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.”

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!

CLOTHES

Though your wedding clothes

Will shine for one day the Best Robe

Will shine forever.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

SWEETNESS

Sweet is the blessing,

Sweeter the love that blessed, but

Sweetest the Blesser.

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.

HEART

Nothing is finer

Than to know the changelessness

Of the heart of Christ.

PRODIGAL

I am kissed, I am dressed,

I am ringed, I am shod;

I am chosen and blessed -

I am brought near to God!

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

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!

LOVE

If God has made known

His love, He has done it

By the Man who best

Knows love.

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.

ATTRACTION

Heaven’s attraction

Is its perfect harmony

With the mind of Christ.

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.