One fine morning last November when I went to get out of bed, I had a pain in my left hip so intense it made me curse in fifteen different languages. The medical community loves to ask what level your pain is on a scale of 1 to 10. Mine required a calculator and a degree in differential equations.  I tried everything to reduce the pain – sitting, lying down, head stand, horseback, Yahtzee, you name it. Nothing worked. That is until I bent over to pick up an eyeball that had popped out by my screaming. Suddenly the pain disappeared. For the next two weeks until I saw my doctor, I spent night and day looking like a carpet inspector with a vision problem. He told me he thought it was bursitis and stabbed me a dozen times with needles full of steroids. It didn’t take the pain away…

Have faith in Jesus and His precious blood,

For He that died for you is still at work;

He knows that you while here walk through the mud

And can’t avoid all sin when in this murk.

So justified by Christ’s own righteousness,

The Spirit will convict you of your sin;

Then go to God in prayer your sin confess,

And Christ, the Perfect One, will step right in.

He bore the sins of you and everyone,

And took them to the cross for all our sake.

We have an advocate with God: the Son;

The feast in Heaven we can then partake.

When you give Christ your heart He’ll vouch for you;

His word’s as good as gold, He’s tried and true.

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¹ My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father…

The scriptures tell us stories of the past,

But deeper looks reveal much more than that.

In Babylon the Jews were free at last,

Yet augured future times we can look at.

The Jews had wished that their Messiah come,

And many thought these verses prophecy,

Yet when the Light of God had scarce become,

They nailed Him hand and feet on that cruel tree.

And now we see a darkness cover Earth,

The sin that people carry darker still,

But Jesus is the Light to bring new birth,

His glory seen through those who do His will.

Arise and shine! The Lord will come again!

His Light now lives in you and will remain!

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¹ Arise, shine; for thy light is come,

and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

²  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

and gross darkness the people:

but…

A man may work in sweat both night and day,

A beneficial fellow great in deeds.

If he does not believe Christ all the way,

He’s like the Pharisee with knotty beads.

You can’t have faith in Jesus and stand still,

For when He lives in you, you have to serve.

Faith is an inner truth transcending will

That’s known by outer acts you can observe.

Performance may not show a faithful man,

But Godly men, in faith, don’t brag or boast.

The man who says “No faith can beat my plan,”

Will die, while men of faith live past the post.

Now show me works that faith did not begin,

I’ll show you faith by works that’s born within.

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Yea, a man may say,

Thou hast faith, and I have works:

shew me thy faith without thy works,

and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Our conscience will remind us of our past,

To call us guilty o’er and o’er again.

It’s first to blame, but to forgive it’s last,

And quick to say repentance is in vain.

But if our heart condemns us, don’t despair:

God’s greater than our hearts and knows all things.

The final judgment happens over there,

And trumps the heart of paupers and of kings.

The conscience points to worthlessness and death,

The Holy Ghost will show us God forgives.

The sorrow of the world will steal our breath;

Conviction leads to Christ – with Him we live!

Thus Satan will accuse and say we’re wrong,

Yet Jesus says we’re His, where we belong.

~~~~~~~~~~~

For if our heart condemn us,

God is greater than our heart,

and knoweth all things.

1 John 3:20 KJV

Sonnet #343

If you’ve accepted Jesus in your heart,

You’re crucified with Him upon the cross,

Then risen with Him from the dead to start

Becoming more like Christ now all across.

Look to the Son in all you say and do,

And pray to know Him more each passing day,

Then feel His Spirit swell inside of you,

Until you disappear along the way.

Now seek those things which are above this world,

Where Christ sits on the right hand side of God,

And hunger for the Word til you’re unfurled,

No longer you, no longer frail and flawed.

The thing you seek has got no room for two.

Let go and let the Savior work through you.

~~~~~~~~~~~

If ye then be risen with Christ,

seek those things which are above,

where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:1 KJV

Sonnet #342

When drama comes and beats against your home

Does it destroy all of the work you’ve done?

Then your foundation’s built upon some loam

And soon before you know it you must run.

But if you build your home on Jesus Christ

It’s on the Rock of Ages and secure.

No storm can move you then, His word sufficed,

The tragedies of life won’t long endure.

Upon the rock of Jesus stake your claim;

No better place to stop and settle down.

The scriptures serve to be the strongest frame

And God’s Grace like a roof won’t let you drown.

For all the rest there’s one whom I refer:

He happens to be quite the carpenter.

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⁴⁷ Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

⁴⁸ He is like a man which built an house, and digged…

Once slave to sin, now servant of the Lord,

For as you died with Christ, with Him you rose,

And here eternal life can be explored,

The path to righteousness and where it goes.

The Grace of God sustains you as you move,

One fruit our holy Father loves to give;

So here you are with nothing left to prove,

Just pass the gift along, and so forgive.

Now that the Holy Spirit’s in your soul,

The Savior living in your heart and mind,

It is no longer you who’s in control;

Thank God for this, to be so well defined!

It started when you made a simple choice.

There’s victory in Jesus; now rejoice!

~~~~~~~~~~~

But now being made free from sin,

and become servants to God,

ye have your fruit unto holiness,

and the end everlasting life.

Romans 6:22 KJV

sonnet #340

There comes a day when all the universe

Will rise up with one voice and praise the Lamb,

And everything that is, though so diverse,

Acclaims the worthy One of the I AM.

The Lamb was slain for all the sins of man,

Receiving power as the Lord of Lords,

And riches of the grace that e’er began,

And wisdom far beyond the mind explored,

And strength to conquer evil dark and grim,

And honor equal to our Father God,

And glory of salvation promised Him,

And blessings evermore the heavens laud.

            The Lamb will always sit upon the throne

            Forever and forever, ever known.

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

¹¹ And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

¹² Saying with a…