Wednesday, December 13, 2017

A Little Child Shall Lead Us



You, little child, with your shining eyes and dimpled cheeks.
You can lead us along the pathway to what everyone seeks.
We blundering grownups need in our lives the virtues that
You have in yours, joy, enthusiasm and love affectionate.
Curiosity that finds adventure in simple things; the mystery
Of billowy clouds, snowflakes, and stars, amazing history.
Tolerance that forgets differences as quickly as your young
Quarrels are spent, Waking the next day with thoughts flung.
Children love unconditionally, not like adults so often do
With strings attached, depending on performances new.

See, how we can learn from children, so trusting, so sweet.
Not scared or threatened by each of our friends they meet.
They listen to stores of Jesus and learn to love Him unknown,
Until they come to an age where they can make Him their own.
It is often us that disillusions them to accept their Saviour.
For we tell them of a tooth fairy who gives them a favour.
Tells a further lie of a Santa that is going to actually fly by
And pile up gifts under the tree, but we make sure they try
To be very good so that they will get their wishes granted.
And they never thought of dying, life was so enchanted.

Then they become an adult and they remember the lies we told.
And wonder about the Christ child, thinking it a story bold.,
A promise of a Saviour that will forgive all their childish sin,
Open their heart’s door and pray to ask Him to live within.
Believing at last they can have someone real to hold onto.
When things are hard, and life seems difficult to live through.
When stories at church seem vague, and hard to understand.
That is when the older youth needs a gentle, guiding hand.
When explanations need to be truthful, ones they can know
Not a figment of the imagination a living sacrifice to show
Them the way to Eternity Life, not another imaginary glow.


  • 1 Corinthians 13:11 ~ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
  • Ecclesiastes 12:1 ~ Remember now your creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them.
  • Proverbs 18:9 ~ My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother. For they will be graceful ornaments on your head and chains about your neck.
  • Psalm 119:9 ~ “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word.
  • John 3:3 ~ Jesus answered and said to him. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
  • Romans 10:17 ~ “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Humility


All Christians should clothe themselves with humility towards one another.
God pulls back from proud, arrogant people; but it is beyond our ability
To endeavour to be humble without having the Holy Spirit within us.
He shows grace and favour to the humble; we should not make a fuss 
About others that brag or boast knowing that now it is no longer just us 
That dominates our thought life, but the Spirit that guides us in all things.
We need to grasp the fact that we are no longer our own, the Spirit brings 
A new attitude into our life, and a recognition that we no longer alone.
This human body; we presented to Christ; we are no longer on the throne.

Often full of self importance and pride, and Christ slowly chips away 
The old man with its jealousy and pride, we just need to readily pray 
When we feel our prayers are hitting a ceiling, though Christ is there.
Bending on our knees has more significance than we will every know.
For it is humbling to admit mistakes, to be willing to admit and go 
To God in prayer, and lay down our thoughts of entitlement, for we see 
What a mess we make of our lives when we do not readily agree 
With the Word of God which teaches us that the first shall be last.
If we want to be first in the kingdom of heaven we need to be steadfast 
Always abounding in the love of God, always putting others first.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and proud people are accursed.

  • 1 Peter 5:5 ~ Young men in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because God opposes the prod but gives grace to the humble.
  • Ephesians 4:2 ~ Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
  • I Corinthians 12 ~ So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.
  • Proverbs 8:13 ~ To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behaviour and perverse speech.
  • I Timothy 6:17 ~ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
  • Luke 14:11 ~ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. {This is Jesus Christ talking} 
  • Matthew 11: 29 ~ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {This again is Jesus talking} 
  • Proverbs 16:18 ~ Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Gone to Heaven

I am not here.
My Spirit has gone on ahead.
Here is but an empty shell,
Just God’s earthly creation.
Used but for a little while.
But it is needed no longer.

I have been truly reborn
Into my everlasting body!
But you will recognize me,
And I will wait for you.
I will soon hear your call,
Just over heaven’s wall.

Christ has paid your pass,
Do not consider this the last.
It is merely my beginning,
And time will quickly fly,
And in the blink of an eye.

Just a slumbering sweet,
Soon there we will meet.
A glorious re-awakening.
A new and perfect SONrise!

  • I Corinthians 15:12 & 13 - But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Lie-Dentities

Christians who really believe their Lord know that Satan lies.
He even takes God’s word and twists it, it is not a surprise!
For God’s word tells us that Satan is the Father of lies.
Satan knows God’s word often better than we ourselves do.
When you do not check your though by checking scripture
You are leaving doors open for Satan to create a new picture.
He will take a scripture and twist what it says, it is his nature.
He tries to set my thoughts amiss, in any way, as a believer.
As the author of lies, he perfected being the great deceiver.
It is Satan’s desire to even lead astray one single lamb.
I have to remember, I live who I believe that I truly am.

God’s Spirit lives in me and I am told I am His temple.
To know who you are in Christ scripture gives example.
There is no condemnation with Christ for the believer.
We are all clean from sin when we become a receiver.
Nothing will separate me from the love of God in Christ.
All was paid in full by Christ because of His sacrifice.
We are all citizens of heaven, we have been chosen.
Christ fulfilled His promise to us; Hallelujah, He is risen!
I am God’s Masterpiece and have to tell myself again
That Satan has no power over me, and repeat that refrain.
When you are assaulted by Satan, treat him with disdain.

  • THOUGHT: When doubts assail repeat: Your Identity is in Christ, your tendencies lead to action, and action leads to consequences, consequences lead to reality. You live you who believe you are. 
  • Colossians 2:10 ~ And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is head over every power and authority. 
  • Romans 8:1 & Romans 8:35 ~ Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 35 ~ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. 
  • Philippians 3:20 ~ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. 
  • Ephesians 2:10 ~ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 
  • 1 Corinthians 3:16 ~ Don't you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him, for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple. 

Thursday, September 28, 2017

A Heart That Was Given to You

Lord, please give me a thoughtful and thankful heart.
When seeing the needs of others, let me never depart
From the compassion You showed while here on earth.
Feeling someone else’s pain is a comparison well worth
Moving beyond the realm of self and daring to reach out
To the needs of others, knowing that their pain cries out
To be ministered to, and their thoughts to be listened to.
Living just for myself is not what you taught ME to do.

I question myself, when I walk by a friend at our church,
Asking if I just rushed right past them on the way to search
Out a deadline, for some activity, or for what or, for where?
Did I not see their face, excuse myself as “No time to share”.
Did I withdraw from them because of too much I had to do
No time to listen, time to just open my heart to someone new?
There is a time when shame ends with me who is to  blame.
There is a time when my confession to God is clearly plain.

There is a way the Spirit speaks to me that makes me weep.
For He shows me oh so clearly I need to bend and still seek.
His will and His way in my life that causes me to slow down.
To listen to Him first and take the time to really slow down.
There is more to this Christian life than chasing each activity.
Jesus took time to rest and pray, not chasing each proclivity.
I gave my heart to You so that Your Spirit could lead my way.
That old self wars within me and I sorely need to kneel and pray

Will this struggle last until heaven, or will adversity leach it out?
I pray that the “thoughtful me”, that is born of You, will win out.
I see the inequality within me that is surely not of Your design.
I will bend to Your Holy Spirit’s leading and learn to re-align.
My love for others will supersede any “lists” or “needs to do”.
What will be left within my heart is the love of the lost like You.
For I cannot move ahead without Your Spirit daily guiding me
Until I reach the final days here on this earth and am finally free.
                       

  • Philippians 4:5 ~ Let everyone see that you are considerate in all that you do.
  • Proverbs 11:13 ~ A trustworthy man keeps a secret.
  • Romans 8:37 ~ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. For I am convinced that neither nor death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • James 1:22 ~ Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself goes way and immediately forgets what he looks like.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Friendship

Friendship has so much meaning,
A friend you have can be for life.
A person whom you share laughter,
Who is there when you’re in strife.

A friend is of your own choosing,
To which you form a strong bond,
Knowing that they are so special,
That very one whom you’re so fond.

A person that you can relate to,
And you never feel ill are ease.
A person who will always listen,
Then give you a gentle squeeze.

Sometimes no words are spoken,
Just a look says how one cares,
No words of wisdom needed,
Just your presence of being there,

Jesus wants to be that friend to you.
One you can bring your troubles to.
He is a friend that you can turn to
At any time, whether day or night.

Ah yes, having a friend is special,
For how lonely your life would be,
So I say a heartfelt “Thank You”,
My friend you are so dear to me.

                           
  • Proverbs 17:17a ~ A friend loves at all times.
  • Proverbs 18:24 ~ A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
  • Proverbs 16:28 ~ A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.
  • John 15:13 ~ Greater love hath no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
  • John 15:14 ~ You are my friends if you do what I command you.


Friday, August 11, 2017

A Walk of Celebration

The night was fine, the quiet so sublime.
A walk was in order, alone was just fine.
The Street was asleep, or appeared to be.
It seemed like no-one was there, just me.
I chanced the walk in encroaching dark,
So silent, I heard nary a single dog bark.
Alone with God, I felt so close and free.
Suddenly the allegory was talking to me!
The dead end Street was people’s decision
Those that live without nary a single vision
Of what lies ahead after their life is over
Not thinking that God will then take over.
They think when they die that is the end,
Not realizing that Heaven is around the bend.
No vision, no hope and the burden was mine,
To lead neighbours to Christ, this was a sign.
I should not be walking with no-one around,
My witness should be when there is sound.
People walking our Street; I should be about
A friendly smile, a chat, I don’t have to shout.

That God is just waiting and I am available
I don’t have to feel that I am expendable.
God placed me here on this dead-end Street
To talk to the neighbours each time we meet.
I’m going to pray for each home I see now,
This I commit to do; this is my solemn vow.
A walk down this Street just waiting to meet.
Someone who stops, I’ll smile and I’ll greet.
This walk had a purpose and I know it now,
God is showing me His work, and somehow
I will have His power with me on my walk
And be ready to smile, lift my head and talk.
Holy Spirit use me when I walk out our door,
Give me Your power and I will not ignore,
Any person that happens to just walk by
May I be ever ready Your words to apply.
I’ll celebrate life while I live through this day.
I will rejoice in each hour, not waste it away.
Each new day is a gift and I will celebrate,
I’ll forget about tomorrow, it may be too late!

  • John 1:2 ~ “The life appeared, we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
  • I Peter 1:6 & 7 ~ “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that you faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes, even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Chris is revealed. Hebrews 10:22 ~ “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswerving to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
  • John 6:44 ~ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Profess - Confess

Lord, I often do profess my faith; and when asked, I always share.
But, I will confess, I do not always think ahead and really prepare.
I could profess my faith more, if I ask for Your Spirit’s guidance.
Many opportunities are lost not looking for every happenstance.
Using words that cause thought, possibly they will stop and stare.
Using Your name in a good way and having  scriptures to share.
If I make a “Bee-Line” for the cross, your Spirit is always there
I need to focus on being ready, and reaching out, showing I care.

The answer for my faith is, I believe Your resurrection from the dead.
I need to memorize verses and events, just like historians have said.
Right now, no-one dares to say this event did not actually take place.
So many people saw You, and looked upon your scars, saw your face.
You conquered death, a sacrifice so we can spend Eternity with You.
We know that this is the “golden promise” to profess to others too.
You cannot look upon sin; we confess, that is what Your word says.
I  need to review my life, do a throne check, and sacrificially raise

Questions that demand answers, and so be brave enough to question
“Do you know if you are going to heaven” is a loaded suggestion.
It requires a “Yes” or a “No” or at least some further discussion.
You are going to start a dialogue, you may even face opposition.
God’s word says we are to be ready to give an answer at all times
To everyone that asks for a reason for the hope in us; asks and finds
Themselves searching for hope, those who the Spirit actually leads.

For you do not speak alone, it is the Spirit that always intercedes.

  • Galatians 5:25 ~ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
  • I John 1:9 ~ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word has no place in our lives.
  • Proverbs 12:17 ~ A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies.
  • 1 Corinthians 2:11 - 13 ~ For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the Spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, can he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

To One in Sorrow

Let me come in where you are weeping,
And please allow me to hold your hand.
I have known a sorrow such as yours
It helps me relate and I can understand.
Allow me to give you a word from God,
Words that were written in His book.
A word, a verse or line for you to hold
Until this grieving time shall slowly pass.
For God says He will wipe away our tears,
When next we meet again on that far shore,
When all our grieving with be at an end.
In the joy of knowing He loves us more.

Allow me to hold you and wipe away
The tears I see there in eyes so full.
When I have lost fine words to say.
Let me do something, and so to show
That none of us want loved ones to go.
Lord let my words be not maudlin or trite,
For I know that we will all face the night,
And grieving times are not always the same
It does not mean we ever forget their name.
But raw feelings lessen as does the pain.
We grieve not as those who have no hope
We will meet again and that helps us cope.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:55 ~ Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
  • John 5:24 & 25 ~ I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word, and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and will not be condemned, he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 
  • Psalm 139:8 ~ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there, If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
  • John 16:20 ~ I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
  • Luke 23:43 ~ Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:1 - 4 ~ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with out heavenly dwelling - so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come.

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

God Speaks

Do you fill your devotional time with your wants and needs?
Or do you quieten your mind and allow God to intercede?
God’s Spirit  wants two-way conversation where you listen.
His desire to commune with you will not be pushy or bold.
He has things to tell you, not always in His word, but for now.
In order to hear God one has to know His voice and be familiar.

Christ left the Spirit with us to lead us and guide us in all things.
Sometimes an inner voice, certainly not yours, speaks to you..
Often a verse of scripture comes to mind, one you did not just read.
The strongest desire to go to prayer for someone comes to mind..
To go and ease a brother’s heartache, send a card, show you care.
If you are not obedient to this voice suddenly you find it is not there.

God knows people who need of your care, being obedient your task.
Christians are not an Island unto themselves, but a body of believers.
Important to remember that the voice will always align with scripture.
Satan and his angels often come by to try to destroy your service.
Always check your thoughts, urges, or intercessions with scripture.
Satan is powerless when we claim the blood of Christ and the cross.

“SPEAK LORD FOR THY SERVANT HEARETH”
                                    
  • Jude 4:20 ~ “But you dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” 
  • I John 3:24 ~ “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We now it by the Spirit he gave us.”
  • I John 4:1 - 7 ~ :”Dear friends, do not believe very spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God. Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God, but ever spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and even now is already in the world.”
  • ! John 4: 13 ~ “ We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, and so we know and rely on the love God has for us.``
  • I Thessalonians 5: 19 ~ “Do not put out the Spirit`s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”
  • Timothy 1:7 ~ “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”.
  • John 10:27 ~ “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.”

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

At the Foot of the Cross

The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
We are all equal in God’s sight; none are dross.
For behold, the extravagant grace of our God!
He sees us all needy, yet does not rule with a rod.

His sacrifice, the beatings, the scars, His blood.
The humiliation he faced as his disciples stood
On Golgotha’s Hill, slivers deep from that wood.
Bloody hands and feet, He would breathe if he could.

God found the only way to begin again on that day.
But what of his followers, most began to betray.
“If you are the Son of God”, come down some say.
Some were faithful, but all they could do was pray.

Christ was the sin eater, God sees us as spotless.
Because of Him we can daily pray and confess.
We are forgiven, our sins forgotten, wiped away.
A brand new day we learn and we begin to pray,



I Corinthians 1: 18 ~ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’
Philippians 2:8 ~ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even the death on a cross.
1 John 1:10 ~ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Colossians 2:14 ~ Having cancelled the written code with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us: He took it away, nailing it to the cross.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

The Times they are A'changin'

In days gone by, on Sundays they rang the church bells to announce 
A wake up call to the entire village to come, church will commence.
Worship was about to begin, “So ready yourself for this Holy Day”.
Often the holy were a somber lot, showing people they knew the way.
Those that missed church, or came in late, saw those pictures of Hell.
Hanging at the back of the church was the “Doomsday Book”, to tell 
By paintings, remembered to this day, I remember them so very well.
People who dressed ‘improperly’ were thought to have lost their way.
Children were quiet, somber, and often got a slap and urged to pray.
They could do little on Sunday; dressed in their best they could not play, 
If you thought they answered back or made a noise you are so wrong, 
They were taken quickly out of the service and belted hard and strong.
What this taught them was to hate church, and God and parents too.
Children did not talk back to parents or adults, that was a big taboo.

No-one worked on a Sunday except the necessary farming chores
But even cooking meals were prepared ahead, labour God abhors.
To garden, sew or wash just proved what state your heart was in
Who decided what was necessary and what was considered a sin
Equating God’s love with forgiveness was then called a discipline.
What happened to those sinners who missed church; they were told
”You are in grave danger of losing your place, the priests extolled”.
In the Church of England the pastor was also called “Our Father”.
The person walking into church wearing black and carrying a Bible,
With a downcast face was thought to be holy and that was survival.
The big concern was not missions but donations for a church steeple.
To have your name on a pew or bell meant you were very rich people.
Some thought the more you donated would surely keep you out of hell,
Because, like some churches today, Purgatory was a place before hell.

But a family could pay to reduce the purgatory waiting time with money.
Just think of that golden fat purse of the preaching priest, it was acrimony.
Keeping things in perspective today we still have a mortgage to pay for,
And pledges and drives, and concerns about wood or carpet on the floor.
But it does not make us more important to our creator to donate more!
We read, “having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof”.
We cannot deny the power of a Living God, we scorn legalism whereof
We live as carnal Christians cloaked in sheep’s clothing as in days of old.
We need prayer as never before, an awakening that will makes us all bold!
We were left the Holy Spirit to be our comforter and guide, but do we care?
Do we draw upon the Spirit’s strength, learn to listen, to walk and to share?
We do not need a Priest or a Minister to speak to God on our behalf, for
We have the Spirit ourselves, and He intercedes for us and we can all see
That God through His Spirit is able to use us, and He readily sets us free!

IN THE ANNALS OF HISTORY:-
During the Victorian age, it was thought to be Godly by certain churches
or chapels, to inform on your “brothers and sisters”, of course only to assist or correct the
error of their ways. February 2, 1885 - “The Churchman Newspaper

Galatians 3:10-14 ~ All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written; ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the Law. Clearly no one is
justified before God by the law, because: “The righteous will live by faith.'”

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Doubt

It is a common practice of Satan to work hard to introduce doubt.
Even Christ’s followers, the ones that saw Him were not left out.
We want to put God in a little box and have Him all figured out.
When God does not act the way we think He should act, we  doubt.
One third of the world’s population believe that a Jew died on a cross.
About another third think it was  possible, but it was no great loss.
Yet the other third actually believe that Jesus rose from the dead.
But many times we are fearful, choosing to remain silent instead.

When we hear someone mocking Christians we do not make a stand.
Often we do not have words prepared, not wanting to grandstand.
But to testify of what Christ has done for us, our unquenchable thirst,
Being bold enough to tell others that we put Christ in our lives first.
We do not have to understand everything to believe in something.
Satan is powerless when we start to make a stand, not swerving.
God is far greater than the human mind can ever comprehend.
All around us lies evidence of a creator, and God willingly did send

His Son to die ,willingly upon a cross so we might be set free.
Switch from the unexplainable to the undeniable, you will see.
It takes far more faith to believe in an evolution happenstance,
To think that this world of ours just simply occurred by chance.
Doubt cannot co-exist with its opposite, which is faith, we must trust.
One drop of doubt, can make our faith weak and ineffective, we must
Realize doubt cannot inhabit where faith exists, doubt comes from fear
Fear paralyses us and we are unable to pray properly, unable to hear

Build yourself up in the holy faith whenever doubt comes your way,
And know that Satan is defeated when you shout at him and say
“I am covered with the blood of Christ, Viper depart from me now”
He dislikes you speaking about the blood of Christ, so let it show
That you have no fear of him and you know doubt is really a sin.
Build yourself up in the holy faith whenever doubt comes in.
We are told to be merciful to those who doubt, it comes when
We do not know the scriptures immersing ourselves in them.
                                                                  
  • Matthew 21:21 & 22 ~ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
  • Mark 11:23 ~ 'Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
  • James 1:6 ~ But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Belief

The disciples had no New Testament, they wrote it.
They had no history of Jesus, because they lived it.
They were not called Christians, but called followers
Many were called witnesses, because they saw it.
The followers used the sign of the fish out of fear.

The disciples were told to wait with Jesus a while
As Jesus went off to pray alone in the garden.
They fell asleep and could not persist in prayer.
Thomas the disciple doubted and Jesus told him
To put his finger in his side and on his hands.
He was chided for his lack of belief and faith.

We need not be ashamed when we question why.
And then feel guilty at our lack of faith and hope.
Men and women in the Bible lacked faith too.
Christ’s very own disciples worried about a storm.
And John sank in the water when he took his eyes
Off Christ, and that is often what we tend to do.

Jesus’ brother did not believe until after Christ rose.
Then Christ spoke; he ate with the risen Jesus and saw.
And he was stoned for his faith and died a martyr.
After the Holy Spirit was given they received power.
With that power they travelled their known world.

We need not be ashamed when we question, or doubt..
And then feel guilty at our lack of faith and hope.
Men and women in the Bible often lacked faith too.
Christ’s very own disciples worried about a storm.
The disciples quarreled about who would be first.
And John sank in the water when he took his eyes
Off Christ, and that is often what we tend to do.

Power to preach the gospel, faith to dispel all fears.
The evidence of a living faith is a Spirit filled life.
Faith is a living substance needing to be fed.
The more you feed your faith with God’s word
The more it grows; when it grows it will readily sow.

Faith is the evidence of things that are unseen.
New hope and belief to others as they journey on.
You will feel in yourself God’s voice guiding you,
Christ left you His Spirit to guide and to teach too.
Put your trust by faith in God, the one you serve.

Faith is the evidence of things that are not seen.
New hope and belief give to others as they journey on.
You will feel in yourself God’s voice guiding you,
Christ left you His Spirit to guide and teach you too.
Put your hand in the hand of the one you claim to serve

There is a lesson for all of us in this poem I’m sure.
Confessed sin is forgiven, and our salvation is secure.
The weaknesses of man has changed little over the years.
Boldness to preach the gospel will come despite our fears.
To believe is a gift from God, but it needs to be used to grow.

  • Hebrews 11:6 ~ He that cometh to God must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
  • Galatians 2:20 ~ I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.
  • 2 Timothy 3:14 ~ But continue thou in the thing which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing whom thou has learned and has been assure of knowing of knowing of whom thou has learned them.
  • Ephesians 3: 17 - 19 ~ That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Vanity

It is written in God’s word: “There is nothing new under the sun.”
The quest to seek for more, for bigger and better, it hasn’t just begun.
Wisdom, knowledge, work, and acquisition; the search for pleasure
Is as relevant today as in King Solomon’s day , proving beyond measure
That we still toil under the sun, desiring and striving for more, or what?
It all turns to dust in our hands, all the acquiring , and what have we got?
We leave with nothing, only what we have done for Christ will count.
Look and see how the wise does, just as the fool; it is all of no account.

Satisfaction in our toil only comes from our efforts for eternity and for God.
All else is vanity, envy, and discontent is actually a complaint against God.
Through the seasons of discontent we learn humility, God is the constancy.
Only He can satisfy, each day only He will fill our needs, be sufficiency.
We need to look at our lives in a new way, through the lens of our faith.
Pleasure under the sun will not satisfy,; it is fleeting, none of it is safe..
Only God can make the crooked straight, forgive our failings, set us aright.
He can lift us up out of the miry clay and place our feet solidly straight.

When you look at life with all its stressors, with its seemingly aimless cycles
One can become discouraged and cynical, never looking for miracles..
Never considering that only God can satisfy all our yearnings and our greed.
Time, money, accumulation and success can be thought of as our “need’.
What is our identity tied to as Christians, we are told this is not our home.
We are children of the King of Kings, and find our power is in Him alone.
If we live our lives serving others, and find that our sins He did atone.
We will soon find lasting and true happiness and am enduring contentment.
The things of this world will not satisfy, only Christ, that God hath sent.
                                                                                                                     
  • Ecclesiastes 2:11 ~ Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
  • Ecclesiastes 2:33 & 24 ~ What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which the labors under the sun. All his days his work is pain and grief, even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
  • Ecclesiastes 2:26 ~ To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing of the wind.
  • I Corinthians 15:58 ~ Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

The Me That You See

OLD MAN THINKING
Father, You look inside my heart, and what do You see?
A crippled version of what everyone else sees in me?
There are two sides to all of us, the one we want to be,
The one displayed to everyone, but You know the real me,
Insecurities, fretting, and envy, the one I want to hide.
I confess them to You, but I desire Your Spirit to reside
In my heart and deliver me from all these imperfections.
Satan haunts the Christ-like me, with carnal predilections.

SEEING THINGS GOD’S WAY
What amazes me, is that you see me as perfect in Christ,
Free from sin, for Jesus shed his blood and paid the price.
I so desire to be Your disciple, to follow in Your way!
It is needful for me to know Your word in all I do and say.
If only I could be an empty shell and You could fill me up
With Your loving Spirit of kindness, just like a waiting cup.
Then I could pouf out to others and know it was not me.,
But my loving Father who redeemed me and set me free.

GOD’S WORK IN ME
Your love comes with no conditions and no recrimination.
My heart overflows with love, You do not discriminate.
Your acceptance of the real me, not the me that others see.
The one with scars and flaws, but the one You accept as me!
Grace is so amazing, the “ unmerited” favour You give.
Such an all-encompassing word; it encourages me to live
Ever close to Your living Word, truly you are my all in all!
You give me grace, and I know I am forgiven even when I fall.
THANK YOU LORD!


  • I John 5:4 - 5 ~ "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world .... our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
  • Philippians 1:6 ~ “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
  • 2 Peter 1:10 ~ “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.”
  • Romans 8:6 - 8 ~ “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace., Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
  • Psalm 37: 23 - 24 ~ “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way,. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with His hand.”
  • Psalm 32:8 ~ “I will instruct you and teach you in the ay you should go: I will guide you with My eye.”

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Are You a Jesus Consumer?

Do you use Jesus  just as a 'Get out Hell free pass?"
Is the reason you accepted Christ because you wanted to by-pass
Judgment Day, but still live your own way while here on earth,
Ensuring that if there was such a place as heaven you were going there?
Then you are a Jesus Consumer, not a Jesus follower.

In days of old pastors would preach hell, fire and brimstone,
They would say that they had scared the children into heaven,
How many of these decisions lasted, there is no way of knowing.
They did not preach a loving God who sent His Son to redeem all sin.
To think of Christ as an insurance policy will never give you joy within.

To walk with Jesus every day, necessitates knowing Him in a personal way.
To really know Jesus means He is your friend and His word is known to you.
And you are directed by His Spirit who should be a guide in All that you do.
Don't use Jesus, follow Him, His Spirit will guide you and empower you within.
Jesus came so that we could have life more abundantly and to cancel our sin.


  • Galatians 2:17 ~ If while we seek to be justified in Christ it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, it proves that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but. Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.

Friday, January 6, 2017

Choices

How many choices are we given every day?
All the more reason to choose first to pray.
So many choices will always get in the way
Of choosing God first at the start of each new day.
Life becomes too busy; we got lost amid the fray
When we put God first the Spirit will guide as we pray.
The Spirit, our intermediary, our sign post to point the way.
How many choices come directly from God’s word?
Guidance for our needs; all the scriptures you have heard.
And we have the Holy Spirit, our helper ready to intercede.

Ask yourself the question, and then also consider why
You wouldn’t first turn to your Father for your daily supply.
God does not give us what is left over, The Spirit is our guide.
Our Saviour delights in talking to us, walking by our side.
Why would you ask your neighbour first for help or advice
When Jesus left His Spirit with us and is, God’s sacrifice..
If we really believe God’s word, the messages we have heard.
We need to remind ourselves of what is written in God’s word.
Start our morning out with prayer for we know that it is heard.
We also need to learn to pray, always listening for His voice
It will become easier, and strengthen every new choice.
Amen

  • Romans 8:26 ~ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit Intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
  • II Timothy ~ I have been reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your Grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flames the gift of God, which is in yours through the laying on of my hands. God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”