imagine

August 28, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)

That we might never find God

We are the self-righteous. From the very start we are seeking fulfillment without shame and without regard. We are born good and we continue on a path of goodness. It is our path of goodness. We are the ones who will stand and face death on this path, defending every move. With each hindrance, ironically, our hearts melt and disperse. “Who shall bear with me my malady”? A haughty spirit will flourish in the sun and wilt in the darkness. No clouds, please, they shall spoil my spirited gait.

We trust in fate and chance.

They are lies.

We glean our wants and needs carefully from those we see around us. Placing into compartments those things that will all join together and make us whole. We covet. We cry for peace and love. But our ‘self’ holds the banner on this march being surely self-serving first, then the rest. We seek wisdom and then spew words as cynics. We are fools for the ‘self’ will eventually flail in despair. It will begin the circular motion of a boat, rudderless, spiraling ever downward and inward.

Answers abound but questions eclipse. A keen eye will see that this is not cynicism, it is the reality of the lost. We are not made for our ‘self’. Image-less, hapless, hopeless.

That we did find Him

What of those of us who know our true roots in the image of God? The world is full of contrast and this is the biggest. We who are determined to uproot our feet mired in self-righteousness, are those who see the eyes of God. We hear His words and bathe in His love. Surpassing all we knew, we overturn a hapless stronghold and follow. Following is believing something or someone knows better. God knows better.

We have an image. It is the image of God. And beyond imagination, lies reality. He is real. He is with us. All shall see. He breathes words. His words all contain wisdom that eclipse foolishness. However, as the sun eclipsing the moon will last only as long as individual orbits allow, foolishness is forever hidden – buried and burned. Ashen flakes of what once was, float with consternation away to nowhere leaving a soul in white. Pure heart open and willing. On God’s image. We are ready with many compartments in our heart. Storing the word of God as each syllable makes us stronger, wiser. We understand love and life and the path we are on is not dark.

It is Lighted. The Light is fueled by Oil. The Oil is from above. What once was is no longer.

Imagine one day we forsake grace. Walk from God to our ‘self’ again. It is the mind of a fool that experiences the best walk and then despises it for his own way. Many await a lighted lamp. We are the lights of God and we hold His word in our hearts. We hide them away as many winters come and go but we are sustained.

rick

Somber Fragments

August 24, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

“Under the Apple Tree”
Artist: Sean Seal

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17 (NKJV)

Repentance, Lord, we call to Thee,
Depths of heart hesitant to see.
You alone know us well –
Somber fragments You alone know to quell.

Remorseful heart, spirit crushed,
Lord, Your plan is never rushed.
Seeking solace and clarity
In you eyes I look to see.

Repentance, Lord, a sinner’s heart.
World wanes, I drift apart.
Sanctified by Blood so pure
Ever safe from carnal lure.

Remorseful heart now fades away,
As joyful countenance now holds sway.
And You see growth in what You do
Draw me closer, make me new.

We Love in Shadows

August 18, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

“For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?” Ecclesiastes 6:12 (NKV)

Our nature fallen
Our paths so sullen;
Pathetic attempts seeking
Fulfilled hearts swollen.

Those of the finite
Wish upon hearts contrite.
Contrived reason, hopes peeking
Futile lives never quite right.

O vanity – Man deceived
He searches inward, darkness relieved.
But emptiness surely filled by God
Light eclipses shadow, hope acheived.

O Lord we thank Thee from our very core
For You are He who tells man His chore.
You sent Your Son defeating death,
Our childlike eyes seek evermore.

We of Christ are infinite
Eternal, always, e’er upright
And to those who are decidedly opposed,
We still love in shadows, man – God’s delight.

savory sweet

August 6, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

Artist: Sean Seal

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”
Matthew 5: 13 (NKJV)

How do you, stream so pure and clear
Flow from mountain’s side ’round the year?
Whence do you begin your flowing meander?
And how do you avoid arid wind’s slander?

I beg to know, Stream of life.
Endless source, my soul’s fulfillment rife.
As a tear from its source shall always go,
Upon the mountain’s side or on our cheek as we know.

You are not of this world, O beautiful Stream.
Not from yarn, legend, or even in a dream.
You are a Divine tear making its way
Endlessly winding without fear and without sway.

So as water replenishes me, so too Thine salt!
With purpose to spread sweet savor without finding fault.
For continuous are Your water’s reserves,
And too it is salt that indeed preserves.

For this salt shalt ne’er have flavor lost
Just as endless stream flows from One’s paid cost
Preserve and replenish, these two shalt meet.
The endless stream, savory sweet.

abandon

August 3, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

Artist: Phoebe Stassi

“Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.” Job 22:21 (NIV)

What is submit? Compare submit as the giving of something to the abandoning of our very soul. A deep contrast. What we give or what we abandon. The first is easy. The transfer of something for one hand to another’s.
But abandon…

So, in submitting to God we are really abandoning ownership of our souls to be transferred from our hand to the Lord’s.
Actually He has purchased our souls and it is up to us to loose the firm grip of straw we incessantly have.
We are those who are frantic over comfort and security. Naively thinking the fading things around us will provide. Naive.

A man can no sooner grab his own collar and lift himself from a pit. So, another must assist. But tragically he awaits at the pit’s bottom as tens of thousands pass by. The world is impersonal. Our despair is not the world’s concern. I submit.

However, if we believe in One greater than ourselves and are at peace with Him – meaning we rest knowing He is there, then the amount of impersonality is meaningless. We are lifted from the pit – from despair – by hands of Love. Maybe, just maybe, those who previously were oblivious to our entrapment in despair, will catch a glimpse. Maybe….

I submit that at our abandoning of our soul to God, His light emanates from now what is His. This will make heads turn. His work is captivating, omnipresent. Some come back to see. Love them even as they once ignored you. Our calm peace in God is infectious.

Finally, then, prosperity. The world talks of prosperity in a different and pompous tone. But we who abandon, possess prosperity in His peace, in His Love, in our eternity. Life is bigger that the sum of all it’s parts. To cross the abyss for the world to eternity requires abandoning our soul. Give up what is not even rightfully ours anymore. As we look from our worldly eyes at this abysmal precipice, we see only the long fall into despair. But abandon transfers. One side to the other and we soon are looking back at impossibility which is now possible. We have comfort and know love and needn’t argue who is right for He is righteous and He rains prosperity on us.

Abandon. Submit. Peace will come. Prosperity is love. God knows and waits.

rick