Selah!: Pause and Reflect

By Sharon Dexter

Is there a moral decline in society? 

I only

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sharon Dexter Publishing
• Release date: Jun 28, 2024
• ISBN: 9781960159298

Sharon Dexter

Ms. Dexter first published 52 Favorite Verses (Old Testament) for her congregation. Her next book was also a devotional, I Will Not Be Silent, Praying the Psalms (2011). Books of religious poetry soon followed: Surrender to the Silence (2013), Sing Into the Silence (2015), Conversations with God (2016), The Promise- from Advent to Today (2016), A Call to Arms (2017), and Playing God's Music (2018). She and her husband are both retired, happily living in a small town in southeastern Wisconsin.

Book preview

Beginning: You Were There

You Were There

You were there to hear my cry at birth,

You are there throughout my life.

You’ll be there to hear my sigh at death,

As I relinquish love and strife.

You will hold me in Your tender arms,

You will kiss my fevered brow.

You will love me, Lord, eternally,

Just as You love me now.

Beginning: to Think

Judgement

In judgment for their wicked ways,

The Lord let loose the hordes of men

Against His people,

For they had turned their backs on Him,

And made their vows to other gods.

Therefore, judgment came.

Where Are the Children

Where are the children—

The girls of Nigeria

Stolen for pleasure

Of somebody else?

Where are the children—

Sent over our borders

Bearing resentments

Of somebody else?

Where are the children—

Those in the big cities

Hurting from shootings

Of somebody else?

Where are the children—

Of good Christian families,

Yet selling the drugs

To somebody else?

Where are God’s people—

Those God-fearing people?

Cleaning the messes

For somebody else

Do I?

I have an acquaintance.

We were introduced earlier tonight.

He sure looks tired, maybe even drunk.

Oh? Up all night, you say?

With a sick baby?

Sorry, I didn’t know.

I have a friendly acquaintance.

We’ve worked together for years now.

I think she’s been on an extended vacation this month.

Oh? She’s been in the hospital?

Rehab after surgery?

Sorry, I hadn’t known.

I have a really good friend.

We practically grew up together.

I’ve tried to set her up with blind dates.

Oh? She had an abusive father?

She’s afraid of men?

Really? I’d never realized!

Well, surely, I know my God!

I go to church every Sunday.

He created everything, you know.

Oh? He wants more of me than attending?

You mean, like a personal commitment?

Why Church?

I’ve gone to services

For all my life,

From five days old ’til now.

Surely, I can worship

Alone, in quiet privacy.

I’m a good person.

I follow all the rules.

Why do I need church?

Others need it much more than I.

Church just isn’t for everyone.

I beg to differ.

Others also embody Christ

With their presence, their song,

The touch, and concerns of love

Permeate their worship.

As we hear, see, touch Christ

We become more aware

Of God’s holy presence

In them,

And in ourselves.

As we grow in our own relationship

With God and with other Christians,

We also become

The Presence of God

In the world.

In worship, we bond,

And are transformed,

To obedience to His will.

Alone, we are stuck

With only our own interpretations…

Assuming, of course,

We actually bother to try to interpret.

Wow! How do I begin?

Lord, expose my false security,

Deepen my knowledge, my understanding of Your way.

Lord, I believe. Help Thou mine unbelief.

Oh, pull the weeds from my heart, Lord.

Replant the roots of my faith,

Deep into the rich soil of Your love.

Accountable

I am held accountable

For each action, and each inaction,

I have done or left undone.

Yet, in repenting

I am forgiven.

In His mercy, He restores me.

Though at the Day of Judgment

I will be held accountable,

I’ll not abandon the hope

That in His courtroom

I’ll be forgiven,

For Jesus has paid