God’s droplets of peace –crystal like–
Arrayed -diamond like-
They all loosely hanging
Circling over tiny figures with life
Periods, times
Lights, Red lights
Bright and brighter,
God drops peace His peace
On earth I, You
Tiny figures with life
IfiokAbasi Okop
© 2019
Hell is rebellion
Pulling plug on life source
Drifting off from Definition
Dissolving into nothingness
Like fading fragrance mocked
By the briefness of its glory days
Hell is silence, is crushing grieved cries
Of wild drunken raves, quiet robbery
And the cold indifference of a million Church pews
The stench of pious hatred
The rot of carousing infidels
And the carcass of juggling both these
Hell is bitter dead end to living sweet route mirage
Trap Disneyland, minus innocence
It’s the sick deal Christ scrapes off the table
Evil’s two faced grand joker
Swept aside by God’s deft Checkmate
Process reverse, death-to-Life card
Ikenna Nwachukwu Alexander
© 2019
Last time, I said that anyone who comes to God must first believe that He exists and that He rewards people who diligently seek him.
I pointed out in my personal Strong’s amplification that to seek God was to worship Him. Today, I’d like to share more treasures I found in the book of Psalms.
Psalms 9 vs 10.
“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee for thou, LORD hast not forsaken them that seek thee” (KJV).
Let me translate;
And they that know God’s character will rest in Him because God has never failed people who worship him, by taking a stand of faith in Him.
You might also want to hear more words of David that will tickle you silly. You find those words in 1 Samuel 17 vs 45.
“Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied” (KJV).
The name of the LORD is the character and the person of God. David had known by experience the faithfulness of God for himself personally. The LORD had delivered him from the paws of lions and bears and he saw the Philistine as one of them.
A friend of mine says that faith is not something we do but a result we get. According to him, when we get into the knowledge of God, we trust Him automatically. He says faith is fundamentally a result of the knowledge of God we have; this knowledge is found in the Word.
However, I’d like to add that our faith cannot be made pure if our faith is not tried. James 1 vs 2-4:
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (KJV).
David knew fear alongside other emotions in the face of fearsome lions and bears while caring for his father’s flock in the wilds. Those were the testing of his faith in the LORD his shepherd. When his faith took a good form, he knew the LORD as Jehovah his Raah.
The point I am trying to make is that inasmuch as we should be well versed in the Word of God concerning our lives, we should not get comfortable with having just a mental knowledge of God. We should permit ourselves to go through the practical classes, and these classes are painfully harsh. The good news is that he would not allow a test that we cannot pass to come on us. God is fair, He doesn’t give a fifth grader an undergraduate math test.
I have been telling Father lately that I didn’t want to know mere theories of Him. I am so not letting go of Him until the LORD leaves me a legacy. When I say legacy, I mean until the altar of our relationship is built upon a legit experience. And that I know can only be done by faith.
©Favour Omeje
Croc bags have been brought to my notice and girl, they are oh so expensive; they don’t even look fancy. You won’t believe that such a plain Jane of a bag would cost over $150,000. I understand that there are budget crocs but I am really speaking of the premium ones, the crocs for those who set the trends.
But why is there such a fuss about crocs?
Crocs are a fashion staple, bags made from pure crocodile hide.
I am writing about croc bags because I want to get down to something about crocodiles. Crocodile hides are highly durable fashion pieces. Anything put in a croc is really safe from pocket pickers; a blade would have a hard time getting through. Anything you put in there is good to go, in the rain and in the sun.
Now let’s get to the nitty-gritty of this talk:
Genesis 15 vs 1b;
“…Fear not: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward”- KJV.
So, how has that got to do with crocs?
Good question. Let me amplify with Strong’s concordance:
…Relax: I am your crocodile scaly hide of covering from the world’s worst and your extremely huge net worth; you have me, I am more than enough.
See? God knows how important we all need crocs, boys and girls alike. For Abraham and for anyone else who wants to appropriate that scripture into his life, Yahweh God of Israel is willing to be your croc.
Allow yourself to be a tiny little piece of fur hidden away in the right croc. I believe you know who the right Croc is.
© Favour Omeje, 2019
The one; who sat and watched my infant head?
While I slept in your beautiful cradled arms.
The one who held me dearly, like a craft, never to be broken.
Pain is driven off in her arms, arms of love that never harms.
She cast away my fears and with loving warmth dries away my tears.
Her eyes are like stars to behold, they give me hope beyond despair.
When pain and sickness made me cry,
Touches from you made me smile.
I was nurtured like a plant to flourish,
Was polished carefully till I looked pretty and beautiful.
Guilty she felt when I had not gotten plenty,
Yet with care she made “this little” satisfy my every need.
Who taught my infant lips to pray?
Who trained me in the way of God and His word?
Told me I would have life less without having the Life of Christ.
Her love is incomprehensible, she calls it agape.
She encouraged me to be loving too because love never fails.
Never look back, heaven is before you. That is her greatest story.
When thou art feeble, old and grey,
I will be your strength, your fulfillment and comfort.
Your smile I will make as I feel your heart with joy everyday.
And one day emerge the man you are proud to call son.
I will take you to church even when you rest in peace.
But till then this is my piece for you;
MY MOTHER.
Adethatwrites
© 2019
I thought I knew strength, what I thought
I felt I needn’t do what I ought
I was wrong, so I blamed my strife
Follow me and you’ll have eternal life
These words I didn’t heed
I was that rebellious seed
Though aware of this grace, I was no bolt in this race
Adam where art thou? I hid my face
I had gone against truth, tasted the forbidden fruit
Surely I still had time, I said
But any hope in this very lie was dead
“The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief…
But I kept sinning, ignoring my belief
“The wages of sin is death…
Mine drew closer with every breath
This cliché have I heard, the thousandth time
Repent or eternal death; the clergy rhyme
So at times I wondered, beyond and under
Is Hell a yonder? Or should I even bother?
If this suffering, they speak is somewhat real
maybe the safe side is where I’d rather be
So yes, I did consider
What if I got saved, or take a break from life o’er there
I would still be lost, neither here nor there
“Thou shall love the Lord your God…
I knew mine wasn’t love; Just the fear of hell
Maybe it was the same if no one could tell
So I walked in hands open, heart closed.
“By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved..
I walked in and didn’t come out the same
I didn’t come out at all.
I thought he was blinded by his love
But it made him see what even I couldn’t
Coz even when I despised him, he loved me
He still does, and always will.
Oh! and this time I love him too
Erudite
© 2019
For some reason, I detest cool, sweet, and smooth. Here’s why: when they settle too long, they become lukewarm, sour, and ugly. They stink. They turn worthless.
Then they become poison.
I would rather carry live flames in my arms. I’d rather they burn and sear my delicate skin and roast my plump flesh to ashes.
I crave the blood to soak my bruised face, that front of handsomeness that assures me falsely, that flimsy foundation of confidence. I would give everything to be on fire, to be a lamp, a candle’s burning thread, consumed to give light to a world being killed by sweetness, sweetness of the kind that rots the soul.
My fear isn’t for the fire that sinks my swag and shatters my claims on being ‘cool’. What I do fear is the inferno of coolness itself, the molten dissolution the world considers sugary, the fraud that embraces the tongue with caramel lather, only to steal its sense of taste.
Don’t be deceived into thinking that love is sweet. It isn’t. It isn’t bitter either. Love’s very presence renders taste secondary. The stronger it is, the less interested we are in what is does to our taste buds- whether it makes them tremble with excitement, shudder in awe, or retreat in terror.
When we are so far gone in love, it is Love itself- not its sweetness or sharpness -that consumes our being.
When you think that love can only be sugary, you will believe that reproof and compassion do not belong together. You will believe that a loving God could never damn a sinner to eternal torment. You will be alright with replacing the one true God with a sky dwelling grand-daddy figure too cowardly to correct the wrongdoings of his grandchildren.
When you think that love is only hugs and kisses, without rules or toughness, you will more easily wander off into dangerous openness, that vast but counterfeit ‘freedom’ called hell, the eternal coldness which lies at the end of all pursuit of crowd-pleasing ‘coolness’ for the sake of it.
We can reach beyond shallow sweetness to take hold of the exhilarating, all-consuming roller coaster of intense joy and deep-cutting anguish that true living brings us. That’s because in the midst of it all we are sure that a God who loves us fiercely will give His own life to preserve ours. Even if it means snatching us from the flames of cool with some degree of compassionate force.
©Ikenna Nwachukwu
For quite some time now,
I have been in the deep, ,
Pressed by some obese thoughts weighing on my heart,
Putting my heart in an humble state,
So, my heart has no choice but to take a bow,
Cut my head clean from my neck,
So, the storm in my heart,
Causing my mind to waver can shut up,
So my worries that chains me can break,
Then He told me to breathe,
Breathe? Can’t you see me drowning?
Breathe he said again?
Me and water never liked ourselves,
Breathe, Son, breathe
Well, I’m in the deep,
So, what harm will it cause me,
So, I took a breath,
And I saw that in the deep,
There lied waiting for me,
Like a wife waits for her husband,
There she lied,
Filling my nostrils to the brim,
Setting flames to my heart,
To burn out the ice caps,
There she lied,
God’s infinite Grace,
Telling me to take a dive into Philippians 4:6-7
Grace, a scandalous love!
Olaoye Adeleye
© 2019
Christ a poet 