So much of life
Is learning to let go
Letting go of people
Who will leave long before I’m ready to say goodbye
Letting go of expectations
Of how I think someone should act
Letting go of my will
Accepting God’s will for my life
Letting go of a dream
Without letting go of hope
Letting go of sorrows
Putting my hope and trust in God
Letting go of my way
Choosing to put others first
Letting go of my sin
Remembering I am dead to sin and alive to Christ
Letting go of bitterness and hurt
Applying the healing balm of forgiveness
Letting go of envy
Filled with gratitude for what the Lord has given me
Letting go of hatred
Walking in love
Letting go of the past
Living in the present
Letting go of taking the easy way
Willing to endure for that which is of eternal value
Letting go of fear
Taking courage in the Lord’s presence
Letting go of failure
Believing that God will redeem my past
Letting go demands for deliverance on my schedule
Instead praying for the grace to endure
Letting go of faithlessness
Asking and believing God for the impossible
Letting go of my timetable
Trusting God and His perfecting timing
Letting go of “Why God?”
Asking “What will You do through this Lord?”
Susan Bunts Wachtel
January 27, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Letting Go
Saturday, January 24, 2009
There Must Be A Rainbow
I look up
Find the sky is filled with rain clouds
As far as my eye can see
Overhead dark threatening clouds
Large rain drops start to fall
I’d best take cover
But my eyes are fixed
On the strange golden glow
Surrounding those once ominous clouds
The glow of the sun
Cannot be hid
By even the fiercest storm
I begin to search the sky
For when the sun appears in the midst of the storm
My heart tells me…there must be a rainbow up there somewhere
By Susan Bunts Wachtel
January 23, 2009
Dedicated to my husband, Chris Wachtel. Through the stormy, cloudy times…may we always have hope and look expectantly for the rainbow. Not looking for a sign like a wicked generation, but one who is assured that God is with us, knowing He is faithful and true. Confident that He will deliver us in His time, according to His perfect plan.
Yesterday when leaving work the sky was filled with rain clouds...but there was a beautiful golden glow. I looked up and just knew that up there, somewhere, there was a rainbow.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Choose This Day
Be open and tolerant
Accept all points of view
All are of equal worth
But God tells me
Narrow is the path that leads to life
Salvation is found in no other name
Than Jesus Christ
The world tells me
Just do the right thing
Encourages me to feel good about myself
Then I’ll be at peace and at one with the world
But God tells me
Before I came to Christ
I was at enmity with God
In me lies no good thing
The world tells me
The only real sin is to be judgmental
That I should live as I please…put myself first
Without concern about heaven or hell because there is no God
But God warns me
Some have a form of godliness, without power
They are lovers of self
And do not love God
The world tells me
It’s wrong to say Jesus is the only way
Surely all paths lead to God
Who am I to tell someone else they are wrong
But God tells me
That Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life
If I confess with my mouth, believe with my heart
I will be saved!
How can I withhold the truth
From those who are lost and perishing
Blinded by the enemy
Deceived…and believing a lie
There are no second chances
No purgatory to pay for my sin
No good work that will save me
Except one
Only God’s perfect sacrifice
The atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross
Testify I must
Of His redeeming love
by Susan Bunts Wachtel
January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Previousness of God
At work in my present
Revealed in my future
He is working all things together for good
For this one who loves the Lord
At His appointed time
He turns wrong into right
Bad into good
Weaving the circumstances of my life
Into the tapestry of His eternal plan
No need to fear
Or waste time with anxiety
Instead I am called to trust Him
When no answers are forthcoming
Or when I don’t understand
Oh to glorify Him
With my life
Testify to the goodness of God
In all circumstances
That is my heartfelt plea
By Susan Bunts Wachtel
January 13, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Because
I have…
Joy in my sorrow
Comfort in my pain
Faith in my doubt
Light in the darkness
Peace in the storms
Hope in my trials
Strength in my weakness
Forgiveness of my sin
A never forsaking Friend
by Susan Bunts Wachtel
January 11, 2009
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Keeper of the Memories
To be old
I hold in my hands
Mementos and treasures
To no one but me
Shoe boxes filled with cards
Expressing sentiments and well wishes
From friends and family so long ago
I trace your writing with my finger
Hoping to connect once again
The pictures from old
Of family I never knew
All those who loved you
Have long since passed away
I feel it my obligation to remember
When I see your smile
It causes me to wonder what made you to laugh
You had such serious eyes
What hurt, pain and thoughts
Were burdening your soul
You were a real live person
Who laughed and cried
Who loved and hated
A daughter, sister, wife, mother and someone’s best friend
A son, brother, husband, father and someone’s closest pal
By God’s providence
We are related though we may have never met
I wish I could reach across time
Tell you that I treasure the memory of you
It is with care hold your words and pictures from so long ago
As I hold these treasures from the past
I feel such profound sadness…I want to weep
Through my tears I wonder what will become of my life
What will I do that really matters
Who will remember me
Susan Bunts Wachtel
January 3, 2009
Thursday, January 01, 2009
The Morning Report
Condemnation reporting for duty
Master, how grand
We’ve been given another day
To try and thwart God’s revealed plan
To try to keep one more human soul
From receiving salvation through Jesus Christ
To beat down and render His believers ineffective
With the baggage of their own sin
Let me tell you about yesterday’s successes
We have those mired in the muck of their own sin
Blinded to the fact that there is no one righteous
Not understanding that Christ died for them anyway
We have one who calls himself Christian
But temptation achieved great success
Causing him to turn away and fall into sin
Because he failed to take every thought captive
Now instead of sharing the Gospel message
He’s preoccupied with covering his own sin
Lest he be called a hypocrite
Justifying why he chose to do that which God declared sinful
With the holidays upon us
Opportunities abound
Christian thinks she will share the Gospel message
With family and friends yet unsaved
But we reminded her that they are unworthy sinners
Undeserving to receive forgiveness and salvation
Through the sacrificial atoning death
Of that Babe born in Bethlehem, lo so many years ago
We will provoke irritation and disgust
In self-righteousness she won’t want to have anything to do with them
Much less walk in love and be quick to forgive
She’ll abandon her plan to share the Gospel with the ones bound for hell
Instead she’ll be quick to condemn and slow to pray
Focused on the sinner and their sin
Oblivious to the real enemy
The hater of every human soul
By Susan Bunts Wachtel
January 1, 2009
May we be mindful that there is only one true enemy. He desires that we be focused on the sin not the sinner, so disgusted and put off that we won’t think them worthy of sharing the Gospel. In doing so we walk in the sin of pride and self righteousness.