"A Rose between Two Thorns"

Why the painful thorns with such beauty of a rose?
To protect and prolong the life of the rose...
Likewise, like Jesus wearing

His crown of thorns...
For the fall of man.

Though He was crucified,

with two others (like you and me),

One on each side...
And descended into Hell...

Then on the third day...from the dead He rose!

Glory be to God, His Glorious Son,

Our Savior has risen!

In doing so, He crushed the head of the serpent...
Taking with Him the keys to death and Hades...
Which Christ our Lord offers to unlock for

all of those who believe He is Lord.
What the enemy strikes at us for evil,

the Lord can turn to goodness and beauty.

Let Christ Jesus redeem and sanctify us,

through the glory of His cross.
Surrendering ourselves onto Him...
And accepting His boundaries of love...
Even those that feel as prickles

of thorns to our flesh...
To transform us to be in awe of

His merciful love and grace.

As part of His body, His Church,

like the thorns of a rose...
We are to help and protect one another until

He calls us home.

© Sheri * July 2010
Inspired by my dear friend Helen.

About the “A Rose between Two Thorns” poem...

My dear friend, Helen, shared with me an experience she had had the day before, suggesting that maybe I could write a poem about...about how a person in Christ can be protected by their brothers and sisters in Christ, how the thorns of a rose are for that purpose, to help and protect the beauty of the rose.

Soon after, I started to write...thinking I would just get started on Helen’s poem...maybe just the title...embellishing it a tad in finding some thorn pictures to crop, using the thorns as quotation marks (could not use with this blog format), which ended up resembling more like the nails that pierced our Lord’s hands on His cross. Then I found (Microsoft Word) and edited the cross with the rose picture, and also the serpent with the rose’s picture. Then....I prayed.

The cross with the rose picture represents our Lord’s beauty and the sweet and gentle smelling fragrance of the fruit of His Spirit, His love. The thorns, or prickles of a rose, protect the rose, though most see them as an unfortunate nuisance. Likewise, sometimes we see God’s principles, His boundaries, as keeping us from enjoying “the good life.” When in reality, God does not always give us our hearts desire, because our hearts are not always in a place they should be...thinking and doing things that bring glory to Him, because He is God, and He is good. He knows what’s best for us, and we need to know Him to enable us to love ourselves and others, with His love.

The serpent slithering amongst the roses represents how Satan tries to entice us into sin, to serve him instead of our Lord, making the ways of the world look so satisfying, wanting us to crave his “innocent charm” of self-destruction through instant gratification, and once caught up in its lies, feeding us another that there is no hope left for us ----> instead of believing our Lords promises of mercy and grace when our hearts seek Jesus’ spiritual strength. The enemy has been defeated by our Lord, and we should live like we know that, and help others see and believe that also.

From one of the recent books I have read in seeking God, “The Passion of Jesus Christ”, by John Piper, containing and referencing to Scripture throughout, has contributed to me in writing this poem. The book was excellent in helping me have some understanding of Christ’s crucifixion, His death, and resurrection; enlightened me to the point of inspiration, I pray I hold on tight, using His truth and might : ) Although the book has 50 chapters, each only about two pages long, just over around 120 pages or so in all to read...I recommend reading it to all.

Serving His Kingdom

When dining from the world’s banquet...

To then be asked to serve God
And give thanks and glory to Him...
Could give the self-serving a bellyache...
Not wanting to share their plateful of arrogance.

When we have corruption within us...
From the ways of the world...
The word “serve” may not be
Too appetizing to one’s taste...
Unless the tasty dish to be served is for oneself.

When we seek to know God
And embrace His loving bounty...
Serving Him as Lord of our lives will bring us into
His mercy and grace...
And He will flow from within and through us
To those whom we serve...
Out of gratitude for our Sovereign King.

Thank you Father...Amen.

© Sheri * July 2010

About the “Serving His Kingdom” poem...

While contemplating how people grow in Christ, I was taken back to memories that were made back when I was 22, when I was born again, accepting Jesus as my Savior. From unknowingly harboring many misconceptions about God, I struggled with walking with Him for many, many years to come; mainly due from not understanding His unconditional love.

Back in those earlier years of being transformed, the concept of His grace, not living in condemnation, but through His forgiveness, and not being saved by works, but by faith in Him, to say the least was very confusing for me. Anything that had to do with “self” seemed to me like operating in the flesh instead of in the Spirit, like trying to work one’s way to heaven, trying to earn God’s love. Without learning godly self-control and establishing healthy boundaries, becoming passive and spiritually shipwrecked was inevitable. Joyce Meyer has a saying that I think of often... “God has a part, and you have a part. He will always help you do your part, but He will not do your part for you.” ................Awesome!

From learning of God’s unconditional love (a lifelong process), we have been set free from being slaves to sin. Though we are filled with His Spirit, we still have to make choices to who we will serve, because God has given us a free will. From choosing to live the life He has given us by trusting in Him, leading us to Him when we seek Him, the world’s corruption will fall away from us, no longer having a hold on us; we will long for Him, and nothing else can quench our hunger or thirst.