Find more of Lydia’s poetry based on 1 John here and at lydiakinne.com.
When doubts assail me,
Of one thing I can be certain –
My identity is secure.
I am a child of God.
It is written on my heart.
It’s the oxygen that fills my lungs.
It runs deeper than my DNA.
It has the power to transform me.
This kind of love –
That cradles me like
A parent soothing a frightened child,
And wraps me with the security
Of strong, everlasting arms –
This love overwhelms me
With its beauty and lavishness.
When the world rejects and hates me,
It is a sign that I’m a child
Of the One whom they
Mocked and cruelly crucified.
And the weight of the world’s rejection
Can bear down heavy
Until I remember the day of promise
For which I am living.
The day when my Savior appears
And everything makes sense
And I become like him
And the struggle of this world is over.
This hope – this glorious hope –
Gives me strength on dark days.
Realigns my priorities.
Helps me fight my battles.
Purifies me from the sin that entangles.
So let me abide with my Father,
Let me embrace my status
As his beloved child
And let me trust in his promises.
Come, Lord Jesus, come.
On the days when
I hang my head
Low in despair
Over my sinful failures,
Christ’s reassurance echoes through –
He came to end sin and destroy the devil –
And all those who belong to him
Are made righteous as he is.
Willfully disobeying,
Clinging with pleasure to sin,
Being unaware of any wrongdoing,
Flagrantly denying God’s law –
These are all markers of unbelievers.
But desperate abiding,
Tearful repentance and repulsion of sin,
Conviction of and carrying sin to Christ,
Longing for his holiness and righteousness –
These are all signs of belonging to God.
God planted his seed within us
The moment we gave our lives to him –
And the slow growing and producing of fruit
Reveals that we are abiding in the vine.
So let this promise bring peace.
Let the tearful temptations bring trust.
Let our sorrow lead us to songs of salvation.
And let us abide in the Almighty,
Our forever hope and joy.
The deceivers and false prophets
Are everywhere –
Crowding the pews and the shelves,
Flooding social media and the news.
Their messages sound good,
Enlightened with love and acceptance,
Even using scriptural language
And faith-based assumptions.
But press a little harder
On their underlying “truth,”
And their messages crumble
Like a sandcastle washed by a wave.
They deny the very essence
Of who Christ is and what he came to do –
His deity and humanity –
His sacrifice for our lost souls.
People don’t want to address
Their root problem of sin.
They want to feel good about themselves
By posting another hashtag and tweet.
They want to create themselves
Out of all the fragments of progressivism
Thrown their way by false teachers
And regurgitated like so many little clones.
They don’t want to be told their need
And that there already is a creation order
That we were meant to step into and fulfill –
Because that takes away their control.
But we are from God
And we don’t have to fear this doctrine.
We know he is greater
Than all their lies and errors.
The Spirit of truth dwells in us,
Giving us the ability to discern,
To see through the façade
And to have compassion for the deceived.
May we be diligent to know truth,
May we call out error when we see it,
May we trust the one who is greater,
And may we believe that one day
Truth will forever conquer over lies.
In a world of deception, God,
You give us rock-solid truth
To which we can tether our faith,
And trust from now until eternity.
You give us tangible evidence
To measure if our faith is real
And you give us reliable sources
To prove that You are who You say You are.
You call us to a life
Of love and obedience
And quiet victory over the schemes
Of the ruler of this world.
You remind us that
Christ’s baptism and death
Verify his identity as Savior
As does the Spirit’s work in our hearts.
You give us a redeemed way of life,
You hear and answer our prayers,
You deliver us from the clutches of sin,
And You give our minds understanding.
What a gift is this treasure of salvation!
May we never disregard it in lesser pursuits.
May we learn to embrace it as our fullest life.
May we live like it matters
And be drawn closer to you every day
In the process.
Lydia is a teacher, poet, and blogger, who serves various ministries here at Faith. You can read more of her writing and subscribe to her blog at lydiakinne.com.
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