Sunday, December 14, 2008

Him who is able to keep you from falling ...

Joh 15:5 I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing

Nothing of my own

I no longer walk sure footed,
I dare not trust my own,
My decision and my will power
My passion and love for the Lord;
And least of all,
These eloquent words that I speak;
Fooling all including me.

There was a time I boldly spoke,
Looked down on feeble hearts,
Ready to even die,
And count it all as dung.
Yes there was a time like this
A time long gone,
A time I bared my chest
And made a great boast,
"Let everyone else fall
But Lord, nay, not I."
Yes there was a time like this
Before I truly died.

I had been a failure all my life,
Till the Lord had picked me up;
He had healed the wounds
And lifted my head up;
Made a new man out of spittle,
Something out of nothing,
By the touch of His hands.
And O' what joy was mine!
Nothing could bring me down;
And l loved to tell that story,
Of what I was and what I am,
And how He had done it all.

But I spoke to foolish men
Men who couldn't see;
And though they cheered,
And thought they encouraged,
Thought they did a good thing,
When they praised me for my zeal.
A bigger fool that I was,
I took them at their word;
Thought the zeal now I had,
Where once there was none,
Thought I had a part to play;
Though He had done it all.

Reliving the past,
An experience I once had;
The story slowly lost its charm,
As dead words were spoken,
By a dead man, deprived of life;
And as the darkness enveloped,
Everything became a dream;
Till the story was forgotten,
As if it had never happened;
Memories faded,
And names forgotten,
Clinging on to something,
Not quite sure,
All muddled ....

Many cocks have crowed from then,
Many days of blind comfort,
Many days of empty words,
Foolish thoughts and evil intentions;
Many days in the pen,
Till crushed by circumstances,
Reason returned to me,
And in the blinding light I saw,
The evil life now being lived by me.

Once again the old story came back,
O' where I was and what I had become!
And where I saw no glimmer of hope,
No reason for mercy,
Like the morning dawn,
Which breaks forth,
From the darkest hour,
I saw love unexplainable,
Mercy unfathomable,
Reaching out to me!
And as I cried out for help,
As I cried out in shame,
As I cried out in pain,
All my empty boast came back to me.

Nothing left to bargain,
If You can?
If You would?
Take me as I am!
There is no promise I can make,
That I can keep;
My words are all empty,
And even if I say it so,
I can no longer believe,
No longer believe me.

And then I saw in a new light,
Of what it meant when it said,
When I hated HIM,
He came and died for me;
That He had come to save,
Those who couldn't save themselves;
That He has chosen,
The weak and the foolish;
That I could do nothing of my own,
And all I need to do is
Go to Him and rest.

I have been a failure
And I know I will always be
But Christ in me the hope of glory
By His Grace, like Him I can be,
Like Him obedient
Like Him faithful
Like Him hate sin
Like Him love all
Like Him humble and meek
Like Him glorify the Father
Like Him in all things
That when at last I will see Him
And He will say,
"Well done good and faithful steward
Here is your reward."
It will be no false humility
When I place the crown He offers
Place it at His feet
"For if at all I have been faithful
It is Your grace in me
For In my failure You came
Both to will and do in me
Both in and through me."

And if in this there is a truth
A truth for you to learn
You are free to take it
Freely I got, freely I give.

Mat 11:28 Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Mat 11:29 Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. Mat 11:30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

Php 2:13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,
Heb 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.

Jud 1:24 Now to Him being able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you before His glory without blemish, with unspeakable joy;
Jud 1:25 to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty and might and authority, even now and forever. Amen.

3 comments:

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

Truly a great poem and prayer to the Lord, Who alone gathers all your meanings and understands them all, but what little I know, what little I see with these blind eyes, give me cause to say to you, my brother, thank you for writing it, and praise to our Father in heaven for His great gifts.

Jim Swindle said...

Your words, as truth and gospel, make me uncomfortable while giving me hope. I thank the Lord for that.

The Postman said...

HE became a curse so that we could be a blessing.
May the Lord bless you and make you a blessing to many.
I am thankful to the elders and saints who have shared what the Lord had tought them and the Lord for impressing them on to my mind.
But as I am often exhorted by the elder brothers that Jesus did and preached, I pray that my life will be clearer than my words.
All this will pass away, but the life surrendered to Christ will remain - surrendered in the daily monotonous cross roads of lifes small and big decisions.