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            I am amazed at the change God has brought to my life.  I was helpless and lost with little hope or joy in my life.  Now I can still say I am strong in the Lord with a heart full of Salvation’s songs.

He Gives me Strength and a Song

Once I was bound by the chains of sin,
They were impossible to break for they were deep within.
I tried and tried to do what was right and true;
But in the end it was a battle I would lose.
Words of condemnation would taunt and sneer,
Loud sounds of hopeless-despair in my ear.
But one day there was Light,
The Truth and The Way came into sight.
At His request I listened to and heard Salvation’s plan;
If I would trust Him He would change who I am.
I opened up my heart for Him to abide.
My Lord then moved deep inside.
I was born-again, a new creature in Christ.
He now rules and reigns in my life.
He gave me strength and a song to sing;
He is my Savior-King.
Now I am bound by chains of love for my Lord,
My heart willingly travels forward,
Ready and able to fight the good fight;
Declaring the mighty works of God in my life,
 Shining the light that now lives within.
When another finds the way. all glory I bring back to Him.

Psalms 28:6
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusted in him, and I am helped:
therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;
and with my song will I praise him.

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I know I must change some things in my life, but now I know it is really not me that does this. It is the love of God within that molds and shapes me to be like Jesus.  The one thing I really must do is to love the Lord with all my heart and trust His love for me has already made me beautiful, pure, and worthy to be called His child.

I Must

I must as I travel on earth
Make many changes since rebirth.
I must allow each opportunity to change the way I am,
Into the image God has planned.
The inside is the most important place to change.
Attitudes and intentions need to be rearranged.
Bitterness and fear must be cast aside,
And any other sin that attempts to hide.
Selfish motives must be cast away too,
As I seek always to God’s will do.
Harsh words and hard thoughts must be subject to right.
Everything is seen by my Father’s sight.
Bad habits one by one I must cast down.
Replaced with good habits to abound.
I must seek to see another’s need and to truly care,
Of their deeper needs be aware.
I must read the Word and its precepts learn,
Thus spending my time wisely; till my Lord Jesus returns.
I must travel the way to the throne each day;
Knowing the entrance is easily entered when I pray.
I must take the knowledge He gives to me to share,
So others of His goodness become aware.
Help me Jesus to walk in a good and upright manner;
Waving the flag of love as a banner.
Lord I need Your guiding hand,
So I will lead another into kingdom land.

Ezekiel 36:26-27
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Sometimes there is nothing more to say than Holy, Holy, Holy,

Holy is the Lamb of God; Holy is His name.
Holy, Holy, Holy, around God’s throne remains.
Precious is the Lamb of God; His love more precious than gold.
Most valuable are the Scriptures that God’s plans foretold.
Beautiful is the Lamb of God, and lovely are the feet of them,
Who spreads the Good News Jesus comes again.
Magnificent is the Son of God, He reigns with power and might.
He is strong and great in our sight.
Holy is my Lord, His wisdom vast and sure.
Holy is the blood shed to make us clean and pure.
All I can say as His glory I now see;
Holy, Holy, Holy – priceless Jesus, that now resides in me.

Psalms 30:4
Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at
the remembrance of his holiness.

Psalms 99:3
Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.

Revelations 4:8
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

I think the world is much too busy.  Work, work, work, then…play, play, play.  Work hard and play harder still.  The time we need to spend refreshing ourselves in God’s presence is neglected to either fill our pockets or to feed our selfish appetites.  We do what we like to do instead of what we need to do.

Resting Time

After a day’s work you must take time to rest,
For your body to function at its best.
To yield to the Spirit is to rest in His care,
Relinquishing your own will in requests of prayer.
The work of Holy Spirit is busy deep inside.
His mission is to guide, shape and revive.
When the Word of God is taken inside to keep safe,
It can be drawn up to help at a later date.
It is never outdated, never out of touch;
Its work in you, you can surely trust.
When God says it…believe it and you will clearly see
When you rest in His promise; the promise works in thee.
Rest in assurance you are taken care of.
Rest in expectation God always proves His love.
Find comfort in the living Word each day,
And you will find solutions to the problem prayed.
Stand on the answer you have been shown
Honor His love, and give thanks He never leaves you alone.
As you rest in praise and worship you may find,
The work is already done… so you can enjoy even more resting time.

Psalms 16:8-9
I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
my flesh also shall rest in hope.

Psalms 37:23
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way

            Oh how fast the years fly by, before we know it another year is almost over and a new year begins.  I will make all the familiar resolutions to change, but I know that I can only change what God helps me change.  Each day I make the decision to continue in my quest to glorify my Lord.

Another Step I Take

Psalms 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever

I was sitting in my recliner watching an evangelist when I heard and recognized the terrible condition of my soul.  I whispered my desire to be saved from the wages of my sin.  God heard me and I knew something was different.  It took a while for me to know the difference was he was now living in my heart. I am now aware he also hears my every thought too.

Whispered Prayer

The whispered prayer when no one is near,
Sounds loud in the Father’s ear.
The change of direction within,
When the heart first desires to follow him,
Even before you say your first silent prayer,
Your God is already there.
Ready, willing and able to your life change,
As deep within things are completely rearranged.
At the first invitation from lips of clay.
The God of heaven moves in prepared to stay.
The body houses royalty, it will one day shine like the Son.
Because of repented prayer you are now with him as one.
Every need is known but I love to hear your voice when you pray.
I hear the songs within and your thoughts when they stray.
But you need to remember God’s love differs from the love of man.
My love is eternal because that is who I am.
I AM Father, that loved you enough to send,
My Son Jesus to pay the price of your sin.
So come whisper to me your request
Know and count on I give you the best.

Jeremiah 29:12-13
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Deeds are seeds. Seeds have within them much increase.  When planted in good soil we expect a harvest.   God sees every seed planted in his name.   Do everything with God’s kingdom harvest in mind. 

A Little Love Goes a Long Way

A little love goes a long way;
A smile or a kind word you say,
A helping hand at just the right place,
Shows God’s love to others through your face,
An offered shoulder to another’s grief bear
Is also tender love shared.
Prayers uttered to help foe and friend,
Is love showing itself again.
A cutting word held inside,
Shows God’s strength in you abides.
To speak of things that is good and fine;
Is practicing the kind of love that God designed.
A little love goes a long way,
Give it out each and every day.
It grows to more than you can yet see.
You bring to God a soul-harvest of increase.

Luke 10:27
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

It is easier to and we are more apt to give a kiss on the cheek in greeting than to offer a kiss of forgiveness to someone that has offended us.

Kiss of Charity

Greet each other with the kiss of charity.
This is a statement bigger than you at first see.
The “kiss” is demonstrated in many ways;
From a loving attitude to a word of praise.
When you meet your brother
You will many times discover,
There are times
When, the kiss of charity must be redefined.
When heart is injured because someone did not care,
When you meet the truth and check the way you feel
You have choice to continue on or to heal.
Your choice to forgive and to let anger and bitterness go,
Is like a kiss that prospers both of your souls.
Greet with charity’s kiss.
So great is its benefit.
In every situation where love is allowed to reign;
Like Mary you have bowed at the feet of the Master again.
As an offering of sacrifice you have outpoured;
Precious perfume…greatly treasured by the Lord.
Remember the day Jesus greeted you with charity’s kiss?
Rejoice and give praise at a love such as this.

2 Corinthians 13:12
Greet one another with an holy kiss.

Colossians 3:13-14
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
  And above all these things put on charity,
which is the bond of perfectness.

Mark 14:3
And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head

It is always a pleasure to be called beautiful by someone that loves us.  But there is no greater, deeper, satisfying delight than knowing God loves not only our appearance but is pleased with us in every way. Because of Jesus sacrifice in our behalf we are indeed as the apple of his eye. 

Beautiful in God’s Eyes

You are beautiful just as you are; you are unique in every way;
Your eyes, your smile and your voice as you lift praise.
Your heart, your laugh and the way you walk,
Your facial expressions when you talk.
I see the sweet motives and unselfish dedication.
I hear the thoughts before you speak and the thoughtful hesitations.
You are lovely in the Father’s sight for he chooses to see,
His Son through his blood for eternity.
The sound of your voice is music in his ear.
Your touch when ministering to the weak, he draws near.
God is glorified at your offering to serve, your beauty shines bright,
Never fear, when you are his you cause him great delight.

Isaiah 62:4
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken;
neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate:
but thou shalt be called Hephzibah,
and thy land Beulah:
for the Lord delighteth in thee,
and thy land shall be married.

Why do I desire to do God’s will and I seek after it
Then when He has shown me His direction I resist?
It is like I reach out for a hug and then push Him away
It does not make any sense in any way!
Even after clear direction sometimes I find
That the way I have chosen was the way I designed
It seems a contradiction… but the struggle is within
I have only one answer…. it is sin
Sin is such a sneaky fellow that wears disguise
Thank you my Lord for opening up my eyes
So here I am again Lord at the cross to repent and pray
I renounce my sinful nature and choose your way
I place every heart’s thought and my very life in your care
Let me see good results as an answer to my prayer

Psalms 19:12
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.