Precious Lord, Take My Hand: Poems of Encouragement

By Belle Anne Leslie

"Precious Lord, Take My Hand: Poems of Encouragement' chronicles Belle's walk with God which began over 20 years ago. Her desire is to share the encouragement and support that having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can give you. Recorded in the pages of this book is her evidence of faith and grace that moves mountains. She shows how a person can embrace change as a dear friend. In its pages the author hopes to offer the strength to never give up and the resilience to face what lies ahead with courage. It is Belle's prayer that God blesses all who begin this journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 24, 2009
• ISBN: 9781467807500

Belle Anne Leslie

Belle Leslie makes her home in the northern part of the state of Indiana where she attends Bethel College while she completes her studies in Professional Writing, and Bible and Ministry. Belle has had her poems published in the Southeast Writers' Association chapbooks titled, "A Quiet Breeze," and "A Sense of Place." As well as, Crossings, Bethel College's literary magazine. Belle is actively involved in pastoral care ministry through her local church.

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© 2009 Belle Anne Leslie. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 11/17/2009

ISBN: 978-1-4490-4968-3 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009912040

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Dedicated to…

My Uncles: Ron Smith, Charlie Shelton, Fred Baker, Ben Leslie, and Richard Leslie

My Aunts: Mona Smith, Sally Shelton, Mary Pettit, Donna Swarm, June Leslie, Janet Mc Attee, and Jean Ludwig

My brothers: Ron Louallen, and Robert Allen

My nieces and their families: Janice, Riley, and Jada Louallen; Amy, Katlyn, Alexus, and Morgan Haun; Amanda Mae Louallen and Jenny Shepherd

My nephew: Ryan Edward Tiger Eye Louallen

My spiritual sister: Robin Jane Sherman

My close friends and extended family: Gloria Jones Norris, The Ed Foster Family, The Todd Lewis Family, The Gene Foster Family, Hurshel & Dolores Pennington, Chuck & Dorothy Robison, Paul, Linda & Heather Carter, the Reverend David McGeoch and the members of Glastonbury Abbey Parish, Somerset, United Kingdom; Pastor Dennis Ingle, Pastor & Mrs. Warren and Ann Kirkwood, and Mizpah S. S. Class at Albright United Methodist Church, Mishawaka, Indiana, and in loving memory of Joan Sausman, Virginia Moore, Edith Tutorow, Kathryn Snellenberger, David Gowland and Wanda Borkowski

and finally,

James Dobson & Chuck Swindoll, the two Christian men God brought into my life at a time when I questioned whether God truly cared about me. Every week via the radio, they taught me God was not a father figure to fear.

Without all of you setting a shining example of faith to follow I would have strayed from the course long ago. Thank you.

Contents

A Foreword…

Part One: Beautiful Grace

A Blessing of Grace and Faith

The Eyes of Faith

Beautiful Grace: The Faith and Passion of a Prayer Warrior

In My Mother’s Home

Faith in His Love

Sunday Suppers at the Nelsons’

A Faithful Steward of God’s Grace

A Prayer Warrior’s Burden

The Paradox of Intercessory Prayer

Redemption’s Light

A Living Example

Grandparents Are A Gift From God!

A Broken Spirit

Night

A Sea-Change

Part Two: Soul Thirst

Innocence and Instinct

A Safe Place

Rekindled

Forgiven and Forgotten!

Invisible Scars of War

Riven

The Evidence of Things not Seen

I Hear Music

I Want to Believe

Soul Thirst

Faith, Grace and the Power of Prayer

Islands of Isolation

The Touch of God

Second Sight: The Gift of Intercessory Prayer

Under a Carolina Moon

Part Three: Visions, Dreams, Prophecies and Prayers

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Elisha and the Chariots of Fire

America’s Doom

The Next Step: Humbling Ourselves

Moses: The Wisdom of the Ages

Simon Peter: The Rock of the Ages

Tipping the Prayer Bowls of Heaven

The Watcher of the Ages

My Father’s Heart

Summer Roses

Prophecy of the Forsaken

The Phoenix: Hope Rises from the Ashes

Unleashing the Holy Spirit’s Fire

Memento Mori

Song of the Cherokees

Part Four: The Birth of Hope

The Birth of Hope

Gracelight

Hope’s Echoing Refrain

A Heart Cries for Hope

A Prayer Warrior’s Toolkit

Spiritual Combat: Are You Ready to Fight?

Thank God for Little Things

I hear creation praise God…

All My Praise

God is The Painter of Light

Something More to Live For

Knights for Today

Ports of Call: The Celestial City

An Easter Promise

Dust on the Bible

A Foreword…

It has long been my desire to pass on the spiritual inheritance of faith and passion for God I first learned from my family, and the people whom God brought into my life as teachers and mentors. What you hold in your hands today is but a sampling of the wisdom I have gleaned from them. Though some of them are now in Heaven with God, their faith and passion for God lives on through me, and through my writings. I make no apologies for the strong wording of my beliefs. I do hope and pray they are received within the spirit of reconciliation with which they are meant to be shared.

My passionate beliefs come from a faith that moves mountains, dreams big, and embraces change as a dear friend.

This is the invitation I extend to you: If you would know God intimately, and walk through the ages with Him, experiencing a Peace that passes all understanding, then pick up and read not only this book, but The Bible. In its pages you will find that which you seek: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

In Christ,

Belle Anne Leslie

Part One:

Beautiful Grace

A Blessing of Grace and Faith

In Grandma Anna’s day,

most people knew how to pray.

Simply and openly they talked to Jesus

taking to Him all the problems, the issues of trust

and pain,

asking for His healing time and again.

But still, when it came time

to share the Truth of God’s Word Grandma Anna was told she was out of her mind.

Discouraged, she finally put away,

the messages God meant for her to say,

by reasoning He meant only for her to pray,

watch, and wait until a future day,

when God would bless another member of her line

with the words to speak at the right time.

In Grandma Millie’s day,

she too, knew how to pray.

Simply and openly she called on Jesus,

to heal the hearts, the hidden wounds of each of us.

Time and again,

she battled evil’s stain,

on our behalf, ever watchful for Satan’s next attack.

Yet, she knew she wasn’t the one

from our family line meant to share the Truth of God with everyone.

Still, to the