You Don’t Know


You don’t know what you’re doing

When you avoid the things of God.

When you count them as trash on Wednesday;

“Castaway! I’m glad it’s  gone”.

Somehow you think it’s your duty,

To stay God the length of your arm.

You toss away His riches,

For you think he means you harm.

Then you flounder in your poverty;

Embracing hopeless travail.

When all he wants is to lift you up;

To silence your muted wail.

How great the riches of Christ in us.

How marvelous his love.

When once, like you,

We thought little too

Of God’s gift sent down from above.

But let our soul find him near,

And there’s no dam to stop the tears.

He chases out all our frantic fears.

Unspeakable, is the way he loves.

He appears without our asking.

We find our heart free of trouble.

No longer caught up in wasting;

We are freed from all our rubble.

But you don’t know what joy you miss,

As you forsake his gentle kiss.

How can I urge you more than this?

His love is free for taking.

By His Grace

The Summation of Service in Christ


Among men, mercy is first; over shadowed by the Righteousness of God.

 

 

How should a summation contain more words?

Not a Single One


They assemble at dawn.  Each one taking his place along the benches provided.  The thickness of the wall dictates how many will assemble.  There is then, a fixed limit.

What do they do?  They pour out wisdom mixed with mercy.  If they preach, it is a quiet whisper.  Let the passing crowd listen as they will.

Let a man stop and ask.  Let him ask for advice or judgment in a matter.  This one has a right to expect truth from these aging men poised to serve.

 

Mercy clothed them as they made their way.  Their own failings accompanied mercy’s making.

The Righteousness of God is ever-present.  Let mercy attend their dispensing of truth.

Which one of them can perform the entire Law of God?  The answer is “not a single one”.

Are those who pass by any more able than those who sit in the city gate?  The answer is “not a single one”.

 

Then let mercy attend those who pass, just as it attends those who sit waiting to serve.

Let justice be dispensed with understanding.  Let wisdom be filtered through a man’s own willingness.

 

The dance of men moves with Grace, to the sound of God’s mercy.

Listen, you wise of God.  Listen to the sound of Love.

Dance with your partner, who strives alongside you in fear.

Learn to restrain your own feet, lest you step on the toes of your brother.

 

Such is the wisdom dispensed in the Gate of the Gospel; “the Good news of Peace from God”.

“Enter in to the store house of Righteousness.  Enter in among the Holy Army of God.

But let it be known that all who enter in will stand.  For the Master is able to make them stand.

Be merciful, my lovely servants; those who dispense the wisdom of God.  Be merciful to those who pass you by.

For they too will, some day, take their place in your well-worn benches.”

The True War


It is not against The Righteousness of God that a man finds himself at war.  The war finds itself in the battlefield of willingness.

 

The Righteousness of God is established forever.  It wars against no one.

 

But let a man perceive the truth of life’s singular and constant war.  It is waged without weapons or blood.

 

God stands firm in His Glorious Righteous ways.  It is the man who finds his own limit.

 

What then?  Where will a man stand on that Great and Horrible day?

 

His willingness alone dictates his position among the great throng.

 

Was he willing to lay down selfish desire?  To what extent that appeared, the man will find his place before Him.

 

The Righteousness of God is as the battlefield itself.  But the vicious war is attended to by the man and his willingness.