Often times, we have a misunderstanding about accepting Jesus into our lives. We believe that we are not able to come to him until we have cleaned up our act. Maybe we’re not completely wanting to clean up our act; maybe we want to clean it up, but are scared; and maybe we just don’t know how to clean it up.  There is a misconceived notion that when Jesus enters into our lives, everything is great and wonderful. This is almost always false. Yes, Jesus does add meaning, purpose, and fulfillment into our lives, but that usually comes later. Our first meeting with him is not in paradise, but hell. When you are starving, you are in most need of food. When you are thirsty, you are in most need of water. When you are freezing, you are in most need of heat. And when you are the most sinful and broken, you are most in need of a savior. You are not unworthy, undesirable, or unloved. You are never too far gone to receive forgiveness and to start over again. In fact, many times the dirtiest, most sinful humans are the ones that Christ works through the most because they receive the gift of grace with the most humility and gratitude. It may also be helpful to read a similar post I published by in November about the initial search for God. You can find it here.

A Fire in Winter

If your faith is withering,
Give it something to drink.
If you hear your pride wailing,
Serve and mimic the meek.

When rain pelts from your skies,
Drenching and beating your skin,
Turn upward your eyes
And know your shelter and shield lies waiting within.

If you find yourself
Stumbling over the roots of the Word,
First consider where your heart dwells,
And your shortcomings will be understood.

When your eyes are blind
And your vision dark as night,
“Seek, and you will find”*
You forgot to turn on the light.

For “the people dwelling in darkness
Have seen a great light”*,
So that those living in blindness
Could receive the restoration of sight.

Take what is broken
And reforge it stronger, sharper than new.
For it is spoken,
“Unless one is born again”* the kingdom lies not before you.

Strip away the wallpaper
You’ve hung up, ashamed of your heart.
For it’s in the coldest weather
That our souls are most in need of his hearth.

-Poem Written by Justin Farley

*Quoted Bible verses come from Matthew 7:7;4:16 and John 3:3

If you enjoyed this post, I would greatly appreciate it if you like, share, or comment on it. Follow my blog to receive notifications when new posts are published. You can find my other Christian poems or inspirational poems at https://alongthebarrenroad.com/category/poetry/

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Nature’s Bounty – A Chapbook of Poems About Nature by Justin Farley

A Voice in the Wilderness – A Chapbook of Poems About God by Justin Farley

Thorns of Love – Sad Love Poems About Heartbreak and Break Ups by Justin Farley

Blossoms of Hope: Inspirational Spring Poems About Mental Health and Healing by Justin Farley

Frozen Rivers: A Collection of Poems about Mental Health and Nature Poetry About Winter by Justin Farley

My current collections of poetry, all available on Amazon, all written by me, Justin Farley. A Voice in the Wilderness is a chapbook of Christian Poetry, written about the joys, doubts, struggles, and sorrows of the Christian life. Nature’s Bounty is a collection of nature poetry celebrating my love for the outdoors. And Thorns of Love is the first book of three in a series of poems about love, this one being sad, breakup poems.

I have also published two poetry collections about the seasons and mental health–each book containing half nature poems about the particular season and half mental health issues that I felt correspond with the season. The first collection I published was Frozen Rivers which is about winter and also the hardships of life and specifically living with mental illness. My latest book is Blossoms of Hope which focuses on spring and finding hope during hard times.

I write to reach the hearts of the searching, the suffering, the still fighting. I write to soothe my soul and hopefully to soothe yours too. I write to celebrate and attempt to put words to the beauty of life. Here are my published books on Amazon. More to come. A huge, humble thank you to anyone who supports my work.

-Justin Farley