Saturday 30 June 2012

HOLY MYRIADS

    XII

Jude 14

Terror will be for sinners:
Triumph will be for God's remnant:
"Behold the Lord has come
Amid his holy myriads".

Revelation 19: 14

Christ will come out in majesty
To exercise alone His judgement
But with this entourage
"The armies which are in the heaven".

Daniel 7: 27

And in a scene secured
By the work of divine wrath
Judgement will be given to
"The saints of the most high places".

Friday 29 June 2012

POSSESSION

XI

1 Peter 2: 9

Where all had been waste
And empty God has secured
For His heart's satisfaction
"A people for a possession".

Amongst the races of men
Diverted to their diverse
Cultures God can see
"A chosen race".

Where there were undignified
Priesthoods and unsanctified
Kingships He has for His
Delight "a kingly priesthood".

Thursday 28 June 2012

"MY ASSEMBLY"

X

Matthew 16: 18

With what joy the Lord,
Seeing its elements,
Foreseeing its formation,
Could say "my assembly"!

Matthew 13: 46

He has it now,
And what His joy
- Such that He gave all -
In "one pearl of great value".

Revelation 21: 10

And she will come down
In all her holy dignity,
To Influence all for Him,
As "the holy city, Jerusalem".

Wednesday 27 June 2012

GOD'S HOUSE

    IX

1 Tim 3: 15

What it is for God
That he has acquired
What is morally suitable
To be "God's house"!

Psalm 27: 4

How grand to gather
To the the beauty of
The Lord, to enquire of Him
In His temple!

Hebrews 8: 2

And He has now for Himself
Under the guidance of
The Minister of the Holy Places
The service of the sanctuary.

Tuesday 26 June 2012

CHILDREN

VIII

Hebrews 2: 13

What signs and wonders
- Along with Him - those
He calls "the children
Whom God has given me".

1 John 3: 1

What liberty and glory
Attaches to those whom
God has delighted to name
"The children of God".

Romans 8 17

What an inheritance
Belongs to them - "if children,
Heirs also: heirs of god
And Christ's joint-heirs.

Monday 25 June 2012

HEBREWS 2

VII

Hebrews 2: 11

He is the Sanctifier
But it has been His pleasure
To secure for Himself and for
God "those sanctified"

Hebrews 2: 12

Amid this company
He has liberty - to release
Divine secrets, "I will declare
Thy name to my brethren".

Hebrews 2: 12

What it means to Him
To be free in praise,
Singing to the Father
"In the midst of the assembly".

Saturday 23 June 2012

ANNOUNCEMENT!

I've put a little book together, "Vessel and Other Verse".  You can find it at:
Vessel and Other Verse.  I would be glad of any comments on the Lulu site.

Grace be with you all!

THOSE ...

VI

John 17: 9

When the Lord Jesus spoke
To the Father - what
Was in His mind? "Those
Whom thou has given me".

2 Timothy 2: 19

As the Lord looks on a scene
Of decadence, claims to,
Or on His name, He recognises
"Those that are His".

2 Timothy 2: 22

And what delight for Him to
See in their joint pursuits
"Those that call upon the Lord
Out of a pure heart".

Friday 22 June 2012

A HOLY NATION


V

1 Peter 2: 9

Behold in its reality
What once was a bare type:
God has what He can name
"A holy nation".

Hebrews 3: 1

These persons, partaking
Of the heavenly calling,
Those who are sanctified,
They are "holy brethren".

Revelation 21: 2

And they shall appear,
Divine workmanship in them
Complete - adorned in bridal glory
As "the holy city".

Tuesday 19 June 2012

LOCAL COMPANIES

III

1 Thessalonians 1: 1

Paul, seeing the product
Of God's labours could address,
"The assembly of Thessalonians
In God our Father
And the Lord Jesus Christ".

1 Corinthians 1: 2

For others, product of
More strenuous founding,
"The assembly of God which
Is in Corinth ... those sanctified
In Christ Jesus".

Ephesians 1: 1

But his most arduous service,
His admonishing with tears,
Had the result, "the saints
And faithful in Christ Jesus
Who are at Ephesus".

Monday 18 June 2012

A HOLY NATION

    V

1 Peter 2: 9

Behold in its reality
What once was a bare type:
God has what He can name
"A holy nation".

Hebrews 3: 1

These persons, partaking
Of the heavenly calling,
Those who are sanctified,
They are "holy brethren".

Revelation 21: 2

And they shall appear,
Divine workmanship in them
Complete - adorned in bridal glory
As "the holy city".

Sunday 17 June 2012

HIS OWN

II

John 10: 27

How the Good Shepherd -
Prepared to lay down His life -
Rejoiced to describe them,
"My sheep hear my voice".

John 20: 17

And as a risen Man
What it meant to Him
To use a fresh designation,
"Go to my brethren".

John 13: 1

But they clearly had had
This inkling: that amid hostility
Those whose feet He washed were
"His own who were in the world".

Saturday 16 June 2012

GOD'S PEOPLE

            I

Galatians 6:10

In a world of mist and quagmire
See them, eyese to the light,
Stood upon the Rock:
"The household of faith".

1 Peter 3:17, 5: 9

And as you see them
Surrounded by the world's fangs,
Accomplishing sufferings,
"Love the brotherhood".

1 Peter 2: 10

Though once the world claimed
Them its; or Satan his;
Or they even claimed they were their own:
"Now God's people".

 
 
This is homework!  A brother recently concluded a word by mentioning the many ways in which God's people are referred to in the Scriptures, and suggestion we think about them..  This is the first of a few batches that I will post, God willing.  I have some repetitions, in different contexts.

Thursday 14 June 2012

ALPHABET


Verily the whole
Of the speaking of God is
Sealed in the Amen.

Love has been made known
Lovingly in the Man who
Is the Beloved.

God so approved of
The Man who acted for Him
That He made Him Christ.

From sin, God’s judgement,
And self, Jesus has become
The Deliverer.

In descending grace
God Himself came near to us
In Emmanuel.

When my need was for
Oil, wine, binding and bearing
Jesus came as Friend.

Seeing Baby, Child
Or Man remember He is
Personally God.

To His assembly
The Father gave Him to be
Head over all things.

The One who appeared
In time could rightfully claim
To be the I AM.

Good, great, just? Gentle?
No word could add to the charm
Of the name Jesus.

Proclaim hosannas,
Exclaim loud hallelujahs,
And acclaim Christ King!

Soon every tongue will
Confess it - but now His own
Gladly call Him Lord.

His happy bondman
I willingly acknowledge
He is my Master.

Though heaven was home
He was content to be called
The Nazarean,

For the expression
Of God He is the Alpha
And the Omega.

Jesus will return
To rule in prosperity
As the Prince of Peace.

As the Last Adam
Jesus is active now as
A Quickening Spirit.

I know that He lives
Who shed His blood that He might
Be my Redeemer.

More excellent than
Any created being
This One is the Son.

Not by words only
But by perfect example
He is our Teacher.

He was unblemished,
Unspotted, undiverted,
Unimpeachable.

No other Victim has
Emerged so gloriously as
The complete Victor.

In what He has done,
What He said, and what He is
He is Wonderful.

If my language fails
Start with another and say
That He is Xavier.    (Splendid - Sp/Ar)

For  all of the truth
That God has made known to man
The Lord is the Yea.

He, the Lord Jesus,
Now known in resurrection
Is the true Zion.

Wednesday 13 June 2012

LOVE

God’s love subsisted
Before the necessity
For grace had come in.

Monday 11 June 2012

SEEING A MAN

Seeing a Man
Who harboured in His heart
The detail of God’s will,
And forged out thus to do it,
God is satisfied
In Jesus.

Seeing a Man,
Light to a heart’s dark,
Food to a famished heart,
Joy to its grimness
I am satisfied
In Jesus.

Seeing a man
Acquired at the cost of His blood,
Clad in His excellence,
Blessed and re-forged by His Spirit
Jesus is satisfied
In me.

Sunday 10 June 2012

AVAILABLE

    The breast of Jesus
And His bosom…available
    For you and for me.

SAVIOUR

Blessing and love and mercy moved
In each touch of the Saviour’s hand;
God’s heart of grace towards men was proved
In ways that they could understand.


Each movement of the Saviour’s feet
Brought Him to men at God’s behest
That all God’s will should be complete
And all God’s people should be blest.

He showed such kindness in His face
To men for whom He had been sent:
That one who loved, and drew on grace,
Through one look hastened to repent.

His face was beaten with a rod;
His hands and feet were nailed to wood:
Perfection thrilled the heart of God;
Men saw the zenith of all good.

Risen He showed pierced feet and hands;
His blessing hands displayed His love;
Now all the glory worth demands
Shines in His face in heaven above.

Friday 8 June 2012

"I SHALL BEHOLD HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS"

(Micah 7: 9)

Done with my filthy rags
And my figleafs, clad
In His best: I shall behold
His righteousness.

Grace swaddled me; grace
Had removed my stain: through grace
I shall behold His
Righteousness.

Doubts attack; the mind
Discredits; faith struggles.
And the word assures - I
Shall behold His righteousness.

What a day when the world,
Blind now, will wonder at
The sight: all veils removed I shall
Behold His righteousness.

But eternally, because
God saw righteousness accomplished
In the cross of Christ
I shall behold His righteousness.



Orkney
8 June 2012

Wednesday 6 June 2012

ONE MAN

(A Rondeau)

God’s heart desires that all should know
He is distinguishing one Man,
According to His glorious plan
Which finds an answer here below.

Before Christ’s service here began
The heavens opened up to show
God’s heart desires that all should know
He is distinguishing one Man.

God will have no one other than
His Christ, to whom now praises flow
Because He plumbed the depths of woe:
Delighted with the course Christ ran
He is distinguishing one Man.

Tuesday 5 June 2012

CAMLEY STREET NATURAL PARK

       i
What drifts the pond-weed
Under May's heat - the cool breeze
That pleases my back?

       ii

The ranks of reeds tilt
Gently out of their array -
As gently return.

     iii

What seeds blow slowly
Down to the pond to drift
On the still surface?

    iv
A small eruption
Beneath the surface: a slow
Return to pond-dreams.

    v

I sit dozily
Pond-watching - what was the noise?
A moorhen has chirped.

   vi

Stiff reeds stand behind;
Water-lily leaves unfurl;
Irises reflect.

    vii

Through the lazy scene
An occasional bird bursts
On its swift duties.

   viii

A crow does a brisk
Reconnoitre; but quickly
Reverts to slumber.

   ix

Distantly rumbles
Work; ladies chat; a plane hums:
Nature soothes it all.

    x

Why, O butterfly,
Do you fly zigzag today
In the sunny breeze?



Just a few notes jotted in the park on a hot day while I waited for a train from Kings Cross.  It's God creation on display.
 
Here's the park

Monday 4 June 2012

HE WILL BRING ME FORTH TO THE LIGHT

           (Micah 7: 9)

Though my soul is dwelling in night
And my sins and sorrows depress
"He will bring me forth to the light"
For the Lord rejoices to bless.

When my heart is full of dismay
With the evil flesh will incite
The Deliverer's grace makes my way:
"He will bring me forth to the light".

"He will bring me forth to the light"
When the world around me is dim;
For Christ's love is constantly bright
And He sets my view upon Him.

If to sleep through Him is His will
May I face that brink without fright
For I know His keeping until
"He will bring me forth to the light".
 

Sunday 3 June 2012

FACE

Angels who behold Christ's visage
In its majesty and grace
Know a sinner has repented
By the joy in Jesus' face.

Saturday 2 June 2012

THE ROCK

          I

Rocks, geologists aver,
Are subject to change. Folding,
Heat, eruption and the slow
Attrition of weather, glaciers'
Long fisting, pressures
Result in unconformities,
Faults, erratics. Not only
Forms and textures alter
But the substance ‑ metamorphic rocks,
Schist, gneiss transformed
By temperature, chemicals, forces.
Each hour what seems most solid
Is reforging on time's anvil.

There is one rock that does not change,
Perfect and constant in its form.
While other splinter and derange
      There is one Rock

That cannot alter in the storm.
While thrusting power makes them strange
It does not vary from its norm.

Rocks, overheated, rearrange,
Boil, overflow, cool and reform:
Beyond earth's fiercest fury's range
      There is One Rock.

Here were no unconformities:
Each part was ideal in its kind
And in its place. Constant texture
With no fault, fineness of grain ‑
Altogether what He said He was ‑
And without eccentricities:
No erratics, nor conglomerates;
The Same, yesterday and today
And to the ages to come. Rock
On which I can depend.

Yet the attrition of time,
Pressures, ice and fire
More than any other
That Man has undergone;
Not passed through stoically
As a mere rock suggests.
Here the image fails
As every image must fail:
Lamb, Heifer or Dove
He suffered all He endured.

          II

   With a deep richness
Recalling blood, the ruby
   Glows, warmly as love;

   While the emerald
Like ocean over white sand
   Shows its pure shining;

   Justice, transparent,
Refracting light, adamant,
   Embrues the diamond;

   Celestial blue,
Nobility beyond earth
   The sapphire displays;

   No mere stone, the pearl,
Bright as truth out of suffering,
   Gleams in uncut white.

With silver, precious stones and gold
 I built a delicate, costly tower;
Chryselephantine work extolled
 My Master, to its utmost power ‑
But storms arose ‑ it would not stand
For it was founded upon sand.

Again ‑ but now on rock ‑ I built
 An edifice designed to swell
The praise of Him who bore my guilt;
 I thought my work had progressed well
But fire demolished all I saw
‑ Since it was wood and grass and straw.

Lord, let me build on Thee alone
 According to Thy heavenly plan
And let me be a living stone
 Solely for Thee, and not for Man;
And if the glory all is Thine
The happiness and peace are mine.

         III

Yet in experience the Rock can be
A stumbling block; too high for me
I appears to observe and mock my attempts
To scale it: I knock my head against
A flinty cliff; I cannot unlock      
Or smite out of it water, oil or honey.

I stumble at the foot of the crag ‑
Enervated, unable to drag my body
From the earth. On crumbling slag I stand
But with any effort I flag; no         
Way appears. Into my grazed flesh
Harsh outcrops jag their sharpness.

My desire is directed upward; my soul
Burns like a fire if I weakly
Decline or retire. How make headway
To heights I aspire to? My body
Languishes, muscles ache, arms  
Tire, for my flesh outweighs me.

As for my feet, treading miry clay
He set them on a Rock, and He
Established my goings; I called
And he led me to Rock which is higher
Than I; and in the day of evil He
Will set me high upon a Rock.
For who is a Rock if not our God
Who makes my feet like hinds' feet
And sets me on my high places.
Gracefulness and agility superseding
My natural sloth and lowness I
Walk and leap and praise God.

          IV

Behold, He smote the rock
 waters rushed out,
  streams overflowed:
 how did they doubt
His gladness to unlock
  boundless resources yet to be bestowed?

He led them through alone:
 He gave them food
  from the rich soil;
 and soon they could
suck honey from the stone;
  while from the flinty rock He gave them oil.

           V

Be, become, conform to being,
To me, your rebel, persistent wanderer,
Recurring prodigal, even to me,
A rock ‑ a covert, refuge and strong
Hold ‑ a rock of habitation
Whereunto I ‑ I, myself, who
With the mind serve God's law ‑
May continually, and continuously too,
Till time dissolves out of continuousness,
Resort, like the rock badger,
But a feeble folk ‑ yet exceeding wise ‑
Who make their house in the cliff.

For the support of such a grand creation
As God's own house only one Rock is sure
To uphold all God's structure and endure
Attacks and storms ‑ and Christ is that foundation.

There is one glorious pattern which alone
Can gratify God's heart ‑ not a mere plan
From which to measure, but the glorious Man
Who pleased God well: Christ is that Corner Stone.

As patterned on that Man we can be built
As living stones each into his own place,
According to the riches of God's grace,
Freed from the stain and penalty of guilt.

The work continues. Soon God will present
His masterpiece ‑ yet we already know
Enjoyment of it ‑ and that work will show
The Headstone, Christ, its finest ornament!                                                         

Friday 1 June 2012

GOSPEL

This is God’s beloved Son,
Hear Him;
God gave judgment to this One,
Fear Him;
Knowing all that He has done
And the triumph He has won
Sinner, seeking mercy, run
Near Him!

Be a sinner saved by grace
Through Him;
In your life give Him the space
Due Him;
He is ready for your case -
Mustered to a heavenly race:
There upon the highest place
View Him!