7-26-15 Diligence

⁵ And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

⁶ And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

⁷ And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

⁸ For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹ But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

¹⁰ Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

2 Peter 1:5-10 KJV

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If you would come to know of Christ our King,

Then work with diligence these attributes:

Keep faith so strong it stands through anything,

And build your virtue as an absolute.

 

Increase in knowledge of the scriptured word,

Conduct with temperence your words and ways,

Be patient to endure all trials incurred,

And strive toward godliness without delays.

 

With kindness treat your brother as yourself,

And move with charity in all you do.

Without these things you’re blind upon a shelf,

Forgetting what Christ’s death has done for you.

 

            Give diligence to make your calling sure

            And you will never fall as immature.

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sonnet #417

6-24-15 First to Last

So the last shall be first, and the first last:

for many be called, but few chosen.

Matthew 20:16 KJV

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The souls who are forgotten by the crowd:

The meek, the low, the bullied and the plain,

Are lost among the ego-driven proud

And last to find a post they can attain.

The Lord will not ignore the seventh son,

The shepherd boy who one day would be king.

The manger-born became the perfect One

To save a sinful world who hopeless cling.

We all are called to come unto the cross,

Invited to the wedding feast by Christ;

The proud will all be counted as a loss,

The chosen ones are those who’ve paid the price.

Down here we choose the leader of the pack;

If you would follow Christ, then serve in back.

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sonnet #397

1-13-15 God or Bust

Unless the Lord is present count it dead

Whatever that is built with human hands;

It may exist a thousand years ahead

But might as well be built with desert sand.

A city that’s forgotten God is doomed

Like Sodom and Gormorrah full of sin;

Then soon by wickedness it is consumed,

As dead inside as though it’s never been.

Invite the Lord to sanction all you do,

And let His Spirit guide your heart and mind;

The earthly things that honor God are true,

And all without His love will fall behind.

Let God build both your church and family,

And everywhere you go, there He will be.

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Except the LORD build the house,

they labour in vain that build it:

except the LORD keep the city,

the watchman waketh but in vain.

Psalm 127:1 KJV

7-6-14 Not Forgotten (a Sonnet)

Just look about you now or through the day;

The world is full of children of the night.

Yet here they wander aimless cold and grey

Without the guidance of their Father’s Light.

The Lord cannot forget His love for these;

He grieves more than a mother for her child.

That’s why He sent His Son to hold the keys

Of Hell and death to free the ones beguiled.

Now here you are as saved by loving Grace;

The heart of Jesus beats inside of you.

Please listen to the Spirit and embrace

The lost and lonely seeking God anew.

Do not forget to share the grand Good News!

So many thirst for life, a chance to choose.

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Can a woman forget her nursing child,

or lack compassion for the child of her womb?

Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you.

Isaiah 49:15 HCS

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