Victims and Vagabonds

Victims become vagabonds
until they choose
to stop running and face
what needs to be faced in their lives.

I've been running my whole life, Lord,
and Your love draws me home
to change that.

Love takes victims and vagabonds
and changes them into
settled down members
of a new household where
they are loved enough...
to feel safe enough...
to stop running from life
and take their place in the world.

Julie Engler Miles, c. 2010
All rights reserved


 

The face of Love...

I need to see Your face, Jesus. 

I can resist temptation  as long as my eyes are fixed on You,

and I see the love and loveliness of Your face.  

I will gaze upon Your face when I feel myself being drawn away from You. 

Apart from You, Lord, I have no good thing. 

Sorrows will increase for those who run after other gods. 

O Lord, keep me from running away from You.

O Love that will not let me go....

A hymn from my childhood comes to mind, Lord,

as I wrestle with a part of me that wants to

throw the towel in and go my own way.

"O Love that wilt not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths
its flow may richer, fuller be."
(George Matheson, 1842-1906)

Thank You for Your love 

that will not let me go,

even when I try to pry my fingers loose.

Double-mindedness and rebellion

war against You, Lord...

and still, Your love will not let go.

I picture a screaming toddler

having a tantrum, 

trying to free herself from her parents’ death grip.

That has been me, Lord.

Wanting to be free of You

to do exactly as I please,

even if it is dangerous and foolish.

But, in Your great love and wisdom,

You hold fast to this wayward child of Yours.

Forgive me, Lord.

Thank You for such amazing love.

I shudder to think what would become of me

if I managed to wrestle myself free of You,

or if You let go of me.

Thank You for the assurance that You

will never leave me nor forsake me,

O Love that will not let me go! 

 

Julie Engler Miles, Copyright 2002

The angry mob

I am easily pulled away from you, Lord. 

I picture the temptations of this world like an angry mob in the streets,
pulling me away from You by one arm,
while I reach for You with the other. 

I look toward You, desperate to stay with You; 
my eyes fixed on You,
my hand reaching for You,
knowing that as long as I can see Your face,
I will want You above all else. 

Capture my gaze, O Lord. 
Rescue me from the angry mob! 
Take hold of my hand so I don’t lose my way!

I sit with You each morning and see things so clearly.
Then by evening, I’ve lost the truth and exchanged it for lies….



Copyright 2011, Julie Engler Miles

The way is long, the journey hard...

There is no denying that we travel along the way of a long, hard journey.

Many have lost strength.

Many are on the verge of giving up… or turning back.

Others have forgotten … or lost sight of what it’s all for and where they’re headed.

Or maybe you never really knew in the first place… and were just following the crowd. Maybe you’ve lost your way… wandered off the path in the monotony of the weariness.

The way is long and perilous. We are tempted to wander, prone to falter along the way. Wide is the path that leads to destruction.

And who hasn’t lost the joy of the journey at different bends in the road and wondered where the promised abundant life is found? It's easy to lose sight of the Joy set before us on this long, hard road, especially with the voice of discouragement taunting, “Too long. Too hard. You’ll never make it. Why bother? Just give up. Turn back."

Lost, weary, miserable travelers. The world is full of them.

Take heart from the words of a fellow traveler. Hear the cries of a heart set on pilgrimage, and listen for the deepest, truest cries of your own heart. Then allow the voice of the One who hears our cries to sustain you with words of His unfailing love.

Be strong. Be courageous! The journey is epic.

The Lord is near to all who call on Him, and He will bring us safely through to the victory.

The journey begins....

There is one God and Father of all,
who is above all and through all and in all.

In Him we breathe and move and have our being.

(Ephesians 4:6;  Acts 17:28)

Lord, penetrate me with this truth ~

with the pure, simple truth of of these words.

There is such simplicity and pure clarity in Your Word

that is so different from the complexity and confusion of the way I live.

I want to shed the confusion and live in Your clarity.

It is in You that I have my being.

So simple.

Don't let me complicate it anymore, Lord.

Life has convoluted the truth for so long,

but now is the time to shed the lies

and find my being solely in You.

I sit before You now

ready and willing to shed everything 

that defines me other than You.

Strip it all away

so that all that remains of my being

is You and who You created me to be.

I'm ready, Lord.

Remove what can be shaken, that is, created things --

so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

(Hebrews 12:27)