In Faith

Pillar of Fire,
Pillar of Cloud
Pillar of protection.

You advance,
Always onward,
No retreat.

Faith leads.
Obedient, we follow,
Abandoned to Your Will.

Holy Light,
Though dark the night,
Secure respite.

Heavenward,
Hallowed rest,
Safely home.

© 2016 Joann Nelander

OCEAN OF GRACE

By the gracious gift of God.
You, the Invited,
Receive His Peace.
Heartbeat by heartbeat,
Breath by breath,
In each instant,
His Will comes to you,
The Chosen,
To freely choose.

Remain His by faith.
Living in His favor,
A rain of blessing falls,
To water your being,
And penetrate the ground
On which, and in which,
You stand.

You give consent,
And desire in Love,
And as a plentiful valley,
Moment by moment.
Rooted in the holy,
Sanctified by the Sanctifier,
Life and abundance of fruit,
Are multiplied in you,
And grown up around you,

Grace upon grace,
Help, healing and holiness,
Flow in abundance.
From the springing up,
To the watering flow,
Then to rush,
As to the waiting arms a beloved,
Presuming bath and baptism,
To the ingathering of rivers,
In consecration and convergence,
Love returns to the Ocean
Of its Source.

As a homecoming,
Meandering streams
Cut courses through Time.
The many become seas
To, at long last, mingle
In the Mighty Mind,
And Minder of our souls.

copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

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The Least and the Last,

May I, the least and the last,
Who labor in Your vineyard,
None the less, bear fruit,
One hundred fold.

I dare such dreams,
And bear such hope,
For though, the meanest,
And the smallest,
Saints and angels attend me,
Together, we labor for Your glory.

Some know You explicitly,
While others simply wonder at Your Creation,
Not realizing that Creation waits on tiptoe,
Willing Your Will.

May all who implicitly perceive You darkly,
Know You in the Light of Jesus, Your Son,
The First Born of Your Love,
That even the least and the last,
May rejoice at Your Coming to claim Your own.

© 2016 Joann Nelander

All Creation waits on tiptoe for the revelation of the sons of God. (Rom. 8:19)

Out of Darkness

I AM WHO AM,
God beyond my grasp,
Outside of Time and Space,
How am I to know You?

Calling with the cry of a Babe,
You reveal Yourself,
To a people in darkness
That we may behold You.

You bring Light to my blindness.
I see in this Holy Infant,
“The Father and I are One.”,
“Whatever you do for one of the least,
You do for me.”

The heavy weight of Adam’s Sin
Is lifted as the Babe become Man,
Dies for the sons of Man.
You bring Salvation,
Good out of Evil.

I know You in believing.
I know You in repentance.
I know you in my deliverance,
And freedom to cry, “Abba”.

© 2016 Joann Nelander

Music of Mother

In my beginning,
You were there,
Constant in the throbs
That matched my own.

When I came forth
Into the light
Into the cold,
You were my warmth,
Enfolding.

Now, you carry me,
At your bosom,
I sway gently
With your every move.

Even in sleep,
As in our earlier days,
With you surrounding me,
Your rhythm is comfort,
And your heartbeat, a lullaby.

Embraced, at your breast,
I learn the dance,
Loving,
I follow your lead.

©2016 Joann Nelander

Just as I Am / Through a Glass Darkly

Just as I am,
All that I am,

 

Just as I am,
All th

Just as I am,
All that I am,
You behold me.

I see so little,
So little of me,
So little of You.

“Through a glass darkly”
Sufficiency suffices,
In Faith, believing.

Mingled here, Your Mercy,
Grandeur, clouded in Mystery,
I rest as a babe.

Just as I am,
A mystery unfolding,
Ever so small.

Cradled in universe expanding,
My stuff born in your stars,
Fit in Time in me.

Just as I am,
Spirit, soul, body,
Free to choose my destiny.

Mingle my “just as I am”
With You,
My Destiny.

Called into being,
Ever renewed,
Moments, all grace!

Made in Your Image,
Knowing my Maker,
I must but trust.

This is my prayer.
These are my moments of grace,
Though “through a glass darkly”.

© 2016 Joann Nelander

 

at I am,
You behold me.

I see so little,
So little of me,
So little of You.

“Through a glass darkly”
Sufficiency suffices,
In Faith, believing.

Mingled here, Your Mercy,
Grandeur, clouded in Mystery,
I rest as a babe.

Just as I am,
A mystery unfolding,
Ever so small.

Cradled in universe expanding,
My stuff born in your stars,
Fit in Time in me.

Just as I am,
Spirit, soul, body,
Free to choose my destiny.

Mingle my “just as I am”
With You,
My Destiny.

Called into being,
Ever renewed,
Moments, all grace!

Made in Your Image,
Knowing my Maker,
I must but trust.

This is my prayer.
These are my moments of grace,
Though “through a glass darkly”.

© 2016 Joann Nelander

 

You behold me.

I see so little,
So little of me,
So little of You.

“Through a glass darkly”
Sufficiency suffices,
In Faith, believing.

Mingled here, Your Mercy,
Grandeur, clouded in Mystery,
I rest as a babe.

Just as I am,
A mystery unfolding,
Ever so small.

Cradled in universe expanding,
My stuff born in your stars,
Fit in Time in me.

Just as I am,
Spirit, soul, body,
Free to choose my destiny.

Mingle my “just as I am”
With You,
My Destiny.

Called into being,
Ever renewed,
Moments, all grace!

Made in Your Image,
Knowing my Maker,
I must but trust.

This is my prayer.
These are my moments of grace,
Though “through a glass darkly”.

© 2016 Joann Nelander