Tag Archives: salvation

lovely and true

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grove of trees -Renoir

grove of trees Renoir

peace comes in drops of rain
light piercing in prismatic plane
with hopeful glances far above
He is near and cradles in love

when do we fill the gap of vanity
and overflow like tourmaline sea?
i ponder inward and see my flaw
knowing God’s restoration in awe

renewal waxes in unfurling leaf
soft green waves silent absence brief
my Creator will not leave my aching heart
He is watchful and shall never part

I hope someday I will see
into myself amber lens free
to see the possibilty of finding anew
what God has always seen lovely and true.

(c) 2016 rickjstassi

treatise 2

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picasso-retrats-th

Pablo Picasso

For now
we see through a glass, darkly;
but then face to face:
now I know in part;
but then shall I know
even as also I am known.

1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV

How I long to
See deeper into
My soul
To understand
How God sees me
And you.

Would I then
Learn to love
Even more
As I see
the depth of
His love?

rickjstassi

treatise

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Peasants beneath Trees at Moret by Camille Pissarro

Peasants beneath Trees at Moret by Camille Pissarro

For God
so loved the world
that He gave
His only begotten
Son,
that whoever believes
in Him
should not perish
but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

the new times

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chrysanthemums-1897

“O hardened heart!” cries the stone,
Alas, failing beauty, the flowers bemoan.
Green to brown, grasses sad fanfare,
Breeze entwined in thistle, cool respite rare.

For man alone awaits those days –
“The new times, better times”, he vacantly prays.
Impatiently wringing, hands gnarly worn.
Overtly succumbed, contrived and forlorn.

New softening light eases the stone’s point of view.
Layered fragrance for a flower so sweet and new.
Brown to green, the grasses joyfully rave,
Breeze envelops the thistle to a blissful new wave.

For man among men sees this day,
With dove and cross, O death’s dismay.
Dreamily gazing at time beyond,
The grass, the flower, the stone shall bond.

(c) 2014 rick stassi

lucid moments

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Snow Scene at Argenteuil
my bare feet stung as
i walked across the grass
blanketed with hoarfrost
to the warm light
a short distance away
from an inviting cottage
an embracing glow upon a flame streaming
through the window
that beckoned me
to walk a prickly path
numb
into the heart of God
where I was welcomed
with response of quiet serenity
and tranquility
nodding compassion
lucid moments
changing of my seasons
and I hurt
and I wept
a new man emerged into the world.

dark and light

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11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Psalm 139

So in the light, fear dissipates.
And darkness is forgotten – as dusk berates .
We seek that which we can touch and feel…
Yet tend toward darkness – and things unreal.

But we are reminded that all left unlit
Will still be searched to drown the unfit.
As the God we know sees little difference
In Him, whether dark or Light, all makes sense.

For we walk by faith and not by sight

Therefore daylight blends into the night

rick

for we who cry

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In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.
Psalm 138:3 (NKJV)

Who do we fool? What fears we mask as we seek. Primitive reason lurking about our minds…

We have a refusal to think outside the plane that is endless in all directions – infinite really. Is it because we are finite and dare not venture out of comfortable places?

Why do we seek for the endless and settle for the end. Our means thwarted by a consciousness stopped short. It make no sense to look at the stars and clasp shut our thinking lest it is unbearably challenged with things beyond the stars – before the stars. We want peace and we want love and yet we deny the very One who will freely give these things. Our means always justify our end, because we make it that way.

What is desire? I wonder. I mean our desire for depth not the superficial. It is hard for us to let go of these things that we believe in. These things that we clasp in our hands day-to-day. All soon are gone. The crushed petals of a flower held tightly in our clenched fists. Soon gone…Yet we shall not budge from the stubborn hold on our way. Man would rather  deny God to clasp unrealistically where he finds comfort. Adventure is lost but so much more: full life is traded for petals soon faded.

These things are what we are accustomed to. Yet isn’t it odd we are drawn passed the stars on clear cool nights? Then thoughts of eternity turn to our purpose and our purpose turns to our reason and then we stop. There is no ladder than can reach the stars for the man who will not let go of himself. We must ask beyond our reason.

Jacob asked, he wrestled with God. Are we any different? Who are You God? Show Your face and make me a ladder that spans God and Man – eternal and temporal….

So He answered for we who cry out.

rick

Eternity Sought

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Art Available for Purchase

“Rural Valley”
artist: Sean Seal

Dear Eternity-Seeker,

I feel have come to the end of my wit! What is reasonable to me is fleeting for you. But I will persevere in my persuasion to walk with you as you seek. Consider the Word on which I base my life:

“…to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith…” 1 Thessalonians 3:2

Yes as the mountains have bases and the stream-beds are rock, I too rest on He who will not shift.

I implore you hear my word. On a foundation of Rock shall I establish my stand as I press ever further into stone. There is a hard, impenetrable wall on all sides. So, I ponder, how else would I establish anything in my life? Only on the immovable and steadfast. Many descriptive metaphors I and others use, just the same,  all have praised the Father without end. But each day is new praise for a new day. For what I may say and how I may praise, may be seen by you, Eternity-Seeker. I pray you listen and watch. O, how I pray it so. Let my words be fragrant and established securely in Christ, my Cornerstone. May His words come into your reason and light a path to heaven.

So, Eternity-Seeker, you stand before many paths. Looking and wondering. There is curiosity of what may lie around the corner. So much work to keep trying a new path over and over. But I admire your tenacity rooted deep in your soul. You shall see, for I see now! I read on your face confidence, but I see chaos in your soul. It is so frustrating that you are persuaded to join those who tie a ribbon around all paths to eternity. But what sense, really, is in that? There is an intelligence you must find, I too know that desire and requirement. I encourage you now only as I now am established. Choose a path, Eternity-Seeker. Time runs late.

So, friendly Seeker, regarding your choice! Does reason only travel to the end of your mind? You and I both know that is limited. Thus ponder a bit further: what if there is a God who created all things? I think we all know love is a banner flown in the lead of all races. But we also know love displays yellows, greens, reds, and blues. All adapted to other seekers like you. Choices in free will. But curiously I ask. “How do you view grace?”

Yes! How do you view grace, kind Seeker? I imagine you must believe all born from the womb are born initially of goodness. I am certain you blame the coexistence with other seekers who will sneer and steer one to abject badness. If you are good already, think of the relative goodness that all men possess. Remember, to many, love is the root of the  tree of mankind! What of the man beside you? His goodness is as good as your own – and your own? Yet he chooses to mold his goodness around his ways and wants of life. Reeling desires are drawn close through this adaptation. Don’t you do this too, lovely Eternity-Seeker? I wonder if you really believe all are born of goodness or can you see it a convenience to fall in the shade of the tree where fruit is recycled yarns and tales and opinions from others trying so hard, avoiding… How do you find and stand upon the shifting sand? I leave you to your wit for mine is surely spent.

But consider this beautiful Eternity-Seeker:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16

Take those words and pack them like the bread you consume each day. But instead of on your back, wonderful and blessed Seeker, place then in your heart: hidden for all times. When you come to a wall that you may not pass along your ill-chosen path, use those words – over and over. For you, Eternity-Seeker, are pre-destined to find His eyes of Love and build a house on solid ground. God has put the desire in you to see His countenance at all cost. You know that. I knew that too. Never stop until you arrive. Eternity awaits…

Kind Regards,

Having-Attained

Jesus died to dry our tears

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“…and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink…” Exodus 17:6 (KJV)

Lord, my Living promise, my Cornerstone and might

In dark places, how I lean into Your Light.

Let my heart shatter for what breaks Yours.

Your Living Love and sustaining peace, beckons and implores.

Lord, Your love is unequaled and covers me, one who once could not see.

Now You are my Rock and my life’s foundation: my eternal Strongtower.

The ground I seek today shall be at Your hem.

My will is a stone that has shattered within.

You are the Water that gives all life.

I sacrifice myself so many have joy, hope and beauty rife.

Lord, let them drink! I pray my cup runneth over.

I am blessed by focused sight and willing ears. I pray now their heart’s recover.

The sweet, sweet sound of the saved heart. O, Let it reach my ears.

For  Jesus died to dry our tears.

rick
October 2, 2013

a prayer for a thistle

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thisle

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.  Revelations 21:5 (KJV)

Your guardian eyes so warm, removing harm and protecting  my way each day. Watched over, I feel safe, secure and steeped in Love. It is Your eyes, Lord, that see me through each abrasion and each incident, turning mismatched moments into seeds of goodness planted deep into my soul. O blissful thought. Watchful eyes turning a bitter and acrid outlook into welcoming warmth. Yes, this is how I hope to be: drawing those into my warmth You provided rather than exuding the bitter glare of the past things in me still half hidden. It is Your guardian eyes that envelope me.

In Your goodness, I forge through paths of nettles and thistle.  A thorny weed with a pretty flower is still a thorny weed. Discern appearances, lest be deceived. You tell me this in my heart – answering my prayer, knowing I am mismatched with the surroundings I am in. Separated into goodness. So many scratches on my legs. I was drawn in by the thistle and her pretty purples and blues. Captivated, my eyes deceptively were drawn in. However, I listen to You and know even weeds deserve love. I see their way, misled perspective – short and shallow. They are the remnants of seeds planted on soil not quite prepared enough. Nutrients escape and the hardened clay offers a bed where adaptation is required to survive. Even then, the purples lure. The best you can do poor thistle. Compassion burns within me. God’s goodness brings hope.

Your unmistakable voice, O Lord, thunder and lightning, across valleys scorching mountain tops. Righteousness and truth ought be remembered: “I am God and I am with you”. For the ages. I hear You Father. You will shout and you will whisper. A shout is necessary for me wading ever deeper into the river ready to carry all things to nowhere. I turn back to the water’s edge. Then at night with gentle moon and quiet stars you whisper sweet psalms of joy and wisdom into my heart. It is Your love, both ways. You saved me from the sweeping river to nowhere to bless me with whispers of love. So warm, so loved.

Your guardian eyes, Lord. Steel gaze on all things around. No less me with my eyes looking back. A single tear, a prayer for a thistle. You see her Father. I do too, praying I do through Your eyes. For what You have done for me is ever engraved in my soul and I must break ground and harrow clay to loam. Nutrients are in Your Word and water from Your Spirit. Plant seeds anew and where the thistle once only adapted and survived. Now a blanket of jonquils, daisies, and tulips color the land with yellows and reds. Figs and pears come from trunks stout and firm – roots well watered. Wheat grows for bread. Daily bread.

Oh how I love You. Can I love You more? These days pass and ahead is the horizon – sun waning and moon waxing. All the splendor of Your harmonious way. Help me Lord forge through. To see good. To forgive those adapted to bad. To see guardian eyes looking down upon my upward gaze, Warm, I am, and Loved too. It is wonderful in this way Father. Your path under Your gaze and guided by Your voice. All is bliss, heaven and earth.

© 2013 rick stassi