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.

11-6-15 All is Vanity

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 12:8 KJV

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Don’t get caught up in all this world displays;

You’ll soon forget the reason you are here.

Most everyone you know is in a daze

Believing these illusions are sincere.

The moment you are born the show begins,

And all the lights and sounds will mesmerize;

You’re told the more you have the more you win,

And told the more you know will make you wise.

It’s vanity; all this is meaningless,

For Jesus is the only thing that counts.

He’ll guide your way around this awful mess;

There’s nothing in this world He can’t surmount.

This place is not your home – you’re heaven bound!

Now spread the gospel – help the lost be found!

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!

10-15-15 On Mindedness

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Romans 8:6 KJV

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The carnal mind is focused on the flesh

And all the things of flesh are doomed to die.

It may look good today while it is fresh

But it will sure be rotten by and by.

There’s nothing wrong with passion in its place:

Creative drive is needed to produce,

But passion gone awry is bankrupt grace,

Like tying knots until you’ve got a noose.

If you want peace and everlasting life

The mind of Christ is really what you need.

The Word leads where the love of God is rife;

Such passion of the spirit should you heed.

The carnal mind will take you soon to death.

The mind of Spirit brings eternal breath.

10-14-15 Fear Only One

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:28 KJV

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If your great love of Jesus irritates

All they can do is drag you through the mud.

No need to fear the guns or knives of hate,

For they can only slay your flesh and blood.

No matter if you’re tortured, beaten, burned,

The most that can be done is transient.

Your soul’s immortal state cannot be turned;

One million years to it is time well spent.

Yet fear instead the One who holds your soul,

Deciding you should face eternal hell.

Your God created you in His control

And He decides the place where you will dwell.

Fear God if you are wicked; now repent!

Believe His Son, the Savior whom He sent.

5-26-15 Great Gain

Peaceful place

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

1 Timothy 6:6 KJV

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A Godly soul is really hard to find

Unless you go where Godly folk abide.

The place where these great ones are so inclined

Is where the Lord has told them to reside.

You cannot find them on a simple plat;

No GPS can lead you to their side.

You’ll find them so content just where they’re at

Because they are attune with Christ their guide.

A man can be content and not know God,

But deep in his contentment he must hide,

For only Jesus leaves you calm and awed;

Without the Savior peace can’t be applied.

Contentment in the Lord will bring great gain

No matter where you go His Grace will reign.

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sonnet #371

5-23-15 Grace-Full Gifts

⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

⁷ Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

⁸ Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:6-8 KJV

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We all have talents given us by grace

According to the nature of our soul;

Just as the body has each part in place

That has a special function toward the whole.

The ones with prophesy speak truth so bold,

With ministry to aid the poor and weak;

The teachers lay the doctrine out as gold,

Exhorters urge, advise and so critique.

To those who give do with simplicity,

And those that rule are earnest in their care;

The merciful attend the anxious plea,

And everyone above immersed in prayer.

The gifts that God has given us to use

Should be to serve the Savior, not abuse.

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sonnet #368

5-12-15 Worth the Weight

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,

worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory

2 Corinthians 4:17 KJV

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We strain beneath the stress of misery;

Our bodies and our minds begin to fail.

Though as we age we have our memory,

Yet also it plays tricks on us as well.

No matter what may happen to us here,

Disease or loss of limb or far much worse,

And even when we face men’s final fear,

We’ll know that we are not within the hearse.

The glory that awaits the child of God

Is worth all of the anguish of this place.

No matter how severe we’re crushed and clawed,

It can’t outlive the splendor of His Grace.

            If we knew all the joy this next life brings,

            We never would complain about a thing.

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sonnet #358

5-2-15 The Earth is the Lord’s

Although you think the world a wicked place,

So full of hate and pain and anguish, too,

Don’t blame the earth, it’s under God’s good grace,

But blame the lord of darkness and his crew.

The earth and everything that dwells therein

Belongs to Jesus Christ, He made it all,

But Adam disobeyed, and that is sin,

Forgetting it’s all His both great and small.

So Satan runs around without a care,

And tries to make us think it’s not his fault,

Yet as a child of God you must prepare,

To help Christ win the day with full assault.

To save the world, it helps to first save man.

The gospel brings us back to God’s great plan.

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The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof;

the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psalm 24:1 KJV

 

sonnet #348

040515 That Moment When

The guards beside the tomb were fast asleep;

The world itself was still, holding its breath,

Anticipating something great and deep

That it had never seen in life or death.

The morning sun was just a tick away;

The birds and crawling things stopped on their own,

When suddenly a brilliant light gave way;

An angel came and rolled away the stone.

Just then the morning sun’s first ray appeared

And shined into the tomb upon His face.

His eyes were open, linen cloth was cleared.

He stood then walked away from that dark place.

O Jesus, to be there that moment when

The angels ministered to You just then!

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² And they found the stone

rolled away from the sepulchre.

³ And they entered in,

and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

Luke 24:2-3 KJV