11-27-15 Return Unto Your Rest

Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

Psalm 116:7 KJV

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When all the work and play of day is done,

The dishes washed, the children laid in bed,

Reflect upon the struggles and the fun,

The things you didn’t do or done instead,

Return unto your rest, my weary soul:

The Lord has dealt so bountifully with you.

His grace has carried you from role to role,

His love a shining light the whole day through.

Despite your tribulation He’s been here

Within the very center of your heart.

You’ll never be alone, no need to fear;

Relax, my soul: the Savior won’t depart.

Tomorrow comes too soon; for now just rest.

The stars are bright tonight and you are blessed.

9-8-15 Praise Your Name

O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

Isaiah 25:1 KJV

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O Lord, you are my God, my sovereign King,

Not only by creation but of grace.

The covenants You’ve made my soul shall sing.

My God, the Love You are I still embrace.

I will exalt you, Lord, I’ll praise Your name.

You’re Holy and perfection without end.

The heavens and the earth will long acclaim

The glory of creation You still tend.

Such wonders have You done I cannot count;

From atoms to the stars and in between.

Your counsels of the ages give account

Of faithfulness and truth we all have seen.

I celebrate You, God, both night and day!

I celebrate with all I do and say!

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8-2-15 Pass Away

Heaven and earth shall pass away:

but my words shall not pass away.

Mark 13:31 KJV

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A day will come in which the blazing sun

Will cease to parch the lips and burn the skin,

And on the earth calamities are done:

No hurricanes, tornados found therein.

The heaven and the earth shall pass away,

And all the things that sin has surely wrought,

But one thing will remain and not give way:

The Word of God eternal ne’er forgot.

The words of Jesus lived before the stars,

And they shall live in New Jerusalem.

There will be no more pain and no more scars,

And no more need to make it ‘us’ and ‘them.’

His words forever stamped upon our hearts

For we’re His words in action to impart.

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sonnet #424

5-5-15 The Love of God

³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 KJV

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Of all of the uncertainties of life,

And there is nothing certain, not but one:

The love of God, through peace and change and strife,

Is absolutely true and not undone.

Not life or death will kill His love at all,

Nor angels, kings or principalities,

No power in the universe at all

Can stop His love in time or in degrees.

Not heaven, earth or hell can end God’s love,

No creature in the sky or earth below.

It’s easier to count the stars above

Than find one thing His love can’t overthrow.

The love of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Is undeniable across the board.

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sonnet #351

3-29-15 He Knew

Before the earth and sun and stars He was;

Created everything with love and grace;

Before the first was written knew the laws;

Ere Adam breathed He knew the human race.

He also knew the sin that would abound

To keep the soul of man apart from God;

He knew He had to come to earth uncrowned,

To be a man not knowing sin or fraud.

He had to live a life unblemished so,

The perfect sacrifice for sin undone.

He knew that on the cross His blood would flow

And when He died salvation thus begun.

This man we know as Jesus knew that He

Would give us hope through Him to set us free.

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And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins;

and in him is no sin.

1 John 3:5 KJV

2-15-15 On Seeing the Unseen

The universe we see with mortal eyes

Will not endure the patient tick of time.

The sun and stars are physical and dies;

An end will come to that which once was prime.

But we are not concerned with passing things;

The eyes we use were given us through Grace.

Our vision’s fixed instead on what faith brings;

Invisible to all in time and space.

Sublime and precious are the things we see

With hearts attuned to love straight from its source.

We know the empty tomb that set us free

Is more than just your average tour de force.

The Spirit shows eternity to those

Who died with Christ and from the cross arose.

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We look not at the things which are seen,

but at the things which are not seen:

for the things which are seen are temporal;

but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18 KJV

11-19-14 BE

Before creation God was One in Three;

Eternal, always Now and always Here.

He opened up His mouth and uttered “BE,”

Establishing at once all you endear.

The heaven and the earth was not, then was;

O friend, can you imagine that decree?

Give praise to God Almighty, the First Cause,

Who set the stars in motion with one “BE!”

In the beginning, ere the world you see,

The Word was God, and God was with the Word,

Forever was and will forever BE

The Author of all things, your life conferred.

From galaxies to e’en the lowly flea,

The universe in place with “LET THERE BE!”

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In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 KJV

8-7-14 The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

The wide night sky is blanketed in stars,

And in its midst the moon is full and bright;

Cicadas play a concert from afar

While fireflies much closer flash their lights.

The summer air is thick, the grass is warm

As I lie here to rest my weary bones,

And all of God’s creations in their forms

Proclaim with one accord His name be known.

I gaze upon His wondrous work and sigh

And feel so very small here on the ground,

But then a comet streaks across the sky

And fills my heart with love without a sound.

The heavens shout the majesty of God;

His handiwork so vast it leaves me awed.

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The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 19:1 ESV

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