Christ

The Example

/ joethewaller / Leave a comment

Inspired by John 13

Creator of the universe
Inhabiting our little earth
Fulfilling ev’ry holy verse
The highest name of heaven’s worth
His glory he has laid aside
To grant a gaze to sinners’ eyes
The Savior stooped to now abide
To die for justice and to rise
He has the right to claim the throne
He need not face our fallen throes
But still he comes to call his own
To bear the cross his Father chose
His place as Lord is clearly seen
His praises, many men repeat
And yet he comes to make us clean
Our God is washing dirty feet
Humility in sacrifice
Messiah meeting man in plight
Our God has paid the highest price
Salvation springs from dying Light
His victory is now proclaimed
Exalted over ev’ry name
His standard, too, has now been framed
“Go now,” He says, “And do the same.”

image

Count It All Joy

/ joethewaller / Leave a comment

Oh how quickly we abandon
Our morality and will
When, to our complete confusion,
Circumstances strike us ill.
Ill-advised is our rebellion,
Yet the rebel’s part we play:
From disciple into hellion
When the storm invades the day.
Can we not remember glory,
That our Lord has won the fight?
Do we yet forget the story?
Light has broken through the night!
Suffering is light and fleeting
When compared to Christ above.
No bereavement, bane, or beating
Breaks the grip of God’s great love.
Persecution serves to purge us.
Suffering now sanctifies.
We are bought by Christ’s own purchase,
Seeing now with open eyes.
Therefore, we count joy our sorrow,
Singing praise in deepest pain.
Should we face our death tomorrow,
Even this is wond’rous gain.

image

Jesus

/ joethewaller / Leave a comment

Laying down to make atonement
Rising up to his enthronement
Humble condescension
Glorious ascension
God in flesh in place of sinner
Holy, sacrificial dinner
Blood and body broken
Word of God now spoken
Cross of wood for man’s salvation
Gift of God: propitiation
Work of Christ completed
Curse of sin deleted
Christ the fount of life eternal
Author of the church fraternal
God of highest glory
Hero of the story

Awestruck

/ joethewaller / Leave a comment

chuttersnap-LO7bR7RdPmo-unsplash

How can eternity be fit into
A heart wrapped up in temporality?
Can lying lips do justice to the True?
The finite comprehend infinity?
We quake before the whispers of his ways.
Who then could stand before his thund’rous might?
This God who is, the all-consuming blaze –
He dwelleth unapproachable in light.
And yet, in Christ, the Maker made a way
For mortal man to know immortal love.
And Beauty – more than words could ever say –
Became the Revelation from above.
Communion takes the place of death in sin
As God makes blinded eyes to see again.

Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash

Let Me Be Found Faithful

/ joethewaller / Leave a comment

Let me be found faithful
In the task at hand,
Working so to never earn
A word of reprimand.

Let me always listen
To the Master’s voice,
Never speaking ill of him,
But learning to rejoice.

Let me walk in wisdom
Each and every day,
Knowing that apart from Christ
There is no other way.

Let me know my limits,
My true state to see,
Resting in the love of God
In sweet humility.

Let me walk in freedom,
Nevermore to sin,
Following my Savior till
I die to live again.

A Joyful Cogitation

/ joethewaller / Leave a comment

What beauty does exist for those
Whose lives are lost for better life,
For from the death of flesh arose
Freedom and vict’ry over strife!
In Christ, the perfect priest of hope
Indwelling all whom he has gleaned,
No devil now can interlope
Near to the souls the blood has cleaned.
A joy now reigns in time of loss,
And loss of all is highest gain.
Salvation, that the crux – the cross,
Succeeded in the Savior’s pain.
Pure now, the slate of sinful man,
Purged by surrender to the King.
“Repentance! Glory! Heaven’s plan!”
Redemption opens lips to sing.
Destruction now can not destroy.
Despair no longer holds its pow’r.
Temptation fails to be a ploy
Though hell should loose itself this hour.
Christ’s work has won a life of peace.
Creation’s hope we recognize.
Old, earthly treasures we release.
Onward we march! On to the prize!

Security

/ joethewaller / Leave a comment

Though through the darkest valleys I
May pass in my pursuit of thee
I will remember thou art nigh
And call to mind your love for me

And though my path be wrought with pain
From broken hopes and shattered dreams
I will find joy in you again
And rest in you by peaceful streams

And though the sorrow may increase
Beyond all limits I perceived
You are for me a constant peace
The Lord in whom I have believed

Though weakness and despair abound
As mortal flesh its limits reach
In you, my strength afresh is found
As I your aid do now beseech

GPS Apps and Temptation

/ joethewaller / Leave a comment

James 1:12-18

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Continue reading →