Poem About Gratitude, Having a Positive Attitude and Blessings

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Justin Farley under Personal Development, Poetry, Spirituality

No Quarter

If I look, I'll find 1000 complaints,
but I've resolved to give no quarter to protest
when I've been so blessed
with gifts raining down from Heaven like manna.

If I find my vision
dull, dark, and gray
it's because I've chosen to stay
blind to how lucky I truly am.

Of course there's darkness.
But there's also an abundance of light
available when we keep our sight
fixed on our graces and gratitude.

Dark cloud, keep on moving. 
I'll no longer grant you quarter.
My attitude is back in order - 
my storehouse is far too full to harbor complaint. 

Justin Farley

Hello, everyone! I have recently published my first chapbook of Christian poems titled “A Voice in the Wilderness – A Chapbook of Poems about God”. This has been developed and polished over the past six months or so. I am happy with the final product and hope you find encouragement in the poems but also a validation that the spiritual life is not all sunshine and rainbows. We all struggle. We all have periods of questions and/or doubt. But it is the yearning that keeps us coming back for more and allows us to experience joy.
You can purchase either on Amazon or on my own bookstore (it is cheaper and has free shipping on my store) and is available on the Kindle and in paperback.
Amazon: Kindle Paperback
Inkspiration Books (my bookstore): Paperback
Thank you for your support!

Poem About Evangelism and the Great Commission

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Justin Farley under Poetry, Spirituality

Vessels of Love

We are all vessels of love -
jars filled with tealights,
made to cradle your flame
and bring it to the darkness.

Our failure is not in missing the mark
but in failing to believe 
we play a part
in the chapters of your story.

You've imparted more power to us
than we often see;
to your own you've given 
the keys to the kingdom.

And while sovereign,
you've set us free 
and called us to a life
beyond bending the knee.

We've been commissioned
to raise the banner 
and march to war
to the ends of the Earth

armed not with swords of shame,
nor arrows dipped in guilt,
nor tongues like battering rams
designed to beat down doors that are locked,

rather dazzled with something foreign,
alien, a splendor only heaven could impart;
You've given us the shield of the Spirit
and placed in our hands the lance of love,

ready to engage both friend and foe
for both are worthy of you
because the battle for that right
was waged and won long ago.

We are all vessels of love
to bring hope and hang a light,
to give the lost something to follow
on their cold, dark night.

Justin Farley

The Cloud of Unknowing A Poem on the Dark Night

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Justin Farley under Poetry, Spirituality

The Cloud of Unknowning

To be free from the desires of the mind
step out into the night,
outside of space and time.

Wear the darkness, clothed like a dress.
In your unknowning,
you're truly blessed.

What you seek lies farther than eyes can see - 
step after step
faith must lead.

Like a flower, like a seed,
in the darkness
is where roots feed.

We need not act but only be open to receive
gifts that are imparted
but which the mind is unable to perceive.

Justin Farley

Poem About Nature, Creation, and God

Posted on January 10, 2021 by Justin Farley under Poems On Nature, Poetry, Spirituality, Uncategorized

The Wonder of Creation

I'm not ashamed to admit
that I'm in love with creation - 
not for its own sake
but for what it tells me about you.

The mountains may move me,
my spirit may rest in the river's bed,
and the birds of the air may fill me with wonder
but all because their beauty
points beyond themselves
and leaves me gazing at the Master's hand,
awed by his artistry,
lulled by his love.

Nature is a sweet song,
a familiar melody on the tip of your tongue
whose origins you can't quite recall
until you join in the chorus
and with a bittersweet longing remember,
feeling the Spirit gather around you.
Your soul recognizes the mother
who birthed its existence...
the source of all love...
the source of all beauty...

We are all drawn to the wonder of creation
because it offers us a glimpse,
a taste of what's to come.
You feel eternal power in the forest.
You find something supernatural 
looking in the clear, cool stream.

So I'm not ashamed to admit
I'm in love with creation
because it's your work,
close to your heart,
and you love it
like any artist loves their work.

But most of all I love it
because I find you there,
because my heart hears you the loudest
among the pines and oaks of the forest,
swimming with the minnows of the creeks,
dancing with the fireflies in the summer skies,
and scurrying with the squirrels
up trees and jumping from limb to limb.

Justin Farley

My Chapbook Collection of Christian Poetry and Poems about God is Now Available for Sale

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Justin Farley under Poetry, Spirituality

You can purchase either on Amazon or on my own bookstore (it is cheaper and has free shipping on my store) and is available on the Kindle and in paperback.

Amazon: Kindle Paperback

Inkspiration Books (my bookstore): Paperback

Thank you for your support!

Holy Justice – Poem About the Death Penalty and Prison

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Justin Farley under Poetry, Spirituality

Holy Justice

I heard his sobs
as they walked him down the row,
heard the shackles jingle,
the whispers of people waiting for the show.

I watched in horror
as they strapped him to the chair…
the pleading and screaming
still repeats in my head like a nightmare.

I retched at the smell
of burning flesh,
saw the lights stop flickering
and questioned the meaning of justice.

Guilty and deserving
of death? Yes.
But each and every one of us
everyday transgress.

If I live with Love,
how do I advocate death?
How do I share God’s light
while stealing another’s breath?

They’ve forfeited the right
to live life free,
but they’re still God’s children,
deserving of love and mercy.

God’s love extends
to the darkest of places.
And redemption is always possible
even in the most hopeless cases.

Poem Written by Justin Farley

You can find some of my other Christian poems by clicking here

Poem about Wrestling with God and Accepting God’s Will

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Justin Farley under Poetry, Spirituality

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Tug O’ War

Engaged in a constant game
of tug o’ war between your will and mine.
Sweating out the hours.
Eking out the days,
muscles bulging in desperate exhaustion,
clinging to dust.

Why do I wrestle with you?
Why does my foolish heart
still insist it knows better
despite a lifelong record of defeat?

Because I’m a sinner,
flawed at the deepest depths of my core.
But despite my imperfection
you lovingly continue to play the game
even though you could pull my will
right out of my hands at any moment you choose.

And yet you don’t let go of the rope either.
You patiently keep tugging at my heart
until the day I willingly choose
to let go of my will
and take a hold of yours.

-Poem Written by Justin Farley

Poem About the Grace and Mercy of God

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Justin Farley under Poetry, Spirituality

The Questions of Life

Are we free or predetermined?
At the helm of the open seas
or merely indentured servants?
Why the trials, why the burdens
if life is as it’s meant to be,
if the future is certain?
But as for me, I’m determined
to believe that freewill
is your loving flame for us burning.
For without it grace becomes a meaningless word
instead of a powerful, raging current
instead of a powerful, raging current.

-Poem Written by Justin Farley

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Poem about Sin and God’s Grace by Justin Farley

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Justin Farley under Poetry, Spirituality

Mistakes and Promises by Justin Farley

My mistakes are unlimited,
my promises are sometimes half-hearted and indifferent,
and my character can get thrown wherever desire moves me,
swayed like willow branches in the wind.

But when the waves of my sin pass,
guilt juts through my soul like shards of glass,
and I’m left to brood over these deep moral wounds
that I continually pick the scabs off of,
yet all the while praying they will heal.

The paradox of the heart is puzzling,
for the evidence is compelling
that man can’t even trust himself
and is a slave to his savage instincts –
often powerless to persuade the heart to righteous action.

So the ladder to heaven looms high –
A daunting force towering in the sky –
leaving these fractured bones aching
at the thought of making the climb
and conquering these demons we shamefully
find pleasing in our ears.

The baggage is too heavy to carry;
our errors are too large to bury,
but the good Lord in his omniscience
knew the battle was lost before it had begun.
In his mercy, he offered up his Son –
a cross where all our sins can be hung;
so we can stand victorious now and forevermore.

My mistakes are unlimited.
My promises are sometimes half-hearted and indifferent.
But the only promise I need is found in Christ,
who wipes my slate clean with each acquired debt
and gives me the grace to try again.

Poem Written by Justin Farley

God Will Provide Poem

Posted on September 21, 2018 by Justin Farley under Poetry, Spirituality

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
When you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
-Isaiah 43:2-3

God Will Provide

When you feel strangled by your mistakes
and crushed beneath the weight of guilt’s landslide,
trust that your shame will give way to redemption,
for God will provide.

When your crops fail you
and your harvest withers at your side,
believe that your table will soon be filled –
for God will provide.

When you’ve come to the end of the causeway
and trouble surrounds you on all sides,
see the way beyond what the eyes can see –
for God will provide.

When your dark night feels eternal,
and it seems the sun refuses to rise,
know there’s already a dawn waiting for you –
for God will provide.

When hope seems all but lost
and tears feel permanent in your eyes,
wait patiently for your redeemer –
for God will provide

When the wind of the world extinguishes your lantern,
and you feel you’ve lost your only guide,
a fire will be lit within you –
for God will provide.

God will provide when it’s hopeless,
when failures engulf your successes,
and when all other paths lead you astray.

God will provide strength to the weary,
a lending hand to the burdened,
and a way where there is no way.

God will provide a key to unlock addictions,
he’s the hero that rises up to slays your dragons,
and he’s the breaker of destructive pride.

God will provide food for your soul,
he gives the restless heart a home,
and is a friend to those the world casts aside.

Yes, in all trials that greet you,
when no road rises up to meet you,
God will provide.

-Poem Written by Justin Farley