People of God - One and All: Saints and Sinners

By Edith Close-Vaziri

Who is a sinner? Who is a saint? Which one are you? You will find answers to these questions.

Throughout the book, scripture passages for further study and references are provided with most of the poems furthering personal questions and reflections on one's faith; they allow one to mature oneself in faith realm and to share it

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edith Close-Vaziri
• Release date: Aug 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781951901165

Book preview

Good Morning, Saints.

Good Morning, Sin

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ners.

Soon after his arrival,

Pastor Kurt Christensen

Opened the worship service with:

Good Morning, Saints.

(silence)

Good Morning, Sinners.

(silence).

The next week after doing it twice,

Good Morning, Saints.

Good Morning.

Good Morning, Sinners,

Good Morning.

With practice,

The congregational response became heartier.

Good Morning, Saints.

Good Morning.

Good Morning, Sinners.

Good Morning.

Eventually, the response was given

with feeling and understanding.

Difficulty of Sainthood

Why is it so hard to be called a saint?

In my mind,

It is because I know my many flaws,

Others tell me of them also

Which may be the same or different,

I may improve with practice,

time, and focus.

In our human minds, we don’t see someone who is a perfect saint,

We may see people who are saintly in our minds.

So how could someone be called a saint?

This is because our Heavenly Father has made us holy

Through His love for us,

He doesn’t remember our sins,

But sees how precious we are to Him.

Thus, He is the one

Who recognizes us as saints.

Who Am I?

Lord, where am I?

My chosen and adopted child,

You are in my heart,

And I dwell in yours,

You are a member of my kingdom

on Earth.

Lord, who am I?

My beloved child,

You are one of my chosen ones.

While you are a sinner,

You are also a saint.

Lord, what am I supposed to be doing?

My special child,

You are to follow My commandments,

Love Me, your God,

Love one another including yourself.

What am I?

You are a member of my kingdom

Who helps me spread the Word.

Lord, then what happens?

My special one,

If you do these things,

You will see glimpses

of heaven on earth.

Lord, how can heaven be on earth?

My questioning child,

When you are in fellowship

with other believers

you can see glowing faces,

When you share with each other

the truths that I have taught you,

You will see even more.

When I, as Jesus came down to earth,

There were pieces of heaven on earth

With the love I shared,

The truth I taught,

The healings that I performed.

Where am I going?

My dearest child,

When I call you,

You will be

in my heavenly kingdom.

Before that I will call

for certain tasks

to help bring glimpses

of heaven on earth.

Sometimes I will have you

use your natural talents,

learned skills,

challenges to learn,

and maybe even unexpected gifts.

The Lost Kingdom

In the beginning of God’s creation,

He planted a lovely garden in Eden.

This is where he put the first man—Adam,

There were trees of all kinds–

Those pleasing to the eye,

And those good for food.

In the middle of the garden,

He planted the tree of life

and the tree of knowledge

of good and evil.

There was a river watering

the garden

which flowed from Eden;

From there it was separated

into four headwaters.

The man was to work

And take care of the garden;

Adam was able to eat from any tree,

But the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The man was given the responsibility

Of naming the beasts of the ground

And the birds of the air,

In time God gave him a helpmate.

The serpent was a crafty animal,

Who convinced the woman,

To partake of the tree of knowledge

of good and evil,

And she in turn shared

It with the man.

Their eyes were opened,

And they were ashamed

of themselves and hid

when they heard

the voice of the Lord.

When the Lord found them,

They blamed another,

Not taking responsibility themselves,

While the Lord God

through His compassion

made them garments of skin

to clothe them.

He informed them

that they would have to work

for their food,

and would return to the dust

from which they had been created.

As a final act of this episode,

The Lord God banished them

Out of this kingdom—

the garden of Eden.

He also admonished Satan

And said he would be cursed

For his role

in this deception.

These two were sent out

Into the world

Where sin continued to grow.

Yet, God stayed

With His wayward people

Desiring that His people

turn and return to Him.

Scripture Passage

Genesis 2-3

Through Tough Love

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Many times, through extremely tough love,

God guides our paths

To return to Him.

With Adam and Eve,

He exiled them from the Garden of Eden,

Telling them of His Son to come,

And condemning the serpent,

But he stayed with Adam and Eve.

Though in spite of the tough love

We may see and feel in our minds,

We are steadfastly loved,

With a love far beyond our comprehension.

Through this unique, indescribable love,

We have been forgiven and cleansed

from unrighteousness

As God pardons sin

and forgives the transgressions.

He treads our sin underfoot

and hurls all our iniquities into the depths of the sea

So, they are no longer seen

and out of reach.

Plus, he doesn’t turn away from us,

But welcomes us though imperfect

And very broken into His kingdom.

In other words,

He does not separate Himself from us.

Scripture Passage

Genesis 3:8-24

Isaiah 38:17

Micah 7:18-19

God’s Laws

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The laws of our Lord God

are perfect,

We are the ones who are imperfect,

If we but follow them,

Our soul is revived

and we are blessed.

As His statutes are trustworthy

and make us wise.

Our Lord God’s precepts are right

and give joy and delight

to the heart.

His commands give a radiant light to our eyes,

If we follow them with reverence,

His ordinances are righteous,

Inspired by His love for us,

They are more precious than gold,

Having stood firm through time,

and are not to be transformed

or dropped from the list

not even one letter.

The reward and the fruits are great

in the effort to follow them.

Scripture Passages

Exodus 31:18

Psalm 1:1-3, 6: 19:7-11

Luke 16:17

Proud as a Peacock

You, are the magnificent

Indian peacock,

With a vibrant blue neck,

And an exquisite elongated tail;

Decorated with a train

of feathery coverts,

Covering long showy iridescent hidden plumes,

Of showy oscillations

That makes a glorious fan.

You want to be pridefully noticed,

The way you strut around,

With a crested head

appearing like a crown,

With your splendid eye markings

And your eye spot adornments,

Are you watching

to see who is noticing you?

You yell out for attention at frequent intervals at all hours of the day,

With a raucous, piercing,

squawking cry,

Totally without