Sonnet: Denying Self, Christ Exalted by Debbie Harris

07 Friday Mar 2025

Posted by in Bible Centered Poetry, Christ Centered Devotionals, Christ-centered poetry, Christian Poetry, Exalting Jesus Christ, Inspirational, Jesus Christ, King of Kings

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Based on 2 Timothy 3:5 (KJV)


We toil with hands of clay to mend the earth,
Yet some wear godliness as hollow guise,
Their form denies the power of true worth—
From such, we turn to seek the Savior’s eyes.

Through us, as royal heirs, His will is wrought,
Our feet may tread where mercy’s call is heard,
But pride we shun, for strength is humbly sought,
His love, the word that echoes undeterred.

The good we do, a mirror of His light,
Reflects not ours, but Heaven’s boundless flame,
For in denying self, we see aright—
The Savior’s grace deserves the endless claim.

So let us labor, bold yet meekly still,
And serve as hands through which His grace may spill.

All Have Sinned, But Only the Repentant Find Redemption at Christ’s Cross by Debbie Harris

06 Thursday Mar 2025

Posted by in Bible Centered Poetry, Christ Centered Devotionals, Christ-centered poetry, Christian Poetry, Exalting Jesus Christ, Holy Bible, Inspirational, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Royally Redeemed

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The sonnet begins by affirming that all people—kings, beggars, and regular folk—have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, united in their imperfection regardless of status. It then shifts to the cross, where Christ’s mercy reigns, offering salvation to all who stand equal before it. Redemption, however, comes only to those who repent and believe, their sins broken by Christ’s power, granting them new life through grace.

Beneath the heavens’ vast and boundless gaze,
All souls have strayed from glory’s perfect light,
Each heart, though bold, in sin’s dark tangle sways,
And none can claim a pure and spotless right.
The king, the beggar, regular folk, all fall,
No crown nor want nor common trade can save,
For guilt unites them under mercy’s call,
Where shadows cloak the path from womb to grave.
Yet at the cross, where Christ in mercy reigns,
All stand as one, salvation’s arms embrace,
Repentance flows, belief in Him sustains,
A flood of grace redeems through boundless faith.
There sin’s grim hold by Christ’s own hand is torn,
And souls are saved where boundless life is born.

A Sonnet of Lamentation and Yearning For The Return To Jesus Christ, His Holy Word, And His Most Sacred Ways Amidst A Modern Sodom and Gomorrah by Debbie Harris

06 Thursday Mar 2025

Posted by in Bible Centered Poetry, Christ Centered Devotionals, Christ-centered poetry, Christian Poetry, Exalting Jesus Christ, Holy Bible, Inspirational, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Prayer, Royally Redeemed, Spiritual Warfare

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The world, a mirror cracked by prideful hands,
Reflects a shadowed Sodom’s brazen glow,
Where virtue bends to vice in shifting sands,
And hearts forget the streams from which they flow.
Once walked a Man with words of piercing light,
His voice a balm, His steps a holy guide,
He called the lost from darkness into sight,
And bore the cross where sin and mercy vied.

Yet now we dance to tunes of hollow cheer,
Our altars cold, our lamps but faintly burn,
A Gomorrah blooms where grace once drew near,
And still His whisper bids us to return.
Oh, Christ, restore what folly has undone,
Thy Word, our dawn, Thy ways, our endless sun.

Heaven’s Canvas Created By Christ Our Creator by Debbie Harris

06 Thursday Mar 2025

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Light blue clouds with gold so grand,
Painted by Christ’s holy hand,
His created beauty, pure and true,
Stirs the soul with wonder anew.

Sonnet for Dolci’s Virgin and Child, Circa 1640s, Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery by Debbie Harris

06 Thursday Mar 2025

Posted by in Christian Poetry, Exalting Jesus Christ, Inspirational, Jesus Christ, King of Kings

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This 14-line sonnet, in iambic pentameter with an ABAB rhyme, celebrates Carlo Dolci’s Virgin and Child (circa 1646–1649) at Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery. The first quatrain paints the Virgin in an orange robe like glowing embers, her coral cheeks and golden halo radiating warmth and reverence. The second quatrain presents the Child, human flesh yet divine King, with amber curls, lifted high by her on an olive green pillow—verdant and throne-like. The third quatrain zooms in on that pillow, deep with garden echoes, fringed with golden tassels, cradling Him as a subtle prophecy of the cross. The final couplet ties it to Dolci’s 1640s artistry, where her love enshrines the Child as God’s chosen Son, blending peace and redemption.

Her robe, an orange flame, like embers gleams,
A silken glow that wraps the Virgin’s form,
Her coral cheeks alight with tender dreams,
A golden halo crowns her spirit warm.
The Child, in flesh yet born to reign as King,
His amber curls cascade in soft delight,
She lifts Him high where Heaven’s praises sing,
On olive green, a throne of verdant might.

Gold tassels gleam, a dance of royal grace,
The pillow deep with garden’s whispered lore,
Holds up His frame, a hint of future’s trace,
A cross to come, His love forevermore.
In sixteen-forties’ stroke, this piece was spun,

Sonnet: “For This Corruptible Must Put On Incorruption, And This Mortal Must Put On Immortality” by Debbie Harris

06 Thursday Mar 2025

Posted by in Bible Centered Poetry, Christ Centered Devotionals, Christ-centered poetry, Christ-Created Nature, Christian Poetry, Exalting Jesus Christ, Holy Bible, Inspirational, Praise, Prayer, Royally Redeemed

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Based on I Corinthians 15:53 (KJV)

When mortal flesh ascends to glorious might,
Beneath a vault where stars in splendor blaze,
The eyes, reborn, drink deep of boundless sights,
A realm unveiled to everlasting gaze.

The mountains bow, their peaks in golden flame,
Oceans unfurl, their depths a jeweled expanse,
Each hue ignites, too vast for words to name,
A world remade in beauty’s fierce advance.

The winds bear songs no living ear could claim,
Through endless skies, the hosts of light parade,
Time’s curtain parts, all history aflame,
A radiant host in endless ranks arrayed.

And there we stand, with vision crowned anew,
To see the boundless sights immortality reveals.

A Royal Garment of Sonnet’s Lines Sewn With the Holy Spirit’s Thread and Free Verse’s Living Waters Drawn From His Well to Honor Christ Our Head by Debbie Harris

06 Thursday Mar 2025

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The sonnet, “A Royal Garment of Sonnet’s Lines Sewn With the Holy Spirit’s Thread and Free Verse’s Living Waters Drawn From His Well to Honor Christ Our Head”, explores the dance between sonnet and free verse, both glorifying Christ. The first eight lines paint the sonnet as a “crown of measured rhyme”—a structured, kingly form where discipline crafts a “court of sound,” yet bends with freedom, like a throne for Jesus with His thorns, each rhyme a prayer. The last six shift to free verse, a “stream in quiet peace”—unbound, flowing with the Spirit’s gentle call, lifting to Christ without rigid walls. It ends tying both together: sonnets reign with royal art, free verse breathes grace—two paths, one heart, all for God’s glory.

The sonnet weaves a crown of measured rhyme,
Each line a jewel, cut to fit its frame,
A dance of feet in lockstep with old time,
Where discipline and grace exalt a name.
Its walls hold tight, a kingly court of sound,
Yet freedom hides in how the heart can bend,
A throne where Christ might sit, with thorns around,
And every turn a prayer that seeks no end.

But free verse flows like streams in quiet peace,
No rigid form to bind its gentle call,
A voice set loose, where Spirit finds release,
It lifts to Christ, unboxed, yet standing tall.
So sonnets reign with order’s royal art,
Free verse lends voice to crown the Lord’s heart.

Where Once Was Only Sin, His Mercy Reigns Supreme Like a Radiant Crown by Debbie Harris

06 Thursday Mar 2025

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Within our souls, a war of shadows reigns,
The sin and self, a stain we cannot flee,
Yet righteousness, a gift through sacred veins,
Bestows a dawn where once was misery.
Repentance turns the heart from darkened mire,
His strength sustains, a power bold and true,
Though flesh still claws with unrelenting fire,
The spirit lifts with grace that carries through.
His path we tread, imperfect till the skies,
He calls us His, though dust we yet remain,
Where once was sin, His mercy crowns us free,
A song of grace redeems our every strain.
O Christ, the Word who authors all our days,
Thy love redeems our steps with endless praise.

Villanelle: I, The Lord, Will Refresh The Weary With My Care And Crown The Saint With Light by Debbie Harris

06 Thursday Mar 2025

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This 19-line villanelle, spoken in the voice of Christ, promises divine renewal and fulfillment. Through five tercets and a concluding quatrain, it repeats two refrains: “I, the Lord, will refresh the weary soul” and “And fill the saint with blessings rare and whole.” Christ vows to lift the burdened and broken—those sinking under tolls, dwelling in cold depths, or scarred beyond repair—offering them mercy, peace, and consolation amidst life’s tempests. Simultaneously, He pledges to bless the righteous and humble with grace and wholeness, using vivid imagery like springs, tides, and dawn. The poem culminates in an invitation to take His hand, uniting the lost and the righteous in His embrace, as reflected in Jeremiah 31:25 (“I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint”) and Matthew 5:6 (“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”).

For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.

Jeremiah 31:25 (KJV)

I, the Lord, will refresh the weary soul,
Through shadowed vales where broken hearts abide,
And fill the saint with blessings rare and whole.

The heavy-laden sink beneath their toll,
Shall find my spring of mercy flowing wide,
I, the Lord, will refresh the weary soul.

The humble lift their pleas from depths so cold,
My grace shall rise like dawn at eventide,
And fill the saint with blessings rare and whole.

No tempest breaks the spirit I control,
For peace and strength in my embrace collide,
I, the Lord, will refresh the weary soul.

The scarred and fallen, I shall yet console,
My gentle tide shall lift them to my side,
And fill the saint with blessings rare and whole.

Come, grasp my hand, let burdens lose their hold,
In me, the lost and righteous shall reside—
I, the Lord, will refresh the weary soul,
And fill the saint with blessings rare and whole.

Prayer Against America’s Governmental Rot by Debbie Harris

05 Wednesday Mar 2025

Posted by in Christian Poetry

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The poem presents a plea to address the corruption in government, specifically attributing it to Marxism’s influence. It calls for wise leaders to extinguish this ideology’s hold and liberate the state from its oppressive grip.

When Marxism’s rot grips power’s frame,
We pray to halt its creeping claim,
For leaders wise to douse the flame,
And free the state from shackled shame.