Category: Poetry (Page 1 of 2)

Our Sovereign Lord

July 8, 2024 /

Dear Lord, I know you’re sovereign;

I know you’re in control…

over every minute detail

in this world and that’s your role.

But Lord, your providence, it leads me

down a darkened alley;

where the shadow of death

looms o’er each breath

in this cold and gruesome valley.

And I grow tried of fighting,

so worn from this descent

into a drying cistern

where I am left to mourn without relent.

But Lord, you walk beside me…

you lend your presence near

and without that much

of your healing touch

I’d wither as the panting deer.

Dear Lord, I know you’re sovereign,

and that you allow us pain

because our fears

and anxious tears

ripen souls like summer rain.

So Lord, in this stark providence

I beg your guiding hand—

for sin, I own,

and your glory’s known;

let this house on a rock withstand…

the tides and gale

let me not fail

to trust your ways are higher

as heaven over earth;

Lord, let your worth

set our world on fire!

Dear Lord, it’s clear, you’re sovereign

with your firm staff and rod.

May this bring peace

as dew-filled fleece

as I am still, knowing that you’re God.

References from the Holy Bible

Line 7 – Psalm 23:7

Line 12 – Jeremiah 2:13

Line 15 – James 4:8

Line 18 – Psalm 42:1

Line 20 – Deuteronomy 32:29, Hosea 6:1

Line 28 – Matthew 7:24-27

Line 31 – Isaiah 55:8-9

Line 34 – Hebrews 12:29

Line 36 – Psalm 23:4

Line 37 – Philippians 4:7

Line 38 – Judges 6:37

Line 39 – Psalm 46:10

Thank God for the Storm

July 6, 2024 /

After the storm

when skies are clear

while blue jays sing

and drown out fear…

I rest

under green canopies

of sunlit branches, galore—

in sweet speckled shade

with dew’s cascade

that ripens nature’s floor.

There is tranquility,

a calm of gentle winds

that I bask in

apart from sin

in this moment that Christ lends.

After the storm

I see

God’s grace in it,

that was hidden from me…

when in

the face of it.

For lightning struck and thunder roared,

as if all joy was left to die.

And darkness reigned

through grim refrain,

and tears poured from Heaven’s cry.

Now I thank God for this stillness,

the blue jay’s song and shade and dew—

but do I think to thank him,

for the storm that he sent, too?

For in the quaking ground

and on the raging seas,

I trembled

at the sound

of judgment on my knees.

And it was in that frightening state

of this availing squall

that I let it wash me

to the rock of ages

and the great wailing wall.

It’s there I was quite stricken…

left weak

and paralyzed—

my sole choice

was to be still;

a sole voice

spoke of his will;

and seeing

such might

that I realized…

he is my faithful comfort,

my ever present help

and hope.

He is the rod,

my unfailing God,

whose dominion’s beyond all scope.

So thank God for the quiet,

the stillness, and the calm…

that restores our peace;

let faith increase,

just as a healing balm!

But when foreboding skies

threaten to cause harm…

trust God’s will, true,

at work in you;

and thank him for the storm.

References from the Holy Bible

Line 5 – Matthew 11:28

Line 17 – Matthew 13:16

Line 30 – Psalm 135:7

Line 31 – Revelation 6:12; 16:18

Line 33 – Philippians 2:12

Line 38 – Psalm 51:7

Line 39 – Isaiah 26:4

Line 42 – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Line 45 – Psalm 46:10

Line 46 – John 10:27-28

Line 48 – Matthew 13:16

Line 49 – Deuteronomy 10:17

Line 51 – John 14:16-18

Line 52 – Psalm 46:1

Line 53 – Psalm 71:5, Romans 13:15

Line 54 – Psalm 23:4

Line 55 – 1 Corinthians 13:8

Line 56 – Psalm 72:8, Daniel 7:13-14

Line 61 – Jeremiah 8:22

Line 66 – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

LORD, Let me Serve You

June 10, 2024 /

The book of 2nd Corinthians calls Christians to examine ourselves. And that’s what I tried to do in exploring this new poem I wrote. It’s a poem of written repentance. I pray many are blessed by it.
-Leanne

My God, why do I serve you…?
Is it for my own glory,
or for my tears
and anxious fears
that through the years
have wore me?

My God, why do I serve you…?
Is it because I want
a miracle of health and wealth
that I covet
and long to flaunt?

My God, why do I serve you…?
What is my inmost aim,
when I cling to pride
and toss aside
commandments to my shame?

My LORD, please let me serve you.
Examine
my sickened heart
call me to seek
from a soul, meek,
and then set me apart.

For all my dreams are barren now,
like clouds without the rain.
And as if for some dead sacred cow
my efforts lie in vain.

LORD, strip me of my comforts:
all sheer and stain silk;
and my soul save
through a new crave
for the meat and not just milk.

LORD, shine your light
into my night
through words that guide and beckon…
that I may see
what needs to be
wrestled with and reckoned.

Then, LORD, let me serve You…
while to you, I draw near,
with a heart refined
in your good time
as the thirsting, panting deer.

And, LORD, let me serve you…
let me walk in all your ways,
for they are higher.
Let my desire
be tried by fire
in all the coming days.

Yes, LORD, let me serve you…
from motives pure and true
that my spirit, poor,
may know You more
and may be reborn, anew!

-M. Leanne Todd

References from the Holy Bible:
Line 10 – Exodus 20:17
Line 14 – Proverbs 16:18
Line 18 – 2nd Corinthians 13:5
Line 19 – Jeremiah 17:9
Line 20 – Matthew 7:7-8
Line 21 – Matthew 5:5
Line 22 – Jeremiah 1:1, Colossians 3:12-17, 1 Peter 3:15-17
Line 24 – Proverbs 25:14
Line 25 – Exodus 32:1-35
Line 26 – Ecclesiastes 1:1-2
Line 29 – Psalm 62:1
Line 31 – 1 Corinthians 3:2
Line 32 – John 8:12
Line 34 – Psalm 119:105
Line 35 – Matthew 13:16
Line 37 – Romans 6:11
Line 39 – James 4:8
Line 40 – Isiah 48:10
Line 42 – Psalm 42:1
Line 44 – Deuteronomy 10:12
Line 45 – Isaiah 55:9
Line 47 – Malachi 3:3
Line 51 – Matthew 5:3-4
Line 52 – 1 John 2:4
Line 53 – John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17

The Newness of Life

May 25, 2024 /

The days were long,

and I was so small—

the insignificance of it all.

Doldrums loomed.

Joy had no room.

All efforts were naught and folly.

And despite warm sand,

as children ran,

nothing could lift my melancholy.

It hung as a foreboding fog

that choked each pensive breath.

And there was no bliss

in that abyss,

only waste and grief and death.

But from that night

I cried for Light

in the ruined aftermath,

and sin I owned

through wordless groans,

praying God might stay His wrath.

And that He did,

because, you see—

my Advocate drew near…

and to His face

I turned

for grace

with no more brokenness or fear.

In Him

all peace is magnified.

In Him

I rise,

absolved.

In Him

the peril of my sin

is ultimately resolved.

So fog, it cleared

as Jesus neared.

He broke its grasping hold.

And I bask in His Light

once pined for in night,

knowing He is in control.

All doldrums gone

and joy resounds,

for all these wounds

have now been bound.

Days are spent in song

and hope—it stands so tall,

for my soul’s made new

as one of the few, oh!

The vitality of it all!

References from the Bible Holy

Line 3 – Ecclesiastes 1:1-2

Line 16 – John 8:12

Line 19 – Romans 8:26

Line 23 – 1 John 2:1, James 4:8

Line 25 – Acts 3:19-21

Line 26 – Hebrews 4:16

Line 29 – Philippians 4:7

Line 42 – John 15:11

Line 44 – Psalm 147:3

Line 47 – Romans 6:4

Line 48 – Matthew 7:13-14

The Greater Grace

April 9, 2024 /

Each time I fail

it haunts me,

as I smolder in the ashes…

of what once was a conviction;

now burned out

as all hope crashes.

But there’s no time to wallow

in defeat or pity’s snare.

Though dreams implode

And strength erodes,

I’ll rally to cast my care.

Though never far from broken

and crushed in all despair…

I know the one who saved me

will not let me linger there!

He is the springing fountain

when seeds

cannot find rain!

And he’s the root of David

to this branch not graft in vain!

He is the light of the world 

when my faith is dim with doubt,

that beckons to repentance

like an oasis in the drought!

He is the bright morning star,

like a beacon, on the sea…

that guides my course

with unseen force

demanding all of me!

So even in my failure,

one point is underscored…

my sin is never greater 

than the grace 

of Christ, the Lord!

References from the Holy Bible:

Line 3 – Isaiah 44:20

Line 8 – 2 Corinthians 7:10

Line 11 – 1 Peter 5:7

Line 13 – Psalm 34:18

Line 14 – Acts 4:10-12

Line 15 – 2 Colossians 2:13-14

Line 16 – Jeremiah 17:3, John 7:37-38

Line 17 – Matthew 13:8

Line 19 – Revelation 22:16

Line 20 – Romans 11:16-24

Line 21 – John 8:12

Line 24 – Isaiah 44:3

Line 25 – Revelation 22:16

Line 27 – Psalms 32:8

Line 28 – Hebrews 11:1

Line 29 – Matthew 22:37-38

Line 33 – Romans 5:15-21

Loved

April 9, 2024 /

When I am broken,

forlorn and numb,

from all that this life throws me…

I take refuge

in the Fount’s deluge

and trust You, God, Who knows me.

Christ Jesus, You’re my shelter—

my calm in every storm.

Your Lordship role

restores my soul

when You call the clouds to form.

The Silversmith,

You light Your flame

and in it

casts this precious ore…

then pelt and beat

through searing heat

until in it

Your reflection shines, galore.

The Gardener,

You prune Your branch.

You do not neglect how it fares…

until fruit sprouts, blooming,

from Your faithful grooming

for You are the good Gardener Who cares.

The Potter,

You form Your clay,

but reserve the right to destroy it…

each vessel in His hand,

by Your command

for the use in which You employ it.

So let me wrestle like Jacob

for Your blessing,

even if I must be maimed.

Grant me grace to stay

and know Your Way

that I might proclaim Your name!

Give a glimpse of Your glory

that I may convey Your story—

set me, like Moses, in the cleft…

So I will not roam,

but will have a home

keep me right, that I will not be left.

Knowing this

I will count it all joy,

and in suffering I will not faint.

Let me persevere

at length to hear

“Well done,” before the saints.

References from the Holy Bible:

Line 4 – Psalm 46:1; 71:3

Line 5 – Isaiah 55:1

Line 6 – Psalm 139:1-5

Line 7 – Psalm 91:1-16

Line 8 – Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25

Line 10 – Psalm 23:1-3

Line 11 – Exodus 13:22

Line 12 – Malachi 3:3

Line 13 – Hebrews 12:28-29

Line 19 – Genesis 1:26-27

Line 20 – John 15:1-8

Line 23 – Galatians 5:22-23

Line 26 – Isaiah 64:8

Line 28 – Jeremiah 18:1-4

Line 32 – Genesis 32:24-28

Line 36 – John 14:6

Line 37 – Psalm 105:1-6

Line 40 – Exodus 33:12-23

Line 42 – Matthew 6:20

Line 43 – Matthew 25:31-46

Line 45 – James 1:2-4

Line 46 – Isaiah 40:31

Line 47 – Hebrews 10:36

Line 48 – Matthew 13:16

Line 49 – Matthew 25:23

There is a God Who Loves Us

March 30, 2024 /

There is a God who loves us…

in our anguish and despair.

He feels our pains;

all things sustains,

and on Him we cast our cares.

There is a God who loves us…

despite our wretched sin,

who suffers long

and makes us strong

enough to battle it and win.

There is a God who loves us…

on that we can rely;

when the world rejects

our calling, elect,

and scoffs at all we try.

There is a God who loves us…

in the morning and in the night

with mercies new

each glistening dew

who, from blindness, gives us sight.

There is a God who loves us…

even when we must strain to find Him;

when trouble drowns

our smiles with frowns

He gives us faith to trust and mind Him.

There is a God who loves us…

when we are broken, scarred, and faint.

So store treasure up;

and drink from His cup

be counted among His saints.

There is a God who loves us…

and He’s the only one

who wounds and heals

and open seals

who comes as Yahweh’s Son.

There is a God who loves us…

who’s not a myth, nor fabled lore,

who died—but then

did rise again

defeating death forevermore.

There is a God who loves us…

in all calamity and toil.

A sparrow, He sees;

and holds the keys

to death and Hades

as a King of Priesthood, royal.

There is a God who loves us…

and mere words cannot convey His grandeur,

because though Deity,

He came as laity—

subjecting Himself to torture, lies, and slander.

There is a God who loves us…

and for Him I’d give my all

to receive His grace;

that He’s made a place.

I will follow at His call!

References from the Holy Bible

Line 1 – John 3:16

Line 3 – Hebrews 4:15

Line 4 – Hebrews 1:3

Line 5 – 1 Peter 5:7

Line 7 – Romans 5:8

Line 8 – Psalm 86:15, 2 Peter 3:9 KJV

Line 9 – 2nd Corinthians 12:9-10

Line 10 – John 5:3-4

Line 13 – John 15:18-25

Line 14 – 2 Peter 1:3-11

Line 15 – 2 Peter 3:3

Line 17 – Psalm 30:5

Line 18 – Lamentations 3:22-23

Line 20 – John 9:25

Line 22 – Psalm 119:123

Line 25 – Ephesians 2:8

Line 28 – Matthew 6:19-21

Line 29 – Matthew 20:22-23

Line 30 – Acts 20:32

Line 33 – Job 5:18, Hosea 6:1

Line 34 – Revelation 5:1-5

Line 39 – Luke 24:46-47, Thessalonians 4:14

Line 40 – 1 Corinthians 15:55-58

Line 43 – Matthew 10:29-31

Line 44 – Revelation 1:17-18

Line 46 – Hebrews 7:1-17

Line 49 – Mark 14:62

Line 50 – Colossians 2:9

Line 51 – Matthew 11:18-19

Line 54 – Romans 3:22-24

Line 55 – John 14:3

Darkness Has Not Overcome

March 26, 2024 /

When darkness wells

around me, I covet

and I grieve;

its serpent, cool and cunning,

vies to poison what I believe.

Dreams fall by the wayside,

like mists that dissipate.

And lust consumes

while anger fumes

to jeopardize my fate.

Wishes are like vapors

that vanish in the heat.

And trust, it wanes,

as trouble remains.

So darkness comes to take a seat…

…beside me in my mourning,

coiled up and poised to strike—

like a lion to devour

the last of my power

as fear mounts and worries spike.

Darkness jeers at all my struggles.

It taunts me in my sorrow.

It scoffs and lies

but I realize

there’s hope

yet for tomorrow.

Because when all is said and done

and sands drain down through the glass

of each tired hour

I will not cower

for I know, this too, will pass.

For what is sadness

and its worth?

What does worldly pity gain me?

But vanity

of the idol, Self,

and the sin of it that stains me.

As for the goading darkness

and all its grim refrain,

I’ll turn from the pain it’s sent..

so as not to dwell

in its brooding hell

and to my God I will repent.

The flesh that craves

can’t own me.

From it I will abstain;

and seek

the Light

that gives new sight,

knowing faith’s not been in vain.

For every stinging sore that festers

in this scorching season

there is purpose for it all—

a plan,

a Way,

a reason.

I’ll not be tossed by waves.

Of false doctrines, I’ll beware.

Hope has become an anchor

of my soul, so I cannot despair.

My joy remains full,

as pure as white wool

of the Lamb

I love so dear.

And I’m undeterred

for waters are stirred

by an angel of the LORD,

so near.

Though darkness vies

and always tries,

like Peter—as wheat to sift;

it cannot dissuade

the Light that pervades

from the grace of God’s free gift!

References from the Holy Bible:

Line 2 – Exodus 20:17

Line 4 – Genesis 3:1

Line 8 – Colossians 3:5-9

Line 9 – James 1:18-20

Line 16 – Matthew 5:4

Line 18 – 1 Peter 5:8

Line 19 – 2nd Corinthians 12:9-10

Line 25 – Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 15:13

Line 34 – 2nd Corinthians 7:10

Line 35 – Ecclesiastes 1:2

Line 36 – Exodus 20:4-5

Line 47 – Matthew 7:7-8

Line 48 – John 8:12

Line 49 – John 9:13-25

Line 52 – Ecclesiastes 3:1

Line 53 – Romans 8:28

Line 54 – Proverbs 16:3

Line 55 – John 14:6

Line 57 – Ephesians 4:11-14

Line 59 – Hebrews 6:19-20

Line 61 – John 15:11

Line 62 – Isaiah 1:18

Line 63 – John 1:29

Line 67 – John 5:3-8

Line 68 – James 4:8-10

Line 71 – Luke 22:31-32

Line 73 – John 1:5

Line 74 – Romans 3:24

When a Dream has Died

March 22, 2024 /

A dream has died—

its yellowed pages now curled

all up at their edges…

forgotten, unfurled.

A dream has died—

dried up like old leaves,

tossed away by the wind.

On its door I hang wreaths.

A dream has died—

so for what do I now yearn?

I am mourning its loss

at my every turn.

A dream has died—

long before it was to be known…

like a child lost in the womb,

with no future or home.

Do I bury its memory?

Is that how to cope?

Do I cremate all joy

and abandon all hope?

Do I deny its passing

with each new morning’s mist?

Do I rage on with clinched teeth

while shaking my fists?

Do I beg the Almighty

to away its stone…

when its demise and its end

He, Himself, has condoned?

Do I cry forever?

Do I wallow in strife?

Or do I accept

the Lord’s will for my life?

A dream has died,

and though I am sad;

I will pick up the pieces

instead, and be glad…

for its journey that’s led me

on a less taken road,

onto which I’ll now travel

and make my abode.

The death of a dream—

it doesn’t have to destroy me…

as faith births a new purpose

in which God will employ me!

References:

Line 26 – John 11:38-44 of the New Testament

Line 38 – The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost

There’s Nothing I Can Bring

March 22, 2024 /

Once I thought I’d bring

things well fit for a King

with my talents, time, and traits.

A bell to ring

and songs to sing,

I’d appease the Magistrate.

For surely I had much to give

and quite the sought-aft’ flair

to fashion such an offering

with diligence and care.

So I craft a home spun present

to lend him and bestow

all my efforts and my images

I’d made of Heaven and of the earth below.

With great tenacity

and painstaking knack

I’d carved my own

fine wood and stone—

only to have it given back.

Crestfallen was my spirit.

Downtrodden was my soul.

All my labors in vain

were like that of Cain

and I still played no vital roll.

Then so I asked

and so I sought;

I knocked to question more…

and received reproof

but found the truth

when he opened up his door.

He craves no thing I can create

of high or valued price,

for all that is belongs to him.

He wants no sacrifice.

Chores of my hands are but

extensions of a sick, deceitful heart.

Though now that it’s been taken…

it can still be set apart.

There’s nothing I can bring—

not in my bones, my flesh, or marrow;

fit for a king

to whom I cling

and who sees the falling sparrow.

There’s nothing I can bring—

of all the finest gifts, not one…

could measure up

for he drank the cup

and all the work’s been done.

There’s nothing I can bring—

no guilt or wailing wall.

The “gift” earned for me

up on Calvary

is God’s glory of it all.

References from the Holy Bible

Line 14 – Exodus 20:4

Line 18 – Deuteronomy 4:27-29

Line 22 – Ecclesiastes 1:2

Line 23 – Genesis 4:4-6

Line 30 – Matthew 7:7-11

Line 34 – Psalm 50:7-15

Line 36 – Jeremiah 17:9

Line 37 – Ezekiel 36:26

Line 38 – Psalm 4:3

Line 43 – Matthew 10:29

Line 47 – Matthew 26:39

Line 48 – John 19:30

Line 52 – Romans 5:15; Ephesians 2:8-9

Line 53 – Luke 23:33

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