Besides preferring the capitalization of pronouns that refer to God in the Amplified Bible, I appreciate the synonyms and definitions that amplify, without changing, the meaning of the text. This particular edition, however, appeals to me because of its 12.5 font, quality leathersoft binding, and unique size that’s almost 8” square and opens flat on my lap as I sit in my comfy chair and read, read, read.
May 26, 2021
May 21, 2021
Beyond Belief
“By the
authority of our Lord Jesus Christ I appeal to all of you, my friends, to agree
in what you say, so that there will be no divisions among you. Be completely
united, with only one thought and one purpose,” 1 Corinthians 1:9, Good News Translation.
Despite our diverse cultures, radically opposing
beliefs, and personal preferences for how things are to be done, we are all to
be One in Christ.
First, we
believe:
Yes! God DOES mean what He says!
Yes! God the Father gave us Jesus the Son.
Yes, the Lord eradicates our wrongs and resuscitates us to a new life in Christ.
Then, we
obey:
We find out what God wants.
We read the Bible. We talk to God and listen.
We invite God’s Holy Spirit to guide and empower us.
We use the ministry gifts and other resources we have been given to build up the Body of Christ.
Together, we
do even more:
In Christ, we worship God and work with God’s Family.
We pray for discernment and wisdom, compassion and mercy.
We invite others into our ever-widening circle of God’s Love.
Together, we encircle the world with the good news of God’s Son.
We extend respect to all peoples, knowing we are all made in the image of God.
We focus on needs and goals we share, rather than our differences.
As God enables us, we make peace in the Name of Jesus.
©2021, Mary Harwell Sayler
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May 13, 2021
If only I had known
Long
before text messaging reduced words to their first letters, writers and
editors referred to a commonly over-used plot as IOIHK – “If only I had known.”
Books, movies, stories, areas of miscommunication, and misspent lives have infamously fallen into the IOIHK category. But in this time of rampant misunderstanding between various peoples and traditions of faith, we poets, writers, pastors, teachers, parents, politicians, caregivers, and other leaders can be mindful of cultures, levels of maturity, and opinions unlike our own.
Remember:
If Only I had Known often means we didn’t bother to find out!
The remedy, of course, is to check our emotions and check the facts.
- Ask questions to clarify.
- Listen – truly and intently.
- Aim to hear another perspective.
- Research.
- Investigate both sides.
- Look for workable solutions.
- Show respect.
- Build bridges.
- Embrace
the blessing of diversity!
Can we do this on our own? Probably not! But we can agree to pray
for God to help us to be open to other perspectives and peaceful possibilities for healing.
©2021, Mary Harwell Sayler, poet-writer
P.S. If you're writing a book or script, please be sure IOIHK is not the story plot!
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April 30, 2021
I Sing Better With Him Behind
Has
your voice ever slid off-key for lack of breath or unfamiliarity with a hymn? As
our vocal chords age, it’s harder for most of us to hold a note or stay
consistently in tune.
When
our extended family members come back to Florida for the winter and early
spring, I look forward to Henry’s return. As soon as I see him, I eagerly point
to the seat behind me where I can hear his pleasing voice. Not only that, but
my own voice instantly improves!
Who do you need to have your back?
What voice do you hope to hear?
What
key verses keep you in tune with God’s Will?
Prayer:
Loving Father, help us to hear You well as You speak to us through Your Word. Help
us to stay on key with Your truth and love. Help us to sing Your praises this
and every day in Jesus’ Name.
©2021,
Mary Sayler
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April 4, 2021
Poem for Easter
For You,
I turned water into wine, purified in the veins
of My own body. I climbed mountains, healed
crowds of hunger, warmed a leper’s skin. For
you I chastised leaders, halted stones, wrote on
the ground each word contained in Love.
I overturned unfair prices and low wages, tabled
discussions about who’s first or last, and enjoyed
the most unlikely company.
Before My execution, I tamed a donkey, became
your beast of burden, then bled from every pore.
Once for all, I buried death, and, when I arose,
some saw Me. Some heard Me as I broke through
the veil, cloaking time and eternity, and, yes,
for you, I’d do it all again.
Amen.
April 1, 2021
Where are we on the Cross?
As
we head toward Good Friday and the crucifixion of Jesus, the biblical command
to “take up your cross and follow Christ” comes to mind. Sadly, we might think
this means carrying heavy weights or generally being miserable throughout our
lives when, actually, it’s the opposite!
Taking up our cross and following Christ is meant to be freeing, not burdensome. It’s meant to exchange our self-will for the will of God.
God gave us free will, so the decision to follow the Lord is ours to make. However, this doesn’t mean, literally, to take up our own crucifixion or other human sacrifice. As you’ll recall, the Bible consistently reminds us that God the Father prohibited human sacrifice as the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 clearly demonstrates.
The only time God the Father required a human sacrifice was of Himself in His fullness as Jesus the Son of God and the son of Mary.
So
how do we go about obeying the Lord’s command to take up our cross and follow Him
as a living sacrifice? Doesn't it
mean to exchange our free will for the will of God and our old selves for new
life – new spiritual birth in Christ?
Searching key words and phrases on the Bible Gateway website helps to clarify. For example:
“We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin,” Romans 6:6, Amplified Bible (AMP.)
or to put it another way:
“This is what we know: the person that we used to be was crucified with him in order to get rid of the corpse that had been controlled by sin. That way we wouldn’t be slaves to sin anymore,” Romans 6:6, Common English Bible (CEB.)
Crucifixion means death, but when we take up His cross as our cross, we can follow Christ Jesus into His resurrection life – His life in the Spirit – beginning now!
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me,” Galatians 2:20, King James Version (KJV.)
In other words:
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” Galatians 2:20, New Living Translation (NLT.)
Therefore:
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus,” Romans 6:11, English Standard Version (ESV.)
Praise the Lord for His life, death, and resurrection in us!
May
we wear our Lord’s Easter clothing as we follow Christ, now and forever, into
the resurrected life.
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March 10, 2021
You, The Chosen Race
No
race but the human race in God’s eyes, but the Lord has much more in mind!
Regardless of our skin color or cultural background, God has ordained us to be
one: a Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood, the people of God.
This hope – this prayer of the Almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus – goes back thousands of years as these verses show:
“For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth,” Deuteronomy14:2, King James Version (KJV.)
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,” 1 Peter 2:9, Revised Standard Version (RSV.)
If you’ll click on the highlighted chapters and verses above, those hotlinks will take you to many, many translations of the same passages as shown on the Bible Gateway website, but, throughout the Bible, the same idea appears.
Maybe this time we’ll get it right! Maybe this time we’ll have ears
to hear.
Maybe this time we’ll respond – not with excuses or emotions or bad memories
or experiences but with our own choice
to be chosen.
No longer are we to be “us” versus “them.” As Galatians 3:28 says: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” English Standard Version (ESV.)
What a colorfully diverse peoples God’s chosen race is meant to be!
Sometimes those differences may clash, but if we’re all praying for God’s guidance and prepared to let Him work for our good – the good of All of His Chosen Race and Peculiar People – we’ll see God orchestrate even our worse memories into melody and bring harmony from discord.
Praying and following biblical guidelines for good make us more receptive to God’s love and the love of others. As 1 John 4:7 says:
“Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God,” Christian Standard Bible (CSB.)
What power we’ve been given to reveal God’s love to the world!
Born of God! No longer are we born into the DNA of racial tension or elitism over which we had no control, but – by our own choice – we can choose God’s Way over our own.
“And
now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is
true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think
about things that are excellent and worthy of praise,” Philippians 4:8,
New Living Translation (NLT.)
Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2021
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