And so it begins… again. Continue reading
Faith
Friday Night Faith and Family
Last Friday night, I left the house where my parents and brother live and headed home to the seminary. As I was driving to the apartment, my parents were driving my younger brother to the emergency room.
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Pluck Your Eye Out
Meditation on Isaiah 55
Your word, once sent, will not return
Without accomplishing its task
Its working is not our concern
But to be ready when you ask
Acknowledging our role in this
Is knowing not your detailed will
Your movement here our eyes might miss
But you, we know, are moving still
With thoughts far higher than our own
In ways unsearchable to men
You are the God unknown yet known
Triumphant o’er the curse of sin
You give the food and drink we need
Though we are poor and cannot pay
We, from futility, are freed
For you, O God, have made a way
So let us, humbled, seek your face
Forsaking all unrighteousness
And pardon us with perfect grace
To worship you in holiness
Though Man May Die
The scalpel in my Father’s hand
Doth fill my soul with hope and dread:
Hope for the good that he hath planned;
Dread for the loss of what is dead.
Afflicted with a fearful faith,
The foreign and familiar fused-
The actions of the holy wraith
Obscured by actions unexcused.
Yet I am not accused by God,
Despite the sins I still commit.
I fall before the meas’ring rod,
But, by his grace, he doth remit.
His right hand of omnipotence
No longer waits with wrath for me:
The God-man, breathing holiness,
Bore holes and wrath upon the tree.
Now he upholds with righteous arm
The souls now saved from Sodom’s fate.
He works his purpose through each harm
As for his work we watch and wait.
So banish now these fleshly fears
And fear the holy God most high.
His work, though wrought with many tears,
Brings life to man though man may die.
Providence
God has not forgotten
God is not away
He is near the broken
As they weep and pray
God has not forsaken
Those he came to save
His – the stormy ocean
Providence – the wave
Sov’reignty and goodness
Unified in thee
You alone are righteous
Perfect trinity
Trust in his provision
Well beloved ward
Holy disposition
Of the risen Lord
Memories and Doubts
Though a host of thoughts and feelings filled him, he closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and remembered. Continue reading
Victory
All you who fear the Lord of all
Have nothing in this world to dread.
Although in time your face may fall,
Eternity will crown your head.
Remember what our God has said,
That evil will not win the day,
For God in Christ for justice bled
And took the weight of law away.
Redeemed, we walk the narrow way
Through valleys cold and forests dark.
Onward we march into the fray
Approaching death, the final ark.
And, as we on this road embark
And set our eyes upon the Son,
We pass the souls who bear the mark
Who from the light of love do run.
These journeys we have just begun,
Yet, shortly, they will be complete.
The wicked, then, will be undone;
The righteous, then, their Savior meet.
All kneel before the judgment seat.
All bow before the Lord’s decree.
All evil he will there defeat.
His glory all mankind will see.
So do not fear the enemy,
Nor worry when he seems to win,
For God will have the victory
And he will make an end of sin.
Discontentment
“The grass is always greener…”
So they say
So it seems
“If I could only get there…”
Wand’ring mind
Wishful dreams
“My troubles would be over…”
Hopeful claim
Happy lie
“My life would be far better…”
Boastful joke
Bitter sigh
“If God would only bless me…”
Foolish talk
Fallen heart
“I’d give him all the glory…”
Downward gaze
Devil’s dart
“So clearly can my eyes see…”
Captive soul
Cursing breath
“No chance of idolatry…”
Grasp for prize
Grip your death
The Blessings of a Crooked Path
Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?
Ecclesiastes 7:13
as i learn to walk 