[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Wednesday, June 13 2012

[Paul]

Hello and good evening to all my fellow saints of the Most High God residing in North America, and good day to the rest of you living in other parts of the world.  I know that this is early, especially for you West Coasters, but better early than never.  How was your day today? Mine was good, mostly hanging out in audio chatrooms and surfing internet radio stations.  We had only two people in our Bible study this evening, Elder Ed Shelley and the undersigned.  I just learned this evening that our church, being small as it is, might close its doors for lack of new members and the fact that our financial base is dwindling, not to mention that only five people do most of the work such as preaching, printing the weekly church bulletins and oversee music.  Elder Shelley freely admitted to me that he was getting burned out, as the lion's share of the work falls on his shoulders.  So please pray that, if we disband, that the Lord will lead us to the churches that He wishes us to join.  Thanks a bunch for your prayers.

A member of the Baltimore affiliate of the Christian Poetry Society, Ruthmarie Brooks Silver, kindly gave me permission to share a poem that she recently composed.  Entitled "Looking Within," it is rendered as follows:

Deep inside myself I go
To find a quiet place,
An inner temple where the love
Of Jesus I embrace.

God's love is my internal
Resource of peace and joy.
Deep down inside I find Him;
In Him I do employ
Encouragement and wellness,
Freedom from my sin.
Within my heart I know Him,
I rest and welcome Him.

There is His calming presence,
I realize His grace.
I let His love flow through me;
He takes me to a place
Where fullness is renewed in me.
I've courage to go on.
Continually His love for me
Refreshes His sweet song.
So when I'm caught in cycles
And turmoil that won't cease,
I go and find my quiet place
And find my inner peace.

When I heard sister Silver's words several weeks ago, she and the undersigned were holding hands, and it felt as if I were being transferred, so to speak, into the world in which she wrote.  It's something that I just can't explain, but maybe some of you can figure it out.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout the night and especially in the last days in which we live.  This is the ardent prayer and desire of your Christian friend and brother, Paul.