Romans 12 Project Vs. 5

Verse 5

So we, who are many, are one body in Christ,

and individually members one of another.

If every 

Musician, singer

And composer

Used 

One note

To express

The message of the melody

One single note

Every player

Every blower

Every jammer

Used only

One

There would be 

No message

No melody

No harmony

No beauty

There would be

No notes

And rests

And clefs

And sharps

There would be

No arrangements

No voices

No symphonies

If every musician

Songwriter and singer

Used only

One note

There would be

No music

There would only be

One note

No matter

The passion

The purity

Or the intensity

With which

That note was played

Still no music

Just 

One note.

However with

Many members

All singing and playing

The same song

Different notes

And tones

And styles

And forums

Come together 

And agree

Music

Universally

Cannot be simply

One note

Played loud and long

Being a part

Of a bigger body

Makes us all

Connected

Gives us all a part

A bigger meaning

A grander scale

Simply one body

Weaving together

Like music.

Romans 12 Project Vs. 4

Verse 4

For just as we have many members in one body

and all members do not have the same function

The intricacy

Of individuality

Presumes that

When the creation

Intention

Came into being

Every iota

Was significant

Every atom

Created 

In sync

In design

In deference to one another

The intricacy 

Of individuality

Presumes that

When the intention 

Of creation

Came into being

Every flutter

Every breath

Every movement

Was

Specific to

The individual

The intricacy

Of individuality

Presumes that

When creation

Was intended

Every single

Piece and part

All work in harmony

All together

To serve

The 

Intricate

Individual

Who is

The Creator

Romans 12 Project Vs. 3

Verse 3

For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself then he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgement as God has allotted to each a measure of faith

An honest assessment
That's all
Simple
Honest


The tightrope 
Of honesty
Between the land of
Where we used to be
And 
The land of our promise


Between guilt and shame
And pride and vanity
Is where 
Our honest assessment
Lives
Simply honest


We aren't what we 
Used to be
Nor are we where we
Should be
We are somewhere
In between


Fighting doubt
And guilt
And shame
And self-promotion
And blind ambition
And pride
Even in the name of the faith


Our measure
Is only our measure of
Faith


The work done 
In us
The work still left
To do


An honest assessment
Of what grace
Has done
Of what victories
Have been won
Of what work
Mercy has wrought


Our measure of faith
Will help us
Make
An honest assessment
That's all
Simply 
Honest


No higher
And 
No lower
Than we really are


Honestly

Romans 12 Project Vs. 2

Verse 2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

There has to be a change
A change
     On the inside
A change
     In how we think
A change
     In what moves us
A change 
     In what we want

Otherwise

You, God, are unnecessary

Otherwise

We live for ourselves

Like we always have

There has to be a change
A change
     Of choices
A change
     Of dreams
A change
     Of desires
A change
     Of life itself

Otherwise

Proving Your will

Becomes unnecessary

Otherwise

We continue 

To drown in ourselves

There has to be a change
A change
     For good
A change
     For what is acceptable
A change
     Toward Your perfect will


Change begins
     In our choices
     In our habits
     In our lifestyle
     In our heart
     In our mind


There has to be a change
There must be renewal

Otherwise

We live for ourselves

Like we always have.

Romans 12 Project Vs. 1

Verse 1

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

The truth is

We all

Serve somebody

We all

Serve something

The truth is

We all 

Present

Our bodies

For service

Somewhere.

We present ourselves

In service

To what

Serves us best

To what

Fills our needs.

At the gym

At the restaurant

At the dealers house

At the store

At work

At home

At church

To be

Alive

And holy

And acceptable to God

As a sacrifice...

It takes

The mercies of God.

Because 

The truth is

Our natural 

Inclination

Is to 

Serve

Ourselves

The truth is

A spiritual

Service of worship

Is the very least

But the very best

We can offer

Because 

The truth is

Our natural 

Inclination

Is to

Serve

Ourselves.

Romans 12 Project Introduction

It is confession time.


I am an Old Testament woman. I am a 'picture person' which makes the Old Testament work really well for me. Stories and pictures of people and tribes and nations, kings and priests and travellers, ... well, the words jump off the page to me. I find myself in those people, those stories. I am drawn to those old friends time and time again to receive inspiration, to see myself, to see mercy, ... to see all the things I so desperately want to be evident in my experience.


These days I am finding myself drawn more often to the instruction of the New Testament. In my world, both  the Old and the New become the perfect balance. The balance of story and history and experience, with instruction and wisdom and guidance. It took me longer to warm up to the New Testament, but when I started reading them together, embracing the balance they both bring to my life, it all comes alive.


Apparently this writing project is not complete yet. With a couple of fairly clear confirmations, Romans 12 is the next passage that is burning in my heart. 


It will come the same way as Psalm 139, a verse a day.

Thanks for taking a look. Feel free to drop me a note, speak.timely@gmail.com if you like. I'd love to hear from you.


So this is how it speaks to me ...

Psalm 139 Project Closing Thoughts

As I write this, it is early in the morning where I am. I have just posted the final verse of the chapter, and my thoughts (in verse) on the final verse.

When I began, when the idea struck me, I had no idea how it would take shape. To be honest, it was unlike anything I have done up to this point.

This is such a popular chapter. We quote it to ourselves to remind us of our security and our significance to God, our Creator. We quote the final verses in an attempt to have God search out the hidden areas, the trouble spots, in order to get rid of them. Those were interesting. I love those verses. Over many years, they have brought me and millions of others comfort. During these days, I found myself thinking of them in new ways. New thoughts about cherished passages.

And then there were the 'hate' verses. I'm smiling now as I write this because now that they are passed and posted, I can see the evolution in them, why they are there. When I stumbled upon them in the process of the individual verses, it was extremely challenging to wrap my head around. Such an intensely personal passage, what with God knowing us and creating us and weaving us before we were born. How does this intense hatred and loathing fit into that picture? It took some time to wrestle with those passages. As I remarked in my opening statement for this project, we all come to the Scriptures at different times in our lives, and the amazing thing is that it speaks to us all in different ways. I am grateful for that. Beyond words, am I grateful for that.

Thank you to anyone who has stopped by to read the writing here. Whether one time, or whether you've repeatedly come back, I appreciate that you have.

It is my prayer that something has spoken to the deep places inside you and left a mark.

You and I are His Grand Intention. On purpose. Every day.

Pam

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 24

Verse 24

And see if there be any hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the everlasting way.

My tomorrows 

Are set before me

The path I am

Set to walk

Lies ahead

I do not want to walk

My tomorrows

Flailing for 

Direction

And meaning

And definition

My tomorrows

Need to be on purpose

Destiny

Faith in

My tomorrows

And faith in the Love - the One

Who designed them

Anything hurtful

Inside me

Needs to go

Needs to be stamped out
Any injustice

Anything that is an enemy

Of love

If it is inside me

Then You must search it out

You must help me

Leave it behind

The everlasting way

Has no room

For the motives

Which trip me up

The excuses

The traps

The lies

I hand myself

To get by

My tomorrows

And my heart

Are already known 

By You

Grant me focus

When I become unclear

Grant me peace

When I turn the corner

To find myself facing fear

Grant me hatred

Of what goes against

The Love of forever

Grant me the security

Of knowing

You see me

You know me

You made me

And you love me

My tomorrows 

Are set before me

Walk with me

Ahead 

And behind me

My tomorrows

Are Yours

You are

My grand intention.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 23

Verse 23

Search me, O God, and know my heart,

Try me and know my anxious thoughts.

Contemporary English Version - Look deep into my heart, God and find out everything I am thinking.
Easy-To-Read Version - God examine me and know my mind. Test me and know all my worries.
The Message - Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about.

The biggest hurdle
The grandest gesture
For us
Is to be willing
To be known.


He knows anyway


It is our willingness
That sets it apart
Acknowledging His access
To the depths
And deep, dark corners
That no one else sees.


It is our trust
In what we know
To be true
About Him
In His love
In His grace
In His mercy
In His light


We have so much good
Inside
So much to be proud of
And He is
Proud to know us
Intimately


We have some
Not so good
Inside
So much to hand over
To the
Love
Light
And hope
Of who He is


Our grandest gesture
Is protected 
By the security and warmth
Knowing 
That He will
Steady our hearts and heads
And hands


Knowing 
That He will
Steady our fears
And insecurities
And weaknesses


He will steady us
On the solid footing 
That is security
In Him


All that He requires
Is for us to 
Jump the big hurdle
To
Make the grand gesture


It is for us
To be willing
To be known


He knows anyway.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 22

Verse 22

I hate them with the utmost hatred,

They have become my enemies.

Easy-To-Read Version - I hate them completely! Your enemies are also my enemies
Good News Translation - I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies.

Injustice abounds
The news attests
Containers of people
Like cattle
Innocents slaughtered
Lives bought and sold
Commodities
To be owned
Children hungry and starved for
Food and attention

Injustice abounds

Enemies of

What Love stands for

What Love died for

Injustice abounds
And creates
A fire
Inside
A call
To respond
To stand up
To fight the enemies
Of Love

Injustice produces
A holy wrath
Which catches
My weakness
And strengthens
My weakest heart

Injustice abounds

Bringing injustice

To its knees

Requires a hatred

Of all that is against

Love

Requires a hatred

Of all that allows

Abuses and violations and

Purposeful oppression

That holy wrath
Fuels
Change
Fuels
Liberty and Freedom
Fuels
Light and Love
Fuels
All that injustice can never  be

Becoming an enemy 
Of injustice
Strengthens
Loves 
Resolve

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 21

Verse 21
Do I not hate those who hate Thee, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against Thee?

Amplified Bible - Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And am I not grieved and do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
Contemporary English Version - You know I hate anyone who hates You, Lord, and refuses to obey
The Message - See how I hate those who hate You God, see how I loathe all this godless arrogance?

I am not supposed to hate
I am supposed to love
And serve
And reach out


My head knows this
My heart, however,
Has difficulty
Reaching that end


For those who feel
They are above
You
Or for those 
Who pillage and plunder
In Your name
Or for those 
Who bring others down
To their level
           Misleading 
           Abusing
           Overpowering
Those who are weak
     Those who question
          Those in need.


Instead of preserving
And defending
They defile
And damage.


My head knows
I am supposed to
Extend grace
My heart, however, 
Has a harder time
Reaching that end


For those whose
Intention
     Is chaos
          And subversity
               And pain


Creating prisons of souls
Disabling freedom
Of spirit
     In those who trust
          In those who love
               In those caught unexpected.


I am not supposed to hate
My head knows this
My heart, however,
Takes its time getting there.


For those immoral ones
Whose conscience is
Non-existent


I am not supposed to hate
But my head
And my heart
Knows that
Sometimes I do.


Honestly.


Sometimes I do.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 20

Verse 20

For they speak against Thee wickedly,

And Thine enemies take Thy name in vain.

Complete Jewish Bible - They invoke Your name for their crafty schemes; Yes, Your enemies misuse it.

Easy-To-Read Version - Those who say bad things about You. Your enemies use Your name falsely.

The Message - All the men and women who belittle You, God, infatuated with cheap god-imitations.

I was lost.

I was lost

Then Someone found me.

Someone thinks 

Of me

Intended me

Sees me

Knows me

Created a world around me

Made me feel

Like I belonged.

That I was

Special

On purpose

Loved

By intention.

That Someone 

Who met me

Found me

Turned the world

Upside down

To become 

My intention

That Someone

Deserves more

Than curses and arrogance

In my presence.

That Someone

Is loved and breathed

In the quiet moments;

And in the thunderous

Adventures

I speak His name.

That Someone

Is mocked and ignored

Taunted and abused

His name

Uttered in disregard

By those who don't understand.

That Someone 

Stands so strong

On my behalf

I cannot help but feel

Ripped off

That those who

Don't even know 

That Someone

Are talking trash

About 

That Someone

Who has made me

His Grand Important Thing.

That Someone

Is

Everything.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 19

Verse 19

O that Thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God;

Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

The Message – And please God, do away with wickedness for good! And you murderers – out of here! –

Today’s New International Version – If only You, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

When I was little

I used to fall asleep

With a picture in my mind of

Good and evil

In a swordfight

Over my head.

They would be fighting

For control.

I would fall asleep

Whispering

‘You guys fight it out’.

Today

It is not a

Fall asleep fairytale.

Today

I want to be good

I have intentions

To prevail

To win the battle

In private

I sharpen my sword

With all the good

I can muster.

And then it comes.

It can be

The person who rattles me.

Or

The loneliness that haunts

Or

The shadows that taunt.

Evil is sharpening

Its sword

For that fight

With my good.

The reality is

Sometimes all of those

Good intentions

Win.

Sometimes evil

Trips me up

With a touché.

It would be so much

Easier

If the wickedness

Was done away with

If I never had to

Engage

In the battle at all.

It would be so great

If everything I intended

To be strong enough

To accomplish

Could be conquered

And there’s the rub

No battle means –

No choice.

No intentions means –

No good works.

The fight for me

Is valiant

The effort is

Monumental

Scars abound.

If only You

Could just

Do away with the wicked.

So much easier.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 18

Verse 18

If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.

When I awake, I am still with Thee.

Amplified Bible – If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You.

Complete Jewish Bible – If I count them, there are more than grains of sand; if I finish the count, I am still with You.

You know that feeling you get

When you stand at the ocean

You’re looking out

And it seems to go on forever.

Same feeling when you

Stand atop the tallest building

And gaze at the horizon

Stretched before you

Going on perpetually.

It’s that same impact of

The million man march

Where a sea of bodies

Seems endless.

And again when the telescope

Is strong enough

To take your sight

To worlds and galaxies

That seems never-ending.

To attempt the measuring

Or the counting

Of these

Seems relentless.

To count the infinite

Number of the grains of sand

Is a ferocious task

Uncompromising

In its tenacity.

Same holds true

To try and determine

The absolute

Completion

Of His thoughts towards you.

Fixed upon you

Infinitely

Uncompromising

In

Their

Tenacity.

His thoughts towards you.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 17

Verse 17

How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Complete Jewish Bible – God, how I prize Your thoughts! How many of them there are!

Contemporary English Version – Your thoughts are far beyond my understanding, much more than I could ever imagine.

The Message – Your thoughts – how rare, how beautiful! God, I’ll never comprehend them!

The thoughts of the Almighty

Priceless,

Unthinkable for me.

Like a work of art

That brings millions

To its doors,

To stand and admire

At a distance,

To study and examine

At arms’ length.

To get closer than that

Would be

Too much for us to take.

They are like the magnificence

Of the rarest work

By a master

No one can replicate.

Many will attempt

The mimic

But not succeed,

Precisely because

We did not create

The thoughts.

We cannot understand them.

The ultimate beauty

Of the plan

Conceived by

The ultimate

Master.

I stand just behind

The roped off section

Soaking in the

Absolute

Opulence

Of the very thoughts of

The Almighty.

So moved that

This masterpiece

I stand in awe of

Is

The sum of

The thoughts of the Almighty

Towards

Me.

Psalm 139 Project Vs. 16

Verse 16

Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; 
and in Thy book they were all written
the days that were ordained for me,
when as yet there was not one of them.

Complete Jewish Bible – Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in Your book all my days were written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed.

What have Your eyes seen?

     Rape?

          Hunger?

              Torture?

What have Your eyes seen?

      Famine?

          Drought?

                Terror?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Orphans?

          Widows?

               Thieves?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Teachers?

          Prophets?

               Kings?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Toddlers?

          Graduates?

               Preachers?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Climbers?

          Diggers?

               Flyers?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Pray-ers?

          Players?

               Try-ers?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Life?

          Death?

               Survival?

What have Your eyes seen?
     Beginners?
          Creators?
               Achievers?


What have Your eyes seen?

     Past?

          Future?

               Present?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Nightmares?

          Dreams?

               Reality?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Beginnings?

          Endings?

               Middles?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Substance?

          Unseen?

               Unformed?

What have Your eyes seen?

     Days?

          Life?

               Mine?

In Your book, please keep writing down everything You see.