Small ceramic goblet filled with wine on a wooden platform. Text over the top: The God who saves (a poem). Faith in Grey Places

The God who saves (a poem)

Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.

The verb ישׁע / yasha is indirectly familiar to many Christians because it’s the root of names like Joshua and Jesus, both of which mean ‘the LORD saves.’ (Hence Gabriel’s instruction to Joseph: “you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 NIV)

There are some interesting things I learned here. 

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Heavenly picture of the bright morning sun over the sea with pale blue skies and wispy white clouds, and birds flying overhead. Text over the top: The God who sits (a poem). Faith in Grey Places

The God who sits (a poem)

Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.

A few weeks ago, I sat down to map out which Hebrew verbs I would write poems on for the remaining weeks of this 12-part series. They had to be words I’d learned over the last year and, obviously, not the same as the verbs I’d already covered. So far, we’ve had poems on stand, provide, shine, build, give voice, create, cease [rest] and form; the remaining weeks were to be: sit, dwell, appoint, reign. 

There was, however, a slight flaw in this plan. 

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Brown silhouettes of mountains against a yellow sky with a dark silhouette of a camel in the foreground. Text over the top: The witness of the body: a letter to Joseph. Faith in Grey Places

The witness of the body: a letter to Joseph

This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. This one is to Joseph.

Joseph had a very eventful life. It’s the subject of Genesis 41–50. Although his brothers sold him as a slave, he ended up in Egypt and rose to power just in time to manage a famine. He reconciled with his brothers and then his whole family came to live in Egypt. When Jacob/Israel died, Joseph led a large entourage to bury him with his wife, father and grandfather. Curiously, Joseph didn’t ask for the same thing when he died. Well, not in the same way: he asked for his bones to be taken back to Canaan when God came to his people. 

And that’s what I focus on in this letter. 

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