Sweet Surrender- An Acrostic

Sweet Surrender

 I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

Jeremiah 10:23

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 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 15:1-7

 

 Search my heart O’ Lord

Unveil your plans for my life

Realign my thoughts and desires

Resurrect dead dreams

Energize and empower my being

Name me your Beloved

 (For I am yours)

Decree my safety; deliver my heart from fear and my feet from falling

Enter fully into me and live

Radiate Skekinah (Glory of the Holy Spirit)/ Reveal Y’Shua (Jesus)/ Re-enter the Garden, Abba and walk in the cool of the day with Your Beloved

 

South Africa 11-10

Spirit of Grace, Wisdom, and Truth

 Joel 3:14 "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision."

The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day
of tumult and trampling and terror
in the Valley of Vision,
a day of battering down walls
and of crying out to the mountains.Cross references:

1. Isaiah 22:5 : S Isa 2:12
2. Isaiah 22:5 : S Job 40:12; S Ps 108:13
3. Isaiah 22:5 : S 2Sa 22:43; Isa 13:3; Jer 30:7; La 1:5; Eze 8:17-18; 9:9-10; Joel 2:31; Am 5:18-20; Zep 1:15
4. Isaiah 22:5 : S Isa 1:1
5. Isaiah 22:5 : Ne 6:15; S Ps 89:40; Isa 5:5; Jer 39:8; Eze 13:14

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Grace

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Peace

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Hope

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Consolation

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Revelation and Wisdom

Battle plans are forged

 

Maps are drawn

But the battle belongs to the Lord

This is the Valley of Decision

The people are in its midst and know it not

Over the next days, decisions will be made that will affect destinies

As the winds blow from the heights of the mountains

Down its peaks till it rests on the earth below blanketing it like a shroud

 

I long to hover over this people of South Africa blanketing them

I long to hover them as shawl warms the cold prickled skin of a woman on a chilly night

My hand rests firmly upon her shoulders

But she would not

She rejects all efforts to warm or comfort her

She bitterly holds onto the past

Loose- be loosed from every condemnation,

every bit of shame,

every nightmare of your past,

every conviction.

I lay the gavel down

I do not pass judgment

You are free to walk out of the courthouse

I lay down the gavel

I do not pass judgment

I take off the judge’s robes

I step down from my elevated position

I take your place in the defendant’s seat

I dismiss your lawyer

I plead guilty in your behalf

You are free to leave

You are not guilty

 

I see them take you into custody

They place your hands behind your back

 And cuff them securely

They place shackles on your feet

You do the prisoner’s shuffle out the door

They will change your elegant suit into prisoner’s garb

This is the price of my freedom

 

 

 

 

 

I AM ...

I am a prophetic and hope-filled teacher who calls out the destiny in her students and impels them into their future like a rocket. I wonder how long before the first girls hear the voice echoing in the wilderness and begin to come forth. I already hear the roar of the Lion of Judah and the buzz of the bees hovering, flitting and zinging, over the dead carcasses which lie at the Lion’s feet. Then I see a crowd of girls marching on the mountains at the sound of His thunderous voice. I peer over the horizon anxious to see them come, lame with club-foot, bent with palsy, crawling or ram straight, but coming over the mountains, through the wastelands and desert places, steppes and valleys, over one step at a time. I am a prophetic and joy-filled teacher who calls out the destiny in her students and impels them into their future like a rocket. I want the roads to be made smooth, the crooked paths straight, and the mountains a level-plain so that weak knees are strengthened rather than injured. I pretend not to doubt or question how some of them have become so injured and how we will survive in a world with such malevolence as to harm an innocent child. I feel anger when I see the scarred faces and hacked-off limbs. I boil with rage over the injustice and abuse of it all. I touch their dreams like clay, wet them with my tears, and begin to shape them with my fingers. I worry about how fragile their dreams are in my hands and whether they will shatter. I am a prophetic and joy-filled teacher who calls out the best in her students and impels them into their future like a rocket.

I cry when I see wasted lives and resources and broken bodies and spirits. I am a prophetic and joy-filled teacher who calls out the best in her students and impels them into their future like a rocket. I understand how big the problems are (lack of education, abandonment, family dysfunction, disintegration, and sexual sin). I say that we, the girls and I, can change these things. They say if you want to change the world, educate girls. We can stop terrorism, end childhood disease, improve economic conditions in our countries- truly lead with justice, fairness, and equity. I dream of the day when every child in Africa, Asia, and every hamlet and village receives a quality education and reaches their potential. I try to make the deaf ones listen. I try to open the mute ones to speak of their pain. To the listless, I encourage them to lift their eyes. I hope to see at least 50 schools built and my girls the president of the countries where they were once oppressed. I am a prophetic and joy-filled teacher who calls out the best in her students and impels them into their future like a rocket.

Happy Valentines

Dear Friend,
You are 

Valued
And
Loved
Eternally by His Tender Heart
Nestled
Tenderly
Inside His Scarred Hands
Nurtured
Extravagantly by the
Savior's Mercy

mj

I Come From a Long Line of Women

To Sylvia: “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come” Proverbs 31:25

I come from a

long

line

of

strong

 women

Muscled arms

Sinews of steel

From hard days

in the field

Backbones of iron

Sure-footed

On the hard-packed

Soil of racism and defeat

 Stout of heart

Full of courage

Not easily broken

By life or putting to the ground

Children or husbands

Wise beyond years

Practiced in the art

Of intercession

Moaning

Groans

Only the Spirit 

Could understand

I come from a
Long line of such

Women

The same fields

 In the cool of

The evening

Became

A temple of praise

And love

 I come from a long

Line of

Strong women

Who reach

Beyond their

Own pain

To pull future

Generations

From the depths

Of the abyss

The Angry Rock-n-Roll

Be angry, but sin not

Now there is a Word

That hits the spot-

(A sore spot)

About the time

I get hot

(And bothered)

I remember your admonition

To flee all idolatry and immorality

Gee wheez,

Golly Gee,

What’s gotten a hold of me?

Is the flesh or the devil, too?

Who knows who?

In the flesh,

In a rush,

But when push

Comes to shove

I need Your

Love more

Than I need

Anything much

Out the door

Over the hedge

Now, I am ready for bed

Oops, almost forgot

What you said

Don’t think about

Hitting the bed

If I got angry

Thoughts roiling

In my head

Up on my feet

Down to my knees

Forgive

Me Jesus

For being angry,

Please

I hop under the covers

And is it any wonder

That I am fast asleep

Boy¸ Peace

Sure is neat!

Good Night,

MJ

Who Am I?

I am resilient

I am tenacity

I Am persistent

I defy paucity

I am remarkable

I am covered

I am unstoppable

I am shielded

I AM beLoved

I am Notable

I am esteemed

I am Laudable

I am precious

I am valuable

I am Audacious

I am irreplaceable

I am Carried

I am visionary

I am bundled

I am luminary

I am prophetic

I am promise

I am heroic

I am ___________________(your name)

I am halting

I am limping

But I am still climbing

I am still giving

8-8-11

Dancer

Dancer

7-23-11

A Dancer Feels things in her toes

It sort of curls up from the tips and toenails

And reaches like fingers massaging

 To the ankles

To be a dancer is to feel the beat

And hum of things

 With the soul of your feet

Like a drummer moves his fingers

along an invisible Djembe

so a dancer hears

the mute buzz of the beats’ undercurrent

 the unsung song

- my feet long to dance again,
MJ

Wounds

When do wounds become beautiful?

When they are birth-wounds?

When they are death-wounds?

When do wounds become beautiful?

Are wounds beautiful when wrought by a friend?

Are wounds beautiful only after they heal?

Are wounds beautiful because of the One who bore them?

Are wounds beautiful because they are humble-healing?

If wounds are beautiful, we do we hide them?

If wounds are beautiful, why are we so ashamed?

If wounds are necessary, why cover the scar?

If wounds are necessary, let us be truly who we are.

Wounds are testimony.

Wounds are the artifact.

Wounds are God’s cooling touch.

Wounds reveal our lack.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds
we are healed. Isaiah 53:5


From one recently wounded,
M.J.

Shepherd Me

Even now,
You cover me
You reign over me
You cover me

Your rod and staff,

They comfort me
You make me lie
down in green pastures

With your hook,
you gently pull me away
from the precipice
back into the safety of the fold

Your rod, heavy
beats back the prey
carried in your chest
close to your heart

Backwards and Forwards

The King is Coming

Earth, bow, low

Inhabitants seek shelter –

Its depths or heights

Village and hamlet

You will see

Melech comes here

His Splendor and Brilliance

A White Horse, He Rides

His outstretched scepter

And crimson banner

Melech Y’Shua .  .  . See

King, Coming in Splendor and Majesty

Whose Breath earth stills

And falls silent

Ungodliness ceases

He reigns, Hallelujah

Reverberates

Earth, rocks, and grass

Sing Him Praises

The Olive Mountains twain

Perpetual living waters flow

Regard, the Lord has kept covenant

Rescued His People

Redeemed the earth from bondage

Bondage from the Earth

Redeemed !

His People Rescued!

Covenant Kept!

Has the Lord regard?

Flow waters

Living, perpetual

Twain splits the mountain

Praise Him

Sing, grass and rocks

Earth reverberates

Hallelujah reigns

He ceases ungodliness

Silent falls and stills earth

At Breath, whose majesty and splendor

In coming King,

See,

Y’Shua, Melech

Banner Crimson

Scepter out-stretched

Rides He,

Horse White

A  Brilliance

and splendor

here comes Melech

See will you?

Hamlet and Village

Heights or depths

Its shelter seek

Low, bow, earth

Coming is Melech

"Pursuits"

“Pursuits”

Some men spend their lives chasing  .  .    .

Their dad’s shadow

Some men spend their lives dashing after

small balls………………………..

………………………… in their own field of dreams

Child’s-play

 instead of God-sized ambition and courage

Makes a midget of many a man

Gilt-covered riches

When the real treasure

Is the soul of every man

Intellect, instead of wisdom

Greed, instead of compassion

The expedient for the eternal

The cheap for the priceless

The common for the rare

Dung for gold

These are the choices set before you

Everyday

Choose wisely

For an answer, each man must give

Of how he has spent

The currency of each day

Spend wisely

                                                                                               

To build a home, not a house

                                                                                                To unite a family, not estrange its members

                                                                                                To heal, not crush

                                                                                                To serve, not command

Leave an inheritance

That blesses and increases

The sphere of your influence

even after

Your death

So that your sons walk

not in your shadow

But in the footprints

you leave………………………………….

………………………………………………

……………………………………a clear path to eternity

That is the inheritance I wish to bequeath to you

- Daddy God

My Son

To win approval

To be esteemed

The little boy

In you needs that

so much

But Jesus has said that

you are accepted in the Beloved

Fear not, little one

More than catch and ball

or fishing

You needed the attention

the bonding

Look closely at

His scarred hands

Your name is inscribed inside….

See

Climb into Papa’s lap

Little Him hold you close

Hear His heart beat

 He will speak all the words

Your dad never could

because He had never

heard them spoken before

O’ how He loves you

He longs to free you from

Every fear

To kiss every spiritual boo-boo

He wants you to rest

between His shoulders

O’ How He loves you

“When you took your first breaths

in this realm’s  cool morning air

so different from heaven’s

I held my breath

My son, I have captured

every tear in my  bottle

In every one of your days

I have written them all

In my book

At night, I watched you sleep

Memorized every angle of  your face

I counted every hair on your head

You are that dear to me

I give my angels charge of you

To guard and protect you

Even while you ran from me

I walked the dusty road

Looking every day for your return

O’ how I love you, my son

From the cradle to the grave

I will Be, here

The one who holds

Your hand as you graduate

from earth to heaven”

                                                                                                                  - Daddy God