Wednesday 29 January 2014

AT THE INN

When I was blind and poor
And only Christ could cure
He heard my anxious cry
And did not pass me by.”

Wounded and torn by sin
Both outside and within
Without Him I would die -
He did not pass me by.”

I climbed within my tree
To hide but still to see:
He saw me hidden high
And did not pass me by.”

The night almost opaque,
We glimpsed upon the lake
A figure drawing nigh -
He did not pass us by.”

So if you are in need
Christ listens when you plead;
His mercy will reply:
He will not pass you by.”

Monday 27 January 2014

PROSPECT

Our prospect is delighting:
To be with Christ, through grace:
Oh! Won’t it be exciting
To see our Master’s face!

Relieved then from the scrimmage,
Our testimony done
We’ll be in His own image,
Conformed to God’s own Son.

His glory will be blazing,
And we shall all rejoice -
Oh! Won’t it be amazing
To hear our Master’s voice!

If every view will please us,
And make our praises brim,
What will it be to Jesus
To have His bride with Him!

Sunday 26 January 2014

CLOTHES

Though your wedding clothes
Will shine for one day the Best Robe
Will shine forever.

Friday 24 January 2014

OIL

The substance of anointing was the oil
Drawn from the fatness of the olive tree
To honour God and man, by patient toil.

And oil gave light. The anointed priest could see
The artefacts which decked the holy shrine
Displaying craftsmanship of high degree.

And olive oil was mingled in the fine
Flour of the choice oblation in his hand;
The finest wheaten flour men could refine.

Thursday 23 January 2014

GIFT

When first I received my Best Gift
I valued it because
It was just what I needed.

And I treasured it more
As I began to realise
What it had cost the Giver.

Now I have a growing knowledge
Of the intrinsic worth and beauty
Of my Best Gift.

I cherish it because it reminds me
Of the Giver
While I learn what it means to Him.

I share it with Him -
And can share it with you -
Since my Best Gift is Jesus.

Wednesday 22 January 2014

GOSPEL

Though selfish souls relax in sin
My word will not be stilled:
Go to the highways, bring men in,
That my house may be filled.

Tuesday 21 January 2014

ENLIGHTENING

Her soul unveiled to the shafts
Of divine light the woman perceived
That He was a prophet. But He did not leave her
Till her soul also knew Him as the Christ.

His eyes opened, and his heart
Opened the once blind man affirmed
That He was a prophet. But to finish His task
Christ showed that He is Son of God.

Wandering, disturbed that they lacked
The One that they asserted to be
A prophet. He went with them, lit
Their hearts, and made known, Himself.

Monday 20 January 2014

PRISON

They put Paul in a prison
And they clapped him in a chain;
The devil thought, “I’ve got him,
And he’ll never serve again”.
Did Paul become despondent
Or did he make a fuss?
He just sat and wrote the epistle
To the saints in Ephesus.

Sunday 19 January 2014

SWEETNESS

Sweet is the blessing,
Sweeter the love that blessed, but
Sweetest the Blesser.

Saturday 18 January 2014

VOICE

He did not speak in the tempest,
He did not speak in the fire;
He did not speak in the earthquake,
He was not speaking in ire.
He spoke - and His ransomed saints rejoice:
He spoke in a soft and gentle voice.

To saints the Saviour has ransomed
He speaks in accents of grace;
It touched the hearts of lost sinners
And pierced their hard carapace.
He speaks and His folded sheep rejoice
Having learned to discern their Shepherd’s voice.

Friday 17 January 2014

HEART

Nothing is finer
Than to know the changelessness
Of the heart of Christ.

Thursday 16 January 2014

PRODIGAL

I am kissed, I am dressed,
I am ringed, I am shod;
I am chosen and blessed -
I am brought near to God!

Wednesday 15 January 2014

HE DOES ALL THINGS WELL

Creation composed;
Perfection in manhood portrayed:
Atonement made; Christ
Is the Accomplisher.

Creation maintained;
Men borne on His heart and shoulders;
God's praise continued: Christ
Is the Sustainer.

The truth in Jesus;
Sons blessed in the beloved;
A new creation formed:
Established in Christ.

Tuesday 14 January 2014

O LORD, THY LOVE'S UNBOUNDED

1
O LORD, Thy love's unbounded,
So sweet, so full, so free;
My soul is all transported
Whene'er I think of Thee!
2
Yet, Lord, alas! what weakness
Within myself I find;
No infant's changing pleasure
Is like my wand'ring mind.
3
And yet Thy love's unchanging,
And doth recall my heart
To joy in all its brightness,
The peace its beams impart.
4
Yet sure, if in Thy presence
My soul still constant were,
Mine eye would, more familiar,
Its brighter glories bear.
5
And thus Thy deep perfections
Much better should I know,
And with adoring fervour
In this Thy nature grow.
6
Still sweet 'tis to discover,
If clouds have dimmed my sight,
When passed, eternal Lover,
Towards me, as e'er, Thou'rt bright.
7
O keep my soul, then, Jesus,
Abiding still with Thee,
And, if I wander, teach me
Soon back to Thee to flee;
8
That all Thy gracious favour
May to my soul be known;
And, versed in this Thy goodness,
My hopes Thyself shalt crown.
J.N. Darby

Sunday 12 January 2014

UNBOUNDED LOVE

"O Lord, Thy love's unbounded,
So vast, so full, so free!"
But how imperfect, faltering,
How small, my love to Thee!
Compare my love to Thine, Lord,
How feeble does it seem!
Thy love is like an ocean,
But mine a tiny stream.

How little do I fathom
That wondrous depth of grace,
Which brought Thee down from heaven,
On earth to take a place -
To be the lowly Jesus,
(Oh blessed beauteous Name!
To bow Thy head so meekly,
To bear that cross of shame!

How feeble is the answer
To all Thy present love! 
Thy patient, loving service
As Advocate above!
Midst all my folly, weakness,
Forgetfulness of Thee,
Thy love still, like a banner,
Protects, o'ershadows me.

Release my heart then, Jesus,
Fron all that's here below,
That thus, each hindrance banished,
My love towards Thee may glow.
And then, with deeper meaning,
My song shall rise to Thee -
"O Lord, Thy love's unbounded,
So vast, so full, so free!"

By T Willey
From The Songs of the Lord





Saturday 11 January 2014

THE LOVE OF JESUS

O Lord, Thy love’s unbounded,
So sweet, so full, so free;
My spirit does Thee homage
Since love has reached to me.

I see in all Thy pathway
As here to heal and bless,
In glorious demonstration
Thy love for righteousness.

And heaven was delighted
As God the Father saw
One who, in spirit, uttered
Oh how I love Thy law!”

I see in every footstep,
As moving to fulfil
All that must be accomplished,
Love for Thy Father’s will.

How Thou didst love His purpose -
Willingly Thou didst go
Till all thing should be finished
Through toil and pain and woe.

For Thou didst love Thy Father
And daily didst rejoice
As wakening each morning
To hear the Father’s voice.

And Thou didst love the brethren
Thy Father gave to Thee -
We hear Thee pray concerning
Those Thou hast given Me...”

Thy love for Thine assembly,
Thy helpmate and Thy wife,
Led Thee to give up all things,
Even Thy precious life.

For where was love more vivid
Than on Golgotha’s tree?
Love that was undiminished,
Love that has made me free.

Love that will last for ever,
Love that surrounds me now,
Love of a Man in glory,
Love that has made me bow.

Friday 10 January 2014

PILLARS

When he heard the word “Look on us”
What did the lame man see? Two
Pillars before the temple, Jachin and Boaz.

A man, founded on the fact and joy
Of the love of Jesus: “He will establish”.

A man, weakened in his nature’s vigour,
Founded in this knowledge: “In Him is strength”.

So that if given power in the Name
Of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean, he still
Clung to that Lord’s conspicuous pillars here.


This refers to Acts 3 and 1 Kings 7: 21.

Thursday 9 January 2014

LAND

I have glimpsed God’s land of promise which no taint of sin can blight,
I am suited by the Father to that place of saints in light,
By the Spirit I am strengthened and by Christ I am allured
To make progress to the portion which transcendent love secured.

I am fed on Christ who humbly once descended from above,
On His suffering and dying in infinitude of love,
On the Lord in resurrection as presented to His own,
And on Him, God’s well-beloved, who is on the Father’s throne.

When established in the fulness of His death for me I stand
In the dignity of sonship, in the finest of the land;
As complete in Christ and drawing from Him as my only root
I may rest in satisfaction - God will gain abundant fruit.


Wednesday 8 January 2014

GOD'S LOVE IS WIDE AND HIGH AND LONG AND DEEP

When we were lost since we had strayed like sheep
The Shepherd searched, because His heart was moved
By our deep need, and through the depths He proved
God's love is wide and high and long and deep.

Though we were aliens and did not belong
To Israel, God sent His only Son,
Who showed us, through the work that He has done
God's love is deep and wide and high and long.

The Saviour who came down to earth to die
Now lives above, and blessing overflows
From Him as on the Father's throne, which shows
God's love is long and deep and wide and high.

The Father's heart seeks sons who will abide
With Him eternally, whose hearts will know
His nearness of relationship to show
God's love is high and wide and deep and long.



Following up Patrina's thought.

 

Monday 6 January 2014

HIM WHO LOVES US

O all ye ransomed throng
Life up your joyful song:
Honour and praise belong
To Him who loves us!

He washed our sins away
And saved from Satan’s sway:
Lift a fresh song today
To Him who loves us!

He made us share His feast,
Made each a royal priest:
Let praises be released
To Him who loves us!

Consciously loved by Him
Whose glory will not dim
Let constant praises brim
To Him who loves us!

Sunday 5 January 2014

LOVE

If God has made known
His love, He has done it
By the Man who best
Knows love.

Saturday 4 January 2014

TIME

Before God’s earliest actions in creation had begun
The One we know as Father loved the One we know as Son.

Before God made our planet as a dwelling for mankind,
The Man who shed His precious blood was in the Father’s mind.

Before man’s course of sin and disobedience had its start
I had a status as a son, within the Father’s heart.

**********

After God’s operations in the realms of time are done
Our God and Father will receive the kingdom from the Son.

After rebellion’s last defeat when everything is blest
God’s tabernacle will be there and all will be at rest.

After He has disposed of worlds affected by sin’s taints
God will have Christ as source of joy - and Christ formed in the saints.

**********

Now God is working on the earth where Christ was crucified
That in the hearts of ransomed saints Christ might be magnified.

Now through the Son and Spirit’s work in testimonial ways
Saints are secured, and formed like Christ, to give the Father praise.

Now saints rejoice to be for Christ where He has been despised
While features of assembly light are being realised.

Friday 3 January 2014

ATTRACTION

Heaven’s attraction
Is its perfect harmony
With the mind of Christ.

Thursday 2 January 2014

HAND

Lord, keep me underneath Thy hand
Secure from harm;
Without Thee I cannot withstand
Storm or alarm.

Lord, keep me underneath Thy hand
Guided by Thee
Finding as under Thy command
Thy path for me.

Lord, keep me underneath Thy hand
Both warmed and blessed
Where in Thy love I understand
The way that’s best.