Unpacked in a letter to predicate The good news the Bible indicates Is the bridging of the gap to build our community It's a story of starting as one to become a family
I am a wealthy man by spiritual measure My faith is focused on Heaven's treasure Yet, the resistance faced calls for war The armor of God is needed to even our score
Despite our determination to walk in the light There comes a time when it's time to fight Standing strong and faithful through God's power We stand against the Devil in that evil hour
Truth and righteousness have built the place At which we extinguish the Devil's armies that trace The challenges that inevitably come our way We must stand ready to fight this fight every day
In our weaknesses, we are yet, made strong As we stand with God, where we belong In God's power, we will find our victory When the evil day comes in our personal history
We are shaped by the context we live in As we are born to love and victims of sin These choices made lead to our consequence And in need of spirituality's recompense
Challenged by the world, our flesh, and the Devil It's hard to keep our perspectives drawn level We are understood as vulnerable and unprepared It can make a good person seem unwilling compared
To those who prepare and constantly train Becoming willing to minister and live the strain The strain that deepens us causes our mistakes In this modern age of constant, unsteadying heartbreaks
Challenged by indecision, doubt, and vapid desire We must overcome deception and not falter and tire This is a struggle against the appetite for destruction In these days, we must drive through despite frustration
This is how we might and heal in constant conjunction With the need to fight through this by our construction To face down every coming trick, and treacherous temptation Each will be taken on in God's grace for our redemption
Living as adopted children in God's holy, healing family Our journey is one of steps taken that are sacred and holy There is very little, if anything, we have to prove And yet, against Satan's agenda, we must make our moves
The image of Christ is put upon us as our identity AS we move ever toward the journey to reach eternity Hungry, tired, and often driven into cold isolation Our challenges feel exaggerated into our alienation
Instead, we need to put on God's armor of undying love God's ways are the best and are truly given from above Our privileges and responsibilities live as faith and devotion As we are continually in prayer standing above life's connection
Overcoming life's hits and bruising will prove us legit This happens as witness by that the world won't forget Fortified for defense and our offensive needed to withstand Whatever the world and the Devil wickedly demands
Relational rightness prepares us to live a godly life Giving into peace and walking away from a path of strife The belt of truth is walked to wearing boots of peace When we follow Jesus, we find this as our release
Marching headlong to the very gates of Hell Through the strength of God, we will prevail This is the gospel shaped up to kill hostility It will be these steps that bring us to eternity
Praying for all others and for their provision That our words might move beyond expected supposition Fearless, we faithfully move in our tender love To make the world better, as if ambassadors of Heaven above
(c) September 8, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
All my repeated outbursts of truth Have gotten me in trouble since my youth For you see, truth can destroy the worlds Even the worlds ruled by fallen gods Who each have sought, by meteors hurled, To increase their own decreasing odds
Ancient pagan gods brew their potions Seeking to control mortal human emotions Through trickery and arcane deceptions Teaching us reality is a matter of perception Until we lose all sense of our clarity And still, hold our heads high in our sincerity
Defiantly, I cry out, "To Hell with the gods!" I do so steadfastly aware of the slim odds That as a mortal man, I will ever rise above Except through the grace of one true love Still, belief is kept in the true God of the cross Knowing that I have been delivered from loss
Time and again, sunflowers and apples shared Have shown me the hearts of those who've cared I've found chased around it's in my daughters To whom I have loved and taught as their father That I have best spent my time in line after line Slinking in my soul, into a love soul sublime
Some have asserted themselves as more mature Claiming the voice of the gods is found in nature I say that God is the greatest artist ever seen But what do I know as an often erroneous human being Honestly, I mostly seek my own path of repentance And I don't have time for those practicing intolerance
Defiantly, I cry out, "To Hell with the gods!" I do so steadfastly aware of the slim odds That as a mortal man, I will ever rise above Except through the grace of one true love Still, belief is kept in the true God of the cross Knowing that I have been delivered from loss
All those questions broached of gods and of country Make me wonder aloud if a true God holds an inventory Asking each of us to account for mistakes made in our days Or punishing us for all the errors come to in natural ways The earth seems to seek the pleasure felt by my feet And the breeze blowing through my hair has felt sweet
Each of these have felt like God's whisper in my life Yet, for every moment seeking peace, others seek strife Submitting to this world's ocean, I start to drown But when I holdfast to my God, I am not held down This then seems the only true way to know God is to try Setting one's soul free enough to dare to fly
Defiantly, I cry out, "To Hell with the gods!" I do so steadfastly aware of the slim odds That as a mortal man, I will ever rise above Except through the grace of one true love Still, belief is kept in the true God of the cross Knowing that I have been delivered from loss
(c) September 7, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free Government.” – George Washington (1796)
Heading out of Australia to escape this Aussie winter. First stop Japan, then UK/Ireland and if work doesn't call me back, onto Chicago. I will make it up as I go along
