Devotional Christian Poetry

The next 5 episodes are extracts taken from an interview from the Kingdom crossroads podcasts with Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

They discuss how God started me writing Poetry.

Hidden . . .

Like a dull axe

needing to be sharpened,

is the overlooked treasury?

Promises, Revelations,

Prompts, and Wisdom

incubating within you,

waiting for their time!

Borne in you

for such a time as this.

Hidden . . .

He brings to remembrance

EVERY WORD

He has spoken

relevant to its time.

His Wisdom

to hide the matter

that it may be . . .

Searched For!

Reflection

I continuously marvel at the many ways God speaks to us. Over many years of walking with Him, His word is ALIVE in my spirit. His sword is living and active with its double edge.

It's like a vault which we have continual access to within us. Paul talks about hitting the mark, and there is nothing more satisfying than a promise being fulfilled.

Remember Abraham, who waited for 25yrs until his promise came to pass! During the incubation of the promise, his journey had some fleshly diversions.

Take heart as you read of the many examples in scripture where people with similar issues common to man are found.

Years ago, I wrote out all the prophetic words I received and put them into a folder. God showed me that I had an unhealthy relationship with these and not with Him. He then quickened to me the verse below.

I burned my folder, and its contents. Since releasing that unhealthy relationship, God has never failed to bring those verses and prophecies back to me at the appropriate time.

Questions

# - When waiting on God to fulfill a promise, how much of your thinking is preoccupied with its fulfillment? Are you preparing for when the promise comes?

# - Have you ever experienced Jn 14:26 and was it perfectly timed?

# - Are the promises of God bigger than you can do yourself? Can you fulfill these without His HELP?

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

John 14:26 NKJV

Celebrate . . .

You have much to celebrate!

The contrast between . . .

what's perceived or experienced,

and the truths

you struggle to accept.

You are rejoiced over

in your present state!

Unconditionally.

So hard to get

your head around?.

It's not about your head,

it's about your heart.

Assurance is your peace

as you contemplate

the songs sung over you.

YOU are . . .

rejoiced over with gladness

while resting

in the FACTS

of your Salvation!

Meditate . . .

Deeply On This.

Reflection

The amazing journey when walking with God is the ongoing relationship and revelation we have with Him. Our relationship with Him predicates the revelations and experiences of His truths.

There are many examples in scripture of normal simple people who walked with God and experienced the promises they were given. These examples are there for us to take courage in and also to encourage us into the experiences which are there for us as well.

The key is to personalize the promises and experiences, even if you are not actually experiencing these yourself.

The above poem was written from a scriptural base that incorporates all the promises and facts about how God sees us as His children. He celebrates us and sings over us with joy.

Can you imagine God rejoicing over you with gladness in songs? There are many times when I meditate and celebrate this scripture in Zephaniah 3:17 and then there are those other times. These are the times when I am struggling with myself and question why He would rejoice over me!

God's ways are not our ways and without renewing the spirit of our mind we will struggle to receive the truth of His words. Celebrate and accept all His promises over your life as you come across these revelations.

Questions

# - God is Love, the scripture declares, accepting His love personally can be a problem as we live in this conditional world. Do you have any personal conditions which prevent you from receiving His love, if so list them and work WITH GOD on them.

# - If you have your own children do you sing over them with joyful songs? If not, why not?

# - Can you celebrate yourself as God does, without focusing on all the conditions, mistakes and issues you may have? Do you Love yourself?

Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

The Altar . . .

Making decisions

for a Real Life?

Choices confront us!

My life hangs paradoxically . . .

I want my life to count

But,

for that to happen

I must lose it!

It's the spiritual principle.

I must lose my life to save it!

Saving my life for myself

because it's my own,

loses it for a Higher call.

To lose it . . .

becomes my protection.

The Ultimate Altar?

Is the foot

Of The Cross!

Reflection

Often we are polarized in the decision making processes of our lives. Sometimes the challenge we face is which choice, in the light of the truth, which seems contradictory. This following verse highlights the contradiction.

Luke 9:24 NKJV

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

Here it is again in the Passion Translation:

Luke 9:24 PT

For if you choose self-sacrifice, giving up your lives for my glory, you will discover true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will lose what you try to keep.

The decisions we make are very determinative to our futures and when faced with having to lose our life to save it, it is the contradiction. In our natural mind, we struggle with losing control of our life. Imagine the thinking processes we go through faced with giving everything over and laying down our life so we can save it?!

The verse clarifies the cause as Jesus says 3 important words, "For MY SAKE". When laying down our life or losing our life, it's all about the cause we lay it down for. As believers, why would we not want to lay down our life?

On one occasion when I was preparing a couple for their wedding, I had a revelation of them both standing at an altar. It wasn't a traditional altar as one would imagine; it was an altar of sacrifice. What I saw was each of them laying down their life for the other. It was a case of Self sacrifice, the ultimate of dying to self. God then showed me if they don't die to themselves, the marriage could eventually fail.

Questions

# Is the above verse a challenge for you? How did you navigate putting it into action?

# Have you been able to measure the results of your choice and have these results helped your ongoing choices?

# Having control of our life can be an issue which stems from our own insecurity. Have you considered this question for yourself and what were your outcomes?

My Heart, My Heart . . .

It's within me, stored,

the real me,

the who I really am,

is within my heart.

I can't deny or run

unless I want to ride

inside a Whale!

I am the gift, the calling

the understanding

and articulation of

all I am.

It's instinctively

what I do.

Come, draw your water

from the flowing stream

Within . . .

My Heart.

Reflection

Because of your uniqueness, no one sees things the way you do. No one has had the same revelation you have had, nor the experiences. Other people may have had similar but not the same.

Unfortunately, we tend to compare ourselves with others. Usually, we consider them more worthy than ourselves and all we have within us becomes locked away.

You are the person of your heart. Have you ever considered the real consequences of not following the leading of the Holy Spirit as you are prompted?

Over the years I have been disappointed with my disobedience to these promptings. I learned to believe it was God speaking and stopped doubting and spoke up.

It was during a meeting I remember, the first time God gave me a word for the church. I knew it was God but I was afraid to speak up. We had a brief conversation together and He asked if I would speak or He would find someone else.

I let Him choose someone else and away she went and gave the same message He had given to me, word for word! The extraordinary part of this experience was the sister who shared it knew someone else had been asked by God before her. We had a very interesting discussion about the event and from this, she really helped me to obey and flow in The Spirit.

I remember the day I was preaching and received a message about one of the young men from a family I knew well. I asked him to go and get his parents so they could witness the word I had for him as it was very important they all heard it.

We sat down and I shared about the young man being in a vulnerable stage of his life, running from God rather than seeking God's help. God said he would end up in prison if this continued! His parents were shocked and the young lad was very angry at being exposed.

4 yrs later he was imprisoned for 2-years. This is where the story changes. God visits him in his cell and he has an amazing conversion. He was released early because of his transformation.

God gave him a real heart for the young people in his town which became a very successful street ministry. Many of the vulnerable youth in the town became on fire believers. The streets of the town were cleaned up as he worked with the police and petty crime ended.

I encourage you to obey what God prompts you with, even if it seems to be contrary to what you would want to say. Remain humble and develop the skill of asking questions if you need to engage the recipient prior to sharing what you feel the message for them is. You will be amazed by the proof of where it leads you and by the words which God has you to share.

Questions

# - Have you ever been prompted and not obeyed and then had to deal with the consequences of this?

# - After that experience how are you flowing with God now and is your confidence growing?

# - You are who you are. Are you struggling and insecure with who you are and if so what are you doing about this?

PROVERBS 20:5 AMP

A plan (motive, wise counsel) in the heart of a man is like water in a deep well, But a man of understanding draws it out.

The Miner . . .

That's YOU!

Not in age,

but in years.

You know

how to find and mine

the Treasure

in the hearts of men.

You dig their hearts

with the spade

of questions.

Finding their treasuries

their golden seams . . .

naturally.

You impart confidence,

this alone extricates

the golden nuggets

hidden in their vault.

You don't stop there!

You refine the treasure

using different spades.

Questions

which flush out

the Diamonds and Gold

which shine and . . .

Change LIVES!

Reflection

This poem is a prophetic word I wrote for a person who is a coach. I feel to include this in the site because this word is for those who have the gift of aligning people to their abilities. You will know who you are and this will resonate with you.

Not everyone has the ability or anointing to impart confidence in people's lives or draw out the treasure within them, except when God anoints you. I say this because when God blesses you with a word of knowledge accompanied with His wisdom, then you are anointed to speak and affirm the person God has chosen you to speak with.

Every one of us is gifted in some way, and usually, we are our own worst enemy at the same time. Our internal saboteurs come out of hiding and plague the creative ideas with negativity and thus poison the idea from ever being developed.

Here's a picture for you. Imagine putting together a 10,000 piece puzzle and when you get to the end one piece is missing, and it happens to be a critical part of the picture. Now put yourself into that piece and see yourself as that piece. Are you the missing piece in a team because you have something to contribute to another person, but you don't value what you have to say?

Please don't hold back with your contributions because your piece matters as shown in the puzzle analogy. Often the missing ingredient, when these encounters arise, is God’s wisdom and timing to share what you have. The more you engage with this and do it, you become fluent and more experienced and it flows out of you. An experienced miner knows how to find the treasure and then how to extract it in an encouragingly inspirational way.

You are one who has the gift to mine the treasure within people, and this will really kick start a person's motivation to investigate their own treasury. I really love how God said "you use the spade of questions" to do the mining, isn't God so outstanding!

Questions

# - If this resonates with you, how do you implement this gift with people you do not know?

# - The wisdom of sharing the insight you have with people you don't know is much easier than you may think. The clue is in the poem, did you see it?

# - This statement may sound strange to you: "Remember your future"? Does it, and if so here's a clue, are you looking through your promises for your future?

Colossians 4:17 NKJV

And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

I now release a blessing over you to put this into practice.

My Hearing . . .

How do I hear You

when . . .

my inner voice

drowns you out?

You speak

so many different ways.

In storms

and in

the still small voice.

Am I deaf

or is it

something else

preventing me

from hearing?

You do hear

yet not perceive,

having different

expectations.

Open up

your heart ears

And See.

Reflection

God is never silent and is always speaking. Scripture teaches us through many examples people just like us have always been hearing God speak. There are literally thousands of examples in both testaments for us to read.

Have you ever wondered why God speaks in so many different ways? Have you considered the preferred way you hear God speak and observe how others hear differently? This will give you clues to why God speaks differently with us all. Even a Husband and Wife can hear God speak to them independently and have the same confirming answer although both have heard their answers uniquely.

For example, one had a dream and the other received a scripture. You may wonder which one was the most trusted answer and my guess is you would say the scripture? Unfortunately, we have our own perceptions of how God should speak or if He still speaks in this modern age.

God is never constrained by anything when He speaks. Job writes 'God speaks one way then another, yet man does not perceive it'. It's our lack of being able to hear which is the issue. For example, the couple I referred to earlier both heard God. The Husband heard the message in a dream and dreaming was not a familiar thing for him. His wife received a scripture while reading a Christian book with no connection to the issue at hand. No, she didn't receive it from reading the Bible.

The amazing thing to note is this couple heard from God independently and the issue was solved and they both received peace. The question could be why did God choose to do it this way and only God can answer that question.

I have asked God questions over the years and been astounded by His answers and how they came to me. Likewise, others have had similar experiences. The main issue I had was my expectations of how God would or should answer me.

This is a trap anyone can fall into. Let God be God and do things His way and at the same time ask Him to teach you how to hear and see. If you drop all your expectations and any doctrines you have around this, I believe God will teach you how to hear and see Him and have answers. If you are unsure of His answer ask again. Ultimately you will KNOW and the peace you have will be the confirmation.

This is an area where you will develop intimacy with God and secure your relationship with Him and learn directly from Him. The exciting thing is the fellowship and the revelations you will have.

Be wise about who you share your revelations with because other people's opinions can cause you to doubt what you have heard. Again, ask God who to share with, if anyone.

One time I was about to ring and make an appointment for some counsel and God interrupted me and asked me if I was going to ask Him first! I immediately asked why and He said: "do you want to get hurt"? Then He told me why.

Proverbs teaches us "In all your ways acknowledge Me and I will direct your paths". It was a very good lesson for me to learn. I really encourage you to invite God to tutor you to hear and see Him.

Questions

# Do you want to get close to God to hear His Heart and be taught by Him? Check out 1Jn2:27

# Are you prepared to drop your expectations and start over with a clean slate of expectations? Check out, Job 33:14

# Faith comes by hearing, learn how to hear and what to hear, Rom 10:17

Rom 10:17 Passion Translation

Faith, then, is birthed in a heart that responds to God’s anointed utterance of the Anointed One.

Romans 10:17 NKJV

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Being YOU . . .

Perfectly incomplete

yet . . .

Fearfully and wonderfully made.

The work in progress

as the Word is

Made flesh within.

Destiny is in YOU!

Being wrought

in your heart

as you put on

the inner beauty

of Jesus.

Wearing

the fragrance of Him

that will touch those

He . . .

Scent To You.

© 2019 Lloyd Portman - All Rights Reserved

Reflection

Many people struggle with just being themselves. They constantly compare their lives and actions and the ways they think and do things, to those they look up to.

The uniqueness of each person begins with their DNA and their fingerprint. As they forge their lives amidst social and cultural pressures they slowly discover WHO THEY ARE.

As believers, we are encouraged to "put off and put on" the attributes of Jesus and above all, put on LOVE! I love the way Paul writes to the church at Colossians in chapter 2 and 3.

If you can get your head around this and read it as an instructional PDF I believe it's the perfect summary of who we are, because of what HE HAS DONE FOR US and what we are to do as believers as a result.

This would be the ultimate homework assignment for anyone to take away on a 3-month break. This would greatly enhance your studies if you were doing a theology degree.

You can't do this on your own and nor should you try doing this in the flesh. I deliberately used the word forge earlier in this text because these wonderful Godly attributes and standards are a result of our relationship with God.

We are washed by the Water of the Word, cleansed by his Blood and empowered and anointed by the Holy Spirit and over time Christ is formed within us.

Love covers us as we serve our fellows in love and we show the world what we believe by how we live.

I heard an amazing story years ago about a very successful missionary. When back home on sabbatical he was asked to be the guest speaker at the important conference organized by the church organization he represented.

He was their guest speaker and was given 3 keynote times to speak but informed the organizers he only needed 10 minutes at the most.

People waited to hear his evangelism secrets which he delivered in one sentence! This unassuming humble man said this: "I go into a village and ask God where He's working and then I join Him in HIS work"! He then walked off the stage and sat down.

Here's the sequel to this true story. The church organization sent some other missionaries to join him to learn from him. When these missionaries asked the villagers about how they became Christians, they said: It was easy because it was like God was working among us and the life he showed us was easy to follow so that is what we did!

Referring back to the PDF, let's name this headline, Evangelism 101. We could then bullet point each scripture we and the important verses we could highlight or italicize in glowing iridescent color.

At the bottom, we could have this addendum.

Questions

# - Did you read each scripture as loving instructions from a parent would write to you as their child?

# - Did you let the words on the page READ YOU? Were you convicted or condemned by the words? Conviction draws us closer to God for help, guilt causes us to hide as Adam did.

# - As a mirror to those around you, what do they see? How are you living?

Note

No offense is intended here and I hope you are not offended because this is the view through my different lens using these analogies.

In short, let God love you into the fullness of His Son. Even if you don't love yourself, you will come to that during your transition.

Respectfully

Lloyd

https://devotionalchristianpoetry.com/blog/ (Here is this post on my website)

Come Now . . .

Come to the table of My Heart,

the table of reasoning.

We can discuss

issues tripping you up

and work together on them.

I am the one

who washes your scarlet

transforming it to pure snow.

Please don't resist or hide.

The door to My Heart

is always open.

You can't do this alone!

The table of reasoning

becomes the table

of Friendship and Exchange.

Rags for riches,

Righteousness for unrighteousness!

It's free to exchange

As you trade

the rights to your life,

losing your life . . .

To Gain It.

© 2019 Lloyd Portman - All Rights Reserved

Reflection

God is amazing how He draws us with loving kindness to exchange our sin for His righteousness. Humanity needs this table of exchange regularly, as we journey through the areas which trip our lives up.

The ultimate exchange we ever make is when we wholeheartedly give our Heart over to Him. In so doing we give up our rights to our life and this is the process of washing the Scarlet.

Isaiah 1:18 AMP

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord. “ Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool."

The interesting part of this verse is the invitation from God. "Come now and let us reason together." This is an amazing statement from God asking us to bring and state our case. The keyword here is Reason and in the Hebrew it means to bring your case ie a legal case to be vindicated or reasoned TOGETHER.

This invitation to discuss points with Him really underscores God as one whom you can discuss things with and reason with. I get a picture here of God putting His arm around my shoulder and entreating me to state my case so we can discuss it. I don't feel condemned by Him.

In Psalms 51:10 Passion Translation, David cries out to God. Create a new, clean heart within me. Fill me with pure thoughts and holy desires, ready to please you.

After God wins our heart, He then wants to establish a friendship with us. This is when we judge ourselves as being unworthy because of many of our own reasons that we can't, e.g. we are not perfected enough yet to be granted that privilege. God loves us unconditionally in spite of the traditions of society we have had instilled in us that everything in life is conditional.

How could we not respond to an invitation to be one of God's friends? Abraham was called a friend of God and he had his issues and looking at David "a man after God's own heart" his track record is well documented.

The wonderful revelation about "the Table" is the incremental work which happens within the friendship. This is where the transformation takes place as we give more of ourselves and our heart, and die to ourselves.

On one occasion when I was preparing a couple prior to their wedding, I had a revelation of them both standing at an altar. It wasn't a traditional ultar as one would imagine it was an altar of sacrifice. What I saw was each of them laying down their life for the other. It was a case of Self sacrifice, the ultimate of dying to self. God then showed me if they don't die to themself the marriage could eventually fail.

The more I walk with God I realize how important this meeting table of developing friendship is.

Questions

# - If you looked at your life as an orange cut in half, how many segments of it are still yours and unpeeled?

# - Have you ever "traded" any of these segments and in time found out you never really gave them over? This is part of dying to yourself and a process we all go through one step at a time.

# - Whatever God builds He tests, have you noticed any of these tests happening after you have been to the table of exchange? List them to encourage yourself and build your faith.

https://devotionalchristianpoetry.com/blog/ (Here is this post on my website)

Here is the Trailer for my Devotional Christian Poetry Podcast show.