The Chorus of the Sleeping Sounds

This morning’s harvest moon – October 2015

I woke in the early morning

hours to hear our nearby

Hoot owl hooting.

I thought,

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“I haven’t heard the

Night owl

Since the last

Full moon.

Is there something

About its’ light

That makes him

Croon his tune?”

poem by denisebalog

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Waking this morning

To remember a

Little poem I wrote

Last month,

Under another

Bright,

Harvest Moon.

September’s Harvest Moon -2015

“There’s silence all around.

Soft breathing,

Sleeping sounds.

Then I hear

The Hoot Owls’ call.

Did he sleep the night

At all?

Does he watch the

Night away?

Sleeping at the

Break of day?

Mr. Hoot Owl sing your song;

Calling me to join along.

Amidst the darkness and

The stars,

He hoots another chorus bar.”

Poem by denisebalog

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View from my backyard.

“The LORD is your Keeper;

the LORD is your shade 

on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike

you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you

from all evil;

He will keep your life.

The LORD will keep 

your going out and

your coming in

from this time 

forth and 

forevermore.” 

Psalm 121:5-8 (ESV)

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A Song of Ascents

sung by pilgrims walking 

many miles to 

“go up to Jerusalem”

for the yearly feasts.

The Lord is so sweet to

have provided them 

bright moon lite nights

while sleeping outside

far from the safety

of their homes.

“Forevermore!”

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blessings, 

denise

 

Step out of the ease in Comfort

“Believing Your Words

my heart hears You say.

‘Step out of the comfort

and ease in the boat.

Place one foot down,

and try not to look.

Keep your eyes on

My hand

and

NOT on the land.

There’s fear

either way;

keep looking

My Way.

I know your

heart’s pounding;

that’s normal too.

Child,

Your safe here on water.

I’ve got Firm hold

Of you!’’

poem by denisebalog

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“But his bow remained in

Strength,

And the arms of his hands

Were made strong

By the hands of the Mighty

God of Jacob

(From there is the Shepherd,

The Stone of Israel),

By the God of your father

Who will help you,

And by the Almighty

Who will bless you

With blessings of

Heaven above,

Blessings of the deep

That lies beneath…

Up to the utmost bound

Of the everlasting hills.”

Genesis 49:24-26 (NKJV)

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Photo captured in March 2014 –

Fisherman returning for a night

of work on the Sea of Galilee, Israel

by denisebalog

 

Converging Paths

Source: Converging Paths Sharing this beautiful work of poetry from JacobEmet. (As this is my first “share”, I pray it post correctly) Please visit Jacob’s blog page to enjoy more of his poetry and post.

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“I remember my tender beginnings,

The naivety of my youth;

But now I see with wise, old eyes

The guise of hidden truth:

My steps were not as uncertain

as I had deemed them be–

Planned before my days were numbered

then delivered unto me.

Yet oftentimes I have wondered:

The mistakes that I have made

Could surely not be included

Upon the path for me was laid.

But then I am reminded

Of a man from long ago

Who also had a destined path

He walked in joy and woe.

He never showed a doubt

Of the precarious steps ahead

But trusted with His life

The planned path He was to tread.

Yet I am just a simple man,

Not a man of grand destiny;

So how can I be expected

To live like He who lived so free?

Then wondrously I am reasoned

With the resolution of His story,

How the path laid out before Him

Healed my broken path to glory.

For the path that He sojourned

Was leading to His death;

An execution by way of proxy–

My mistakes He would bereft.

He straightened out the crookedness

Of my wayward, wandering feet

Restoring the path I was delivered;

The path, by Him, now made complete.

So wisdom has taught my heart to trust

The path of Him who came before

And of His conquest over death–

The hope of glory forevermore.

He had a plan before my conception

To repair this desolate path of mine;

Thoughtfully, mending the broken road I made

By causing our paths to intertwine.”

Poem by JacobEmet

2000 year old steps leading to Caiaphas’ House in Jerusalem.
photo captured by denisebalog February 2011.

Standing in the Peace of Praise!

The trip to the Holy Land is grueling.

Eleven days of hard pushing.

No vacation for the seeking pilgrim.

My friend found her way to “stand”

through the opposition of

hard pressed.

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 – Crawling out of bed,

falling to her knees.

Carpet fibers mixed

with muddled words

of pain and prayer.

“Lord, how do I

make it though

this day?”

“How do I stand?”

 From the depths of where

Peace resides,

She rises.

Not in her

Own power or will.

She “stands” in His. –

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“Stand” Hebrew – natsab (naw-tsab’) Strongs #5324

Noon, Tsadik, Bet  [נצב]

This is what I visually see when I look and read the letters.

– Life activity –
Noon – 14 Hebrew letter
life, life activity
Picture of a fish or believer

-Caught up in Praise-
Hebrew #18
to catch, desire, to grasp,
“to praise” – (can you see the lifted hands?)
Picture of a “hook or fishhook”

– within the heart! –
#2 – Bet –
Within, heart, begin to,
build, family (Can you see the tent opening?)
Picture of a “tent or house”

 

Life activity – caught up in praise – within the heart!

“Stand” – natsab (naw-tsab’)

Verb: to station, settle, sharpen, to take a stand.

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The power is not in the activity of standing.

It’s in the Peace of praise

Stationed within the heart.

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“I’m thanking You, God,

From a full heart,

I’m writing the book

On Your wonders.

I’m whistling,

Laughing,

And jumping

For joy;

I’m singing

Your song,

Holy God.”

Psalm 9:1 (The Message)

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Photo capturing my friend

“Standing” in “praise”

On top of Mount Carmel.

The place the Prophet Elijah,

“Seized the prophets of Baal;

let not one of them escape.”

1 Kings 18:40 (ESV)

Israel, February 2014

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May you be encouraged to

“Stand” – natsab (naw-tsab’)

Bringing down the strongholds in

life through the power of

Life activity of Praise from within

Your heart!

blessings, denise

 

I found the Giver of Life!

I found the Giver of Life!

I woke singing a song from Sunday.

“I give myself away,

so You can use me,

I give myself away…”

“I Give Myself Away” by William McDowell.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld1cXry5nyM

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Give,  what does that mean Lord?

Give in Hebrew – #5414 – nathan (naw-than’)

Visually this is what I see in the letters

Noon (symbol is a fish for life);

Tav (symbol was originally shaped as a cross)

&  Noon (fish for life & movement)

Jesus gave

– Jesus gave His Life –
Noon – the 14th Hebrew letter for
life, life activity, movement

– at the Cross-
Tav – 22nd Hebrew letter for
Cross, sign, a covenant, to seal, a miracle

– for my life –
Noon – 14 Hebrew letter
life, life activity

“He gives me life.

He gave His life for me.

I’m the prodigal son,

The Father blesses me.

Call in my friends.

Family gather round.

I was once lost,

But now I am found.”

poem by denisebalog

I was once lost, and now I’m found!
from Luke 15:11-32 – The Parable – Prodigal Son

Statuary located outside

the Church of Tabgha

on the Sea of Galilee, Israel.

Photo of friend joyously standing

on the rocky cliffs of Mount Arbel.

Believed to be the mountain

where Jesus went to pray

for walking distance

from the Sea of Galilee,

and its vantage point

of more than

1000 feet overlooking

the Lake.

Israel – March 2014 – Matthew 14:23

The Smile in my heart

“He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them….our hearts burn within us…”Luke 24:30-32 (ESV)

“You are my Shepherd.

Keeping watch at the door.

Listening to Your voice,

my feet are safe and sure.

Food from Your hand,

Nourishes my improvised soul.

Liquid from Your lips

Quenches the thirst untold.

Shepherd,

King,

The Smile in my heart.

Speak to me Lord,

A fresh word as we start…”

Poem by denisebalog

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“I will instruct you and teach you

In the way you should go…” Psalm 32:8 (ESV)

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“When He was at table with them,

He took the bread and blessed and broke it

And gave it to them.

And their eyes were opened,

And they recognized Him…

They said to each other,

“Did not our hearts burn within us

While He talked to us on the road,

While He opened to us the Scriptures?”

“…while He talked with us on the road…”Luke 24:32  Bread cart in Jerusalem…as we walked along the Via Dolorosa.

 

World Prayer Day for Peace in Jerusalem

Sharing from my heart tonight.

In quiet time this morning, I remembered today, Sunday, October 4^th,

was a day of world prayer for peace  Jerusalem.

My hand turned to Psalm 137, and as I read the words,

my heart was opened to the tenderness of His Word.

(The parentheses are the Scriptures (ESV) and thoughts that came to my mind)

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HOW SHALL WE SING THE LORD’S SONG?

By the waters of Babylon

(Babylon, a shadow of this world in which we live and work)

There we sat down and wept,

When we remembered Zion.

 

On the willows there we hung up our lyres.

For there our captors required of us songs,

And our tormentors, mirth saying,

(“…my adversaries taunt me, while they

Say to me continually,

“Where is your God?” Psalm 42:10)

 

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How shall we sing the LORD’s song

In a foreign land?

(“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called

To go out to a place that he was to receive

As an inheritance…By faith he went to live in the land of promise

As in a foreign land, living in tents”…Hebrews 11:8-9)

 

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

Let my right hand forget its skill!

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

If I do not remember you,

If I do not set Jerusalem above

My highest joy! Psalm 137:1-6

(We have thought on Your steadfast love,

O God,

In the midst of Your temple.

Your right hand is filled with righteousness.

Let Mount Zion be glad!…

Walk about Zion, go around her,

Number her towers,

Consider well her ramparts,

Go through her citadels,

That you may tell the next generation

That this is God,

Our God forever and ever.

He will guide us forever. Psalm 48:9-14)

 

Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem,

Peace in our world.

Praying for the next group of pilgrims to “go out” in January 2016.

 

“Therefore I remember you

From the land of Jordan and of Herman…

By day the LORD commands His steadfast love,

And at night His song is with me,

A prayer to the God of my life.”

Psalm 42:6-8

Good night, and may the LORD bless you from Zion!

Amen

Photo captured by Jasmine James on our February 2011 trip to Israel.