Saved By Faith

A Pharisee desired of Christ
To come with him to eat,
So He went to the Pharisee's
And sat down there to meat.

And a sinner in the city
Sought Him out, and found Him there,
And she washed His feet with weeping,
And then wiped them with her hair.

Then, she began to kiss them,
When she'd dried them with her locks.
Then, she poured on Him the ointment
From her alabaster box.

Now the Pharisee which bid him
Thought, " Now, this man would have known,
If He really were a prophet,
What wild oats this woman's sown."

Then the Savior answered out loud
What the man said silently,
Saying, "Simon, I have somewhat
I will say now unto thee:

There was a certain creditor
With two at his expense.
One man owed five hundred, and
The other, fifty pence.

And he fully, freely forgave both,
For neither one could pay.
Which of them will love him most,
Simon, would you say?

Simon said, "Well, I suppose,
The one he most forgave."
Then the Lord turned to the woman
Who, till then, had been sin's slave.

"Simon,  seest thou this woman?
You gave no water for my feet,
When I came into your house with you
To sit down here to eat.

You did not kiss or anoint me
With fine ointment, rich and rare,
But she has washed my feet with tears,
And dried them with her hair.

She has blessed my feet with kisses,
And on Me, her ointment poured.
And now her sins, which are so many,
Are forgiven of the Lord.

Where little is forgiven,
There is little love for Me,
But this soul, with much forgiven
Loves Me extravagantly."

And He said unto the woman,
"Thy sins are forgiven thee."
Go in peace, for you are saved
Based on your faith in Me."

Luke 7: 36-50

January 5, 2013

A Full-Perfected Day

In the morning, in the evening

I will call upon Thy Name.
By Thy power, renew my being,
And revive the Holy Flame!

Bring my spirit to Thy Judgement,
And give me a reckoning.
Let no excuse that I invent
Or rational I bring,

Clear my conscience of it's wounding.
Let not anything at all
Heal the blueness of the bruising
Of a shameful, sinful fall,

Save the shed blood of the Savior;
Rock of Ages, cleft for me.
Slain to gain God's loving favor,
Pierced and torn upon a tree.

Blood of mercy! Blood of healing!
This my peace with The Divine!
This is washing for my being!
What a sacred peace is mine!

In this, I will be confident!
This will my glory be!
That, by Thy grace, I will repent
And be restored to Thee!

Not based upon my merit
For I have nothing to claim,
But, through grace, I shall inherit
All the Treasure of Thy Name!

I will be no more fainthearted,
Though I face a sharp defeat,
For what my Lord has started,
He is able to complete!

Lest I falter, lest I transgress,
I will reach, in faith, to Thee,
Ever mindful of my frailness
And my fallibility.

And, by faith, I will go forward,
Knowing Thou wilt make the way,
For my thriving as I strive toward
A full-perfected day.

June 22, 2014

I Will Name My God "Salvation."

Of the many, many mercies
God's great grace has granted me;
This the "glory that excelleth",
And the dearest one I see:

God gave me of His Good Spirit,
And by that, He made me new!
He made me His own possession,
And a supernatural Jew!

Miracle of full salvation,
Ministered abundantly
In the saving blood of Jesus-
"Rock of Ages, cleft for me."

On this mount, I build an altar.
I will offer up my praise.
Here, I make my vow to serve Him
To the ending of my days.

I will name my God "Salvation",
For Salvation, He became,
When I raised my hands to heaven,
And I called upon His Name.

I'll commemorate His pardon,
When my sins were all erased.
To contemplate His kindness is
Such sweetness to my taste!

In my thoughts and in my spirit,
On God's goodness I will dwell.
I will praise the God of Heaven, for
He doeth all things well!

I will name my God "Salvation",
For Salvation, He became,
And I will build an altar here,
And call upon His Name.

August 24, 2014

A Long-Lived Married Couple

 There is a cemetery
a way off in the East,
And there a solemn headstone,
Stands over two deceased.

A long-lived married couple;
A woman and a man.
This cautionary story,
I'll tell you, if I can.

She was a churchy woman;
A service, never missed.
While at home, in quiet,
He thoughtfully reminisced.

She chastened, and she scolded,
But he would not attend,
In all of that loud-shouting church,
He could not find one friend.

He would not sign the roster.
He would not say the prayer.
She fretted for his hell-bound soul
Till she was in despair.

Her mother came to comfort her,
As only mothers can,
How sad that she had wedded
Such a wicked man!

He'd rather hunt the mountains;
He'd rather plow the sod,
Than go up to that righteous church,
And make his peace with God!

She argued and she wrangled.
He quietly refused,
Sometimes deeply saddened,
Other times, amused.

He tried to give his reasons.
She would not understand.
And though she sorely tempted him,
He never raised his hand.

When he laid down with illness,
(The pertinacious knave!)
She went to buy a marker,
To place upon his grave.

She settled on a scripture
She thought would fit the scene.
Most fittingly applicable;
Job three, verse seventeen.

She spoke with the officials,
To make it clear to them,
The second half was meant for her,
The first half was for him.

She thanked the Lord her righteous
Would be forever known.
His wickedness, her weariness,
Memorialized in stone.

Then, at an unexpected time
Appointed of the Lord,
The church-attending lady
Went on the her reward.

She widowed her sad husband,
Who took her to her grave,
Not knowing the instructions,
His clever wife had gave.

He chose for her the better place-
His dearly beloved bride!
Underneath the willow tree,
Beneath the "Wicked" side.

His grief kept him from noticing.
His eyes were dim with tears,
As he laid his wife away,
Of many, many years.

Soon after that, he joined her,
To rest beneath the stone,
For he soon grieved himself away,
Too sad to eat alone.

So, in a cemetery
a way off in the East,
There a solemn headstone,
Stands over two deceased.

Their epitaphs are opposite,
God did what He thought best,
For the wicked ceased her troubling,
And the weary man has rest.


There the wicked cease from troubling;
and there the weary be at rest.
Job 3:17

Gratitude Gone Wild

From my thankful heart up-springing-
Happy praises, joyful singing
As I contemplate the many things-
The million things-You've done.
Fresh and flowing crystal fountains,
Great, majestic, rugged mountains
You are Author, and Creator,
And First Cause of every one.

Precious Fount of Every Blessing,
I have no way of expressing
The great joy I have in knowing
That I am your own dear child!
Contemplating Your compassion
Puts me in a holy passion
As I revel in that sacred joy
Of gratitude gone wild.

I have no means of expression
Of the joy in my possession
At the gifts that you have given me!
I prize them, every one!
At Your right hand, there is pleasure,
Which eternity can't measure,
That inestimable Treasure-
Your Own One Beloved Son!

Of all the gifts I'm thankful for,
He is the One I most adore!
He's Prince, and Priest, and King, and Lord,
And Wonderful to me!
The Just Cause of my elation
Is His wonderful Salvation,
And knowing that My Lord is mine,
And mine, He'll always be!

My Fleshly Root of Pride

My brother had a problem
That I thought I was above,
And had a reputation
That he wasn't too proud of,

And instead of just rejoicing that
He's better than he's been,
I let my heart get focused on
my brother's former sin.

So, I was self-exalted,
And approved the reasons why
I'd put my brother down so low,
And myself up so high.

But, what I did not realize
In my self-exalted place,
Was that my pride had made my heart
Resistant to God's grace.

And then, when my temptation came,
It got the best of me,
Because the ebb of grace exposed
My vulnerability.

Then, with my sinfulness revealed,
My spirit was contrite,
And I humbly cried to God
To set my heart aright.

And that's when God revealed to me
My fleshly root of pride-
My scornful criticism of
My brother had implied

That I believed that my success
Was all because of me,
Based on my free-will choices
And responsibility.

And gave the cross and blood of Christ
A secondary place,
By thinking that the power was
In my free-will, not grace.

That's when the Lord forced me to look
On lost humanity,
And comprehend that, without Him,
How very lost I'd be.

For, without God's intervention,
Many live and die,
And never have one thought of Him.
There, but for grace, go I.

For only grace, and grace alone
Has kept me out of sin,
For Sovereign Grace forbids me go
Where other souls have been.

So with that humbling thought in mind,
How can I judge another?
I found I could no longer look
With scorn upon my brother.

And seeing how the Blood of Christ
Has bought us both forgiveness,
The sin my brother used to do
Is just none of my business.

May 15, 2013

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/1511795840/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

My Morning Prayer

Dear Father, how I'm longing
For my heart to be conformed,
To the image of my Jesus,
For my mind to be transformed.

In the morning, I have sought You
And to You, I've made my prayer,
And as You have commanded,
Upon You, I cast my care.

I have come before you needy.
I've no strength to face my day,
So I'm trusting You to fill me,
And You won't turn me away.

In myself, I have no answers,
So I look to You to find
The comfort that I need just now
To soothe my troubled mind.

For You are the God of comfort.
In You Word, You tell me so.
In Your Word is my reliance,
And not anything below.

So, I'm looking up to You now,
My Strong Rock and Confidence!
Many dangers come at me,
But You are my Defense!

You will be my Peace and Pleasure,
And my Power to push through!
I will lift my head and go forth
Fully confident in You! 

http://www.amazon.com/Comfort-Christ-Collection-Inspired-Poetry/dp/1511795840/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1440099923&sr=1-1

Jesus With Me, All Day Long!

I am overwhelmed so often
With Your sweet nearness to me!
There's no father, friend, or lover
Who can be what You can be!

Ever with me, ever near me,
As the moments flee apace.
So awash now in Your presence,
I can almost touch Your face!

Closer than the air I'm breathing!
Closer than my kin can be!
You give grace, and love, and help,
And power constantly to me!

Every day, I feel Your priceless,
Smiling presence, warm and bright-
Filling my moments with wonder,
And my heart with pure delight!

You so faithfully uphold me
With your powerful salvation,
And my heart is fully ravished
With Your tender visitation.

And, when I have occasion
To confront an earthly fear,
You so quickly reassure me,
"Fear thou not, for I AM here!"

And when I'm in the battle,
With the devil lurking nigh,
I can feel You standing by me,
With Your sword upon Your thigh.

I can feel Your urgent warning
When I start to go astray-
That still small voice behind me
Saying, "Child, this is the way!"

There's no other friend so faithful!
There's no other love so strong!
My unfathomable treasure-
Jesus with me! All day long!

From the book: "Comfort in Christ: A Collection of Inspired Poetry."

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=comfort+in+christ

The Word that Saved the World: A Poetic Mediation Upon God's Holy Christ

The Holy Word that God had spoken in eternity,
He sent into this dying world through low maternity.
The Christ, the Holy Son of God, descended to the earth,
Into a womb, to be brought forth by humble virgin birth.

And in that birth, the Word was flesh.  This is a mystery.
This moment was the turning point in human history.
For this Life was the Light of Life to show lost man the way,
The path that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

And the brightness of that Light, dark could not comprehend,
So the darkness set about to bring about an end.
They crucified the Lord of Life, the Holy Living Bread,
But God has glorified His Son, and raised Him from the dead.

And set Him at His own right hand in the most Honored Seat,
And sworn to subjugate the nations underneath His feet.
And someday, each confessing tongue, and every bowing knee,
Will demonstrate that Christ is Lord throughout eternity.

And He who came into the world through lowly virgin birth,
Will be exalted over all, and rule in all the earth.
For over sin, and over death, His Banner is unfurled!
Oh, what wondrous wisdom in the Word that saved the World!

December 25, 2013