September 8
________________________________________
A TIME FOR EVERYTHING
A poem by ILMA
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven
A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to harvest
A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up
A time to cry and a time to laugh; a time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter and to gather stones; a time to embrace and turn away
A time to search and to quit searching; a time to keep and to throw away
A time to tear and a time to mend; a time to be quiet and a time to speak
A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
What do people really get for all their hard work?
God has made everything beautiful for its own time
He has planted eternity in the human heart
But people can’t see the scope of God’s work from start to end.
So I concluded there’s nothing better than to be happy and enjoy life
And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor
For these are gifts from God and his purpose is that people should fear him
What happens in the future has happened before for God makes the same things.
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. – Ecclesiastes 3:13
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:1-14
Timing is essential in our lives. The book of Ecclesiastes stresses the importance of this. There’s a time for everything and so we need to be able to respect such boundaries. There is no reason to hold on to a season since God wants us to move back to the next season he has opened for us.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Why is it important for us to be able to live in the timing that we are brought into?
• Why do some people hold on to a time in their life and get stuck?
• Why do we need to enjoy life and fear God as well?
Tag Archives: Christian poem
EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS
September 6
________________________________________
EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS
A poem by ILMA
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes
The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.
The wind blows south, and then turns north, blowing in circles
Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full
Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out to the sea
Everything is wearisome beyond description.
No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied
No matter how much we hear, we are not content
History merely repeats itself; It has all been done before
Nothing under the sun is truly new; some people don’t realize they’re old.
Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!”
But it is actually old; nothing is ever truly new
We don’t remember what happened in the past
In future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
– Ecclesiastes 1:2
Read: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
What is important to you? Many people go through life valuing many different things but Solomon discusses that nothing in this life is really meaningful. Of course, in the later part of his book of Proverbs, he said that only when you make God first will it make a difference
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Why does the wisest person say that all things in life is meaningless? Do you agree with that statement? Why or Why not?
• What is meaningful in your life at this point of your life?
BOAST ONLY ABOUT THE LORD Poem Devotional
September 4
________________________________________
BOAST ONLY ABOUT THE LORD
A poem by ILMA
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down strongholds
We don’t engage in human reasoning but destroy false arguments
We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.
We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ
Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ
I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord
But our authority builds you up; it doesn’t tear you down, so I’ll use my authority.
We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority
We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the God’s work
We don’t boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done
We hope your faith will grow so the boundaries or our work will be extended.
Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you
We hope to go where no one else is working
Then there will be no question of boasting done in someone else’s territory
As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.”
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Read: 2 Corinthians 10
Paul reminds us of the only thing we can boast about if we are believers. That is to boast only about the Lord. We are never to show off anything we do for him, but only about his glory and power.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Why is it important to give up our rebellious thought and hold it captive to Christ?
CALL TO GRACIOUS ACT OF GIVING Poem Devotional
September 2
________________________________________
CALL TO GRACIOUS ACT OF GIVING
A poem by ILMA
Dear fellow believers, God in his kindness did through the Macedonian churches
They are all being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor
But they’re also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity
For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more.
And they did it of their own initiative and their free will
They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give
To share themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do
So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place
We encourage you to finish this ministry of giving
Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith
your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us
I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.
It’s not a command, But I am testing how genuine your love is
And comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich,
For your sakes he became poor, so that by this, he could make you wealthy.
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. – 2 Corinthians 8:9
Read: 2 Corinthians 8:1-9
In this letter of Paul to the Corinthians, he urges them to the act of gracious giving. It is amazing how he focuses on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, became poor so we can be rich.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Why is giving a good act of showing that you are following Jesus?
• What have you generously given to someone that made you feel like you are following the footsteps of the Lord?
GOD’S PARTNER Poem Devotional
August 31
________________________________________
GOD’S PARTNER
A poem by ILMA
As God’s partners, we beg you not to ignore this gift of God’s kindness
God says, “At just the right time, On the day of salvation, I helped you.”
Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation
We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us.
In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God
We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind
We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs,
We worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food.
We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, By the Holy Spirit and by our sincere love, we faithfully preach the truth
God’s power is working in us; we use the weapons of righteousness
We serve God whether people honor us or despise us.
We are honest, but they call us impostors
We are ignored, even though we are well known
We live close to death, but we are still alive
We have been beaten, but we have not been killed.
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. – 2 Corinthians 6:1
Read: 2 Corinthians 6: 1-9
In this account of Paul, we are summoned to be God’s partner. We are asked to prove ourselves by our purity, understanding, patience and kindness. It is through the Holy Spirit power that we can live a life of holiness and righteous living.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• What have you done to prove that you are God’s partner in life?
• Why is it important to let the Holy Spirit be alive in you all the time?
• What are the things we do that we can lose God’s Spirit in us?
WONDERFUL MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION Poem Devotional
August 30
________________________________________
WONDERFUL MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION
A poem by ILMA
Because we understand our responsibility to the Lord, we persuade others
If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God for Christ’s love controls us
Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we died to the old life
He died for all who receive his new life and those who don’t live for themselves.
Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them
So, we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view
At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human perspective
This means all those who have committed to Jesus are new persons.
The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
And all of this is a gift from God who reconciles people to himself
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself
He no longer counting people’s sins against them.
And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us
We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin.
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. – 2 Corinthians 5:18
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21
This letter of Paul to the Corinthians addresses how God wants us all to reconcile everyone to himself. This is the only purpose we have in life. All those who believe Christ are called to bring back others to God.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Have you brought the message of reconciliation to someone?
• What happens when we give up our comfort zone to bring Christ to someone?
• Have you died to the old life when you committed yourself to Christ?
HEAVENLY BODIES Poem devotional
August 29
________________________________________
HEAVENLY BODIES
A poem by ILMA
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down
That is, when we die and leave this earthly body, we’ll have a house in heaven,
It is an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands
We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies.
We will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies
While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want, We want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up God himself has prepared us for this, and guaranteed us his Holy Spirit.
Though we know that while we’re in our bodies, we are not at home with God
We live by believing and not by seeing; we’d rather be separate from our bodies
That’s how we’ll be at home with the Lord; whether we’re here on not
Our goal is to please him, for we must all stand before Christ to be judged.
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
So, we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing.
– 2 Corinthians 5:6-7
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
Christians can easily be derailed at looking at the big picture. Because we live in this world, it can be a challenge to continue to believe even if we don’t see. In these verses, we see how Paul addresses the importance of focusing on what has been promised to us by God, our heavenly bodies which will be united with him when He comes back for us on Judgment day. Do you get into the pitfall of clamoring to stay in your physical bodies and fail to look forward to what God promised us, a heavenly body to join him.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• How can we not lose track of the spiritual and avoid focusing on the physical?
• Why is the heavenly body we’re promised didn’t make sense to unbelievers?
LIKE FRAGILE CLAY JARS Poem Devotional
August 28
________________________________________
LIKE FRAGILE CLAY JARS
A poem by ILMA
Since God in his mercy has given us a new way, we never give up
We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods
We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God
We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.
Satan, the god of this world, has blinded unbeliever’s minds
God’s truth is hidden only from people who are perishing
They’re unable to see the glorious light of the Good News
They don’t understand the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
God said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” and allowed believers’ to see
They know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ
We now have this light in our hearts, but we’re like fragile clay jars
We have this great treasure inside us and feel God’s power in us.
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed
We are perplexed, but not driven to anguish
We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God
We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. – 2 Corinthians 4:7
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:1-9
The Greek word for clay is ostrakinos, from which the archaeological term “ostraca”—pottery sherds—is derived. He argued that the references to light in verses 4 and 6 strongly suggest that clay lamps were the ceramic objects in Paul’s mind when he wrote this passage. So Paul developed his analogy about the fragility of the human body from the clay lamps used in antiquity to provide light. -extracted from biblical archeology.com
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Have you allowed God’s light to shine and praise his power inside your heart?
CHRIST-LIKE FRAGRANCE & LETTER CARVED ON HUMAN HEARTS Poem DEvotional
August 27
________________________________________
CHRIST-LIKE FRAGRANCE & LETTER CARVED ON HUMAN HEARTS
A poem by ILMA
God has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ
He uses us to spread Christ’s knowledge everywhere like a sweet perfume
Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God but is perceived differently
By those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.
To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom
But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume
And who among us all believers is adequate for such a task as this?
We preach the God’s word with sincerity knowing that God is watching us.
Are we beginning to praise ourselves again?
Are we like others, who need to bring letters of recommendation?
Who ask you to write such letters on their behalf?
The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves.
Your lives are a letter written in our hearts so all can recognize God’s work
Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result his ministry among you.
A “letter” written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God
It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.
– 2 Corinthians 2:15
Read: 2 Corinthians 2:2:14 – 2 Corinthians 3:3
In this letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses how God has made us captives by using His knowledge to spread everywhere like a sweet perfume. Paul also mentions how our lives are like a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Is your life bonded to the Lord Jesus Christ that all the knowledge he gave you is like a Christ-like perfume smelling sweetly everywhere?
• Is your life like a letter written with God’s Spirit for everyone to know him?
GOD COMFORTS US ALL
August 25
________________________________________
GOD COMFORTS US ALL
A poem by ILMA
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort
He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others
When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort.
The more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort
It is for our benefit when we are weighed down with troubles
For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort others.
Then we can patiently endure the same things we suffer.
We are confident that as you share in our sufferings,
You will also share in the comfort God gives us
We think you ought to know about the trouble we went through
We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure.
We thought we would never live through it and we expected to die
But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and relied only on God
He did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again
He will continue to rescue us because God has graciously answered prayers.
________________________________________
MEMORY VERSE
For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. – 2 Corinthians 1: 5
Read: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11
The world views suffering very differently as God would. Getting comforted from someone is something we all desire as human beings. When we don’t get it from people, we expect it from, we get frustrated and sometimes angry. It leads us to become needy. What we don’t realize is that God always gives us comfort, but we need to look at the sacrifice of Christ on the cross to understand this.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Why do you think comfort is something that we people can’t do without in this world?