A Poem of God's Provision

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When the birds begin to worry
And the lilies toil and spin,
And God's creatures all are anxious,
Then I also may begin.


For my Father sets their table,
Decks them out in garments fine,
And if He supplies their living,
Will he not provide for mine?


Just as noisy common sparrows
Can be found most anywhere--
Unto some just worthless creatures,
If they perish who would care?


Yet our Heavenly Father numbers
Every creature great and small,
Caring even for the sparrows,
Marking when to earth they fall.


If His children's hairs are numbered,
Why should we be filled with fear?
He has promised all that's needful,
And in trouble to be near.


--Unknown


My Turn...

When the staph infection scabs up

all the skin upon my face,

And I'm tempted to start whining

about depression and disgrace.

My dreams they come in and go now,

Do they matter anymore?

And I pine to travel anywhere,

Far from my Southern door.

Then I get a friendly text, an e-mail, or a call,

A post-marked letter in the mail shows me I'm wrong about it all.

God shows His love through people, through blessings and coffee,

Through thunderous rains that fall outside my home and do not fall on me.

So though my jammed thumb really smarts,

I will try my best to not complain,

For God Himself has provided the ice,

That takes away the pain.

--  In Him,

      Jean-Marc

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Top Ten Implications of Romans 12:1-8 of the Bible

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Romans 12

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his^b faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

1. Be realistic about yourself: You can not do everything for every ministry for every person everywhere everyday. You are free to stop setting ridiculous goals for ourselves.
2. You are who You are by the Grace of God: Mourning the person that you never were is a waste of time for yourself and the people God has called you to. Be godly, Be you.
3. You are not the Worst Person in the World: Paul was a man with a painful and sinful history that could have haunted him but He accepted God's grace. Even killers get a second chance.
4. You belong to the Body of Christ: Perhaps your church stinks and your Christian friends do too, you still belong to the Body of Christ. There are brothers and sisters somewhere that you are to watch out for and need to watch out for you; people that you need to love you and that you need to love back.
5. You are Not the Greatest Person in the World: Jesus should be the focus of Christian community, not you.
6. There is a Place for Everyone in the Body of Christ: Dare I say, there is a place for the person in Christian community that is cautious using spiritual jargon and a place for the one that needs to yell “Amen” all throughout service.
7. You Are Now Allowed to Be Kind to Yourself: Some of you were, like me, raised in homes in which you were regularly berated and talked down to, that is not how God speaks to you. God cares about what you have to say and He is not sitting around waiting for you to get your act together. He is working through you and loving you in the process.
8. Yelling at Yourself Will Not Change Things: How has it worked for you so far?
9. Down-talking Others Will Not Change Things: How has it worked for you so far?
10. Jesus Christ Changes Things:

Romans 12
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual^a act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
In Him,
Jean-Marc
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God, Inc. and What Prayer Feels Like

What it feels like...

Guy is sitting inside of his car on a hot and sunny day, exhausted from all the pressures upon him.

Guy: (closes eyes in prayer) Oh God!

Speaker box: Sir, please ring the doorbell.

Guy opens his eyes, he has somehow been transported in front of a large building that looks like the White House. On the door, in gold letters it reads: God Inc. There is a speaker mounted above the door.

Guy: What?

The angry New Yorker behind him, taps him on the shoulder.

Angry New Yorker : Hey buddy, we're all waitin' to get inside! Keep the line movin'!

Speaker box: Sir, the doorbell!

Guy rings the doorbell.

Speaker box: Welcome to God Inc.: where God is God and you are not. Please step inside.

Guy steps inside and the door slams behind him.

Speaker box: This transaction will cost you two hours of your time.

Guy: Woah?! I don't have that kinda time.

A receptionist angel greets Guy from behind a large white desk.

Receptionist Angel: Hello. Welcome to God Inc.

Guy: Yes, um, I'm not sure how I got here but I just need to talk to God.

Receptionist Angel: (smiles) Doesn't everybody. Please take a number.

Guy: Number?

Receptionist Angel: Yes (points to her right) over there sir. Grab a number, follow the arrows and have a seat.

Guy: But I just need to talk to God.

Receptionist Angel: And God wants to talk to you because God loves you. Now take a number! (Yells) Next!

Guy reluctantly grabs a number from the ticket machine.

Guy: Four-billion fifty-five?

Guy looks around and notices the arrows on the floor.He follows them down two flight of stairs, through three hallways and up a flight of stairs. He then comes to a door that reads: Incoming Prayers.

Guy:God?

He opens the door to a huge waiting room the size of a football stadium. The front of it is lined with near a hundred receptionist desks.

Guy: This is ridiculous!

Guy walks over and stands in line behind someone nearly finished with their transaction. It is his turn.

Receptionist Angel: (to last person)Thank you, come again. (Looks at Guy)Yes sir, may I help you?

Guy: This number can't be right. This ticket says my number is...

Receptionist Angel: Four-billion fifty-five, the number is based upon your contribution to Kingdom of God.

Guy: Come again?

Receptionist Angel: (pulls out long computer print-out) Well, we do believe in mercy every now and then. Let's see if we can expedite your request. What is the nature of your concern?

Guy: I don't understand.

Receptionist Angel: God is a busy God and it is our job to make sure God's time is not wasted. Concern please?

Guy: Well I...

Receptionist Angel: Are you fighting a giant?

Guy: No.

Receptionist Angel: Fighting an army single-handed?

Guy: No.

Receptionist Angel: Fighting an angry mob of religious officials for the cause of Christ?

Guy: No.

Receptionist Angel: Tsk,tsk. (Marks his paper) That's a demerit. (Looks at Guy) What is the problem then?

Guy: I've just been really discouraged and depressed lately. Y'know, I need a good-paying job and I would like to be married one day and...

Receptionist Angel: (smiles) One thing at a time partner! God is in a meeting with Moses and Elijah right now, but maybe if we look at some of these other categories we may be able to find a quicker time slot for God to meet with you. OK then (picks up list again) let's see here, we'll start off low. The amount of people you brought to salvation in Jesus Christ last week?

Guy: I brought a friend to church last year, but last week...I guess...zero.

Receptionist Angel: (Marks paper) Demerit, this is not looking good. The amount people you prayed for yesterday?

Guy: I prayed for two people...I remember...I prayed for Kate and....

Receptionist Angel: Ooh sorry, we usually don't consider expediting requests for people with anything less than twenty. But, hey, here's an idea: why don't you just smile and wait, and perhaps God will do something for you next year, OK?

Guy: But my family is...

Receptionist Angel: Patience my friend. It'll all work out. Next!

What it is...

Guy: Oh God! I need you!

God: I am here and I am working on your behalf.

Roman 8:28-30:

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

2 Peter 3:9

9The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish...

Keep the Faith.

In Him,

Jean-Marc

Exegesis of my Heart

 Psalm 42
1As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.



Today, my younger sister sat in a hospital bed. There were no decorations in the small room in which the drab green curtain acted as a doorway, just white floor on white wall and a white sink in the corner. She had vomited for the last 12 hours—all she wanted was water, though she could not keep it down. She needed it so bad, the forthcoming IV served as a relief, for even though it pained her to be punctured through the arm by needle, that needle delivered life; water. She could not gulp it in mouthfuls but was willing to glean it from moistened paper towels; water—the bringer of life.
Without God, we dry up, we stop thinking, we stop functioning. He is the IV delivering life in the midst of our disease, and yet He never runs out.



2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?



I long for Heaven so much, because I am convinced Earth has no idea what to do with me. I can not drink until I pass out, for God uses me sober, I can not use women to satisfy my biological needs, for God needs me to be holy—imperfect but striving. I do not fall for certain tricks but am learning to build barriers and boundaries around the things I do fall for. I just want to see God already. I want to stop feeling left out and self-conscious, I long for the perfect peace I last knew in a baby's ignorance, I long for Heaven and a Father that never disappoints me.



3My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”



Have you ever been so disturbed that you could not eat? There is such pain so connected to our inner parts, when aggravated it feels like a drill through the chest. There is such gloom that invades one's heart that the legs refuse to function, the arms fling soullessly with all attempts at motion and the eyes would rather be kept shut, damning the entire body to the darkness it feels.
Jesus Christ is not a theological concept to encourage morality, He is our brother in suffering, our advising friend in difficulty and our God that strengthens the legs of those He loves to walk confidently upon the stormy waters before us
.
4These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.



How beautiful it was to worship God when it was all easy. How great it was to learn about forgiveness when there were yet people who trampled my name into the pavement and made church uncomfortable. A 'crisis of faith' is a significant event in a believer's life, when the Word collides with your walk. The underlying question becomes, what place does God have in your life. It's all or nothing.



5Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and

Remember how your morning began with God's blessings, from style of clothing, to the ruffled sheets of your bed, to the way the creamy canned milk and coffee collaborated with poured sugar to deliver a pleasing taste to your mouth—you are surrounded by the palace of the Lord's favor built tile by tile from undeserved blessings. He has provided.

Feed the fire of your faith with the encouragement of your heart. Override your fluctuating emotions with the Truth of God in your life and from His Word. Remember the depths from which God saved you and how you have matured since then. You may not be where you want to be but thank God, you are not where you used to be.

6my God.
My^c soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.



“my God.” As if David, were drowning in the ocean, fighting to scream out a single phrase in the hopes of rescue before falling to the depths of the sea driven by the burden of his own weight. The love of Christ, the presence of God is what buoys us above our tempestuous environments.
The soul cries out for what will keep it alive. Our souls will be restless until they find their rest in Him.

In Him,

Jean-Marc