I AM is greater than i am

The Lord sees our oppression
He hears our cry
He knows our sorrow

He comes to deliver
to protect
to guide

I AM WHO I AM
is greater
than I am

He brings us up
out of the affliction
He meets us
at the point of our greatest need
He stretches out His mighty hand
to keep us safe and secure
and to strike down the enemy.

The Lord seeks,
asks of us,
His children
created from a speck of dust
to turn
from disceiving
conniving
selfish paths
to Him.

The Lord desires us
to keep our eyes,
our minds and thoughts,
our hearts
focused
entirely on Him.

The Lord WILL provide.

We accept, believe
without a doubt
His Son was sent to save us
from our sin.
But that is not the end!
Only the Beginning ...
The beginning of a
heart-filled love relationship.

Our fears
need not become
a steppingstone
of dismay,
setting us up for failure,
but a realization
that anything and everything
we can do
is futile
and meaningless
if our faith in the Lord Jesus
is not
and if also,
that faith does not grow.

For the Lord
there is no boundary
There is nothing He cannot do
He is everything,
all around us,
our Master and King.
We are His servants
And when we are in Him,
there are endless possibilities.

First we start
Then we continue
We don't look back
We look up
We stay focused
We don't stop
We trust Him
We obey Him
We believe in Him
We remember

Every step forward
is a gigantic leap of faith.

Cathy Orrick Luders
10.28.2011

The Ten - God's Covenant of Love

The commandments,
The ordinances,
The regulations,
The rules,
The Covenant --
set forth
by God
to and with His people,
designed to shed light,
to be Light
to give instruction,
guidance
for holy living.

The Lord God seeks
a willing heart,
a love-filled heart.
The gifts, offerings
we bring
show our reverence
to the Lord,
our Master and King.

Those (gifts) given selfishly,
without love
and devotion
to Him,
the giver of life,
are not accepted,
are not approved.

If in our living
it is not to
The Most Holy One
our total allegiance
lies,
we have failed.
Our reward is just --
we face
eternal punishment,
eternal damnation,
eternal separation.

God's Covenant --
He has made many such pacts
But,
The Ten
boils down to
LOVE
"Love the Lord
with ALL your heart,
ALL your soul,
ALL your mind,
All your strength
and
Love your neighbor
as yourself."
(Mark 12:30-31)

Jesus,
son of God,
The Most High,
The Most Holy One,
tells us
no other commandment
is greater than these.

Jesus,
The One
Whom God the Father
destined would fulfill
His plan to bring mankind
to Him,
to Eternal Glory.

Jesus,
born of God and
the Virgin Mary

Jesus,
born to suffer and be rejected,
persecuted.

Jesus,
born to die,
to hang from a cross
pounded nails into flesh
Our Sin, Our Sin!

Jesus
paid the price.

Born to die,
to rise from the dead
to live forevermore
within our hearts
to bring mankind to a
saving knowledge
to Eternal Security
Eternal Life

Jesus
"the living stone
chosen by God
and precious"
(1 Peter 2:4)

Jesus Lives!

Cathy Orrick Luders

10.25.2011

God's Love

Love
is
patient

Love
is
kind

Love
is
fresh and new
each day

Love
is
viewing life
clearly
plainly
without grudges
without pretense
without masking feelings
that are false
and hateful

Love

True Love
is
God's Love

"It bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things." 
(I Corinthians 13:7 NKJV)

Cathy Orrick Luders

10.24.2011

Him

He spoke.
His Word
Became flesh.
His Son
His only begotten
full of grace
and truth
dwelt among us.
Jesus.

He spoke.
His Word
full of grace
and truth
shows us
His commandments
His judgments
His promises

Fulfilled.
In Him
Through Him
in His time
now
and to come.

Cathy Orrick Luders

(c) 10.22.2011

His glory ... everywhere

His glory
Everywhere
It surrounds us.
We think
sunny
cloudless days
are the best
We feel better
about living
about life
But
even in the midst
of darkness
and seemingly dismal
cloudy days
or lightning storms
He is there
Ever present
Our guiding light
Our protector
over every enemy
that stalks us
We praise Him
for the good
we receive
and perceive
But for
days that make no sense
praise belongs too
He preserves us
for another time
a better time
perhaps
His glory
always shining
We must seek
His word
to find His way
and rejoice
in all
that comes
For we are
only because
He is.

Cathy Orrick Luders

10.21.2011

We can be complete

God's glory
His power
His majesty
His completeness,
whole
and without blemish

We stand on the rock,
waiting
We want to see
His ...
Him
as He is

But,
His response?
"I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." (Exodus 33:19)

But, however,
"You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." (Exodus 33:20)

And so,
He sends His Son --
complete
whole
and without blemish --
JESUS
who is the rock.

"Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God ... a chief cornerstone, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." (I Peter 2:4, 6, 8)

We want to see
and when we do
We reject
We rejected God
We reject His Son

We only reach out
when we glimpse
the results
of what sin has done to us.
When we accept
When we believe
When we choose
obedience to Him,
who passes by,
who shelters us
in "the cleft of the rock
and covers us with His hand." (Exodus 33:22)

Obedience
to the King of Kings
who was
and is
and is to come
He is our salvation
our truth
He makes us too
complete
Not pure,
not without blemish
But still complete

We are One with Christ
One with God
One with the Holy Spirit
His grace
His glory
and we are His
... a child of the King.

Cathy Orrick Luders

10.18.2011

Find a moment ... for laughter

God is the master ...
turns our burdens
into blessings

The stress
and trauma
and unending pain
in our lives

why do we stay there?

I go
to talk,
visit a friend

life is short
why spend so much of it
churning the turmoil
into bigger

laughter
a better medicine
remembering,
reminiscing,

pleasing the Lord
a much better plan
than distressing
oneself.

I think ...

when I get old
I shall laugh more

but wait,
I am getting old
why wait longer

from the moment of birth
age creeps upon you

how much older do I need to get
before I laugh more
before I see the lighter side
the humor

even in the dark,
there can be laughter.

We mustn't let
all that is
not-so-good
overcome us,
overtake us.

Find a moment
and then find another
for laughter

Cathy Orrick Luders
10.14.2011

"Delight yourself in the Lord" (Psalm 37:4a)

"You have put gladness in my heart"  (Psalm 4:7)

"I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me." (Psalm 13:6)

The path of Peace

On Saturday, Oct. 8, I wrote of the path of our comings and goings - a path based on the solid rock of Jesus Christ ... a path determined not by our life or our experience, but by God's word.

When we abide in God's Word and stay focused on Him and not Everything Else surrounding us, we find God's peace.

The promise given in Isaiah 26:3 reigns true -- "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." 


God will keep you and me in perfect peace (whole, genuine well-being), whose mind is stayed (focused, fixed) on Him, because we trust in Him.

The path of Peace is 

• the way of faith 

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me." (John 14:1)

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)

The path of Peace is

• the way of righteousness

Do right, be right, obedient to the judgments -- precepts -- testimonies -- commandments -- The Law, wholeheartedly, lovingly. 

"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes,will find so doing." (Matthew 24:45-46)

The path of Peace is

• God's work for us 

God empowers us to be a blessing to and for another. It is He who is at work; it is simply us He uses as a channel. We can do nothing without Him -- He is the performer. 

"Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us. O Lord our God, other masters besides You have had dominion over us; but by You only we make mention of Your name. They are dead, they will not live; they are deceased, they will not rise. ... You have increased the nation, O Lord, You have increased the nation; You are glorified; You have expanded all the borders of the land." (Isaiah 26:12-15)

God empowers us to confess His name, to share His word, to enlarge His territory, to be and do His desire, His will. 

It is God who empowers some to rise from the dead to a new life in the heavens and others never to rise, but sentenced to the bottomless pit of hell and damnation.

"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2)

"Jesus said, "I am the Resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." (John 11:25)

The path of Peace

• offers protection from His punishment

God instructs His people to go into seclusion, a "hiding place," and stay there until the punishment God is extending has passed. He will let us know when the time is right to withdraw from our place of hiding and come back into the Light. 

"Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity." (Isaiah 26:20-21)

Wherever God sets us, places us, in the path of our comings and goings, we can have peace in the midst of it.

Do you want to escape the wrath of God? ... Trust in Him!

(based on notes from the Oct. 9 sermon, "The Path of Peace," (Isaiah 26) 

Immanuel Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids 

The paths we take

Not from life
nor from experience
should we set into motion
our path
but on the solid ground
of Christ

He is all knowing
of who and what
we are now
and in our future comings

His Word
is the proof
we seek and need.
In His Word,
through study
and intent searching
of the Holy Scriptures
and meditation,
we can know
with certainty
and confidence
the way
of all our comings and goings.

Cathy Orrick Luders

10.8.2011

God never gives up

God never gives up on us
We give up on Him,
we ignore Him
we pretend He doesn't exist --
at least not in our personal sphere.
He may exist
Somewhere,
but not here,
not right here
and not right now.

We have gone so far away
Yet
God continues

He created us.
He seeks us,
desires we become united
with Him.

We are nothing without Him,
yet
we think we are more
than He ever was.

God is judge and jury,
merciful and loving.

He is the Almighty One,
The King of Kings,
The Great I AM
The Alpha and The Omega
Beginning and End.

Without Him,
what we think is in
the middle --
is meaningless.

Cathy Orrick Luders

10.6.2011

Won't you come, won't you come and meet with Me?