ‒admittance...of self
 the help of only God†‒ 
your only needed drive
 way...way deep inside
 ‒then He'll† show you
how to fly
 without you‒ 
   having to ask why
Continue reading “‘Troubled Soul’”

‘Salvation’s Need’

To Deny Others Is To Deny God!

 Salvation's Need
  
 test after test
I have failed
 my 360
to the cross...nailed
 You† brought people to me
 in their time of weak
 ‒salvation
I failed to help them seek
  
 instead, I buried them deep
 words from my mouth
did seep
 actions
I didn't allow to creep
 in self
I curled up in weep
  
 my time has come and sailed
 out of all of it
I tend to bail
 turning my back
not wanting to see
 how another's picture
on them...creeps
 I just give up and flee
  
 whatever awakens
this ignorance of me
 strip it
take it from me
 strengthen me
help me to see
 keep me from feeling sorry
lost in self pity
  
 Lord†, this part of me
 that lived unselfishly
 I lost
please return it to me
 without this lumpy throat
from way down deep
 without fears and anxiety
 help me open my mouth
speak
 in words of calm
humility, peace
without selfish
insecurities
Continue reading “‘Salvation’s Need’”