2-13-16 Just Let It Go

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8 KJV

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Your brothers and your sisters found in Christ,

No matter race or place or sect or creed,

Deserve a higher love more than sufficed,

For you are one in spirit guaranteed.

Forgive immediate their sins invoked,

Let nothing get between your heart and theirs,

Don’t rake up things that God has long revoked,

Don’t gossip of their personal affairs.

We know that Christ alone can cover sins;

His blood and righteousness makes pure as snow,

And where your patience ends His just begins;

Let tolerance and love among you grow.

Love one another as the Lord loves you;

Let go transgressions – don’t let them accrue.

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REMEMBER: Have a forgiving love especially to your brothers and sisters in Christ.

1-19-16 One Eighty

¹⁶ But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, ¹⁷ And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

Nehemiah 9:16-17 KJV

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You’ve sinned though saved and now are on your knees

Afraid salvation’s lost, God’s turned His back.

Conviction weighs up your chest to squeeze;

You think your white as snow has changed to black.

Repent! One Eighty what you’ve done right now,

Confess to God your sin with sorrowed heart.

He WILL forgive! God’s mercy will endow.

He loves you SO; you’ll never be apart.

Did He not send His own begotten Son

To pay for every sin on your behalf?

Renounce with all you are for what you’ve done

And know God’s written that sin’s epitaph.

He loves you more than you can ever know.

You are His child! Repent and let it go.

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REMEMBER: Look at all God’s chosen people did after He brought them out of bondage in Egypt. He did not forsake them. He likewise will never, ever forsake you.

12-9-15 The Perfect Bond

And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness.

Colossians 3:14 KJV

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THE PERFECT BOND

Of all the aspects of a Christian heart,

Of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind,

Of meekness, patience, tolerance impart,

Forgiving one another so refined,

Above them all is charity and love;

Without it all the others are a show.

Agape’s like the stitching in a glove,

The letters in these words you’ve come to know.

Love is the perfect bond of unity,

The source of all that’s beautiful and true.

The way to run a just community

Begins with selfless love from me and you.

The fountainhead of love is God Himself.

His Spirit lies in Christ and in yourself.

11-7-15 Turn the Other Cheek

³⁸ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

³⁹ But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Matthew 5:38-39 KJV

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When Jesus said to turn the other cheek,

The world has since ignored it out of hand.

Most people think it makes you look so weak

You’ll fall in line to anyone’s demand.

To turn the other cheek resentfully,

Your indignation makes you anger’s slave.

If you think you are grander morally,

Your haughty pride makes you a moral knave.

When someone strikes you, instantly forgive,

And turn the other cheek with mercy mild.

The Lord’s the only one to judgment give;

Through love you’re free: no sins have you compiled.

So turn the other cheek if you are struck,

And choose the way of grace; you won’t get stuck.

10-27-15 Little Children

I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.

1 John 2:12 KJV

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If there is any doubt of God’s good grace,

Or that His mercy moves abundantly,

Then look no further than a child’s face

To know that in the name of Christ he’s free.

We all are born in sin and can’t escape ¹

Unless we give to Jesus our whole lives, ²

But in His sovereign mercy God may drape

Forgiveness to a child whose death arrives.

There is an age we are accountable,

When we so choose to sin or turn to Christ.

Before that sin is insurmountable;

A baby can’t avoid the awful price. ³

The mercy of the Lord can so extend

To cover little children without end.

1Psalm 51:5

2Romans 10:9

3Romans 6:23

8-12-15 Grace Through Faith

For by grace are ye saved through faith;

and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God

Ephesians 2:8 KJV

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You don’t deserve a single dot of grace,

For Hell is what you’ve earned for all your sin.

The best five minutes of your life’s disgrace;

The best of all the world would not begin.

Fall on your face and know you’re hopeless mud;

Repent and beg forgiveness for it all,

Believe that Jesus shed His precious blood

To pay for all your sins both great and small.

With all your heart accept Him as your Lord,

Then feel the Holy Spirit enter you!

God’s grace, and faith, His gifts you can’t afford,

And with Christ’s blood you’re covered through and through.

You’re saved by grace through faith and nothing more,

With Jesus as your Savior guarantor.

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sonnet #434

6-28-15 God’s Loving Mercy

But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

Psalm 78:38 KJV

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The Lord is always ready to forgive;

His Mercy can subdue His mighty wrath,

For God in His great Love wants us to live

To walk along the true and righteous path.

God’s full of such compassion for us all;

It breaks His heart when we go so astray.

The sins that we persist to oft recall,

Without God’s clemency we’ve Hell to pay.

The richness of God’s Grace will long acquit,

Yet only through the blood of Christ atones,

For God set forth His Son we must submit

To lead us past our mortal skin and bones.

God made the universe – He made you, too.

Show gratitude – let Jesus live through you.

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sonnet #402

6-16-17 Rend Your Heart

¹² Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

¹³ And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Joel 2:12-13 KJV

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It matters not at all how bad you are,

How much a mess your life has turned into;

Your sinful life may seem the worse by far,

But God can still forgive, repent anew.

Turn even to the Lord with all your heart,

And turn away for good your evil ways.

If you’re not penitent don’t even start;

Remorse should be authentic, not a phrase.

Then fast and weep and mourn if you’re sincere;

You should not show it to the world at all.

Repentance rends the heart with woe and fear;

You don’t deserve forgiveness from your fall.

But God is merciful and gracious, too;

If you’re contrite the Lord will pardon you.

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sonnet #391

5-17-15 Grace and Truth

For the law was given by Moses, 

but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

John 1:17 KJV

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The Lord gave Moses laws defining sin,

And spelled the things that man should never do,

But laws don’t teach forgiveness there within,

And do not mention grace the whole way through.

So once a year a lamb was sacrificed

To pay for all the sins men did accrue,

Then came along our Savior Jesus Christ,

To be the truth and give God’s grace to you.

He taught the way of love to all who’d hear,

And lived the fullness of God’s righteousness.

He gave His life, a sacrifice so dear,

And through this perfect Grace God’s love confess.

The substance of the shadows of the law

Lived as the Lamb of God without a flaw.

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sonnet #363

4-9-15 The Bond of Peace

The Holy Spirit binds us all as one

Who came unto the shadow of the cross

And gave our life to Christ, God’s first-born Son,

Now counted closer than a family’s gloss.

So here we are as one and Spirit led.

The things that caused contention surely cease,

For now the love of Christ’s the common thread

That brings so naturally a bond of peace.

Where there was once dissension we find grace,

No longer slave to sin and anger’s hook;

Forgiveness helps us run the longer race,

A stamina not gained by hook or crook.

When differences arise within the flock,

The key of Christ will open any lock.

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Endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit

in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:3 KJV