2-11-16 Coming to Know Christ

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

2 Peter 3:18 KJV

~~~~~~~~~~~

If you would be like Jesus know Him well

Through study of the scriptures every day,

And feel His spirit with you as you dwell

Upon the word of God and as you pray.

But words are merely symbols on a page

Until they come alive within the heart.

God’s gifts of grace release them from their cage:

With faith and hope and love does grace impart.

The knowledge of our Lord and Savior grows

As all these gifts of grace mature and thrive.

You come to be more like Christ and it shows;

The things you say and do proves He’s alive.

In knowledge and in grace your soul implores,

To Jesus be the glory evermore!

~~~~~~~~~~~

REMEMBER: Commit yourself to studying the scriptures daily if you desire to know Christ.

10-8-15 Name Above All

² For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

³ He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:2-5 KJV

~~~~~~~~~~~

No good can come from Nazareth, they said,

The lowly son of Joseph, carpenter.

He had no place to lay his weary head,

A man of sorrows, none we would prefer.

Despised and unesteemed, our grief he bore;

We hid our face from him and still we do.

He took the wrath of God as none before,

Was wounded for our sins, his blood soaked through.

Afflicted, bruised and beaten, he was hung

Upon a rugged cross between two thieves.

He died there with our names upon his tongue

And lives within all those who still believes.

His name will resonate forever more;

If you but think of Him, your heart will soar.

8-10-15 Intercession

³¹ And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

³² But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Luke 22:31-32 KJV

~~~~~~~~~~~

The enemy of God wants you to fail;

He wants to drag you ‘cross the threshing floor.

He wants you to deny the Lord and wail,

To lose your faith and bother him no more.

If you’re a child of God you’re valuable,

For you can share the gospel of the Lord.

If Satan makes you unapproachable,

You’re one more Christian that can be ignored.

But Jesus wants your faith to grow and thrive,

So you can thwart the Devil in his plan.

Your strength will help Christ bring more souls alive,

Help lift your brethren from the sifting pan.

Christ prays for you this moment out of love,

That your faith will not fail, but rise above

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

sonnet #432

8-1-15 The Root of All Evil

For the love of money is the root of all evil:

which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith,

and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

1 Timothy 6:10 KJV

~~~~~~~~~~~

The love of wealth begins with just a kiss,

A secret rendezvous, a warm desire.

The more you have the more you want for bliss;

The more you want the more that you require.

You think of all the things that it can bring,

How easy life would be if you were rich.

You need it more than God, this precious thing;

The love of money turns your life to kitsch.

Idolatry begat all evilness:

Desire of the fruit to have it all.

As long as this is what you must possess,

You are a slave to sin and sure to fall.

If you love God as much as you need air,

Then money’s not an issue nor a snare.

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

sonnet #423

6-23-15 Heart Burn

And they said one to another,

Did not our heart burn within us,

while he talked with us by the way,

and while he opened to us the scriptures?

Luke 24:32 KJV

~~~~~~~~~~~

To walk with Jesus while Emmaus bound,

And listen as He opened scriptures wide!

To hear Him speak the mysteries profound;

My heart ablaze with Jesus by my side!

Amazing as it was that awesome day,

How truly wonderful it must have been,

My soul still leaps with joy with such display,

Just knowing that His presence grows within!

Here dwells the Holy Spirit like a fire,

It burns with love I scarcely can contain!

The Savior speaks and fuels my one desire

To do the will of God and thus remain.

His fiery words are whispered in my ear,

And that’s the only voice I truly hear.

~~~~~~~~~~~

sonnet #396

4-10-15 The Secret Part

There is a secret part of you that laughs,

An inward spark of love and happiness,

Connected to the Savior, free from gaffes

Or other outward games that bring us stress.

The Lord desires the truth and all that brings,

And deep within the Holy Spirit shares

To all God’s children, not to priests and kings,

The wisdom of the ages asked through prayer.

Oh, happy soul, where Jesus loves to dwell,

Is there not any greater joy than this,

To share the gospel and save one from hell,

To see the Light come on and feel their bliss?

The secret part of you that is at peace

Was born to share the love and never cease.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts:

and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Psalm 51:6 KJV

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh

with the affections and lusts.

Galatians 5:24 KJV

11-20-14 Spiritual Milk

Just as a newborn babe needs milk to live,

Desire the word of God to feed your soul;

Without it’s nourishment you fail to give

The sustenance you need to make you whole.

Essential truths within the gospel form

A base to grasp much deeper certainties;

The language fundamentals soon transform

What once was gibberish to spoken ease.

How can you understand God’s awsome grace

Unless you know what Jesus did for you?

How can you hope to win the final race

Unless you train your muscles to push through?

Your spirit cries in hunger for the Word;

The Savior’s gentle teachings are preferred.

~~~~~~~~~~~

As newborn babes,

desire the sincere milk of the word,

that ye may grow thereby:

1 Peter 2:2

Worldly Desires

The glitz that blinds our eyes is gone tonight,

Like flotsam bobbing on a tempest sea,

And precious wealth today will soon be trite;

The thirsty ride the waves in constant spree.

This world is always drifting, always new,

Yet most of us desire what we can’t reach,

And only when we shift our point of view

Do we perceive a lighthouse on the beach.

God’s will is done by those who see the light

Then tell their fellow man the way back home.

Without the beacon in their line of sight

They crash upon the rocks beneath the foam.

The will of God will surely set you free,

Let Jesus be your Guide upon the sea.

And the world passeth away,

and the lust thereof:

but he that doeth the will of God

abideth for ever.

                1 John 2:17 KJV

9-2-14 Lord, Lord

Not ev’ryone who says they love God does;

Their heart is just as empty as their word.

They say the things you want to hear because

They want to be accepted and preferred.

They circumnavigate God’s will and way

To serve their own agenda and desire.

Don’t be misled by them and what they say;

Have faith in Jesus only, not a liar.

Draw near to God in prayer, His will be done;

Let Jesus be your guide, you can’t go wrong.

Submit your life to Christ, God’s precious Son,

And let Him take you Home where you belong.

            Not all who call Him Lord will be let in,

            Just those who let the Lamb erase their sin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,

shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;

 but he that doeth the will of my Father

which is in heaven.

Matthew 7:21 KJV

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~