Jesus did you cry
On that starless night
When all your friends betrayed you
Jesus did you cry
When they took you down
To mock you and to flay you?

Did you cry
As he kissed your cheek
To fulfill the prophecy
Were you able to remember
Your final destiny?

Jesus did you cry
When they hung you there
For all the world to see
Asking to forgive
The sins of all
For the sake of one like me?

Did you cry
As you breathed your last
When all your work was done
When the gathering crowd grew silent
In the presence of the Son?

Did you know you would wake in heaven's glory
Leaving all your tears behind?
Were you alone and afraid of what would happen
Did you know it was your time?

Jesus did you cry
As you entered in
To eternity
Were they tears of joy
As you took your place
Beside your Father's knee?

Did you cry
As you looked about
To see what you had done
Your blood shed on that Roman cross
Was our reconciliation +

Susan Beth Furst
December 18, 2006


This is our hope. Eternal life with the One who created us. We were never meant to die, it wasn't in the plan. Then we screwed up. He loved us so much He came to live among us and to pay our price for our sin. He forgave us even as we spat in His face as He hung on the cross, even as we yelled crucify Him. He loved us that much. And then it was finished, The third day He rose from the dead. The tomb was empty, in spite of the Roman guard (and you didn't mess with them). His dead body was never found. But He appeared alive to his followers and many others and they believed, wouldn't you? His disciples were afraid for their lives, many wanted to kill them too, yet a few weeks later they were boldly proclaiming the Good News that Jesus was alive Jesus was the Messiah, Yeshua Ha Mashiach! You tell me, would they be willing to die to proclaim a lie? Or was this Jesus really the Son of God? He came back for you. He gives eternal life, Living water to all who seek and ask Him into their hearts. Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

"I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you," says the LORD.
Isaiah 44:22

There is no greater love than that of the Father in his Son Jesus Christ, who died for us. We all sin and are powerless to help ourselves. He forgives our sin, that is why He died, and as Christians that is why we must forgive the unforgiveable.

In A Dream

A breath of white smoke
disappears in bare branches
A yellow orchid
blooms in winter snow
Nightingales sing
from white pagodas
An empty kettle
without a song

Susan Beth Furst
February 2016


"In A Dream" is a poem that I wrote last month for my poetry class. The assignment was to write several haiku (three line poems), usually having to do with nature, and then fashion them into a longer poem. I hope that you enjoyed the poem! As a result, I have become more observant of the things that surround me, especially the beauty of nature. 

As I looked to this poem for inspiration, I wondered about the last two lines. They don't seem to fit the beautiful descriptions of nature that precede them. What about the empty kettle? What does it mean to be without a song? Well I wrote those lines, so I should know, right?

To me an empty kettle means to be spiritually empty.  The story of the woman at the well, in the Gospel of John is a good example of this. She was an outcast in the village and living in shame. When she came to the well to draw water she met Jesus. He asked her for a drink. and then offered her "living water."  He told her all about herself, that she was married five times, and the man she was living with then was not her husband. Amazed, she ran to the village and said "Come see a man who told me all things I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" She and the whole village believed in Jesus, He changed their lives!

Jesus living water is the water that never runs out, the water that gives eternal life. He said, "whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  His point is this, if your kettle is empty, you can fill it, but it will always need to be refilled. So look to Him to give you the true water, spiritual water, the water that saves, the water of eternal life. How do you get this water? Ask Jesus, seek Him, and He will answer you. You can start by reading His word, in the Bible. This story is found in the Gospel of John chapter four.

Are you an outcast? Do you feel hopeless? Are you spiritually dry? Is your kettle empty? An empty kettle has no song. Look for Jesus' spiritual water to fill your kettle, it will never run dry, and you will have a new song. A song of the joy and the peace that Jesus gives, even in the midst of this beautiful but imperfect fallen world! He loves you! Ask Him for a drink! It will change your life!











 

The wind sways -
three branches on a bare tree point
to the purple sky

recalcitrant snowflake
ricochets across my windshield
orange neon light blinks

The train whistle at 5:51 PM.................................................................

I hope you enjoyed my haiku. I enjoyed writing them. I pray that you have a blessed day, and that you know that you are a unique and special child of God. He has given you talents and a purpose for your life. It doesn't have to be a grand purpose, although it might be. It could be just to say a kind word, or to share a poem, or to write a symphony! So go out into the world and share the love of the One who created you, and you will make Him smile : )

"In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well"  Romans 12:6