Christian Faith | pictured words

MY STRENGTH AND MY SONG

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“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him — my father’s God, and I will exalt him!” (Exodus 15:2)

My Strength and My Song

When weakness takes me to my knees,
My Father’s arms will lift me.
When terror causes me to freeze,
His truths set all my fears free.

My Father’s Son became my Lord
When I was just a child.
To Trinity’s melodious chord,
My soul was reconciled.

I feel His might. I hear His voice –
Astounding grace extended
From One whose love compelled His choice:
From Heav’n above, descended.

He is my strength. He is my song.
I hear His vict’ry ringing!
He’s held my heart my whole life long –
How can I keep from singing?

Cadence and final line are both from the Christian hymn “My Life Flows On,” often attributed to Robert Lowry (1826-1899)

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MY WANDERING HEART

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“Bind my wandering heart to Thee.”
(From Robert Robertson’s hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing)

MY WANDERING HEART

Lord, I need Thee every instant;
Need to feel my hand in Yours.
When I feel my heart grow distant,
Call me back to heaven’s shores.

Lord, I long for angel voices
Harmonizing all day through,
Triggering my soul’s rejoicing!
Set my heart to praising You!

Lord, that I won’t wander far,
Faint in faith, and unfulfilled,
Lift my eyes to Christ Child’s Star
Where my heart is awed, and stilled.

Lord, I need Thee every hour.
Give ear to my earnest plea:
Hug me in Your staying power.
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

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As I embrace One who was slain,
and forfeit self,
what will I gain?
Eternal life in Christ is mine
not of my self,
but His design.
His agony, my boundless gain
corrupted self
cannot attain.
In death to self I gain no loss
my life secured
on Calvary’s cross.

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” ~ Luke 9:24-25.

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August 1, 2018

HOLY BOOK (Sonnet to the Word of God)

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A book of books; a letter to mankind
God-breathed to men of many walks of life –
And yet this faultless work is undermined.
Some say its very Author causes strife.

Translated into fourteen hundred tongues,
No other book approaches such renown
As this, which is as breath to failing lungs.
Throughout, God’s living hallowed voice resounds.

Amazing in enduring relevance
Astonishing consistency of thought
Unparalleled in unbound eminence –
Deny its holiness? No, I cannot.

Though there are those who disregard His word,
My God will not be silenced, nor unheard.

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December 24, 2017

A WOMAN, CALLED (Second Sonnet to Mary, Mother of God)

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And who would take my word, this pregnant teen,
Who claimed an angel visited my room,
To tell me God Himself had set the scene
To place His Very Son inside my womb?

And how could I say anything but “Yes,
Be done to me according to Your word.”
And how could I be anything but blessed,
When first The Living Word within me stirred.

And how was I to know that God’s own Son
Would start His life inside a feeding trough,
And end on crucifix (would anyone?),
Exploited, battered, bartered, “crowned,” and scoffed.

And when I think my womb shared blood with God,
Who gave me life? I’m humbled, blessed, and awed.

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December 10, 2017

Extravagance of the season

Photo by Deanna Marie Metts

The extravagance
of the season, embodied:
God, wrapped in infant.

October 18, 2017

JESUS, I BELIEVE YOU (Sonnet for The Son of Man)

Image credit: “Nail Pierced Hands of the Ultimate Superhero”

Conceived of virgin, launching life of strife.
In unpretentious setting, You were born.
You claimed to be The Way. The Truth. The Life.
Judged blasphemous, then kinged with crown of thorns.

They say a prophet goes unrecognized
In his or her own town … and this was You.
For there you were, distrusted and despised –
Not warranting the hatred that You drew.

Could they not see Your Father in Your face?
Were they not there to witness healing hands?
Were they not awed by one so full of grace?
Yet all was in accordance with Your plans.

My Jesus, I believe Your every word,
Which, only by Your grace, my ears have heard.

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January 17, 2016

GIFT OF FAITH

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Photo by Keith R. Good

My faith is not unshakable, nor grand.
But God is not reduced by human flaws.
For when my need is great and faith is dim,
His unrestricted love renews my hope.

While apprehension plots to halt my steps,
His ever-present guidance leads me on.
See, any strength you see in me is His.
Without His faith to feed on, I am numb.

Before I even recognized my need,
He sacrificed His Son to pay my debt.
It’s not my faith that led me to my Lord,
But Jesus’ love that led me to my faith.

It’s not my faith that led me to my Lord,
But Jesus’ love that led me to my faith.

Trust in Jehovah, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness. ~ Psalm 37:3

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pictured words

Tag: Christian Faith

January 27, 2019