Isaiah 41:13

For I, the Lord your God,

hold your right hand;

it is I who say to you, “Fear not,

I am the one who helps you.”

Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you; 

be not dismayed, for I am your God. 

I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, 

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. 

Fools

And a highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;

the unclean shall not pass over it.

It shall belong to those who walk on the way;

even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

Isaiah 35:8

Fools. Well, that's encouraging!

Vampire

I am dead thirsty. I lap up the life of others, never quenching nor satisfying that longing within me for more. I am a vampire, always in quest of. I am enslaved by desperate pursuit. Ravenous and manic, I seek you. I come for you because I need the life in your veins. I need.

I can’t count my victims. Too many are they.

I see my next meal, a strange man on a vacant road. I approach slowly to stalk him. He is a lighted figure in a fold of darkness, as if he holds the sun within himself. His silhouette stands out against the evening. His mere existence is an annoyance to me. He neither cowers nor defies as I approach. He meets me eye-to-eye. It is infuriating.

His face is weathered, beaten and bruised, but serene. His hands scarred, horrific torment have they endured or given. Perhaps I have met a monster like me. I size him up. I can take him. The blood on his hands looks like it has been there for an eternity, though it has the stench of freshness.

He appears to know me. At the very least, he knows what I am about to do. And he doesn’t seem to mind. I attack with precision, injecting my fangs and drawing the blood. Slowly, deliberately, deliciously I drink in the depth of life from his neck. Almost instantly I realize this lifeblood is different. A surge, more like a punch, hits me head-on somehow. I reel, a bit, but return to the drink, drawing in its warm fulfillment. But again, it strikes me. It reaches me, deep within and takes me.

My limbs, my muscles, my entire being staggers and halts like a rushing freight train suddenly stopped by unseen hands. The cells of my body rebel, turning against me, and begin to transform. They are becoming something else.

As if I have no control over my being, they twist and coil without my direction or input. I am being remade. I find myself eagerly accepting this new thing, hungering and thirsting for it with all the desperation of my previous pursuit. Everything within me cries out. Astonished, I feel a presence seeping into me, filling my hunger. I am bloated with it, round and plump with this life. My thirst, palpable and parched, is satiated as if with a flood. I am overwhelmed.

I look into the eyes of my victim, a suddenly strong and invincible presence. His eyes are the color of me. His hands and arms around me, as though I were the prey, he does not look away. And in that moment I realize the blood on his hands is his own. This cannot be. A mythical creature, this; I do not believe in Jesus.

When he spoke he said my name as if he'd known it forever. I can’t tell you what that did to me. But I can tell you I will never thirst again, not ever.

I wrote this in 2008. It appeared then on a now closed site, Gather.com.

Walk

Those who

walk in the light

forget how dark

the darkness is.

Soon

In days to come Jacob shall take root,

Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots

and fill the whole world with fruit.

Isaiah 27:6

Perfect Peace

You keep him in perfect peace 

whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you. 

Isaiah 26:3

Isaiah 19:23-25

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, 

and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, 

and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 

In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

This is really hard to imagine in today's world. 

What would it take to bring these nations together? 

What do you think of ancient words like this? 

Can they be for today?

What would it take?

To know for certain God is real.

To know He loves you

and He sent His Son to take your place.

To know He hears you loud and clear.

To know He cares about what you care about.

It matters to Him too.

To know He answers you every time. All the time.

What gives one person this certainty

and yet another does not know?

God of Love

You are the God of love.

Show them your love.