Eyes of Grace

Hate the Sin and not the sinner

I was told when I found Grace
As He served so I could be His
I must serve to share His grace

How then do I hate the sin

If they think that I hate them
To let You judge and only love
Not to fear but just to care

I asked You to reveal the way

To reach their hearts and feel their pain
To stand on truth because it heals
And let them know your love is real

In Your Word there was a time

When men condemned someone to die
And you asked those who stood by
To cast a stone if sin denied

And when you wrote upon the sand

Not even one could raise a hand
They turned away and could not face
Their sinful hearts in need of grace

Then I remembered love that flowed

Still in my sin Your grace bestowed
On your forgiveness now I stand
No victory by my own hand

The pain, the lies, the circumstance

When I thought there was no chance
How can I hate or judge or shun
Those from the very place I’ve come

When in paradise by grace

Among the saved I see their face
How will I look them in the eye
If I know I passed them by

No difference here or there between us

It is Your Grace that has redeemed us
And Your Word that speaks the truth
Into our hearts and makes us new

 

A Fool Proved Plan or Oh Lucy V

Well here I am again after the longest “month” in history.  The changes to Naphtali’s Land are not quite as amazing as I had hoped they would be.  My own technological deficiencies, procrastination and disorganization are mostly to blame and I won’t even mention the writer’s panic. (Kind of like writer’s block but heavy on the self-doubt).  But my love for writing, reminiscing and sharing His love won out.  I have added some pictures and will continue to add to them to future and past posts as I find them (that is the disorganization part). So without further ado, welcome to the new, semi-illustrated Naphtali’s Land.

 

  

Determined to get back to writing, I decided that a desk in the living room was the answer to the things that had been getting in the way of my creativity. There was a wonderful large wooden desk in my bedroom on the 3^rd floor that I thought would be perfect set back in the corner. I could look out over the balcony, inspired by the seasons and be more accessible to family, kitchen and yes I admit it, the TV. 

 I was so excited about it that I almost didn’t consider how I would get it down the stairs.  My plan consisted of laying it down on its’ top, getting in front of it on the stairs, and slowing sliding down on the seat of my pants with it braced against my back.  I thought that by holding on to the railings on either side of the stairs the chances of anything going wrong were minimal.

 

After taking the drawers out and flipping it over I maneuvered it to the top of the stairs, positioned myself in front of it and reached back to gently tip it over the top step.
I am not sure what all the natural forces that came into play were but they meant business.  I am pretty sure gravity was one of them because as soon as the desk tilted down it began to slide and was not inclined to stop.  It suddenly weighed 500 lbs and there was no way I could either straighten all the way up or relax into a fully seated position.  Half crouched, holding on to the railings for dear life and pushing my back against it as hard as I could, I realized I was no longer in control. Praying as I inched my way down each step I seriously asked the Lord not to let my family find my lifeless body at the bottom of the steps crushed beneath the desk.

To make matters worse when I finally got to the bottom and tried to turn it into the living room it got stuck against the wall opposite the stairs, suspended above the floor.  It is a free standing staircase.  The kind that kids and dogs like to run around from room to room, and I found myself doing a variation of that as I went back and forth repositioning it inch by inch until I could set it down on the floor without damaging the wall.

I am sitting at the desk as I write this thinking about how I pray each day that God will give me the strength and determination I need for whatever I do.  From now on though I think I will let Him pick the projects.

 

Riddles and Rhymes

What so fun about blank spaces

Making up chaotic grids

Or dismembered objects

That we just can’t seem to fix

 

Metal rods bent just so

Sadistically entangled

Aisles of endless paths that end

In 90^o angles

 

What is the lure that calls us to

Seek out the sheer frustration

 

That's disguised as

            Entertainment and/or relaxation

 

Are we challenging our minds

Or secretly competing

With everyone who’s gone before us

The thought is quite intriguing

 

Crosswords, mazes, cubes perplex us

Numbers, shapes and puzzles vex us

We reason, guess and calculate

Applying logic, law and faith

 

To find the answer someone knew

But disguised to hide from view

Challenging us to search and find

By paths known only in their mind

 

Meant to question and to seek

To find the wisdom of belief

 

The wonders of the mind of man

Are formed in us by God’s own hand

 

So through the mazes of this life

Misunderstandings, pain and strife

We can be guided by His light

When we recieve the mind of Christ