Stevemidkiff's Blog

If we can just get our eyes off ourselves,
If we can just quit stewing about our problems,
If we can refuse to stress over our wants & lacks,
If we can stop brooding over what everyone else seems to have.

Then,

we’ll realize how blessed we really are,

because we have Jesus,

and He is all we need.

Stick up for us, O God & be our hero, our defender,

Defend us from the deceitful,
Defend us from the unjust,
Defend us from the ignorant people.

You are our safe place, You are the One we run to for protection;

though sometimes You seem oblivious to our needs,

We know (on our best days) that we don’t need to be afraid of our enemies.

Send out Your light & Your truth;

let them lead us;

let them bring us to Your presence,

let them bring us into the mountain of Your holiness.

Let us bow before You as a priest at Your altar,

God our exceeding joy.

Let us praise You with beautiful music, O God, our God.

Moods will come & go, Lord, but let us never be cast down in our heart like those who have no hope.

We hope in You, Lord God;

We find renewal in praising You,

You are our salvation & our God.

Psalm 43 paraphrased

Fear not; you will no longer live in shame.
Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you.
You will no longer remember the shame
You will no longer remember the sorrows

For your Creator will be your husband;
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!

He is your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel,
the God of all the earth.

Isa. 54:4-5 (NLT)

O, Father,
this is astonishing,
this is freeing,
this is transforming.

Thank You for giving life to the languishing,

Thank You for giving a balm to the broken,

Thank You for giving grace to the disgraced.

Thank You for Your tenacious tenderness,

Thank You for Your inexhaustible patience,

Thank You for Your heart-healing kindness.

Thank You that we don’t have to be paralyzed by our lingering battle with guilt & shame.

Thank You for the promise that one Day we’ll be totally free, healthy & whole.

Thank You You’re not ashamed of us,

Thank You that You desire us & delight in us just as much as You delight in Jesus…

Thank You for Your Your gaze is the gaze of affection & joy;

Thank You for Your your eyes that are filled with welcome & compassion for us.

Thank You that Your heart is our home, for You have hidden our lives in Jesus.

There’s nothing about us you don’t know.
There’s nothing left to discover, shock, or disappoint you.
You don’t love us as we should be, or as will be, but as we are right now.

Thank you, Father, thank You —words that come easily,
but words that feel woefully inadequate to express our sense of gratitude, relief & peace.

As this day begins, and will end, we’re thankful no shame
or disgrace awaits us from You, only grace upon grace

John 1:16

We have nothing to fear, except our unbelief.
Your name is Redeemer & our name is beloved.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has made us his beloved Bride.

Adapted from Scotty Smith

If you had been living when Christ was on earth

And had met the Savior kind,

What would you have asked him to do for you,

Supposing you were stone blind?

A child considered and then replied,

I expect that, without a doubt,

I’d ask for a dog, with collar and chain,

To lead me daily about.

And how often thus, in faithless prayer,

We acknowledge with shamed surprise

We have only asked for a dog and chain,

When we might have had--opened eyes."

selected

Happy Satie Hawkins day.

My gal is grabbing me by my shoulder hairs & taking me out to the wild side

for a gourmet breakfast & a viewing latter of The Call of The Wild.

I’ll be her little Abner! Yike! She a wild Women

We need thoughtful contrarians
What else can we do
The house of immovability is suddenly getting built
on the foundation of pigheadedness,

And it’s getting weirder & weirder

The house is filled with endless quarrels.

We need a house that’s built on the foundation of well-spoken conviction,

We need a home is filled with laughter & joy,

Even though storms may rage outside.

Chesterton

He who walks with the wise will be wise.

associate with fools and get in trouble

the companion of fools will suffer harm

We hurt ourselves by hanging around with fools

If we get cozy with stupid folks we’ll ruin ourselves

If you bed a fool you’ll give birth to ding bats

But

He who reads good writing

will come to know what good writing is

Don’t absorb junk
Don’t drink sewer water

Read rich

We’ve gone astray like a lost sheep;

Please seek us

Keep us from forgetting Your Words

Psalm 119:176

Lord! If we wander off like a lost sheep—

Seek us!

Look everywhere for us!

Please never give up on us!

Keep knocking at our hearts door!

Help us to recognize the sound of Your voice!

Help us respond immediately!

We need You! You’re our greatest blessing!

We don’t deserve You!

Don’t let us down!

We are all like sheep gone astray.

You’re our great Shepherd.
You’re our only protector from all harm

You’re our deliverance from sin & Satan
He prowls around like a roaring lion.

Thank You for sacrificing Yourself for us.
Thank You for becoming the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.

Thank You for Your Spirit,
working faith in us,
working renewal in us,
working new desires in us
working out obedience to You in us.

Thank You for putting Your new nature in us

Modern politics is not that modern

King Ahab wanted his neighbor Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21)
he couldn’t simply take it, even though he was the king –
even though he was the government –

that would have been a violation of the 8th Commandment,

DO NOT STEAL.

So he found a couple of men to bear false witness against Naboth,

THEY accused him of blasphemy (religious justification)

then had him stoned to death,

The King Ahab took his vineyard.

Today land siege & money reappropriating is done

via a program of land reform, or eminent domain, or zone redistricting

Elijah would have nodded to himself saying, what about

DO NOT STEAL

But politicians answer

Forget about the 10 Commandments they get in the way

of socialism & decadent debauchery

We read the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson,

Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets….

Through acts of faith,

they toppled kingdoms,

made justice work,

took the promises for themselves.

They were protected from lions,

They were protected in the fires,

They were protected when swords were thrusts at them,

They turned disadvantage to advantage,

They won battles,

They routed alien armies.

Women received their loved ones back from the dead.

There were those who, under torture, refused to give in & go free,

They preferred something better: resurrection.

Others braved abuse & whips,

Others endured chains & dungeons.

We have stories of those who were stoned,

Stories of some sawed in two,

We have stories of those who were murdered in cold blood;

We have stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins,

We have stories of those who were homeless, friendless, powerless—

The world didn’t deserve them!

They were making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.

Hebrews 11:32-38