1-18-16 Known by His Fruit

Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

Matthew 12:33 KJV

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To know a man just watch his words and deeds,

For he can’t hide the nature of his heart.

An evil sort’s revealed by his misdeeds;

A poisoned well its harm will sure impart.

A fruit will show what kind of tree it’s from;

You cannot harvest olives from the ground.

Guitarists bare their talent when they thrum,

And you can tell a good one from his sound.

True Christians will exhibit Christ within;

The body of their works His presence shows.

They cannot be successful in their sin;

The essence of His truth and love still flows.

The blind can tell a fruit by taste and feel.

See Jesus with His works in you reveal.

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REMEMBER: Jesus lives within you. Get out of the way so He can live through you.

8-30-15 Have Faith in Him

And he said unto her,

Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole;

go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Mark 5:34 KJV

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It isn’t faith alone that saves the sick,

For if it were we’d all be sound in health.

The gospel of success is just a trick

To take up all your time and all your wealth.

There are no magic words to make you whole;

The name it and then claim it crowd are wrong.

It’s Jesus Christ Himself that cures the soul;

The Son of God alone can make you strong.

There is no guarantee that you’ll be cured;

The grace of God sometimes is all you need. ¹

Put all your faith in Christ and rest assured

You’ll be at peace and whole with Him indeed.

Reach out in fervent faith that Christ is real.

Believe that He alone can save and heal.

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1 – 2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV

7-27-15 Dumb

³² As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.

³³ And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.

Matthew 9:32-33 KJV

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The Devil prowls the earth with rancid breath,

Befouling souls with lies and hate and pride;

His simple goal: to lure us all to death,

To bring us down with him and there abide.

 

When Satan wraps his talons round our throat,

He robs us of our hope and leaves us dumb.

But there is One of whom the prophets wrote,

Who casts all demons out and leaves them mum.

 

When we have faith in Jesus, we reach out

And put our hand in His, then with that touch,

Our lives are changed forever with a shout!

Our tongues are then set free to praise Him much.

 

If you can’t say you’re saved and glory bound,

You’ll find your voice in Christ a loving sound.

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sonnet #418

6-5-15 Age With Grace

² That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate,

sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

³ The aged women likewise,

that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness,

not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things

Titus 2:2-3 KJV

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As much as you despise it you must age,

Until one day you feel the weight of years,

But with the wrinkles brings the knowing sage,

Experienced in laughter, calm and tears.

If you should ever act your age it’s now,

For younger eyes are looking up to you.

Let sober living shine upon your brow,

And all the words you say be sound and true.

You have a grave responsibility

To be the light of Christ in faith and love.

Endure the world each day more patiently,

And show us how to pray to God above.

To all the aged men and women saints,

Spend all your time in praise and not complaints.

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sonnet #380

4-15-15 Abstain

Once newly into Christ you don’t belong,

For Christ is into you: Home isn’t here,

And where you go the light will shine so strong

A pilgrim’s path shall form to drive sin clear.

Abstain from fleshy lusts, which fight the soul,

For they can drive a wedge ‘tween God and you;

They turn your vision from its Holy goal

And cause a stumbled fall to tarry, too.

The worldly world of lust is sensual,

Tempts sight and touch and sound and taste and smell.

It bids you come and join the festival,

Then pins you to the wall of death and hell.

Abstain from lust, my sister newly saved

You have a choice: be free or be enslaved.

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Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims,

abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

1 Peter 2:11 KJV

4-2-15 THE Voice

Though God calls out your name both night and day

You almost always never hear His voice,

And  though you ask your friends “What did you say?”

That haunting sound persists and lessens choice.

It’s easier to guess when does God not

Reach out to you with love and call your name;

A million times a second you are sought

To stand and in the Savior’s name acclaim

That Jesus is the Truth, the Life, the Way,

And if you listen, Spirit’s voice is clear

That through the cross you’ll never go astray,

So when God calls your name say “Speak, I hear.”

Then when you come to know God’s gentle call

You never will forget His voice at all.

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And the LORD came, and stood,

and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel.

Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

1 Samuel 3:10 KJV

3-31-15 In My Darkness

I wake to silly music in my head

And when I try to pray it hangs around.

How pitiful I am to be misled

By such a meaningless and petty sound!

In honesty, I don’t know what to say,

For who am I to speak a word to God?

I get down on my knees, begin to pray,

The things I say just proves that I’m a fraud.

There’s darkness in my mind down to my soul

And I feel dead inside most of the time.

Oh Jesus, I need You to take control!

Please teach me what to say, please help me climb.

The Spirit intercedes with wordless groans. *

Why would I ever think that I’m alone?

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Teach us what we shall say unto Him; 

for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.

Job 37:19 KJV

* Romans 8:26

9-20-14 Gifts that Keep On Giving

Of all the gifts that God has given you,

Not one of them involves a sense of fear

Of demons or men and all the dread they brew

Dissuading you the work of God so clear.

Instead, you’re gifted with a holy power,

The very Spirit God gave Jesus Christ,

So strengthened to resist the evil hour,

To do what’s right with God, His will sufficed.

The gift of love is planted in your soul

To give to God and Jesus and to man.

He’s given you this gift, a mind that’s whole

With clarity to understand His plan.

You have no room for angst, no time for doubt;

Use all the gifts God gave you – be devout.

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For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

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