Garden Renown

The Garden of Eden, 1828, Oil on canvas, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, acq. no. 1990.10, see http://www.cartermuseum.org/works-of-art/1990-10, from The Amon Carter Museum.

“I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land. . ." -Ezekiel 34:29

“‘They’ll know, beyond doubting, that I, God, am their God, that I’m with them and that they, the people Israel, are my people. Decree of God, the Master: You are my dear flock, the flock of my pasture, my human flock, and I am your God. Decree of God, the Master.’” – Ezekiel 34:30-31, The Message


Garden Renown
(Ezekiel 34 and Psalm 23)

In The Garden Renown
The Shepherd, with His sheep, is found
Laying in green pastures
Leading beside still waters
In a land wide-open
Without borders
Filling the hungry lambs
Until they are without wants
Restoring their souls
Protecting from the evil that taunts
While the shadow of evil
Falls over the valley pale and gray
The flock does not fear or falter
As they walk The Good Shepherd’s Way
In The Garden Renown
Peace shelters over without a sound
As still waters babble in brooks
We drink, eat, and are filled
In our rest that is found
Our cups run over
Our souls restored
The Good Shepherd is here
And He is the Lord
Gone is guilt and shame,
The pain, the burden, the blame
Those hirelings that stole in the days of old,
In their greed, for power and for gold,
Have been judged for His glory and Name
The Good Shepherd never falters or sways
His consistent love remains; He stays the same
In The Garden Renown
No death, no pain, and no tear is found
He gathers His own from the mountains
His love and care pours over like fountains
The Lord seeks out His sheep
His promises, in His faithfulness, He will keep
His love, like an ocean, is deep
The garden is renown!
For The Good Shepherd is there
And all His love is present to surround
Face to face with God in this garden place
In this garden made anew
In The Garden Renown with You

© 2012, Robbie Pruitt
http://robbiepruitt.blogspot.com/


John 10:7-10

“Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”

Words of Fire

Picture from WLTX Columbia: http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=87228

The Newly renovated G. Allen Fleece Library at Columbia International University in Columbia, SC, reopens today, Tuesday, January 17th, after being badly damaged in an electrical fire on May 8th 2010. Below is the report of what happened and a poem I wrote on May 14th 2010 to remember and to declare that God's Word lasts forever.

The Gene Allen Fleece Library of Columbia International University, a Bible College and Seminary in Columbia, SC, suffered from an electrical fire on May 8, 2010. While no one was injured, the total damages were estimated at around 1.5 million dollars. Rare and out-of-print books have been lost. Please pray for the faculty, staff, the student body, and the alumni, as well as associated academic bodies and international ministries which partner with and depend on the University and the library.

View more photos of the library after the fire here.

Read the news report from WIS TV, Columbia, here.

Visit the G. Allen Fleece Library here.

Join the Fleece Library Group on Facebook here.

Deuteronomy 8:3

“He put you through hard times. He made you go hungry. Then he fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about, so you would learn that men and women don’t live by bread only; we live by every word that comes from God’s mouth.”

Words of Fire

(John 1:1-5)

Words like fire

consume falsehood.

Truth! Truth!

Complacency and apathy,

Aloof! Aloof?!

Awaken!

The Fire kindles;

Absolutes remain.

The Gospel never falters,

nor waivers,

at sin’s disdain.

Justice and Truth,

You reign! You reign!

Truth never falters,

or vanishes in flame,

and more than ashes remain.

Truth never waivers,

and is a person with a name.

Proclaim! Proclaim!

The Word is retained!

Truth is spoken and stays;

The Logos,

The Ancient of Days.

© 2010, Robbie Pruitt


John 1:1-5 and 14

“The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one. Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing! — came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out. The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.”

Shaken: He Never Walked Away

Messages from Haiti

Photo by B.S. Wise, © 2010

Three years ago today Haiti was struck by an earthquake that forever changed this country and her people and took so many. We were not here then, so I cannot begin to understand or imagine.

A student shared his story with me back in September of 2011 about how life as he knew it was shaken by the quake, but not his faith in the one who never shifts or waivers in His faithfulness. He shared that he rested and rests in God, and in His promises in His word, specifically he rests in Proverbs 3:19-26.

Shaken: He Never Walked Away
(Proverbs 3:19-26)

Earth shifted
Beneath my feet
Shadowing my certainty
Unsettling my sensibilities
Shaking reality
Broken underneath and around me
Now broken within
Scarred and scared
Unsettling
Not resting in . . .

And by His knowledge
The heavens formed
The depths were broken up
And the rain stormed

To His wisdom I will cling
Not letting it depart
From my eyes
Life to my soul
He will provide
Walking safely in His way
Abide
My foot feels the tremor
I will not stumble
Survive

When I sleep
I do not fear
Sweetness
God is near

The sudden terror
Does not shake
To His presence
I awake

Shrugging off trouble
When the wicked come
The Lord is my confidence
My portion’s sum

© Robbie Pruitt, September 4, 2011 http://robbiepruitt.blogspot.com/

Proverbs 3:19-16

"The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;
By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And clouds drop down the dew.
My son, let them not depart from your eyes—
Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
So they will be life to your soul
And grace to your neck.
Then you will walk safely in your way,
And your foot will not stumble.
When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
For the LORD will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being caught."

Knocking at Knees

Jacob Wrestling With God, Painting © 2011, by Jack Baumgartner

To see more of Jack Baumgartner’s work visit his web site here: http://theschoolofthetransferofenergy.com/

To read an art review of Jacob Wrestling With God, by Jack Baumgartner, click here.

“All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.” – Ezekiel 7:17

“It shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 21:7

Knocking at Knees
(Philippians 2:5-11)

Knocking at knees
They flow like water
Wobbly, they wash and flow
Like fear. . .
And at fear they bow
At all that is unknown
Knees knock
At times clock
And time ticks on
As fear grips the shock
Knocking at knees
At wind’s gusts and breeze
Until God sets our hearts at ease
Strips our fear away in humility
Until our knees bow;
In surrender; In worship
With Holy fear; In serenity
In adoration, with bended knee

© 2011, Robbie Pruitt

“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.’” – Isaiah 35:3-4

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2:10-11