nothing you can take from me (pt. 2)

life, life—

takes it away.

my breath, my age.

gravity weighs me down with each & every second.

there's no way to escape all it takes.

it gives way for my pain,

fills my soul with disdain.

what do you do when life feels like it's caving in on you?

do you let it cave?

or do you stand firm,

with reckless resolve,

and declare these words over all you face:

nothing you can take from me

was ever worth keeping.

owed nothing—

yet given everything

in He who took my pain on that gruesome day,

where humans thought they could take

the very life

that would give His life away.

character, character—

can't be taken,

because of the path paved:

from temptation in the wilderness

and the garden that led to crucifixion.

He who was equal with God

lived in full obedience.

Jesus made the hill of sin smooth—

calculated,

He made His final decision:

Him or us?

tears of blood covered my Beloved’s face.

character moved in as He prayed and wept.

He couldn’t run from it—

only toward it,

because nothing that was taken from Him

could be kept.

like the flip of a light switch—

off one moment,

on the next.

others speak,

but i’m the one who gives them the power to interject.

streams of thoughts keep me healthy or sick.

my feet, set.

my mind, steady.

whatever can be taken

can also be given.

my character can stay—

the junk can go away,

just as He declared

with His blood spilling on our behalf that day.

i may be tempted today,

but nothing can be taken

unless i let it have its way.

read pt. 3 of “nothing you can take from me” here.

this poem is inspired by the song “nothing you can take from me” performed in the Hunger Games movie: the ballad of songbirds & snakes.

”Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Philippians 2:6-7

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nothing you can take from me (pt. 3)

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nothing you can take from me (pt. 1)