10-26-15 Wait – Don’t Hate

⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

Psalm 37:8-9 KJV

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When someone does you wrong it’s natural

To let your anger get the best of you,

But wrath will be your wisdom’s funeral

And then the worst of you will soon break through.

Yet you’re no slave to sin: the old man died; ¹

He’s crucified with Christ when you are saved.

If you’ve been wronged let Spirit be your guide;

Just wait upon the Lord; let hate be waived.

When evil’s done to you first turn to prayer;

The patient love of Jesus will descend.

When you are meek the new earth’s yours to bear. ²

God cuts off evildoers in the end.

Serenity belongs to those who wait;

In Christ there is no room for those who hate.

1Romans 6:6

2Matthew 5:5

9-25-15 The Perfect Example

²¹ For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

²² Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

²³ Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

²⁴ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

²⁵ For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

1 Peter 2:21-25 KJV

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There is no greater love than Christ has shown,

The perfect model for a perfect life,

Who chose to leave His bright celestial throne

To come and save His sheep through pain and strife.

He had no sin Himself but came for ours,

Enduring all the wrath of God and man,

Who could have freed Himself with awesome powers

But chose to bring salvation as His plan,

And all the torment that our Lord endured,

Reviled, threatened, beaten, crucified,

He did for you so you could be secured.

He loved you so He suffered, bled and died.

O friend, I know He thought of you that day

As He was hanging on the cross that way!

8-22-15 Come See

⁵ And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye:

for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

⁶ He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Matthew 28:5-6 KJV

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Imagine Mary’s fright that Sunday morn

When she arrived to see the Master’s tomb.

She thought that she would visit there and mourn;

Instead she was to see an empty room.

The guards lay as if dead upon the ground,

And there an angel sat upon the stone,

As bright as lightning, patient and profound

To say that Christ is risen, come be shown.

To know that He has risen from the dead!

He took with Him the bulk of all our sins,

And rose just three days later like He said,

And if we just believe new life begins!

Come see the empty tomb where Jesus lay.

He conquered death and hell upon that day!

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sonnet #444

7-5-15 Ministers of the Spirit

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament;

not of the letter, but of the spirit:

for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

2 Corinthians 3:6 KJV

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The Holy Spirit breathes a life anew

When we with Jesus Christ are crucified.

A new creation rises into view,

Not bound by laws designed with sin implied.

The Lamb of God was slain to satisfy

The letter of the covenant of old.

Now death, the price of sin, will pass us by;

We’re covered by the blood and thus paroled.

The Spirit sparks a testament of love,

That turns us into ministers of grace.

Our stories, once of sin, now rise above

To share salvation with the human race.

The letter kills, but Spirit brings alive

A faith surpassing all the laws contrive.

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sonnet #406

4-26-15 Seek and Find

If you’ve accepted Jesus in your heart,

You’re crucified with Him upon the cross,

Then risen with Him from the dead to start

Becoming more like Christ now all across.

Look to the Son in all you say and do,

And pray to know Him more each passing day,

Then feel His Spirit swell inside of you,

Until you disappear along the way.

Now seek those things which are above this world,

Where Christ sits on the right hand side of God,

And hunger for the Word til you’re unfurled,

No longer you, no longer frail and flawed.

The thing you seek has got no room for two.

Let go and let the Savior work through you.

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If ye then be risen with Christ,

seek those things which are above,

where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:1 KJV

 

Sonnet #342

3-16-15 No Longer Slave to Sin

Before you came to Christ you were a slave,

So hopelessly involved in sin and shame,

A victim to desire that bodies crave;

The passions of the flesh are all the same.

And then convicted by the Holy Ghost,

You fell before the cross as Spirit slain,

Declaring Christ your Lord, the final host

You rose a son of God no sin to stain.

Your flesh was crucified: the lust, the thirst,

No longer slave to sin and all its ways,

You now have conscious choice as Spirit nursed

To fall to such temptations and malaise.

Call out to Jesus when seduced by sin;

Have faith in Christ and love will always win.

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And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh

with the affections and lusts.

Galatians 5:24 KJV

1-18-15 Freed From Sin

When you accepted Jesus as your Lord

The sinner that you were was crucified,

That in your death the sin that God abhorred

Was left upon the cross and there reside.

With Jesus you were taken from the cross,

Then raised with Him a new creation born;

The old man’s life is counted as a loss

With all the law fulfilled the veil is torn.

For now so dead from sin you are then free,

And dead in Christ His love removed the stone;

Now Jesus as your Lord and Savior be,

And stepping from the tomb you’re not alone.

As Jesus took to death all earthly sin,

So you that died with Him new life begin.

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For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Romans 6:7 KJV

8-27-14 Keeping It Real

It’s tempting to show just how much you know

About the world and all such earthly things,

But this you know is only so much show

Compared to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.

When you relate the gospel keep it pure

As Christ’s salvation to the souls of men:

Atonement through His blood you can be sure,

And gave His life for all your sins, amen.

So concentrate on Jesus, Son of God;

Don’t let your worldly knowledge make you stray.

This moment may be all you have to laud

The sacrifice He made for them that day.

            Evangelize to all about the cross;

            Temporal education’s mostly dross.

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For I determined not to know any thing among you,

save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:2 KJV

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6-1-14 Crucified with Christ (a Sonnet)

The Lamb of God has suffered, bled and died

Because He loves you with his perfect heart.

No greater love has ever been applied,

This gift He gave for your salvation’s start.

You have been crucified upon that cross

For He took all your sins up there to stay;

His life He gave for you was worth the loss,

Was worth the pain and sorrow of that day.

If you accept the sacrifice He made,

The forces of this world cannot pursue

And death is dead, no need to be afraid,

For you’ll no longer live, but Christ in you.

Let go of all your cares, for Jesus dwells

Within your heart and soul, and all is well!

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“…I have been crucified with Christ;

and it is no longer I who live,

but Christ lives in me…”

Galatians 2:20

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