Poetry in Motion

What came to your mind when you read the title Poetry in Motion?

Was it the image of a beautiful ballerina gracefully moving across a stage?  Maybe it was watching a child take those precious first steps, or hearing their first words spoken.  Perhaps you thought of the overwhelming tenderness you felt the first time you held a newborn baby in your arms.

When I penned the title Poetry in Motion, my thoughts went somewhere much deeper.  I thought about my own born-again experience—the moment my life was forever changed and I was set free to worship God in spirit and in truth.

For me, it was poetry in motion when the Holy Spirit—eternal, holy, and perfect in every way—came to dwell within this vessel, mortal and imperfect in every way.

How can I adequately describe what it felt like to know that God had chosen to make His dwelling place within me?  I cannot fully explain it.  I can only testify to what I experienced.

I took my first steps as a babe in Christ when His nature began to become my nature.  Something inside me had changed.  The person I had been was no longer the person I wanted to remain.  The desires of my heart began to shift as I surrendered myself to Him.

It was the miraculous transformation that began the moment I repented of my sins and God forgave me.  In that moment, I experienced a mercy I could never have earned and a love I could never have deserved.  Nothing compares to the beauty of becoming a child of the Most High God.

When the blood of Jesus broke me free from Satan’s clutches and the chains that had bound me, I ran into the welcoming arms of Jesus.  I wanted nothing more than to rest in the loving embrace of my Savior—to bask in the warmth of His presence and know that I was finally free.

Free.  That word means something different to me now.

I know what it is to be bound, and I know what it is to be released.  I know what it feels like to carry the weight of sin, and I know what it feels like to lay that burden at the feet of Jesus.  I know what it is to wander, and I know the joy of finally finding my way home.

That breakaway was, indeed, poetry in motion.

And it was made possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  He willingly went to the cross—not only for my sins, but for your sins and the sins of all humanity.  He gave His life so that we could have life.  He endured the cross so that we could experience freedom.  He rose again so that our story would not have to end in bondage, brokenness, or despair.

(John 3:16-17), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (vs 17) “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

When I think about the title Poetry in Motion, I think about redemption.

I think about what happens when a soul finally chooses to go God’s way.  I think about the person who has been wounded, weary, lost, and broken by sin and discovers that there is still hope.  I think about the miraculous new birth that brings healing to a sin-sick existence—spiritually, physically, and mentally.

I think about myself.  I think about the man I was and the man God is continually transforming me to become.

The journey has not meant that I became perfect.  I am still mortal.  I am still imperfect.  I still stumble.  But I am no longer walking alone, and I am no longer who I once was.

His grace keeps drawing me forward.  His love keeps calling me closer.  His Spirit keeps moving within me.  And with every step I take toward Him, I am reminded of where He brought me from.

So when a soul chooses to go God’s way, that move is more than a decision.  It is surrender.  It is transformation.  It is freedom.  It is redemption.

And that, my friend, is truly—Poetry in Motion.

Written by,

Papa Boyd