11-23-15 On Spiritual Maturity

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

John 16:12 KJV

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When you were born you could not handle meat:

You had no teeth to chew, your stomach frail.

You had to start with milk, so warm and sweet,

And then work up to solid food in scale.

Don’t take up calculus if you can’t count,

Don’t write a book if you can’t spot a noun.

The heavy doctrine truths aren’t tantamount

To learning how your sins can drag you down.

If Jesus told you things you could not bear

Your soul would be too feeble to digest.

The Holy Ghost guides teachers to prepare

The food of Spirit that you can ingest.

Don’t be afraid to ask, but don’t forget,

The Savior may tell you “Not now; not yet.”

9-30-15 What He Has Done

Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

Isaiah 12:5 KJV

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Behold the many things the Lord has done:

He made the universe and all within;

He came to earth the essence of the Son;

He’s offered us salvation from our sin;

He had the prophets write His holy word;

He gave us with His love such blessed grace;

He promised us He’d come back undeterred;

He’s gifted us the Spirit to embrace;

He loves us more than we will ever know;

He formed us in His image from the start;

He carries us with Him and won’t let go;

He’s conquered death and hell; He’s done His part.

The things the Lord has done are excellent!

The earth and all that’s in it give assent!

8-14-15 All for One

⁴ Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

⁵ And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

⁶ And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 KJV

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A breeze wafts through a window open wide;

The curtain shudders, papers flutter, too;

A candle light makes shadows dance and glide,

And all these things a single breeze can do.

The Spirit moves ten million souls and more

As preachers, teachers, missionaries, clerks,

To prophesy, to write, to mind the store;

We serve a single Master in our work.

Discretion, grace and patience all are gifts

Bestowed by just a single, holy God;

The Father’s love that heals, reveals, uplifts

Can resurrect the dead and leave us awed.

Such wondrous grace upholds the universe

And shows in all we do as we traverse.

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sonnet #436

4-30-15 Our Advocate

Have faith in Jesus and His precious blood,

For He that died for you is still at work;

He knows that you while here walk through the mud

And can’t avoid all sin when in this murk.

So justified by Christ’s own righteousness,

The Spirit will convict you of your sin;

Then go to God in prayer your sin confess,

And Christ, the Perfect One, will step right in.

He bore the sins of you and everyone,

And took them to the cross for all our sake.

We have an advocate with God: the Son;

The feast in Heaven we can then partake.

When you give Christ your heart He’ll vouch for you;

His word’s as good as gold, He’s tried and true.

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¹ My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

² And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:1-2 KJV

 

sonnet #346