Thursday 31 May 2012

PERFECT

A perfect love
Outside time
Conceived the seed-plot,
Seed, blade, bloom,
That there should be fruit
To perfect love's satisfaction.

A perfect Man
Uncorroded by sin,
Undeterred by mankind's
Reiterated insult,
Unmovable from the perfect will
Could be the perfect sacrifice.

A perfect work
Enduring the severe sword
And meeting every charge
Against us, every challenge against
God, has been completed,
In perfect righteousness.

To which God gave
The perfect answer - making Him
Both Lord and Christ;
Now He sits
Awaiting the perfect time
Upon the Father's throne.

The perfect result!
A city, having God's glory,
Descending from heaven:
Having "her shining"
To the eternal satisfaction
Of perfect love.

Wednesday 30 May 2012

GIVING

He could have given the mountains, the forests, the lakes or the plains;
He could have given the cities, the kingdoms, or all their pelf;
He could have unleashed the tempest, or wakened the force of the rains;
They were His to do as He wished with. But He didn’t - He gave Himself.

Tuesday 29 May 2012

GOD IS SUPREME

God rules in majesty and might
And all things serve His will;
Unrighteous rulers do the right
He binds them to fulfil,
While He has acted that His mind
Should be His prophets’ theme
And saints secured from humankind
Acclaim Him as supreme.

But God, desiring that His heart
Should no more be concealed,
Came out in Jesus to impart
Truths richly now revealed.
The Father, Son and Spirit now
Abide in hearts of saints
Secured as worshippers who bow
As freed from sin’s constraints.

If sin had made this sphere impure
Before the dawn of Man
God worked in wisdom to secure
His own eternal plan.
In Christ He challenged Satan’s power
And seized his panoply:
Then, in the darkest, weakest hour
Christ won the victory!

In answer to Christ’s loving heart
God has secured the Bride,
His helpmate and His counterpart,
Derived, as from His side.
It is the fulness of the Head
The assembly now displays,
While in Christ Jesus being led
To give God endless praise.

Monday 28 May 2012

DAVID

Before the exploit
God saw a character of manhood
That he could designate
"A man after my heart".

Seeing his subject spirit,
His faith, and his delight
In God's pleasure, he was "a man ...
Who shall do all my will".

When the exploit came
The beauty within him,
The excellent qualities,
Shone with a fresh sheen.

The giant defeated,
He became a centre of attraction
As others awoke to a glimpse
Of God's view of the man.

Features and actions
Glimmer forth the light
Which blazed forth in the Root
And Offspring of David.

6/5/12


Sunday 27 May 2012

CHRIST IN THE WILDERNESS

The Lord, the Son of David,
    named Son by God's decree,
Whose excellence of bearing
    is like the cedar tree,
As One who was prepared to
   fulfil all righteousness
Was carried by the Spirit
  into the wilderness.

The Christ, the Son of God, in
   whom God had found delight,
Prepared to be a servant,
   despite His sovereign right,
In holiness which only
   His manhood could express
Was driven by the Spirit
   into the wilderness.

Jesus, the Son of man, come
   in condescending love,
As He on whom the Spirit
   descended as a dove,
In manhood in perfection,
   as heaven and saints confess,
Was led by the same Spirit
   within the wilderness.


27 May 2012

Saturday 26 May 2012

WHAT LOVE DICTATED

Although He lived His life amid
Those who dismissed the will of God
What love dictated, that He did.

God had no reason to forbid
The impulses that moved Him since
What love dictated, that He did.

Although His nation tried to rid
Themselves of Him, in care for them,
What love dictated, that He did.

In grace He went to where God hid
His face from Him and, suffering,
What love dictated, that He did.

Friday 25 May 2012

ROUNDEL

Father, Thou lovest and how well
That love was shown when Jesus came
Here, among men of earth, to dwell.
Father, Thou lovest!

And here He has made known Thy Name
To those whom grace and love compel
To come to Him and own His claim.

He, by the Spirit, would compel
Our fervent voices to proclaim,
As with delight our spirits swell ‑
"Father, Thou lovest!"

Thursday 24 May 2012

Tuesday 22 May 2012

THE LAMB

Revelation 5 verse 12

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Power, since in weakness He was here,
Upon a cross of shame;
There what no other could achieve
He did,extinguishing death's fear
For those who own His Name.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Riches, because He came to dwell
Among the meek and poor;
Those whom He came to serve believe
That Jesus has done all things well
To save, and bless, and cure.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Wisdom because in foolishness
He bore the cross in love;
Thus He is able to retrieve
Lost ones, and finally, to bless
With wisdom from above.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Strength since, as Samson tore the beast,
He rent death's power away;
That which bereft He has bereaved
And gives us honey as a feast
Out of His victory.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Honour, when He shall come again
To where He was despised;
No more to bear our sins, or grieve,
He will take up His right to reign
And be adored and prized.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Glory, and have the highest place
Among the justified;
His sanctified companions cleave
To Him alone since, through His grace,
They too are glorified.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Blessing because He came to bless
Through ways of grief and shame;
Bless then the One who chose to leave
The heights of heaven, and confess
The glory of His Name!

Monday 21 May 2012

GLAD TIDINGS

Upon the shameful tree
Christ suffered to atone;
He bore the judgment due to me
And made my sins His own.

When all was dark and grim
- The sun as black as night -
God’s righteous judgment fell on Him
In concentrated might.

The penalty of sin,
The prison-house of death,
For me the Saviour came within
When yielding up His breath.

His precious blood was shed,
In grace no words can tell,
By Jesus, as He hung there dead:
He has done all things well!

They laid Him in the grave -
But in God’s timing He
Rose omnicompetent to save;
All this He did for me.

All this He did for me
And now upon the throne
He blesses me, He sets me free
And makes His place my own.

Praise for what He has done
In working out God’s ways;
Grace crowns what mercy has begun:
Praise without ceasing, praise.

Sunday 20 May 2012

Saturday 19 May 2012

AT BALMORAL CASTLE


The water garden was designed by Prince Philip; the plants in the cracks are the herb garden!

KINGS

When puissant Bruce had freed his land,
With Edward's myriads overthrown
By cunning, strategy and force,
He justly claimed it for his own
And ruled amid his clamant court
A leper on a throne.

When Arthur led his gallant knights
To aid and vindicate the just
Who, having formerly despaired,
Acclaimed a monarch they could trust
His host contained Modred his bane
The product of his lust.

And when King David was supreme
From the Euphrates to the sea,
While subjugated nations brought
Silver and gold at his decree,
Within his homeland Absalom
Attained a high degree.

No monarch, great, or good, or just,
Suffices in his quality
To exercise before his God
An undiminished sovereignty;
Apart from Christ whose reign reflects
His own nobility.

Friday 18 May 2012

INTO THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

A few photographs from the journey north earlier this month; the Highlands and Royal Deeside.

CREATION

You know the mountains cragged with snow
And all the grandeurs which pervade them?
I know
The One who made them.

You know the tender flowers which grow
Through suns and winds which bloom and fade them?
I know
The One who made them.

You know the mighty rivers flow
Where human works cannot evade them?
I know
The One who made them.

Thursday 17 May 2012

REFRESHMENT

"Does not His love refresh my spirit now?
- Does not His love restore my soul."  I long
For that domain where, grace says, I belong
Though in this desert.  He will tell me how
He walked loves pathway till He had to bow
And give His spirit up.  He gives a song
To cheer my footsteps though I trudge along,
Assuring me how well He will endow
With grace - Does not His love restore my soul?
Does not His love refresh my spirit now?
Does not His grace bring heaven into view,
While mercy makes my wounded spirit whole.
Yet, from this wilderness, grace will allow
Me to refresh His soul and spirit too.


This sonnet originated in reading the following ministry:
http://www.stempublishing.com/authors/darby/PRACTICE/16050E.html
Enjoy it too!

Wednesday 16 May 2012

GOD'S HEART

I know God's heart, since
I know the Man who's suited
To the heart of God.

Tuesday 15 May 2012

NO PLACE

The Lord has no place
Now upon this earth, unless
Lovers provide it.

Sunday 13 May 2012

BLESSING AND POWER

My blessing depends
On - Christ's work for me; my power -
Christ being in me.

4/5/12

Saturday 12 May 2012

FAVOUR

Our standing on high in the presence of God
Is the fruit of the work being finished.
No sinful departure nor wailed, "Ichabod!"
Can intrude, or its power be diminished.

The virtue of Christ, the burnt-offering, rose
To the nostrils of God in sweet savour;
That worth has effect so that we may be those
Who have access to stand in God's favour.

The Son is in glory, and sits on God's throne,
In the warmth of the Father's affection;
His joy is to praise in the midst of His own,
Those who wear the Beloved's perfection.


29 April 2012

Friday 11 May 2012

THE LORD'S SUPPER

While all around was dark the Supper was inaugurated;
While Christ is glorified in light it has been celebrated.

Thursday 10 May 2012

BLESSINGS

None of the blessings
Within God's heart are beyond
The believer's reach.

6/5/12

Wednesday 9 May 2012

NO ONE ELSE


No one else has set me free;
No one else secured my heart;
No one else draws me apart:
No one else has died for me.

Some may give a high degree,
Some provide profound advice,
Some give presents of great price:
No one else has died for me.

No one else will hear my plea;
No one else can meet my need;
No one else will balm or feed:
No one else has died for me.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

MANY SONS ARE BROUGHT TO GLORY!

He who is the Source of all;
He who is their End withal;
Triumphed over Adam’s fall:
Many sons are brought to glory!

Christ has suffered to atone;
Now He’s on the Father’s throne,
While God’s thought in love is known:
Many sons are brought to glory!

Through the work which Christ has done
God can clothe us in His Son;
Blessed in God’s Beloved One
Many sons are brought to glory!

Brought from darkness into light,
Sons of God, through grace and right,
In the Father’s Spirit’s might
Many sons are brought to glory!

Wednesday 2 May 2012

PETER


Andrew discerning that to meet
Messiah was his brother’s wish
Brought Simon as his earliest fish
To lay before the Master’s feet.

But Simon was already known
Before he joined Christ’s company
For He looked on him carefully
And gave to him the surname “stone”.

Thus was begun a work which would
Proceed by teaching, grace, rebuke
And all the ways that wisdom took
Till what remained was wholly good.

The Master, walking by the sea
Saw Peter and his brother cast
Their net, as often in the past;
They ceased when He said, “Follow Me”.

In Simon’s house the Lord observed
His mother-in-law who was ill;
With Him it was not long until,
Under His powerful hand, she served.

When Jesus guided to detach
From nature Peter - doubtful yet
Obedient - letting down his net
Was given an overwhelming catch.

He cried, stunned by the bulging haul,
“O Lord, I am a sinful man:
Depart from me!” - but then began
To go with Christ, forsaking all.

Such now his hunger and his thirst
For righteousness that he was blessed
And, sovereignly, among the rest
Of the disciples he was first.

Thus in the history we may note
Increased affection for the Friend;
“If it be Thou” - he would depend
On Christ to draw him from the boat.

And if while on the water waves
Distracted till he cried with fear
He quickly found the Lord is near
As One who cares, and helps, and saves.

The twelve, like formed stones in a hod,
Were borne till each should be a block
Being built together on the Rock,
The Christ, Son of the living God.

But it was Peter who confessed
Because to him it was revealed -
He had begun to be a field
Whose produce showed the Lord had blessed.

Yet it was Peter who next took
Jesus to him, trying to divert
From suffering, making Christ assert
Peter’s mind’s sin, by sharp rebuke.

Peter was one whom Jesus chose
To climb the mountain where the light
Shone from Christ, and His clothes were white -
And what did Peter do but doze!

Wakening he, with his usual vim
Spoke - but mistook God’s special choice;
He was adjusted by the voice,
“This is my Well-Beloved: hear Him“.

Years after Peter could record
The glory of Christ’s majesty
And what the Father had to say
To magnify His Son, our Lord.

Descending to a lowly place
The Saviour took the dying way
And helped His own from day to day
To learn Him and to grow in grace.

When Peter said of Christ that He
Would pay the tribute men thought due
He gave - and gave for Peter too -
But taught him that “the sons are free”.

He gave as Master of the sea
By bringing first to Peter’s hook
The creature from whose mouth he took
The coin, Christ said, “for Me and thee”

Amid men’s ignorance and crimes
He taught His own how they should live,
Instructing Peter to forgive
To seventy times seven times.

Christ shunned by Jews and their High Priest
Sent John and Peter as a pair
To work together to prepare,
In line with his desire, the feast.

But in His wisdom He did not
Provide a name of house or street;
They would be led when they would meet
A man who bore a waterpot.

Their work for Him might be complete
But His for them went on apace -
Kindly He took the servant’s place
Coming to each to wash His feet.

That One with all things in His hand,
Laying His usual garments by,
Should take their feet to wash and dry
Peter could barely understand.

Christ taught that nothing else sufficed
If Peter was to know His mind -
And how ennobling to find
That thought was to have part with Christ.

The Lord then showed to them before
The sorrow came how great His care,
With Simon, subject of His prayer,
Assured that Jesus would restore.

See Peter at Gethsemane
Asleep - or brandishing a sword:
Or hear while he denies his Lord
As warmed by fleshly company.

For Peter to repent this sin
Did not require a harsh rebuke
But only Jesus’ tender look
Since grace was strengthening within.

See Peter, lately sunk in gloom,
Bitter in spirit and forlorn,
Bounding, as if he was reborn,
Towards the Saviour’s empty tomb.

In the same grace He showed before
The day when the Lord Jesus rose
Was spent in shepherd care for those
Like Simon whom He would restore.

Christ spoke of more than men could wish
In heavenly relationships -
But see how quickly Peter dips
From God’s high thought to go to fish.

As always Christ’s response was fine:
He gave the wanderers a catch
Which human efforts could not match,
Then said to them to come and dine.

Christ’s probe to Peter’s soul was deep,
Though that was grace to meet his need;
Then Christ could give the charge to feed
His lambs, and feed and herd His sheep.

God’s work secured in Peter’s soul
Could, though the Lord had gone on high,
Give wisdom and the word to apply
That the disciples might be whole.

Thus when the Holy Spirit came
Peter was ready for the hour
And God could fill him with the power
Suiting the message to proclaim.

He preached of how God’s counsels planned
That Jesus died (while men displayed
Their hatred) and that God had made
Him Lord and Christ at His right hand.

He preached that Jesus Christ who went
To death was He who had sustained
All life, and they would be maintained
By Him if they would just repent.

He preached the virtue of the Name
Of Jesus Christ, the Corner Stone:
Since that Name - and that Name alone -
Has power to be the sinner’s claim.

He preached that God must be obeyed,
While through the One men crucified,
Whom God had raised and glorified,
The Holy Spirit was conveyed.

He preached to Gentile as to Jew
Asserting Christ is Lord of all -
Gentiles who answer to His call
Will have their sins remitted too.

He preached with power - but power was seen
In action too: the lame man walked,
Leaped, and praised God, when Peter talked
Of Jesus Christ the Nazarean.

While there was power in judgment when
Defiant Ananias lied
Since it was God he had defied
As his wife’s judgment showed again.

And there was power when he had kneeled,
Then called out, “Tabitha, arise”;
With Dorcas opening her eyes
God’s might and favour were revealed.

And there was power from God to reach
The Gentiles - and in Peter’s mind
To break the wall there till we find
Him greet Cornelius through that breach.

The Lord required that he should see,
From heaven, the beasts in the great sheet
And have the word to slay and eat:
It came, he said, “even to me”.

Yet law’s grip on him was to force
Paul to withstand him to the face:
Only by faith in Christ, through grace,
We have relief, and new resource.

If wicked men would have him chained,
With walls, and guards, and gates to keep
Him till his death Peter could sleep
Since, come what might, God would have gained.

Soon he had reason to rejoice -
Chains fall, the angel leads, gates swing,
He finds a prayerful gathering
Of saints, and one who knows his voice.

Though Jesus had conveyed to him
That Peter would be bound, and die,
In his epistles the supply
Of faith and grace have not grown dim.

He wrote about the preciousness
Of Jesus blood - the blood of One
Foreknown before time had begun
Through whom God’s heart is free to bless.

He wrote about the preciousness
Of Jesus as the Living Stone,
God’s chosen to whom we alone
Come, though men think him valueless.

He wrote about the preciousness
Of One formed in the Christian’s heart
Which gives grace beyond human art
From twist of gold or curl of tress.

He wrote about the preciousness
Of that faith which believers share;
Yet gave us warning to take care
Lest we should fall from steadfastness.

Ready to quit his earthly tent
And knowing this would soon take place
His final word was, “Grow in grace…”
Following his own development.

“…And in the knowledge of our Lord
And Saviour Jesus Christ”, the Man
With whom God’s work, since it began,
Brought Peter’s soul into accord.

His words to us are ended when
That Name had made his spirit bow
In praise - “To Him be glory…now
And to…eternity. Amen”

Off north for a few days - so here is something more substantial.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

CHOICES

One Person did the Father’s will
 And answered to His voice;
Lord Jesus, how our beings thrill
 To Thee, the Father’s choice.

But now we know that we are those
 Who, ere the world began,
The Father, for His pleasure, chose
 For favour in that Man.

So let us choose the Father’s way
 In hearkening to the Son
That Christ may give us, in His day,
 The accolade “Well done”.