Showing posts with label spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spirit. Show all posts

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Heaven’s Oath

My dear friends, how many are wrestling? With hardship, loss, or disappointment? In these dark days of winter when our frantic feet fumble across earth's crumbling crunchy crust – Let us encourage each other and together remember…
I’ve written this for you. For me. For all of us.



— • —

Heaven’s Oath
© 2018, Jena Rutan, all rights reserved.



In   b r o k e n   earth, 
dormant cold seed waits.
In   d a r k   velvet skies 
gleam celestial lights.
When cries thirsty land,
from  t e m p e s t  wave,
Heaven’s arms draw their rain.


Our Father in heaven brings life from what’s dead.
“Quiet down, O my soul,” Ancient wise kings once said.
Know He still hears – understands each hearts plight.
In winter’s silence dive deep,
Come with me, lift your eyes.


He is Solace for wanderers, a Shield to the weak.
The bright morning Star who guides weary feet.
Rejected ones friend, and despairing heart’s hope.
The branch from love’s root.
True Life we can know.


When each day feels uncertain
When hopelessness calls,
Let faith stir inside.
Let hope not fall.


Memory stones of bright past
recall goodness. His vast
ways aren’t our ways.
His thoughts far beyond.
His redemption, His plan
never fails, never wrong.


Know this my dear friends, He will do it again.
His faithfulness always endures past the end.
When weakness and cold
by fear grips and pulls –
This isn’t the time for regret and defeat,
but a season of strength, a renewal of peace.


His lamp illuminates truth through black days.
When sight becomes blind, trust goodness, see grace.
Let’s not become weary by walking in light
For harvest will come at the end of this night.
So let roots grow down deep.
Be nourished, come eat –
in knowledge of him.
His bread. His wine.
We together can learn
the depth, width, and height.


— • —


Jesus’s love never fails me.
My companion beside,
My peace and my all,
He covers my life
His feathers surround,
His Word is my guide
Protecting and healing,
sharing peace in the night.


— • —

His whisper we hear,
“Take up courage, persevere!”
“Together my children
run this race,
come be near.
Lay your head on My heart,
Know My warm embrace,
I’ve collected each prayer
Heard you face to face.“


When your heart cries out for direction and meaning
When your marriage is fumbling
your children careening
When you don’t have answers
When purpose is lame
He is there. Yes He’s here
Let Him kindle the flame.


As the Northern star shines
Once more we recall
The Father of lights
Authors good for us all
His love endures
He never will change
In His book are recorded
Each one's joy and each pain

And when beaming sun rises,
morning by morning,
How expansive His kindness
So immense His outpouring.
Giving bread to His children,
Softly sending the snow.
In loyal endurance,
Eternal His oath.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Infinity's Thread

This thread of infinity, always present like ribbons of wind
A jet stream that swirls and leaves
I'll surf on the crest as long as I breathe
Please Holy Spirit lead

It's Your gift 
Moving my lungs and pumping each beat
Of my life...
The same one who raised life from death
Opens my nostrils at the start of each new day
You pull back that starry curtain to showcase Your loving embrace

And time never changes to You
Outside of our sunsets and new moons you stand
Always unchanging, forever unwavering, never relenting
In pursuit of my heart

Eternal reminders wrapped up in your fringes
The shadow of those wings is where I find rest
These days beat on by, like the blink of my eye
Rhythm and speed want to overtake me

Yet I look to the blue and remember what's true
The devoted One who is Father and Son
The Spirit I breathe, yes He understands
My Author, Sustainer, Ally, and Father
I bless You Lord heart, life, my strength 

And time never changes to You
Outside of our sunsets and new moons you stand
Always unchanging, forever unwavering, never relenting
In pursuit of my heart

My lips utter honor, my face transfixed
Without You nothing was made
Your hand hovered before time started to crawl
In that moment 
You already knew me
You already loved me
This extravagant love is outside my box

A brilliant rendering Oh Great Architect
Who reached down into time to give life to my simple soul 
This immense love, this intentional care, this greatest desire and love

I'm enamored by You
I'm drawn to Your kindness
I'm falling in love all over again
And time never changes to You
Outside of our sunsets and new moons you stand
Always unchanging, forever unwavering, never relenting
In pursuit of my heart

So is time really there? Is it one layered unfolding picture?
Your devotion and passion have always been there, after me
In the blink of Your eye all of time came and went
Our days are like flowers gleaming under your love

So Lord please honor this simple prayer
Teach me to number my days
Let me present to you a heart of wisdom

And time never changes to You
Outside of our sunsets and new moons you stand
Always unchanging, forever unwavering, never relenting
In pursuit of my heart


© Jena Rutan 2015. All rights reserved. 
Scripture references are from the NASB.



Friday, November 13, 2015

All Eyes

Psalm 145:15 says, "The eyes of all look to You in hope; You give them their food as they need it."

The eyes of all look to You
Wildflowers and sparrows
Your goodness surpasses my imagination
When I ask for bread, you don't hand me stones
You give me beauty for ashes
You satisfy my heart with overwhelming joy,
Peace that explodes my finite mind,
Love that heals the broken places hidden deep inside my past. 

The eyes of all look to You
Kings and queens, the homeless child
You provide through each season of my soul
God you danced with joy when you knit me in the dark place, her womb
Each triumph and loss
With each small step
Your love hovered, surrounding me. 

When alone in the darkness of winter
Your smile still kept me warm
Your devotion is unwavering
Your acceptance surrounds me completely. 

I've felt that absence of love lost
Like dead leaves swirling on the ground
Rustling in circles of autumn wind
I've known emptiness and absence. 

Yet something else is stirring, like that wind
It's the rumble of your steadfast love
The whisper of your spirit like a falling flake of snow
You cover my scars with your blanket of love
Because —
Out of my ashes, out of my pain, out of my darkest days, you bring life!
Like a vibrant bulb shooting green through icy snow
Like the song of the robin heralding the sunrise
Like the firefly and cricket, singing lullabies
God you are there. 

Your love announces my new day
Your faithfulness escorts my limping step
You make me strong and you place my feet
You fill me with good things and I have no lack
You fill my spirit with the joy of your presence
You fill my soul with healing from your throne
And I overflow. 

Every need is fulfilled in your good time
I make it known. "I trust you."
When I was left, you stepped in and lifted me
You've  bound my brokenness and lavished me with unbound love
You have healed my sorrow
Now your goodness shines through. 

You are good
Your love never fails 
The eyes of all look to you
You satisfy my soul. 


© Jena Rutan 2015. All rights reserved. 
Scripture references are from the NASB.




Thursday, January 28, 2010

Woven Triune

In regards to the human spirit, soul, & body, I have picked up a few nuggets over the years which I thought I might share here. This is in part, how I've come to the conclusion that a person's soul is rooted in his or her kidneys — based on some Hebraic teachings I stumbled upon. There are other equally "random" things which I think about which seem to have a good possibility of being true. As an overview, I will just make the opinionated statements I have come to believe are valid and the reader can search it out to discover for him or herself whether these things are true.

In the image of our Triune God, humans are created as triune beings. Each person is comprised of three core components which are all facets of that one being. Similarly, we can consider the aspects of God to be like the sides of a diamond which reflect different frequencies of light. Just as God is Fatherly, He is healer, He is Messiah who came wrapped in the human flesh of Yeshua, He is the Holy Spirit who is our teacher and counselor, He is deliverer, shield and provider. He is so much more but you can begin to see how He can be "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" and still remain One. "Hear Oh Israel, the Lord our God; The Lord is One." Jesus Himself referred to this as the greatest commandment when He quoted part of the Sh'ma. "And He said to him, “ ‘You Shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' (Matthew 22:27)."

We each are a spirit living in a body and the two are connected or woven together in our soul. The soul is the seat of our emotions which are a bodily felt experience, and our spirit is the part of us which is connected to God Himself. The spirit of the redeemed saint will have unending communion with the Holy Spirit and must submit her soul and body to the direction of her spirit which knows truth by this constant fellowship. 

In Psalm 42 and 43, three times King David reminded his own hopeless soul:
"Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence." 

This man who followed hard after God's own heart, knew that he couldn't trust his emotions, and that they needed direction from a higher place. A deeper anchor. 

Our fleshly bodies were made by God out of the dust of the earth, and therefore come from created elements. The spirit comes directly from God who is not created; it is our very breath because it is made alive when God breathes a part of His living Spirit into each one of us at birth. The soul exists because of the joining of a spirit living in a body; this is where the two are knit together within our mothers womb, and this is how our body can feel our spirit. Have you ever felt butterflies in your stomach at the onset of joy? That is where your spirit and soul are united and woven into your body; in Jewish thought, it is situated in your kidneys.  

Each persons spirit is the breath of God which He breathed into that body when the person was born — through water and out of their mothers body. This is why we are all made in the image of God and why we are all born with a "conscience." Regardless of how much darkness a person has sunken into, no person can live without the breath of God sustaining his or her life.

If a person continually ignores the voice of God inside, drawing her back to Himself, eventually her  conscience will be seared. Alternatively and hopefully, when a person responds softly to the whispering voice of his or her Creator, that person will be drawn closer to the heart of God — made more alive through spiritual awakening and attunement with our greater purpose in Christ's abundant life — according to the ancient truth of the Bible, this is the only way to find true security, peace, and fulfillment in this life and beyond it.

The human spirit that is in harmony with the Divine Spirit of God will remain at odds with our fleshly nature with which we are each born. However, we are each able to bring our bodies into submission and obedience to our Holy God. With meditation on the Word of God, we cleanse our minds by "the washing of water with the word (Ephesians 5:26)." Being born by the spirit, enables the rebirth that allows us to find renewal, and power to submit our skin, bones, and emotions to our Spirit which desires to live in unbroken harmony with our Father. The Father of Lights. 



© Jena Rutan 2010. All rights reserved. 
Scripture references are from the NASB.