REDEMPTION

Redemption subsists in the worth of the Person
Who holds the first place in the Father’s affection,
The Son of His love, who is given the kingdom
For which we are fit through His worth and perfection.

Redemption is known through the blood of the Saviour
Through which, by God’s grace, we are brought into favour;
Christ satisfied God in the work of atonement
While God’s heart rejoiced in His charm and His savour.

We wait for adoption, the body’s redemption,
And with us is waiting the whole of creation
Till Christ is acclaimed on the throne of his kingdom
And all is transformed at that great liberation.

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.

THE GRACE OF GOD

Does God wish me, who wanders from His will
Following the inclinations of my pleasure
Within His presence? Does He wish to fill
His great eternal home with doubtful treasure
Such as I am? Can He find pleasure in
Unstable, weak, and self-regarding souls
Ensconced in lust and garrisoned by sin
Within whose life a selfish mind controls?

He, as a just and holy God, cannot
Tolerate sin - how can He wish for me,
The sinner? If, as sinful, I am brought
Before Him judgement must be His decree:

Yet such the grace of God that I am won
Into His presence, righteous in His Son.

ENJOYMENT

    We enjoy what God
Is in Christ, and God enjoys
    What He has in Christ.

HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR ME

For me He gave His life:
No angel stayed the knife;
No other took His place:
He bore it all in grace;
Against Him was God’s judgment stroke;
On Him God’s storm of anger broke.

For me His life He gave -
Such His desire to save!
Such His desire to bless
Despite my worthlessness!
His grace and mercy made Him die
When I was far, to bring me nigh.

He gave His life for me
So that I might be free;
So that I might rejoice
To listen to His voice;
So that I might be sanctified
And all of one with Him who died.

20/12/04

Some aunts may be good
Or great, but Auntie Jessie
Is a great-great Aunt!

19/12/04

God makes the tables,
And by the Spirit of God
Christ writes in our hearts.

18/12/04

His redeemed people

Receive God's message, "I am

The Lord who heals you".

 

For your interest:

Julian on his graduation day, with Rosie and me.

M.A. (Hons) Economics and Accounting

17/12/04

What an embracing
Comfort it is to relax
In my steaming bath.

16/12/04

Value God's methods
In living or in dying,
Marriage and burial.

15/12/04

Because silence is
Elusive relish quiet
Among trees and grass.

14/12/04

Christ's subduing power
Outside - and inside the surge
Of Living Water.

BEFORE CHRIST JESUS EVERY ONE SHALL FALL

(Villanelle)

Before Christ Jesus every one shall fall
Of heavenly, earthly, and infernal things
Acknowledging that He is Lord of all.

When He, whose humble birth was in a stall,
Appears as Lord of Lord and King of kings
Before Christ Jesus every one shall fall.

Since He has known the wormwood and the gall
We love Him for the sweetness which He brings
Acknowledging that He is Lord of all.

He was before all things, and He could call
On winds and storms to cease their buffetings:
Before Christ Jesus every one shall fall.

And God has been delighted to install
Him on His throne, while each redeemed one sings
Acknowledging that He is Lord of all.

He has a glory which will never pall
While in His praise the court of heaven rings;
Before Christ Jesus every one shall fall
Acknowledging that He is Lord of all.

I AM

I am
A sinner in being and doing;

I am
A sinner, saved by grace;

I am
Less than the lest of all saints;

I am
One of the sons of God;

I am
A narcissus of Sharon;

I am,
By God's grace
What I am.


15/06/10

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.

ENJOYMENT

We enjoy being
The sons of God; He enjoys
Being our Father.

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.

MARTIN LUTHER

The field's green is ruined;
Some peasant has carved
Its surface - now,
After some harrowing,
There will be growth.

Stench of ordure
Offends the nostrils - the peasant
Has used his ox - now,
After the winter, is
A fertile promise.

The crop falls,
Row by row; the peasant
Garners from the ruin - not
Just a winters bread:
Next year's seed too.

SUPPLY

Everything man needs
Has been supplied for him in
The Person of Christ.

LEADING

The Jew's leaders thought they led
To a final disposal
A disturber of their swamp.

The Romans thought that they led
An abject subversive to
Punishment fit for a slave.

But the Master was leading
His love-bound Hebrew bondman
To the doorpost's fierce piercing.


Exodus 21, 1-6

13/12/04

The death of Christ is
The revelation of God:
There we learn God's love

12/12/04

The goodness of God
Leads men to repentance, and
Leads into blessing.

11/12/04

And marriage itself
In a world of lawlessness,
Is blessing to Man.

10/12/04

God has provided
As doorposts to families
Marriage in the Lord.

09/12/04

Have I mentioned cheese -
From quotidian cheddar
To blue pungencies?

08/12/04

The glad tidings light
Exposes all that has been
Accomplished by Christ.

07/12/04

Now we are of Him,
Through Him, and by Him, to whom
Be glory always!

THE LORD IS NEAR

The Lord is near
To cast out fear;
To cleanse from sin
And dwell within.

The Lord is near
To bring in cheer;
His gracious voice
Makes saints rejoice.

The Lord is near
Who is so dear;
His charms impart
Joy to each heart.

The Lord is near
Whom we revere;
Before Him now
We gladly bow.

The Lord is near -
He’ll soon appear
And take His own
To share His throne.

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.

"And he set up the pillars for the porch of the temple; and he set up the right pillar, and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called its name Boaz." 1 Kings 7: 21