Flaunting Our Pardons (Matthew 5:3)

-


Am I spiritually poor,
humble,
aware that I am less than the lowest
without the blood
shed violently
on wooden beams?

Do I place myself in seats of honor
as the adulterated righteous do?
Have I been proud of scriptural knowledge,
or the menial works
I’ve been given skills
to perform?

The kingdom belongs to those
who live in humility,
those who know grace
in its purest state.
The cross embraces the lowly
and elevates the sinner
to forgiveness.

Help me Lord,
to be poor in spirit,
to be humble,
to be washed clean by Your blood
without flaunting my pardon
in the face of others.



copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKXXYK9


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jesus in the Snow

-
Image
This picture hung on the side of my parents refrigerator when I was a child.  I was always intrigued by the black and white blotches which did not seem to form anything recognizable.  One day I asked my mother about the photograph.  She said it was the face of Jesus and that if I looked closely I could see Him. I could not for the life of me see our Lord in the meaningless menagerie of spots.  I remember standing at the side of the refrigerator staring at the picture as it hung there almost taunting me. One day, in my teen years, when I wasn't really trying to see the face in the black and white blotches anymore, I saw Him.  Maybe I needed to see the face more, at that age, when I was on the threshold of adulthood then when I was a child.  Now, as the years have passed, I find it difficult not to see Him in the patterns of melting snow on the mountainside. ~ I have a question for you.  When you look at the patterns of melting snow, do you see black and white blotches
Read more

Matthew 19

-
Image
Does our law allow these things? And with the question He points back to scripture. "Have you not read". All the answers are right there. But you have to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Why then... and but...? Because you are dense, hard to teach. Two shall unite, man and woman, as in the days of creation. No man may separate or redefine. They ask a question, specific, and the Lord's answer encompasses so much more. They question divorce and He defines marriage. Does His law allow these things? copyright 2018 - Donald P James Jr
Read more

Have You Not Listened?

-
Image
The Sermon on the Mount 1873 - Woodcut - Author Unknown Have you not listened? You seemed to have turned away. You look at wars and long for peace. Your news media divides you, regardless of what you believe. Those who speak for you, speak only for themselves. Some hunger for bread when there is plenty. Some wish for comfort, when they have a pillow. Some long for Camelot, but that was long ago. Have you not listened? Your culture claims to have no need of ears. You seek sameness when you are made with uniqueness. You seek a moral high ground you cannot bear. You embrace twisted ideologies that thrive in no garden. Money is your god. Power is your love. Pride is your death. From Eden to the Temple, from the manger to the cross, sonnets of the truth are spoken. Have you listened?  Have you not listened, without twisting what you hear? You seem to have dug your graves in sand. Wars will always be, for not all children seek peace. Division stands in its strength, as long as you are its st
Read more