Soul Sojournal

By Robert Bishop

Sojourn: to dwell or abide as an exile or stranger in a foreign land.

"By faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country" (Hebrews 11:9).

"Pass the time of your sojourning in fear" (1 Peter 1:17).

"And God spoke, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land" (Acts 7:6).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098095826

Book preview

Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer

Winter is come,

after the Autumn of our fall,

The lonely heart wails.

Sin’s bitter snow covers all.

What lived is now dead.

Lost man has nowhere to hide.

The garden is destroyed,

testament to foolish pride.

The flesh now grows old.

darkness is over the land.

Evil lies in wait,

the wrath of sin’s hand,

my heart is smitten

and withered like grass,

days consumed like smoke

in this stark wilderness.

Ashes for bread,

drink mingled with tears.

my stomach does turn

with invisible fears,

life’s flower almost dead.

night is long, day is so short.

the wind passes over,

and soon, I’ll be no more.

By the mercy of God,

This dead winter will not last,

the Spring will come,

and torment be past.

so I look to the hilltop

to see the roe on spice mountain.

he bounds to our rescue,

through Him flows life’s fountain.

Flowers smile once more,

the grass starts to spring,

the fig tree bears fruit,

The turtledove sings.

He makes wine from our tears,

pours joy from above.

Death’s Winter dies to

the Summer of His love.

Bloom

(Petunia)

A simple, profound blessing

is the flowers of the field,

His sovereign will confessing

as in obedience they yield.

He commands them to bloom,

and they obey their master,

open petals sing Hallelujah,

His glory in their splendour.

It is time for you to show yourself,

all the colours of the rainbow,

all the texture of holy light,

and loves fragrant, majestic glow.

Relentless sin has taken toll,

a world in torment, strife and groaning,

though mankind has lost his very soul,

creation is still alive and blooming.

Poignant, sorrowful perfection,

provides a soft, silent witness,

disregarded as unimportant,

grace’s beauty and forgiveness.

Today He asks you to bloom,

to spread your spirit wings,

let Him into your heart tomb,

that your very soul will sing.

Will you show the world

in it’s final writhing hour,

the beauty and radiance of God,

like a humble, obedient flower?

Desert Prayer

The desert is full of nothing,

no value that man can abuse,

like me it’s empty and barren,

heartless and of no use.

Yet God uses the wilderness,

where He sends me to find my poverty,

I find it as I look inward,

undistracted, just lonely austerity.

Alone here I can find my God,

while trapped inside my helplessness,

my weakness becomes apparent,

my soul yearns and prays for His presence.

Vanity’s life and vigour subdued,

I shrink into my isolation,

retreating in introspection,

humbled by my human limitations.

In the desert I learn to depend,

I thirst for the water of the word,

as I turn my parched heart to God,

in the dry silence, at last He can be heard.

I learn to love the wilderness,

when He in His wisdom sends me there,

I ask Him to deliver me

as I kneel and pray