Heb 1:8Â But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.Â
There is a name which is above every other name, that name is Jesus. He is the brightness of God the Father and His express image. He upholds all things and He purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty. His name is exalted above all others. Its at the name and in the power of Jesus that the worlds came into being. The stars shine in the heavens above and the sun burns with such intensity by the hand of the Lord Jesus. He is so high and lifted up that even a single tear from the Masters eye causes the oceans to blush. The sun is a mere flickering candle in the brightness of His glory. He holds the whole universe in the palm of His hand and by His power alone it is all held together. He is begotten of the Father and the Son of the most High. The angels all bow down and cry Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty.
Lord Jesus, you laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hand. Hide your face and the whole world is troubled, hold your breath and we crumble and die, look away and the world falls to pieces, we exalt you oh Lord on high. Everything that exists shall be rolled up and burned up in that day, but You Oh Lord remain forever. You are eternal, Your Word is eternal and you have invited us into the eternal Kingdom of our God. Tears of joy and wholeness rise in me, water from the saints that are deeper than the deepest sea. Only in this place of eternity do I truly belong, where the saints all gather around the throne and sing a glorious song. As far as the eye can see, like wheat gently blowing as one in the wind, you are surrounded by millions upon millions of those who had formerly sinned. Redeemed by Your glory and Majesty, redeemed by the Blood that you shed, we should have dwelt forever in the depths of darkness, but here we are before You instead. We shall sing of Your glory forever, and forever and forever and a day. And here where Your glory fills the temple, is the place we shall eternally stay.
Burdens are the celestial stairs
That surely lift me higher
For it's right there where I meet my Lord
Who shall take me through the fire.
Trials are the wings I need to fly
To fly to higher ground
I'll meet the Lord up in the air
To sing with choirs a heavenly sound.
Sufferings draw me ever closer
I am weak and He is strong
And in the depths of my infirmities
You shall surely hear my song.
It is the song of songs of Calvary
Where my Savior bled and died
And rose again three days hence
And now is glorified.
The daily crosses that I bear
To the world they seem a trial
But they sharpen me in the inner man
For they'll only last a while
Soon enough I'll breath my last
I'll lay down the burden of my soul
Then stand before the King of Kings
Where I'll be finally whole.
Gal 4:6Â And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
What a magnificent scripture! The fullness of time had come and God the Father sent forth His Son, to we who were enslaved by sin and under a curse, and redeemed us to Himself. Shall we not boast? Shall we not shout from the rooftops about the cross of Christ? Look to Calvary and we see the magnificent sacrifice and victory of our Father in heaven through His precious sinless Son. The Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to us and we to the world! The way unto heaven was made and the road was paved with tears and sorrows and the gate was covered by His blood. Yet for those who find the way, in the Lord, it leads us to the very throne room of “our Father.” Rest on that a moment brothers and sisters “Our Father.” O precious God in heaven above, we, your children praise you as we cry out unto You. We glorify you today for we are astonished that we who were but slaves and captives and cursed, are now sons and daughters and heirs through Christ our Lord. Who could believe such a thing?
The captives have been set free! The curse has been removed! The slave has been taken from the field! We who dwelt in huts and caves and darkness have been taken to where the Master lives. And because our Lord and Savior Jesus lives, then we live. This life that I now live I live by faith in the Son of God. It is no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me and the cry of my heart and soul that resounds down through the ages and across the heavens is “Abba Father.” My Father who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. I have died to the law of my flesh that I might live a life of faith given to me by grace. O how sweet is the grace that saved us, and what a price was paid that we may call Him Abba. How could I ever return to the weak and beggarly elements of the flesh and slavery and darkness? Your marvelous light O God has set us free from the law of sin and death and the curse was removed from us by the bloody nails of Calvary and the precious flesh they pierced. O how we love Jesus, O how we love Jesus. He came for you, He came for me, He died and bled to make us free. He rose again and now He lives and by His grace, redemption gives. We, the redeemed of the Lord cry holy, holy, holy…. we cry Abba Father.
Fill me till I thirst no more
With living waters from above
Fill me till I overflow
And it manifests itself in love
Fill me with abundance Lord
That fills my very soul
Fill the deepest parts of me
And in the filling I'll be whole
Fill me with your presence Lord
Till it flows from the depths of me
Fill me with waters from above
That would fill the deepest sea
Fill me with Your glory Lord
For it surely fills the temple
Fill me with your power Lord
That keeps me strong but gentle
Fill me with Your Light O Lord
Burning brighter than the sun
Remind me of Your victory Lord
That on Calvary was sorely won
Fill me with eternal life
So I'll walk the narrow way
That leads to my celestial home
Where I'll forever stay
Last night was a sleepless night for me. There was two lines that came to me in my sleep. “I’m walking in the shadow of an already setting sun.” I knew if I did not get up, that these words would not be remembered in the morning. Typically when I write a poem, the Holy Spirit will give me a line that represents the meaning He wants me to convey in words. It’s not usually in the middle of the night. It was a struggle as I was so desperately tired, but eventually I got up at about 3am and went downstairs and wrote the lines. This morning it seemed clear to me what the Holy Spirit was saying. He was speaking to someone, perhaps many, who look at their lives or a particular situation and it seems hopeless. It seems no good thing can come out of this despite your desperate prayers. So, this poem/word is to someone who has specifically asked the Lord a question about what shall become of their desperate situation. The old adage “its always darkest before the dawn,” seems to fit here. There is a dawn coming, the sun will rise in your situation, but in the depths of the longest night it is often hard to believe. To you who asked the question of God, He says to you “the victory is already won, right now your just walking in the shadow of it.”
I'm walking in the shadow
Of an already setting sun
I'm walking in the shadow of
A victory already won
And in that victory I'll arise
O death where is your sting?
I'll stand before the Lord of Lords
And this is what I'll sing
Hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah to my King
Hallelujah hallelujah
O death where be thy sting?
Now I look back at the shadow
And the shadow is no more
It's been swallowed up in victory
As I walk on through the door
It's an open door to heaven
A door no man can close
For the one who holds it open
Is the one who took the blows.
I very rarely give the premise of a poem. Poems should speak for themselves. Poems can say a thousand different things to a thousand different people. A poet reaches into his heart and speaks of what he knows and presents a piece of his heart to others. What is common to him is common to humanity. When he expresses this, it touches others for they recognize that joy and pain and even agony that is common to all of us to one degree or another. Yet I would like to say a few words about this poem that I have written. It is my testimony of being saved. It is where I was. I had come out of my childhood a thoroughly broken human being. And long before my 21st birthday I had buried a son, been homeless, held my second son in my arms who had just been burned over 60% of his body with third degree burns, and suddenly I was gone. I had slipped away beneath the darkness. Into the depths of wrecked humanity. I “knew,” I would not leave this place.
And it was this “knowing,” that was the atmosphere of my own personal hell. It is impossible to convey this place of lost souls. I had walked out of the fire of my childhood and onto broken glass. And suddenly the mind is overwhelmed and you slip away. And so the poem describes a shaft of light that doggedly pursued me. I knew it was there, I ran from it. It was, of course, my Jesus. And he pursued me to the gates of hell. I cannot really describe my encounter with Him. It was an agony, for I could see myself. I, who would have destroyed every mirror in the world had to face what I had become in the incredible light of Christ. And right there I wanted Jesus to look away from me, I did not want this magnificent majestic perfect beauty of Holiness to look on something so deformed by sin. And yet He looked, despite my sin. “I love you.” And in a single moment, I was free. And so, the poem is about my journey to the light. If you know someone who is lost in the depths of darkness, maybe you could share this with them. There is but a single hope in Christ.
If my heart cries out, Lord will you hear me?
If I come to you, Lord will you see me?
What could be worse than the darkness where I stand?
To reach out through the darkness and discover there's no hand
The greater terror than the darkness of the night
Is to consider the possibility that there really is no light
To be so consumed by darkness that there is no way ahead
Is to walk in lockstep with the lost, to walk with the walking dead
Yet all along there was but a single shaft of light
That followed through the fire and was with me in the night
I ran and ran and ran from this but yet it followed me
Even to the ends of the earth and to the depths of the bottomless sea.
I had taken the wings of the morning and fled into the night
I had plunged to the very gates of hell, yet it kept me in its sight
Even in this darkness it still was light to me
I could sense that somewhere in this light I could yet be free
And so with trembling agony I stumbled to the light
I had ran with the forces of chaos and now I had no fight
So my heart cried out to Jesus "Is it true can I be free."
And in a single moment He was standing there with me.
And oh what an agony to to be this near to Him
I could see my lost humanity, that I was drowning in my sin.
And with my very last breath, He had indeed heard me
The light had come to take me home, the light had set me free.
You have been my shelter Lord..............
When the rain fell from the sky
When the rivers they ran dry
When peace had fled from me
You have been my shelter Lord, in the midst of the raging sea.
You have been my shelter Lord.............
When I just could not go on
When the night had lost its song
When I was down upon my knees
You have been my shelter Lord when you heard my anguished pleas.
You have been my shelter Lord............
When the wilderness sapped my soul
When I had lost control
When there was no way ahead
You were indeed my shelter Lord when you suffered died and bled
You are my Rock my strong high tower
My song of praise in the midnight hour
My holy place my tabernacle
You broke every chain and smashed every shackle.
Manna fall from heaven Lord and feed my hungry soul
Feed the very depths of me that I may walk on whole
Living waters flow through me and quench my raging thirst
For I am now redeemed by you, I who once was cursed
Speak to me when I am low, that I may rise again
Touch me in affliction Lord, deliver me from pain
Rend the heavens and come down and light the way ahead
For I have been delivered Lord, I who once was dead
Consume me with your presence Lord and cast out every fear
Lead the way through troubles Lord and dry up every tear
Lift my eyes to the cross once more that I might see the cost
For I was purchased by Your blood, I who once was lost
Speak but a single word to me it is not by bread alone
A vision of your majesty and the glory of your throne
The beauty of your Holiness your splendor is all I find
I see you high and lifted up, I who once was blind.
To be known by you sets my troubled heart at ease
It lifts me high above the waves, above the stormy seas
To be known by you fills me with such great desire
It overflows my flooded heart and puts out every fire
To be known by you means that I have been redeemed
Delivered from the guilt and shame and every voice that screamed
To be known by you puts a sword into my hand
To be lifted up from the battle-field that I once more might stand
To be known by you sets all my enemies to flight
And with the Word of God helps me navigate the night
To be known by you it is manna to my soul
For that which once was broken, you have now made whole
To be known by you will hold me in that hour
When all the world is crumbling, I'll be standing in your power
This I know in the depths of my heart to be true
That I am overwhelmed that I am known by you.
Isa 26:3Â You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You
Perfect peace. Oh what a marvelous state. Who among us would not revel in “perfect peace.” Yet here is a promise from the Living God to His people, with two conditions. Conditions you say? Yes, indeed. And the two here stated are firstly, “whose mind is stayed on You.” Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. See Him in all His glory. See Him high and lifted up above your circumstances. Was He not lifted up upon a cross for you? See Him high and lifted up above every storm. Above every set of circumstances, above every ailment and serious infirmity. For when you see Him as such and glorify Him as such does not the Spirit of Christ rest upon you? When the world and even your own mind and body attempts to wrestle you away from a singular focus on Him, shall we not resist this?
Secondly, trust in the Lord your God. Trust Him on the mountain, trust Him in the valley, trust Him when your enemies are all around and to your aid He rallies. Trust Him in the morning when the sun rises in the sky, trust Him on your sickbed when men say that you will die. Trust Him in the noonday when the sun is overhead, trust Him for your sustenance and for your daily bread. Trust Him as the sun goes down and in the twilight hour, for even in the darkness He is your light and He’s your power. To keep your eyes on Him and to trust Him in all things is to walk through the door of perfect peace. Won’t you go in brothers and sisters? Look up unto the heavens and revel in the glory of God and you shall revel in His peace, His perfect peace.
I was born by the river
In a dirty ol town of hard livin
And that old river just keeps on running
And I know I just got to keep on forgivin.
That old river is fast flowin
But it couldn't wash away all the pain
For in the eddy's and the alleys
The gutters of life kept pouring down rain.
Cobblestones streets illuminated by full moon nights
Lamp posts silhouetted, sandstone chimney pots
The thing about this rain that never seems to stop
It soaks you to the bone and everything rots
As I flew a long long way from the valley
And left it far far and away behind
To the big sky horizons of a different world
Yet the valley was never far from my mind
Still the river flowed, still the rain fell
And even in this land of vast horizons
I was walking though the long deep valley
Looking for a world I could arise in.
And then a hand reached down through the rain
Through the misty darkness of cobblestone streets
Where the gutters were awash with pain
A new land came forward and the old ones retreat
Now the river keeps running through the valley
And the rain keeps fallin from above
Yet the sun has broken through the landscape
And has filled that old valley with its love.
Freedom is totally unconfined
And surely break the cords that bind
It set me adrift in the midst of an endless sea
It swallowed and consumed me, now I am surely free
Freedom is the reason that He came from up above
Freedom is His work and the consequences of
The Fathers love and His desire to set the captives free
And every saint in all the earth shall surely all agree
That freedom is the narrow path as wide as the Fathers heart
And freedom is the cords of love that never comes apart
It is the mighty rushing wind, an unstoppable incoming tide
It is the depths of the Fathers heart, the place where I shall hide
The Kingdom of God, my heart cries out, and calls it freedom land
It is the solid Rock in a sinking world, where I forever stand
It is the air I breath, each beat of my heart, which He gave unto me
It is nail pierced hands and wounded side that set my spirit free
Calvary alone attests to the work that Christ Himself has done
And to freedoms glorious victory that He alone has won
Who could have ever known that to nail Christ to a tree
Would destroy the power of bondage and set the captive free
When all the leaves have faded
And fallen to the ground
I pray the trees still standing
Right there on Holy ground.
When everything is stripped away
And we stand before the throne
And we have no earthly covering
but the Blood of Christ alone
We'll see what only God can see
And where it had begun
On the wretched bloody battle-field
Of Calvary there, was won.
The Blood He shed for you and me
It covers everything
And though we stand there naked
There stands our Christ the King
And there we'll know as we are known
White garments dressed before the throne
There'll never be another fall
For the Blood of Christ it covers all.
Rivers of grace and oceans of love
Is always sufficient is always enough
The heavens shall open and rain down on me
I who was captive now gloriously free
It raises me up to where I belong
That which was weak, is now very strong
This river of grace, this ocean of love
Takes me to places I've never dreamed of
I found the Father without any chart
And Jesus His Son to the depths of His heart
Now Only in thee can I ever abide
In the cleft if the Rock, I forever shall hide
Rivers of grace and oceans of love
My glorious Jesus is more than enough
The heavens wide open rains down upon me
No longer a captive just gloriously set free.
I will open rivers in the desert heights
I will illuminate the darkness on the darkest nights
I will be a cloud to you in the heat of the day
Follow me my child I will show you the way
I will make the wilderness like a pool of water
I will strengthen you though ye be like lambs to the slaughter
When they hang you high I will raise you higher
You will praise My name in the midst of the fire
When they put you in the dungeon and throw away the key
You will sing songs of glory for I have set you free
There are no chains that can ever hold you down
For I have robed you in glory and placed upon your head a crown
Streams of heavenly glory flow down to you oh man
I saw you born again, I saw when it all began
No child of mine shall beg nor ever sell his own birthright
Rather stand he in the battle, he will stand and fight
We do not fight with flesh and blood, rather principalities and powers
We pull down every stronghold and demolish demonic towers
The Lord has called us to righteousness and He will hold our hand
And by the power of His glory, we shall forever stand.
Rain down you heavens from above
Let the skies pour forth in righteousness
Be drenched by His glorious love
And let His light expel all darkness
I am the Lord your God and there is no other
Look to me alone as your narrow way
Do not be distracted by any other lover
And I will lead and guide you every single day
I have formed the light and created the darkness
I make peace and hold the reins of calamity
Yet in my Hands you are safe from all the madness
And despite all you see there is only my reality
Darkness and light are both the same to Me
And I have created the path that lies before you
Whether mountains or valleys or the wildest desolate seas
I will forge your steps and I will take you through
You shall walk through fires and you shall not be burned
You shall wade through floods and not be overwhelmed
You shall keep your eyes on me and never be turned
When you are covered by My Blood you are never condemned.
I will open rivers in the desert heights
I will illuminate the darkness on the darkest nights
I will be a cloud to you in the heat of the day
Follow me my child I will show you the way
I will make the wilderness like a pool of water
I will strengthen you though ye be like lambs to the slaughter
When they hang you high I will raise you higher
You will praise My name in the midst of the fire
When they put you in the dungeon and throw away the key
You will sing songs of glory for I have set you free
There are no chains that can ever hold you down
For I have robed you in glory and upon your head a crown
Streams of heavenly glory flow down to you oh man
I saw you born again, I saw when it all began
No child of mine shall beg nor ever sell his own birthright
Rather stand he in the battle, he will stand and fight
We do not fight with flesh and blood, rather principalities and powers
We pull down every stronghold and demolish demonic towers
The Lord has called us to righteousness and He will hold our hand
And by the power of His glory, we shall forever stand.
A NEW DAY IS BORN.
As the morning from the earliest dawn
Is spread upon the mountains
So the Blood of our Almighty Lord
Flows from eternal fountains
As the river from its secret source
Flows down from the highest valleys
So our Lord and all His marching saints
To the battle ever rallies
Down from Heaven's eternal skies
Flows Gods almighty blessings
That washes men from all their sins
And all of their transgressions
In every battle in every age
Blood has been forever shed
Yet the greatest day there ever was
The day my Saviour died and bled
And now the fountains of our Lord
Gush forth a mighty flood
Refreshing men in every age
By His eternal Blood
Stand fast ye soldiers of the cross
Stand fast and hold the ground
Though you may suffer grievous loss
And the enemy is all around
Rise up like mornings from the dawn
That spreads across the mountains
And see His Blood you look upon
Flow from eternal fountains
And in this glorious tidal wave
That ushers sin into its grave
You'll stand triumphantly and say
This is for me a brand new day..
My hope is in the Christ that dwells within my heart.
It also lies within my Lord who quenches every dart
The Christ who came and died for me and raised me from the dead
And who for you and me , gladly died and bled
My hope is in the Lord my God who whispers in my ear
The Christ who by His very walk conquered every fear
The Christ who showed me how to live and also how to die
The Christ who taught me how to run and also how to fly
He is my sunrise in the morning at the breaking of the dawn
And by His hand transformed me and forever He holds on
He is my sunset in the evening at the end of every day
He came to show me how to walk, to walk a different way
He is the beginning and the end and everything in between
He is the power that transformed me, by His Blood I was made clean
Rising from the ashes of sin and death and hell
He raised me up to where He was and there forever I shall dwell.
A Call To The Remnant 