1-21-16 No Expiration Date

Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

John 6:27 KJV

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A man must quickly eat the meat he buys

Or else it rots and does nobody good,

And he must live his life until he dies

And then his body’s done the best it could.

Don’t spend your days obsessing on the flesh;

It won’t endure beyond its meted time.

Work toward that meat that always will stay fresh

With everlasting life that’s so sublime.

What must you do to earn eternal food?

Believe in He whom God the Father sealed.

Let Jesus be the one your faith’s pursued.

Be hungry for the Word of Life revealed.

Seek first the sustenance that fills the soul;

The more that you consume the more you’re whole.

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REMEMBER: Be as hungry for the Word as one who hasn’t eaten in three days.

12-7-15 Mocked

I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

Job 12:4 KJV

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Beware, the days are here when you are mocked

For standing on your Christian principles,

And even other Christians will concoct

The wildest things about you from their skulls.

Don’t dare defend yourself from such a crowd,

For they are fools, and fools are hard to change.

Just listen to the Lord and don’t be cowed;

The godliest of souls have all been strange.

The sort who love to gossip matter not,

It’s those who love the Lord live in your heart.

It will not matter what the scorners thought

When all is said and done the truth impart.

Be bold, be upright and believe in Christ.

Your faith in Him is worth the sacrifice.

12-5-15 Shew Me Thy Ways

Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

Psalm 25:4 KJV

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SHEW ME THY WAYS

Please show me, Lord, Your countless holy ways,

The many mysteries beyond this mind.

When I have left this world with all its days

I’ll have eternity to be inclined.

Until I’m there with You, teach me Your paths,

I’ve faith You’ll shepherd me the whole way Home.

I’ll need Your guidance through the aftermath;

While I’m still in this body I may roam.

Beloved Savior, keep me ‘neath Your wing;

I know Your loving Spirit lies within.

You are my Teacher, Counselor and King:

Please show me, teach me, lead me out and in.

But most of all, have mercy on me, Lord!

I want so many things, this smorgasbord!

11-11-15 A Child of Light

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Ephesians 5:8 KJV

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A CHILD OF LIGHT

There was a time when you were lost and blind,

Not only dark, but darkness, void of light.

You may have been so brilliant and refined,

But in the spirit you were starless night.

Then Jesus knocked upon your darkened door;

You answered, and the Light came rushing in.

The Holy Spirit knocked you to the floor;

The blood of Jesus covered all your sin.

Since then the light of Christ does shine from you,

And now you are a child of light itself.

No darkness left within; those days are through.

No longer blind, you’re seeing God Himself.

You are a child of light, now walk that way.

Let Christ illuminate your life today.

10-23-15 Your Days Are Numbered

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Psalm 90:12 KJV

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The only day you know you have is here,

So set about as if it is your last.

Tomorrow is not promised to appear;

The best day of your life is fading fast.

You know this to be true but still you yawn;

How many days have you survived thus far?

A wise man counts each day as his last dawn

And counts the Lord his only constant star.

The place and time to live is here and now.

Do everything with love while you still can.

The sun tomorrow God may not allow,

So treat today the end of your lifespan.

Get up this instant! Get upon your feet!

Give all that you can give to all you meet!

10-7-15 Rejoice!

Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Psalm 32:11 KJV

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When you lay down and take your final breath,

You’ll wake up with a shout of victory.

The righteous found in Christ shall see no death,

For with His sacrifice they were set free.

The resurrected Christ will be the one

To greet you when you close your mortal eyes.

For those who did believe God’s chosen Son,

Eternal life shall be their golden prize.

Don’t be afraid, my friend, instead rejoice!

Your days of tears and pain will soon be through!

The upright are the ones who made the choice

To put their faith in Jesus and pursue.

Be glad for there is victory in Christ!

He lives in you! His precious love sufficed!

10-02-15 These Stumbling Times

¹⁰ He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

¹¹ But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

1 John 2:10-11 KJV

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There is no question these are darker times

Than all the days this world has ever known.

The moral structure failed, there are more crimes,

The stench of sin makes all the earth to groan.

There’s so much hate we see it in the air;

The people that you pass won’t look at you.

Sweet life has lost it’s value; most don’t care,

As if we’ve all gone blind and can’t see through.

The only hope we have is Jesus Christ;

He lights the way with nothing less than love,

And here the grace of God is so sufficed;

Believe in Him and see the way above.

It’s not so hard to love our brother when

We have the perfect light of Christ within.

7-29-15 On Persecution

¹¹ Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

¹² Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Matthew 5:11-12 KJV

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These days when you say Jesus best beware,

The chance is good you’ll meet a wall of hate.

Consider yourself blessed when they just stare,

For there are places killing us is great.

Just tell them Christ arose alive from death

And you’ll be shouted down and shown the door.

In some parts of the world give Christ your breath

And they will roll your head along the floor.

Rejoice when you are persecuted here,

For so the prophets suffered this and worse.

Count it a blessing when your pain’s severe,

For your reward in heaven’s worth their curse.

When persecution comes be glad in Christ

He’ll be there with you when you’re sacrificed.

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sonnet #420

6-17-16 Shut Your Mouth

For he that will love life, and see good days,

let him refrain his tongue from evil,

and his lips that they speak no guile

1 Peter 3:10 KJV

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A lying tongue will come to no good thing,

For it will come around to face the liar.

If you would be like Christ your tongue should bring

The words the Holy Ghost set it afire.

Refrain from evil talk, it flogs the soul,

Removing you as witness of the Word.

The things you say affects you as a whole,

And who desires sickness? Now that’s absurd!

Beguiling words are fashioned to deceive;

If you can’t speak with love then shut your mouth.

Christ told you ‘Yea’ or ‘Nay’ but not to thieve;

If you must speak share Jesus North and South.

If you desire a life that’s full of love,

Tell others what the gospel is made of.

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sonnet #392

5-18-15 On Seeking Signs

³⁸ Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

³⁹ But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas

Matthew 12:38-39 KJV

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There still are those today who look for signs,

For they don’t have the Spirit faith reveals;

They seek some thund’rous roar and light that shines

And still would turn to court with their appeals.

But just as Jesus said so long so ago,

The only sign He’d show the cheating crowd,

Like Jonah three days in the fish below,

He’d lay inside a tomb under the shroud.

Then, O, the miracle our Saviour wrought!

Within the gut of death three days gone by,

He then came back to life as He once taught

To show us all we never have to die.

To those who seek a sign ere they believe,

The resurrected Christ their faith should cleave.

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sonnet #363