Lord willing, the following blog posts can lift your spirits and strengthen your faith in God.
"Why Pray with Bible Promises?"
"Right People, Right Place, Right Time"
Thanks for reading and responding to each. Please let me know if you'd like to see particular subjects or Bible verses addressed in future posts.
May God bless you and your life in Christ.
Some translations of the Bible make almost every verse sound poetic, such as the King James Version, which can often be scanned into iambic pentameter (basically, five upbeats per line.)
Hebrew poetry, however, relies more on patterns of thought, such as a statement further developed to bring spiritual depth and insight. Often, these verses can readily slip into syllabic poems, which use a 5/7/5 count of syllables on three successive lines.
When this type of poem focuses on God the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, I call them Highku, after the most High God but with a nod to the haiku form such as shown here:
Psalm 36:9
For with the Lord is
the fountain of life, and in
His Light we see light.
Romans 8:28
For we know all things
will work together for good
for those who love God.
Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord our God is
in our midst! He rejoices
over us with song.
Or a verse can be paraphrased as shown in this example from Psalm 33.
Sing about God’s Word.
Believe in His promises –
each one meant for you!
Bible verses can also become free verse or a prayer-song as in this passage from Psalm 143.
Let me hear Thy loving kindness
in the morning, LORD,
for I trust –
oh, I trust in You.
Teach me The Way
in which I should walk,
for to You I lift up
my soul – my life!
For to You, I lift up my soul.
Nothing replaces Holy Scripture! Sometimes, though, a contemporary-sounding poem can speak to readers who might not ever open a Bible.
May God guide the work we've been given to do in Jesus' Name.
Have you ever run across a familiar expression while reading the Bible and thinking, “Oh, that’s where that saying came from”?
Almost every language is flexible and continually changing, yet biblical expressions have often kept their initial meanings intact. For example:
"Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9.
"Old as Methuselah," (see Genesis 5:27.)
"Apple of my eye," Deuteronomy 32:10.
"By the skin of my teeth,” Job 19:20.
"Out of the mouths of babes," Psalm 8:2.
"At wit's end," Psalm 107:27.
“Pride goes before a fall," Proverbs 16:18.
“A little bird told me," Ecclesiastes 10:20.
"Can a leopard change his spots?" Jeremiah 13:23.
"Let justice roll down like the rivers," Amos 5:24.
"Salt of the earth," Matthew 5:13.
"Go the extra mile," Matthew 5:41.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand," Matthew 12:25.
“The blind leading the blind,” Matthew 15:14.
“A laborer is worthy of his hire," 1 Timothy 5:18.
Isn't it a blessing and a comfort to know God’s Word continues to live
in us and in our language today?
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