In celebration of National Poetry Month, the American Academy of Poets has designated April 29 as National Poem in Your Pocket Day 2021. Until recently, the idea was simple: people selected a poem that they loved during National Poetry Month and carried it with them to share with co-workers, family, and friends. People unfolded poems from pockets throughout the day with events in parks, libraries, schools, workplaces, and bookstores. In light of the current COVID-19 circumstances, the celebration can continue digitally:
Here are ways to celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day 2021:
Select a poem and share it on social media using the hashtag #pocketpoem.
Simultaneously participate in the Shelter in Poems initiative, and select a poem that brings you solace during this time of distance and solitude. Share what it means to you and use the hashtags #pocketpoem and #ShelterInPoems.
Record a video of yourself reading a poem, then share it on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or another social media platform you use.
Email a poem to your friends, family, neighbors, or local government leaders.
Schedule a video chat and read a poem to your loved ones.
Add a poem to your email footer.
Read a poem out loud from your porch, window, backyard or outdoor space.
Poem in My Pocket:
In the midst of all that is transpiring, I wake up each day with a heart filled with gratitude that I am alive and well and “clothed in my right mind.” I often begin my day by reciting Psalm 118:24 the inspiration for this original psalm, the inspiration for the Poem in My Pocket for 2021:
Good News Day
This is the day the LORD has made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
It’s a good news day
no blues day
new shoes
no way to lose
What a good news day!
It’s a great day
I can’t wait day
lift your voice
let’s rejoice
Good God, a good news day!
It’s a payday
goin my way day
no nay–all yea
what you say
Such a good news day!
It’s a live it up day
overflowin cup day
It’s a bright and bubbly
doubly lovely
Show-nuff good news day!
Here is a link to a discussion of “Good News Day” posted on Dr. J’s Apothecary Shoppe. Check out.
The blog entry for the Verse of the Day for April 27, 2021 is a revision of a previous post based on Luke 19:10 in the Amplified Bible:
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
In fact, in Luke 15 we find three parables related to lost items: “The Parable of the Lost Sheep”, “The Parable of the Lost Coin”, and “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” In each instance, something is lost, and when it is found there is great celebration and rejoicing.
In the first account, a man has 100 sheep, and one is lost. The man leaves the ninety-nine and diligently pursues the lost sheep until he finds it and returns home.
Luke 15:6 (AMP)
And when he gets home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’
Similarly, Luke 15:8-9 describes another lost item and finding it.
[The Lost Coin] “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins [each one equal to a day’s wages] and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
And when he gets home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’
At the end of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the third instance of a lost item, the father responds to his resentful son who stayed behind while his younger brother “squandered his substance in riotous living”:
Luke 15:32b
. . . for thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
At the end of this moving account, the forgiving father “spread the welcome table and had a family feast. . .” and in Luke 15:24 proclaims:
For this son of mine was [as good as] dead and is alive again; he was lost and has been found.’ So they began to celebrate.
These three accounts of lost items remind of us our state before the Lord Jesus Christ rescued us from the “Lost and Found” of this world. Every believer is deposited as lost property awaiting retrieval by our rightful owner. We are eternally grateful that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, came to seek and to save the Lord. The lyrics to “I’m forever Grateful” express our thoughts:
The Verse of the Day for April 25, 2021, like a beautifully wrapped package, provides enjoy a deeper appreciation of God’s wisdom and grace offered to believers. This passage reveals the concept of “the mystery” unfolded in Colossians 1:27-28 in the King James Version:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Derived from the Greek word musterion, translated “sacred secret,” the essence of “this mystery” is that Jews and Gentiles would be united in one body, the Body of Christ. This “great mystery” was hidden in Christ before the foundations of the earth. Had Satan known this mystery or great secret, the Scriptures declare that he never would have crucified the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ. The mystery was revealed to the Apostle Paul as the context of the Verse of the Day indicates.
In the Book of Ephesians, Paul also speaks of the magnificence of God’s new creation in Christ and describes the spiritual impact that the Church, the Body of Christ, was designed to demonstrate. Our discussion of the riches of the glory of this mystery of the one body brought to mind to mind to an experience that occurred several years ago when my wife and I visited family and friends in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
During our stay in the City by the Bay, we enjoyed a most enlightening experience at the Asian Museum where we saw a special exhibit from the Ming Dynasty. One of the pieces on display was a stationery box which is similar to the one shown below. Although the final product reveals what the designer had in mind, we do not see how the object looked at the various stages of development. So, it is with the Church, the Body of Christ, referred to in the Book of Ephesians, especially in Chapters 2 and 3. The Church, as such, is still a work in progress, but I believe that God is putting “the finishing touches on His crowning achievement.” The poem “Exquisite Exhibit” conveys, in part, thoughts regarding the Church and our role in this amazing masterpiece of God’s creation.
Exquisite Exhibit
Viewing a Ryoshi-bako (stationery box)
Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty
Asian Museum–San Francisco, California
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anewin Christ Jesus so that we can do the good thingshe planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 2:10
God’s purpose was to show his wisdom in all its rich variety
to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.
They will see this when Jews and Gentiles
are joined together in his church.
Ephesians 3:10
Sublime thoughts never diminish, only increase,
As we marvel at this ancient masterpiece.
The designer sees the end long before he starts
And envisions intricate details of the parts
And fashions a wood box inlaid with jade and gold,
Lacquered vessel for deepest thoughts the mind can hold.
Beyond all that we see, God fashioned you and me
With precise measure of each scroll and filigree.
Displayed by the skillful hands of the Master craftsman,
Beyond the finest design of any artisan,
The Church, exquisite exhibit now on display,
Treasures from the hand of God take our breath away.
With the eyes of our heart now opened, we find
We are the masterpiece Jehovah had in mind.
This ryoshi-bako or stationery box is similar to the one that inspired the poem that draws a parallel with God’s masterpiece, the Church.
A number of years ago I also hosted a radio show “Poetry and Praise,” where I would close each show with a reference to Ephesians 2:10. Recently, I discovered this rendering of the verse from the Passion Translation:
We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!
Every day of our lives we recognize and celebrate the truth that as born-again believers we are all new creations in Christ, and we praise God that He has given us all things richly to enjoy. Indeed, “. . . we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (KJV) The word “workmanship” is translated from the Greek word poiema, which means “masterpiece, a glorious creation, a centerpiece of attention, as the French would say, le piece de resistance, or showpiece.” Of course, the Greek word poiema is transliterated into our English word poem, which in the minds of many people, certainly present company included, is always a “masterpiece” or glorious creation. So, that the people of God represent the real poetry of life, for which we praise God. Yes, each of us is a poem, or God’s handiwork or workmanship, a special work created by God that we should be to the praise of His glory….
We close with “Christ in You!” from Charlie LeBlanc (Hosanna! Music)
Revised and reposted, the Verse of the Day on Biblegate.com for April 7, 2021, comes from Galatians 2:20:
The New Living Translation renders the verse this way:
20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Philippians 1:21 in the Amplified Bible also makes known this truth:
21 For me to live is Christ [His life in me], and to die is gain [the gain of the glory of eternity].
The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead resides in every born-again believer. For in Christ we live, we move, and have our being. We have the privilege of demonstrating that same power that raised him from the dead, as we apply the principles of the Word of God whereby we manifest all that God desires for us:
Ephesians 3:17-20
17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
Verse 19 uses a particular expression that inspired this response:
All the Fullness of God
To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God
Ephesians 3:19
In wisdom, God gives power to loose and to bind,
To enlighten souls and open eyes of the blind.
All the promises of God are “yes and amen.”
God’s Word is true today, just as it was back then
When Christ first spoke the truth to those with ears to hear.
We walk in the spirit of love and have no fear.
We have been empowered by the spirit of might.
To serve the Lord, to please Him is our soul’s delight.
Secure, knowing nothing can snatch us from His hand,
We shall know fulfillment of all that God has planned.
Filled with all the fullness of God, that we might see:
The riches of the glory of this mystery.
We walk by faith and not by sight, for we now know
God sealed us by a covenant, and it is so.
This message of the Verse of the Day is powerfully reinforced in this stirring rendition of the song based on this verse by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, “I am crucified with Christ”:
Dr. J's Apothecary Shoppe 