And they departed from the presence of the council,

rejoicing that they were counted worthy

to suffer shame for his name.

Acts 5:41 KJV

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you prepared to suffer in His name,

The Son of God who died on Calvary?

Would you then follow Jesus just the same

If all your kin and friends should disagree?

The Christians in Iraq are being killed,

And in Somalia are flogged and flayed,

But if believers here are slightly grilled

They hide their crosses for they’re so afraid.

No matter what the world may do to you,

Remember what it did to Christ the King.

So count as worthy what you’re going through;

It’s only temporary what they bring.

            Are you prepared to suffer in His name?

            Are you prepared to suffer death or shame?

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

sonnet #359

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,

worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory

2 Corinthians 4:17 KJV

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

We strain beneath the stress of misery;

Our bodies and our minds begin to fail.

Though as we age we have our memory,

Yet also it plays tricks on us as well.

No matter what may happen to us here,

Disease or loss of limb or far much worse,

And even when we face men’s final fear,

We’ll know that we are not within the hearse.

The glory that awaits the child of God

Is worth all of the anguish of this place.

No matter how severe we’re crushed and clawed,

It can’t outlive the splendor of His Grace.

            If we knew all the joy this next life brings,

            We never would complain about a thing.

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

sonnet #358

And as ye go, preach, saying,

The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 10:7 KJV

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

The time has come, the time is here, my friend,

To share the news of Jesus to all men,

And when you hear some mock Him, then defend,

For He will stand for you and them, amen.

The Savior is returning, be of haste,

And spread the Word as if He’s coming now,

Then bring them to the cross where sin was placed,

Where Jesus died for them with humble vow.

Now, be like Christ and preach to all you meet,

Pour out the living water for their soul.

If you bring one to Jesus on the street,

It will be worth the effort as a whole.

Don’t be so shy, recall how you were freed;

How someone let the Spirit take the lead.

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sonnet #357

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do,

do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 KJV

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

God’s glory is the end of all His deeds;

The fact that you are here is proof of that.

You count on Him for all your wants and needs,

He always knows exactly where you’re at.

Acknowledge God in everything you do,

For by His Grace and Mercy you are here.

When Jesus walked the earth He always knew

God’s glory was the goal to persevere.

You glorify our God in Jesus’ name,

When you do anything with Him in mind.

Your love in deed and word gives God acclaim,

And when you share the gospel love’s refined.

Give glory to the Lord with every prayer;

Give glory when you breathe His precious air.

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sonnet #356

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this,

To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, 

and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James 1:27 KJV

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s vogue to say you’re not religious, yet

You don’t know what a true religion is.

Religion spells belief you don’t regret,

And turns it into action, not show biz.

A child without his parents needs your time

To sail him round the rocky cliffs of life.

Assist the lonely widow past her prime

Who cannot help herself through pain and strife.

Religion helps you set yourself apart

From all the rampant evil running wild.

To be unspotted from the world, you start

By acting just like Jesus, undefiled.

Believe all that you want, you won’t get far.

Religion is the strings on the guitar.

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sonnet #355

³⁵ Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh,

at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

³⁶ Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

³⁷ And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Mark 13:35-37 KJV

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

My sister, wake! The Master’s coming soon!

My brother, keep a vigil by the door!

We must be ready under sun or moon!

He’s coming back! Wake up! No time to snore!

Our Savior said that He will come again,

And all that He has said, He’s kept His word.

The ones who treat this promise with disdain

Will wish upon His coming they had heard.

Now scour the earth with haste to save the lost!

Your neighbors, friends and family, save them too!

And while you work keep watch at any cost,

For Jesus will return…

But verily God hath heard me;

he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

Psalm 66:19 KJV

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

My enemies have painted me as vile;

An evil man, a phony hypocrite.

If this is true, could I then God beguile?

Would He then heed my prayers and thus commit?

Yet God has heard me, I who am His slave.

The love He has for me has changed my ways,

For He sent Christ His Son whose life He gave;

He died for all my sins. It’s He I praise!

If I were still the man I used to be,

I would not waste my time to spread the Word.

But my old self is dead on Calvary,

And now I follow Christ, His Spirit’s heard.

            My Father hears my prayers; I am His child.

            He answers every one so clear and…

²⁰ And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

²¹ Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Luke 17:20-21 KJV

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

The King of Kings was standing in the midst

Of all the Pharisees both dumb and blind;

They looked for things to prove it did exist,

When proof was there amongst them so refined.

We search for His return among the signs,

No better off than Pharisees or Scribes;

He lives within us now, His richness shines,

Yet we’re still counting coins and taking bribes.

Try casting off the pictures in your head,

For they will get you lost most every time,

And keep your thoughts on Jesus now instead;

He lives within the servant’s heart sublime.

³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 KJV

            ~~~~~~~~~~~

Of all of the uncertainties of life,

And there is nothing certain, not but one:

The love of God, through peace and change and strife,

Is absolutely true and not undone.

Not life or death will kill His love at all,

Nor angels, kings or principalities,

No power in the universe at all

Can stop His love in time or in degrees.

Not heaven, earth or hell can end God’s love,

No creature in the sky or earth below.

It’s easier to count the stars above

Than find one thing His love can’t overthrow.

The…

But he answered and said,

It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Matthew 4:4 KJV

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The food you eat will satisfy the gut,

Until it cries again more frantically.

The hungrier you are the more you glut

Until you grow so big the moon can see.

If you would only hunger for the Word

A fraction of the time you think of food,

The words within your Bible would be blurred,

The letters faded from the times they’re viewed.

The Lord provides whatever that you need,

So don’t be stressed, He’s pulled you through before.

If manna’s what God gives for you to feed,

Be grateful and thank Him forever more.

The words proceeding from the mouth of God

Will give you life eternal filled and awed.

~~~~~~~~~~~

sonnet #350