DECISIONS
Dandelions and dragonflies delicately dance
Dewdrops descend at dawn
Diamonds decorate the skies daybreak
Daring to dream in the dark
Drinking deeply desperate daffodils
Dodging deaths dark door
Drowning defiantly in deafness
Dusty, dank, defeated daydreamer –
Daytime diffuses the danger
Doodlings and drawings dribbled despairingly
Descending down deeper, deeper
Daughters drastic decisions
Decorate and delight dissolving – then –
Disabling the dreary demeanor
Daylight decked in diamonds
Dressed in damask decadence
Dusks designs denote the end of day.
~Marcell Warner Bridges
©24 October 2013
THANK YOU TO MY FRIEND TEE-TEE BARNES FOR THE PICTURES!!!!
© 2013 Tee’s Photography
© Heart Thoughts, Marcie Bridges, 2013
THE WAY I WANT TO BE
I don’t want to be like you
broken down, blue
sitting there all alone
always wondering what went wrong
I don’t want to be in that place
where there is never any grace
or peace upon this heart of mine
I don’t want to feel ashamed
of what I’ve been or done
I don’t want to be that way
where there’s always sorrow, always rain.
I want to be someone new
someone kind, loving
always encouraging always humming
words uplifting, words of praise
That’s the only way
I want to be.
~Marcell Warner Bridges
©29 January 2013
Patterning our lives after people we know, we love, or maybe even have set up on a pedestal causes dissatisfaction in our lives. It causes us to always be jealous of what other people have and how they look or how their lives have turned out so much better than we think ours have. When we try to live our lives like others instead of how God wants us to live, we turn everything into what we want instead of what God wants. And we can become depressed and even bitter.
God wants us to live our lives for Him. To be a Christian is to be like Christ (Ephesians 5:1-2) and to be like Christ we need to renew our minds and our hearts through the reading of His Word (Romans 12:2), prayer and asking Him to mold us and shape us into the person He is desires us to be (Jeremiah 18:1-6; Isaiah 64:8).
© Heart Thoughts, Marcie Bridges, 2013
The poem below had been running through my mind all day. I wrote it quite a few years ago and as has been my habit for a long time, I have tried to find a Scripture verse to go with each poem I write. Finally I pulled out my binder, flipped through poem after poem until I found it. I read it then looked up the verse at the end. John 16:13. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” I had been praying for the Lord to help me write what He wanted me to and I knew then, and know now, in my heart His Spirit was speaking to me all along what to post today.
BUT, if that wasn’t enough confirmation, I heard a voice inside me say, “Open up Jesus Calling* and read today’s (October 16th) devotion.” Well, okay. Let’s see what it says, just for giggles.
“Look to Me continually for help, comfort, and companionship. Because I am always by your side, the briefest glance can connect you with Me. When you look to Me for help, it flows freely from My Presence. This recognition of your need for Me, in small matters as well as large ones, keeps you spiritually alive. When you need comfort, I love to enfold you in My arms. I enable you not only to feel comforted but also to be a channel through whom I comfort others. Thus you are doubly blessed, because a living channel absorbs some of whatever flows through it. My constant Companionship is the piece de resistance: the summit of salvation blessings. No matter what losses you experience in your life, no one can take away this glorious gift.” (Jesus Calling, October 16, pg. 303).
Um, did I say, “Just for giggles?” I’m not giggling. I am smiling though. What a beautiful reminder to us how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. How He helps us to grow, be nurtured and how He guides us and helps us in our time of trouble
.
in action, speech and thought
in each decision He must lead the way
through every path that must be trod.
Let the Holy Spirit lead
in deed, duty and discussion
in each hour of each day may He
be fully seen by others.
Let the Holy Spirit lead
for through Him we can be
a light, a lamp, a beacon to all
who may otherwise never see Him.
Let the Holy Spirit lead
in want, in will, in worship
for with His loving, faithful guidance
we’ll bring others to His salvation.
Let the Holy Spirit lead
give Him complete control of all
in Him we find such a wonderful peace
that surpasses our understanding.
Let the Holy Spirit lead
let Him have His way with thee
though rugged, steep the path may be
there is no better way to go.
Let the Holy Spirit lead
let Him have complete control with thee
for when we find in Him we hide
this is where all blessings flow.
He’ll mold us, He’ll make us
and with grace He’ll sustain us
guiding, leading, faithfully convicting
in everything He’ll bring us to
the place we have been seeking.
~Marcell Warner Bridges
©3, September 1996
“…whatever things are lovely…” (Philippians 4:8)
© 2013 Tee’s Photography
THE EVIL WITHIN ME
Recently a schoolmate said to me, “Marcie, you’re too nice to be evil!” I responded back to her that I most certainly do have an evil side, I just don’t let anyone see it.
I AM a nice person. BUT, there is an evil side to me. And there’s only 3 people who have seen it. God, Satan, and me. I keep it to myself.
At this point I know what you are thinking. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MARCIE?
I’m talking about how I talk to myself. The mean, awful, ugly, despicable things I say to myself.
“I’m fat.”
“I’m ugly.”
“Nobody really likes me.”
“I’m not really that good at…..singing, writing, speaking…”
“I can’t do such and such because I’m so fat.”
“Nobody cares about me.”
“I’m not a good friend.”
You get the picture. And these are not even the worst of it. I just can’t seem to write the worst of them. I’ve let you see more than I should maybe.
You see, here’s the thing. We all have evil inside of us. Maybe not the evil that a murderer has or some horrendous criminal like Hitler, but we all have that side of us that is not nice. It keeps us from being the person we should and ought to be in Christ. It keeps us from being happy and living a life truly fulfilled.
That’s why we are admonished to think on the good things.
Philippians 4:8-9: “ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are LOVELY, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Did you catch that? Whatever things are lovely, beautiful, good, true, pure.
It is hard to always think nice things about myself. Especially when I stare at myself in the mirror and I don’t see the person I want to be or think I should be.
So what do I do about evil Marcie? When I begin thinking evil thoughts to myself I know I have to pray and ask God to give me positive things to think. Things that are uplifting and pleasant. Then I thank God for those positive things about me.
http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/ZuJWQzjfU3o&source=uds
Please welcome my friend Nan Jones as my guest blogger today. I love this poem she has written. I pray it blesses your heart as it does mine.
© 2013 Nan Jones
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This month of October I have chosen to focus on the theme of “beauty”. Just a couple of weeks ago Fall finally made its debut and I think most people agree that Fall and Spring are two of the most popular seasons of the year because of the beauty they bring into our lives. So even amid the days getting shorter and turning dark earlier, Halloween with its dark connotations, I think we can find beauty from it. God’s Word tells us:
~Marcell Warner Bridges
©1 October 2013
I pray you will find the beauty of life every day in some small way this month as we continue this thought of beauty, not only through nature, but through who we are in Christ, and who we are to others. By the way, the pictures I’ve posted here, as you can see, are all on the same wall. But if you look carefully they are taken at slightly different angles. Why? Because this is ONE picture but as you walk by it, it changes scenery from Spring/Summer, to Fall then Winter. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it and my daughter Kaitlyn gave it to me as a present for Christmas. Isn’t it great?! Personally, I think it is just beautiful!
© Marcie Bridges, Heart Thoughts, 2013