The Substitute

He's trying to take Your place Lord, he's been at it for many years
He says 'I come with gifts for all, I'll wipe away your tears'
He wears a robe of scarlet and a smile is on his face
But no one would guess the heartache he will bring to many a place
He shows himself late November, in each home he will surely appear
He demonstrates toys on the 'tele' and says 'Christmas is nearly here'
Each year they get more expensive, a computer or chemistry set
He slowly puts pressure on parents who are tempted to go into debt
All children are told 'Santa's coming!  He's got a great bag on his back'
But nobody seems to be bothered that daddy has just had the sack
'I'll start with the youngest children' says the 'Tempter' in disguise
Never mind if mummy is crying as to make ends meet she tries
He's trying to take Your place Lord as he sits inside every store
And shouts a loud 'Merry Christmas' to each person that comes through the door
But the spirit he drinks is not holy, and the hands he holds out do not heal
The words that he speaks bring no wisdom, and the love that he shows is not real
How strange he should come at Christmas, and offering gifts like You do
And he's known to many as 'father' while a baby child represents You
But for me there is only one Father and of Him only will I sing
While His Son is no longer a baby, He's a two thousand year old king!
Yes he's trying to take Your place Lord, though he knows that his time is short
But the presents he brings can never compare to the wonderful gift You have brought
For whatever disguise he may come in and whatever good thing he might bring
The one thing he never will offer is salvation through JESUS the king
So never a red robed Santa will ever adorn my front door
It's the blood of my Lord on my doorpost brings me peace and goodwill evermore

'They have lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of His hands.'      Isaiah ch.5 v.12


WHERE WILL YOU BE LORD

Where will You be Lord this Christmas
as far as the world is concerned
Out of all that You've taught us these two thousand years
is there anything anyone's learned
Do they know that your judgement is coming to all
do they know there's an end to Your grace
That Your Spirit will not strive forever with man
that there's always an end to a race?
Can't they see all the signs of Your coming
how Your truths are all being unfurled
Of the earthquakes, the wars and disasters
and the lawlessness gripping this world?
Have we chosen to go each our own foolish way
do we all sing our own selfish song
Are we doing what's right in our own blinded eyes
even though we know You say it's wrong?
Has the world turned its back on You Jesus
do they think the cross lies in the past
Can't they see it was just the beginning
that the end's spinning close very fast
Yes where will you be Lord this Christmas
in a world full of darkness and sin
Will Your light be shut out of so many homes
while a santa and tinsel come in?
Will they close their ears to Your knocking
while You stand at the door one more time
And will they still be stood at the chimney
when the clock makes its final chime?

.....when the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all th holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory;  And before Him shall be gathered all nations and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats     Matthew 25 vs.31,32

..... for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilence and earthquakes, in divers places; all these are the beginning of sorrows     Matthew 24, vs.7,8

..... and the timnes of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent;  Because He has appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteouosness by that man whom He has ordained;  whereof He has given assurance to allo men, in that He has raesed Him from the dead.     Acts 17 vsl. 30,31



THE REAL GIFT GIVER

While shepherds watched their flocks by night God's plan on Earth began
It was to send His precious Son to rescue sinful man
God made His form like humankind, His loss to be our gain
And made Him know rejection, to feel our hurt and pain
He suffered loss and loneliness from those who showed no love
And even felt forsaken by His Father from above
But all was for a purpose, to show to all manking
If we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ God's mercy we shall find
Come all who are heavy laden, come now and behold your king
Come all who are sad and lonely, It's time to rejoice and sing
Come all who are weak and weary, lift up your heads and see
Come all who are bound in fetters, this Saviour can set you free
This Jesus who once was rejected must now be received by all
For the Father has granted eternal life to those who will answer His call
He comes to give life in abundance, a bearer of burdens is He
He's been born in a world of rejection and strife
He's been born to bring pardon, born to bring life

As I walked into the library to come onto the internet to write this post on my blog, there was a lady carrying a dummy santa out of the main room because a little child did not like it and was crying.  '  It's gone now' she said to the child.  Do we really recognize the wiles of SATAN (which rearranged spells SANTA), and have we really noticed how Jesus is being replaced at this time of year.

Lukewarm

One day, when I was looking on some old floppy disks for photographs I came across a file entitled 'Judgment begins with the house of God', something I had written some time back. So I printed it out and read it.  The following evening, on a digital imaging course, I was given some homework by my tutor.  It was to take photographs on the theme 'Shadow and substance'.  Just before I made the bed on the following  morning I noticed the shadows falling across the crumpled sheets and pillow cases.  I thought of the sentence ' You make your bed and lie on it', and thought 'What a perfect title and photograph for a project, either as a fact or a suggestion, I could do something with this.'  The sheets were covered in a pattern of roses and I thought 'We can either make it a bed of roses or something else.'  So I took two photographs, one with the sheets crumpled and one with the bed make.  Then I remembered that within the piece I had written on Judgement there was a poem called 'Lukewarm' which contained a line or two referring to a bed.  I thought maybe this was not coincidence, that the Lord may be showing me something here.

Lukewarmness is spoken of in one of the seven churches in the book of revelations.  All the churches except one are tolerating something that is ungodly within its bounds, the difference with the Philadelphian church being shown in ch.3 v.8 'For you have a little strength and have kept my Word and have not denied my name.'

Just as in Isaiah's day the Lord's judgment had come upon His people because of their unfaithfulness, 'for Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying His glorious presence.' (Isaiah ch.3 v.8), and seven women were taking hold of one man in that day saying, 'We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name, take away our reproach. (Isaiah ch.4 v.1), so too God's judgment is upon His people today, who can be likened to the seven churches who want to be called by one man's name (they want to bear the name of Jesus Christ, to take away their reproach), but they want to eat their own bread (their own doctrine ) and wear their own clothes, the clothes of a spiritual prostitute,(Isaiah ch.3 vs.18 - 23), instead of their robes of righteousness.

Verse 2 of 1 Peter ch.1 says that it is for obedience to Jesus Christ that we are chosen and destined by God and sanctified by the Spirit.  We are lukewarm Christians if we are only half obeying the Lord and half following our own way.  We are not exempt from God's judgment because we wear the name of Christ.  Indeed, judgment begins at the house of God as spiken of in 1 Peter ch.4 v.17, and here 'the house of God' refers to Christians, verse 18 saying that the righteous man is scarcely saved.  Today the church is in a much worse state than it was two thousand years ago.  We are in the end times, expecting our Lord's return, the time of the ten maidens and the servants accounting for the talents.  Without the oil of the Holy Spirit our lamps will go out, and if our talents are hidden and not invested with the bankers they will not make interest.

We are at the stage where 'even some of those with understanding shall fall, to try them and to purge and to make them white, even to the time of the end.' (Dan.ch.11 v.35).

Peter foretells that there will be false teachers in the church just as there were false prophets also among the people of Israel.  We can see this happening today with strange doctrines popping up in different places that are not in line with God's Word.  It has become fashionable to please man rather than to please God.

Some of us have become lukewarm Christians.

LUKEWARM
People say 'Don't speak about your king don't speak about this Jesus to me
Don't tell me I must follow Him down the road to Calvary'
They say 'We'll just be called by His holy name but leave us to eat our own bread
And we'll wear our own apparel' then they labour to make their own bed
But the covering on it is narrow and the bed itself is too short
Both getting smaller and smaller as they're judged by each ungodly thought
They're building mighty castles Lord, they don't have Your foundation
Building castles for themselves, strongholds big and wide
With hewn out stones and polished beams they've built their own creation
And now they put their images inside
Everyone right in their own eyes abiding in vanity
Spinning ever faster Lord towards total insanity
Not hearing the voice of the Master, but listening to a lie
Outside they appear to be living yet inside they slowly die
They're seeking to worldly physicians to bring about their release
Looking to man for deliverance yet never finding peace
Not willing to take Your chastening 'Too grievous for me' they say
Forgetting that at the end of each night there is always the light of day
And all the time Lord You're trying to take away our shame
Visiting each one in turn calling out each name
Saying 'Return unto me child, seek the face of your Lord above
For it is he who keeps my commandments that shall abide in my love'

Yes, sometimes we as God's people can be lukewarm when it comes to following the Lord, and we can have 'itching ears', not wanting to endure sound doctrine but heaping to ourselves teachers after our own desires.  We can turn our ears away from the truth (2 Timothy ch.4 vs.3,4).  There is a warning in 2 Corinthians ch.11 vs 3,4 about listening to another Jesus, another gospel, being led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

If we make our own comfortable spiritual bed then we will have to lie on it, and the covering on it will be no protection against the judgement of the Lord.  Isaiah ch.28 v.20 says that the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it.

After I had written this article my husband was making the bed one morning as I returned from the bathroom.  I could hardly believe what he said to me.  When I bought the sheets with the roses on they had been two box fitted sheets.  They did not have a top sheet to match, so I bought the two base sheets in order to make one of them into a top sheet.  However, the material available to me was not enough to make a full width sheet.  As I walked into the room my husband said 'You will have to do something about this sheet, it is too narrow.'

the message in Isaiah ch.28 was to those who ruled the people in Jerusalem.  When I added this line onto what I had typed, I opened my Bible twice to  Isaiah ch. 30 where I had verse one encircled.  It reads 'Woe to the rebellious children who carry out a plan but not mine, and who make a league but not of my Spirit.'

The same message applies to us as God's children today.  God is a loving God and He does not want us to stray from His protection.  We learn from Him line upon line, precept upon precept and He reveals to us where we are in danger of missing the mark, gently guiding us back to the light.

The project that I finally took into class on 'shaddow and substance' was:-

 

Let us make man in our image

There are quite clearly two Adams spoken of in the Bible.  The first book of Corinthians, ch.15 v45  says ‘The first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit .’  If we look in Genesis ch2 v7, we see that  this first man, Adam, was formed of dust from the ground  This  ‘man of dust’ was formed before any plant or herb had grown on the earth ( v5 ), even before the sun and the moon were created, which would have been on the second day, and is formed by God alone., who places him in the garden of Eden.  The word ‘Adham’, used here, is the Hebrew for ‘man’, which sounds like, and may be derived from, the Hebrew word for ground ( Adhamah ).  This Adam disobeyed God, and was tempted to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil when his wife was persuaded to question God's word   when the serpent said 'Did God really say?', thereby coming to know good and evil.  God had told Adam that he could eat of any tree in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil .  Because of this disobedience,  eternal life was denied him (Genesis ch 3 v. 22,) and he and his wife Eve were sent with several curses from the garden of Eden ( which means ‘delight’ ), and this emphasises the loss of relationship with God suffered by them through disobedience to Him through the questioning of His word, a choice made by them which took them away from the blessing of eternal life. They were sent out of the garden and denied access to the tree of life.

In Genesis ch.1 v, 26 God says ‘Let us make man in our image’. This takes place on the sixth day, and the word used in verse 27  for ‘man’ , ‘adam’, is a collective  referring to mankind, both male and female .

We are told that eternal life is not just to know God but to know God and His Son Jesus Christ, (John ch.17 v3 ), and Hebrews ch.1 v.2 tells us that God  made the worlds by Jesus.   We are also told in John ch.1 that Jesus is the word, and that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and that the Word was God.  From this we gather that the ‘ us ’ and the ‘our’, as in ‘Let us make man in our image,’ could well refer to God and Jesus .   God is Spirit, ( John ch. 4 v.24 ), and Jesus is the express image of God. (Hebrews ch. 1 v.3 ) so is this collective ‘man ‘, made in the image of God and Jesus Christ, the church , the spiritual man, the one spoken of by Paul in 1 Corinthians ch 15 v.49?    2 Corinthians ch. 3 v.18 says that we, the church, 'are being transformed into His image'.  These created beings were told to bear fruit and were sent out to  multiply, God referring  to everything He had made, including them, as being ‘very good’ (Genesis  ch.1 v.31 ).

God is  Spirit and until His Spirit is born in us we can not be like Him.  We are the ‘man of dust’, without hope and without God in the world (Ephesians ch.2 v.12 ), and bear the image of the man of dust until we are born again of God’s Holy Spirit.   Just like birds, who are first born into an egg and then have to break through that shell in order to fly, we have to break through the restrictive shell of our earthly sinful and disobedient to God nature, to be able to soar in Heavenly places with Christ Jesus.  This can only be achieved with the help of the Holy Spirit , made manifest through the diverse gifts within the body of Christ.  

Once we are born again and are in Christ Jesus and are actively walking in the Spirit, then we begin to become like Him.  We are encouraged by Paul in 1 Corinthians ch. 15 v. 49 to bear the image of the heavenly.  The first Adam became a living being.  We are not in the likeness of God as descendants of Adam because Adam sinned and all his descendants inherited his sinful nature, thereby becoming children of disobedience, all under God’s wrath, and ‘dead’ in our sins, (Ephesians ch.2 v.1.).  In 1 Corinthians ch.15 vs .45 - 49, we are told that there are two Adams, a physical which comes first and a spiritual which comes second.   We, as Christians are told that we shall bear the image of the first one and then encouraged to put on the image of the second one.  The second Adam, Jesus, was a life giving Spirit, and all who descend from him will be in His likeness and, because He is the express image of God, they will also possess the ability to be made in the likeness of God if they believe on Him., being obedient to Him.  We can only become sons of God through this life-giving Spirit.  Galatians ch.3 v.27 says ‘ For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.  For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ.’

‘ But as many as received Him, to them gave He  power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God ’  John ch.1 vs. 12, 13.

Jesus is God’s only begotten Son and we can become part of the body of Christ, thereby  spiritually becoming God’s Son too.   Is this the transformation spoken of in Genesis ch1 v26 , and is  God  speaking to Jesus (for the Gospel of John ch1 v1,2 and 3 says ’In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made .’)?

Genesis ch.1 v. 16 speaks of two great lights created on the fourth day.  Although God had created light on the first day, the sun and the moon were not created until the fourth day, ‘ a greater light  to rule the day, and a lesser light to rule the night ’.  If we take the natural meaning, it speaks of the sun and the moon coming into our world on the fourth day.   However, the scriptures are discerned spiritually as well. 

Psalm ch.90 v.4 says that one thousand years in God’s sight are as a day gone by.  Psalm 19 speaks of the heavens declaring the glory of God, and speaks of the sun being as a bridegroom, and Jesus is called  the bridegroom, and also the light that has come into the world ( John ch. 3 v.19 ).   John ch.1 v.9 says The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.  This was talking about Jesus at the time of John the Baptist, it was not talking of the natural‘ light’ that was already in the world, but the light that was coming into the world.

The sun gives light in the day, and while Jesus was in the world He was the light.    John ch.3 v 19a says, regarding Jesus and the work that He came to do  ‘ and this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, ’.   In John ch,9 v.4 He says, ‘ I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day: the night comes when no man can work.' 

The second great light created on the fourth day was the moon, to give light in the night.   The moon is a simile of the church, ‘ to be established as a faithful witness (psalm 89 v.37 ) ’.  Jesus has commissioned the church to do the work He did on earth.  He said to His disciples ‘As my Father has sent me, even so I send you ’ ( John ch. 20 v.21 ).  We can do nothing without Him, the Holy Spirit has been sent to equip  us to do His work. Within the body of Christ is the ability, through the spiritual gifts, to do all the works that He did while He was in a physical body on Earth , both within the house of God and in the world.

Just as the moon has no light of it’s own, but can only reflect the light of the sun on the world at night, so we have no light of our own to shed on the world while it lies in darkness. We must reflect the light which comes from our Lord Jesus,    ( hence  ‘no man can work ’)   The church is the spiritual body of Jesus Christ which has been forming for nearly two thousand years, or two days  in God’s time.  Jesus said in  Luke ch. 13 v. 32,   ‘ Today and tomorrow I do cures, on the third day I will be perfected. ’  Is He talking God’s time, has He been doing  ‘ cures ’ for two thousand years, and are we in the sixth day when the full measure of Christ’s body on earth will be reached, ( Jesus’ body being perfected ), being told to multiply and subdue the earth through His Spirit. ? Have the last two thousand years been used to form the ‘ man made in God and Jesus’ image’,  the collective, spiritual one spoken of in 1 Corinthians ch.15, and is this spiritual, collective one about to be perfected in Jesus ?  Romans ch.6vs3-5 says ‘ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death?  We were buried with Him therefore, by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from death by the Glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.’

 

As far as time is concerned many people may say that we have gone past the  six thousand years, but whose calendar do we go by?  The Jews have a different calendar to us, the Mayans a different one again.  Also the Genesis day starts in the evening.

The earth lay in darkness cold as a tomb
there was no warmth or light

It lay without life like the barren womb
of a woman alone in the night

...... It waited for Jesus

Once again the Earth waits as in days of old

Again there is darkness, again it is cold

But now there’s a moon to reflect the sun

To announce the return of God’s Holy One

To tell of salvation from sin and death

By receiving God’s Spirit .... His life-giving breath

God has given Jesus a name above every other name, ' for you have exalted above all things your name and your word ',Psalm 138 v.2b.     The king James version puts it  'for thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name' , and I believe this is what the Father did, gave Jesus the authority to even blank out the curse that God had put on mankind by becoming the spotless lamb without blemish required as a sacrifice to do this.  ( Jesus means ‘ Yahweh saves ’), and because of this He is able to save mankind from the spiritual death inherited as a result of the sin of Adam.   Lazarus, Mary and Martha’s brother was dead for four days before Jesus raised him from the dead.  The name ‘ Lazarus ’ means ‘ whom God helps ’, and this is exactly what God did to mankind after they had been spiritually dead in their sins for four spiritual days, (four thousand years ) .   He made a way for all of mankind to regain the spiritual life they had lost through Adam by sending Jesus, to whom He has given all authority, even authority over death itself.   In Luke ch.9 vs. 28 -36, when Jesus was talking on top of the mountain with Moses and Elijah, Peter wanted to make booths for the two of them and one for Jesus.  However, as he said this a cloud came and overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud saying ‘This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him’ and the other two disappeared, leaving Jesus alone.  The law and the prophets no longer carried the divine authority, only Jesus did.   When Jesus was born as the Son of man and the Son of God it was the end of mankind having the curse of the fleshly inheritance of the first Adam.  Joseph did not father the child Jesus, the Holy Spirit did.   Man was once again given the opportunity of eating from the tree of life ( Jesus, the Word of God ).  

Jesus said to Martha, when she confessed belief in the resurrection on the last day, ‘I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me, though he die yet shall he live ’( John ch.. 11 v.25 ).   Paul was confirming the creating of this new spiritual being in 1 Corinthians ch.15 v.22 by saying ‘For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive ’.  We are collectively the body of the new Adam spoken of in Genesis ch. 1 v.26   ( the life giving spirit ), in Christ Jesus, when we believe in Him, Jesus being the head.   Philippians ch.2 v.9 tells us that 'God has highly exalted Jesus and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'  God is spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. 

There is, in Jesus, a divine forgiveness which keeps no record of the death producing sins, which was not there in the old covenant between mankind and God, ( ‘ Let it be known to you therefore brethren that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by Him everyone that believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. [ Acts ch. 13 vs. 38, 39 ] ) and gives access to eternal life which had  previously been denied us.( Genesis ch.3 vs 22-24.).   Once we believe in Jesus and have become part of His body He, being the head,  instructs us to remove the grave clothes from dead mankind with the commission He gives to His disciples in Matthew ch.28 vs. 19 and 20  ‘ Go therefore and make disciples  of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father  and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age .’ 

It is God Himself who has made Jesus Lord, and in Him alone is the ‘life’ that is eternal.  He is the manna  from heaven, the  bread of the face, the ‘word of God ’, the  door to the sheepfold , the  mediator between man and God,  and the only means by which man may be reconciled back to God.  There is no other name under Heaven by which we might be saved.   He is the tree of life that Adam and Eve could not eat from because of their disobedience, the fruit of which enables mankind to know God and have eternal life.    The‘ Word’, which is Jesus, has the power to create.  It was there in the beginning, when God used it to speak the world into existence, and was there when God said ‘Let us make (create) man (the word used is mankind in the original text) in our image. ’.  God and  His only begotten Son Jesus, the Word of God, who was with Him in the beginning (John ch.1 v1),  and who was taken up into heaven to sit at the right hand of God after His time on earth ( Mark ch. 16 v.19), are making mankind ( formed from dust), in their image, speaking of our spiritual re-creation which God is doing through Jesus, ( curing us from our disobedient nature ) and has been doing for two thousand years since the Spirit was given, to those that believe, after Jesus was crucified, (for the Spirit was not given until after Jesus was crucified).  We are a new creation in Christ Jesus.

In Acts ch.2 v.36 we are told that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ, and in John ch.3 v.16 we are told that God has allowed Jesus to be crucified for our sins because He loves us and does not want us to perish but have everlasting life.  Eternal life cannot be attained without Jesus, otherwise Adam and all mankind would have automatically received it 

The time allotted by God for Jesus to save is a time of grace, when the door is open to us.  It has been granted to  us to eat of the tree of life, a thing previously denied us all by God because we were under the curse of death, inherited  through Adam’s sin.(Ephesians ch.2 v.5 says we were dead in our sins )  The right to eat of this tree has not been earned by us but by Jesus, through His crucifixion.  It is a gift!

Son of the Father

The ultimate sacrifice of all time took place when Jesus was chosen to be crucified and Barabbas was set free.  Jesus represented the lamb without blemish that, in the priestly rituals of the old testament, was used as an offering to ward off the punishment due to the Israelites for disobeying God, while Barabbas represented disobedient mankind, being a son of Adam by nature. 

The name Barabbas  means ‘son of the father,’ and his crime was sedition, which is ‘conduct tending to promote treason or rebellion against a governing authority’.   Adam’s original disobedience in the garden of Eden  was  exactly that, and the governing authority that he was rebelling against was God.  His act caused all of mankind to inherit the sin of rebellion against the governing authority of God.  

It is not coincidence that the one who was set free from being put to death at Calvary was named Barabbas.  He represented fallen mankind, the children of Adam.   On that day  the Son of the heavenly Father was releasing the son of the earthly father from spiritual death and opening the way to eternal life to all of mankind.   1 Corinthians ch. 15 v 49 says , we have borne the image of the man of dust and we are destined to bear the image of the man of the Spirit.  As God Himself is  Spirit, (2 Corinthians ch.3 v.17 ) so too the new image is a spiritual one.  We are made alive together with Christ, being saved by grace, and are raised up with Him, and made to sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

If we turn the word ‘ evil ‘ around we get the word ‘ live ‘.  If we turn the Hebrew word for evil, Ra, around, we get Er, which means waken.   Verse 18 of 1 Corinthians ch.15 speaks of  ' those who have fallen asleep in Christ ' When we are in Christ we have turned around from evil, and shall waken one day ( on the third spiritual day after Jesus came to earth, at the end of the sixth day according to 'one day being as a thousand years ) to a life of no death, no tears, no sorrow.  How wonderful is our God!  

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood there is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  Hebrews Ch. vs.22,23

 

One Day

The other day I was watching 'Songs of Praise' on the television and Glen Campbell was on it.  He spoke of his life, I think he is 84 now, and then sang a song which he and another person had written called ' A better place awaits you'll see'  It was absolutely beautiful and spoke of how the Lord's presence had been in his life, bringing him happiness, and what awaited those who trust in Him.  It reminded me of a poem I had written some time ago and I would like to share it as an ' amen ' to what Glen had sung.

Spirit Song

Spirit Song is a small booklet containing a selection of poems and songs that I have written, through which I have spoken to God and, also, I have felt the Spirit of God speaking to me and, in some instances, others.
It is a testimony of light coming into darkness - the light of God, through Jesus Christ, coming into the darkness of my world.
There are many areas of darkness in my world still, but the light that has come into my life is a far greater power than that darkness, and is able to rescue me from it.

'In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.'     John ch.1 vs.4,5

Good and evil
Is it by choice or predestined, that we do good or evil?  What is good, what is evil, where is the plumbline?  Is my evil somebody else's good, is my good somebody else's evil?  To whom somebody else's evil is good, then it is good.  To whom somebody else's good is evil then it is evil.  To establish a common good or a common evil there must be a plumbline.  Without a plumbline there is no such thing as good or evil - only chaos.

'Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.'    Genesis ch.1 v.2

Let Go
Let go of the things that are holding you child
the things that will keep you from me
Each sin you hold on to is forming the crown
that was placed on my head can't you see
Let the chains round your heart be unlocked by My love
let the light of My truth enter in
There's no longer a sentence of death on you child
if you'll only let go of your sin

Let go, let go of your burden my child
lift your eyes and look into my face
See the blood running out from the wound in my side
as I'm nailed to this cross in your place
See the water that flows from beneath my torn heart
It's a river of life to you now
But while you're holding on to the things of this world
there's a thorn pressing deep in my brow

So let go of the things that are drawing you back
to the world and its pleasures again
for although they appear to be joy for awhile
they can only bring suffering and pain
I was wounded and pierced for the sins of this world
My stripes show the terrible price
And if you turn again to what I've saved you from
there remains no more scrifice

Returning Prodigal

Lord I'm lost in the darkness
Lost, alone and forlorn
My garments are tattered and filthy
My sandals are battered and worn
Lost, I'm injured and frightened
With wounds all open and sore
The life that I thought I had wanted
Has left me rejected and poor

Lord I'm sorry I hurt You
Now pain is the path that I roam
Discovered when I chose to desert You
Father I want to come home
Now as I lay on my pillow
My slumber is broken by fears
My shelter is the ash and the willow
My friends are repentance and tears

Father I'll never deserve You
You love me in spite of my shame
I run to You longing to serve You
Proud to be wearing Your name
Yes I run to You now longing to serve You
I'm so proud to be wearing Your name

Messiah

I watch in anguish every day
as killing, torture, hatred reign
In horror turn my eyes away
hoping somehow to reduce the pain
I cry
Despair and sorrow gripping me
Then Jesus comes
saying 'Child I see'
and the burden is removed from me

I stumble blindly down life's road
through shifting sand and mists of sin
Bent low by fortune's heavy load
deep loneliness and fear within
I scream
Held tightly by frustration's hand
Then Jesus comes
saying'Child - I understand'
and shows to me a promised land

I reach towards this man of love
this gentle lifter of my head
Empowered by Spirit from above
to wake from sleep the living dead
I breathe
as new life stirs within my soul
then Jesus comes
saying 'Child - I make you whole
and give you back what Satan stole'

I listen - now familiar sound
A still small voice dispels the gloom
My step a dance upon the grouond
as I arise from earthen tomb
I praise .....
my song 'Emmanuel'
The Christ has come
saying 'All is well
For I have conquered death and hell'

This is my body broken for you

This morning I had to come into town, and I thought I would see if the library had a computer available to use (I am not on the internet at home yet and it is free to use in the library to the public ).  I thought of putting something on my blog and, as my home computer has broken down, looked amongst my paper writings for something to share.  I picked up the following writing which I had done some time ago and it made me cry.  I just feel I want to share my experience.
I had a project to write on the subject of the Lord's body, broken for us, for a writers' circle that I attended at the time, my thoughts were dwelling on how Jesus had rescued us from God's wrath.  I was trying to liken the rescue to a human situation.  Pictures formed in my mind of being pushed out of the way of a hurtling bullet, as a soldier took it's full force.  I tried to imagine how it would feel to be that soldier, dying for another person who did not even know him.  As I was thinking these things I felt to open my Bible and read about the crucifixion.  I opened to where the old testament ends and the new testament begins.  The full force of the Lord's sacrifice manifested itself in those two pages facing me.  HE WAS STANDING IN THE GAP.  It was almost as if I could see His body on the cross, arms outstretched, etched on the paper as I realized the magnitude of the crucifixion's purpose.  Thes was not an act of saving one or even many human beings from an early death, allowing them to live a few more years on this earth.  This was an act which would make it possible for the whole of mankind to exist beyond carnal death into eternity, under the most wonderful conditions imaginable.  Jesus was taking all the punishment that unholy mankind, past, present and future, was due from Holy God, and thereby opening up a way of reconciliation between created and creator.  He felt the full consequence of man's disobedience to God, even to the point of feeling totally forsaken by His Father.  Though He was the only person who had lived on this earth who had committed no sin, all those who had would be pardoned by His actions that awsome day.  There wouold be nothing required of man in order to have this eternal state of joy except to trust in the One who had aquired it for him.
As I looked at the two pages in front of me, separating the old covenant from the new covenant, I had a deep revelation of my part in the arrangement, and of how seriously I should be taking the fact that Jesus is the only mediator between myself and God, the only One who is able to save my soul from eternal damnation.  1 Corinthians ch.l11 vs 27-32 tells us to examine ourselves before we eat and drink of the Lord's communion, making sure that we have judged ourselves rightly, that we can actually become weak, sickly and even die as a result of eating and drinking without discerning the body and blood of the Lord . Spiritually speaking it is the word of God itself that is the Lord's body, because Jesus is the word of God, so if we allow that word to judge us, and by acting on that word allow it to cleanse us of unrighteousness, then we shall not be condemned along with the world.
Our God is a wonderful, loving, long suffering Father who, through fJesus, who is the Holy Spirit, will reveal and convince us of truths in His word that will, when activated in our lives, produce a righteousness in us that will secure for us eternal life.
Jesus says in Revelation ch.1 v.18 that He is alive for evermore and has the keys of Death and Hell.

Blind World

My life was just like His life, yet different in a way
My deeds were carried out at night - His...... in the light of day
People persecuted me, I tried their hearts to win
I deserved the wretchedness, yet this man had no sin
I wandered in the wilderness - the Devil tempted me
He said ' If you just worship me I'll give you all you see'
But I could see that worldly things did not bring happiness
For men surrounded by their wealth were crying in distress
And then I looked to Jesus and said 'What is it here
That shines above all riches and takes away the fear?'
He answered me and said 'Child, I died at Calvary
But that was for a purpose - to set all mankind free
And what the world has failed to see, blinded in their strife
Is that my Father raised me up..... to everlasting life.'

' The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of you: you shall not see evil any more.'
                                                                                                          Zephaniah ch.3 v.15

Forever grateful Father

Forever grateful Father that You gave Your precious Son
Who, knowing His awesome destiny, said 'Not my will but Your will be done'
Yet it pleased You to bruise Him Father so that I might have peace and be healed
For through this one act of sacrifice was Your gift of salvation revealed

Forever remembering Jesus that You hung upon that tree
Taking the pain and punishment that was meant for a sinner like me
Yet You chose not to open Your mouth Lord and call on the Heavenly host
To come to Your aid on that lonely day, no You suffered and gave up the ghost

Forever Yours Holy Spirit while You teach me and make all things clear
Chastising me when I go astray and wiping away each tear
Oh Father I love and respect You, and Jesus I want to obey
So guide me great Spirit and keep me 'til my Lord returns for me one day

A thought that I have

There's a thought that I have in my heart Lord
A desire above all that I seek
It's to serve you according to Your will
Yet I know in this world I am weak
But although in myself there is weakness
I know You are the One who is strong
So teach me Your ways and Your will Lord
That I might serve You all day long

All Things Work Together For Good

 One of the times that I have mentioned briefly in my previous post was when a rather large lump had come up on the front of my leg and I was worrying about it.  I had read in the newspaper that day about Marty Caine, a female comedienne, and the battle she was having fighting cancer.  In the article it mentioned that she'd had several lumps resembling small eggs come up on her limbs, and this one on my leg looked exactly like that.
However, the Lord had for some time by then been encouraging me to trust in Him for healing and had already proved Himself true in some other trials I had gone through.  My sister told me I should go to the doctor, but when I'd sought the Lord over this He had spoken to me through Psalms chapter 116, verse 10, ' I kept my faith though I was greatly afflicted' and through Isaiah chapter 31 verse 1 'Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help'.  I recognized the Lord's voice telling me to trust in Him though I was greatly afflicted, not the world, and so I prayed much over the next few days.
I was going to Lancashire to visit my brother and his family on the Monday, so on the Sunday night I got together with a Christian friend and as we prayed He spoke to me through Hosea chapter 6 verse 2, saying 'After two days He will revive us, in the third day He will raise us up'.  I believed that this was the Spirit speaking to comfort me and felt a great peace.  On the Tuesday, whilst in Lancashire, a leaflet came through my brother's letterbox.  It was an invitation to a Christian service being held along the road in the local community hall on the Wednesday.  I felt I really needed to be in the presence of Christians and decided to go.  My sister-in-law said she would like to go as well, so the next night off we went.
During the service something the lady preacher said reminded me of a poem on healing that I had in my bag, and I put my hand up and asked if I could read it out.  She said that I could read it at the end of the service.  I read the poem and also gave a short testimony on when the Lord had miraculously removed a lump from my breast.
When I had finished, a man approached me and told me that just as I had begun to speak he had come in the door.  He said he was not a Christian but that his wife was, and he had come to pick her up.  He went on to say that his wife had a lump in her breast and had come to that place that night in the hope that Jesus would heal her.  He said he could hardly believe what he had heard me talking about, and knew that it would encourage his wife.  I had a short conversation with the man before I left and told him that I and my Christian friends would pray for his wife.  The lump on my leg was gone when I awoke the next morning, and I realized that it was the third day from the time the Lord had spoken to me through Hosea.  I also realized that if I had not sought the Lord in the first place I would not have heard Him telling me to rrust solely in Him.  If I had not continued to pray I would not have drawn the comfort and peace that I received from the verse in Hosea, and if I had not followed my desire to fellowship I would not have gone to the meeting.  Without asking to read the poem, the unbeliever would not have heard anything because the meeting had finished by the time he arrived, and his wife would not have heard my testimony.  This was a prime example of all things working together in my life for good for those who are called according to His purpose.  We are called according to God's purpose and there is a reason for everything that happens, whether it appears to be good or bad.
Other people's lives are connected to ours and God wants all to come to the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ, not willing that any should perish, and our testimonies play a vital role in His plan.  However, in order to have all things work together for good in our lives, we must be able to recognize, and follow, the leading of the Holy Spirit.  May God grant us wisdom, understanding and a listening ear to be able to do this.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and do not rely on your own insight.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.
                                                                    Proverbs ch.3 vs 5,6

There is a season for all things, a time and purpose too
For God has fashioned every day that we must travel through
There is a season to be strong, a season to be weak
A time to give opinion, and a time we should not speak
And whether things be good or bad, all things are passing by
For this world is a testing place, to perfect both you and I
So do not worry if some days all things do not go right
Just be yourself - maintain your ways, be honest in God's sight
And if today you need more strength, or patience to endure
Just call upon the Saviour's name, His counseling is pure
'Tis He alone who understands the 'wherefores' and the 'whys'
And nothing in this world of man is hidden from His eyes
So seek instruction from the One who watches from above
For every word that comes from Him is blessed with grace and love

...... And the word of their testimony

I have, like all Christians  many testimonies of the Lord speaking to me during my time of walking with Him.  I do not share them that others might do what the Lord has asked me to do.  Just as the Israelites had to pick up their own manna in the wilderness, I have to work out my own salvation and respond to the Lord's voice to me personally as I receive my daily bread from Him.  I share this testimony to glorify God and to encourage the reader to trust in the word that they believe to be from the Lord Jesus.

About twenty two years ago  I started having a problem with my throat.  I had eaten a fish meal and believe that a small bone from the fish lodged in my throat.  We had to cancel going out with friends that evening as the discomfort grew worse.  Over the next few days things deteriorated even more.  It felt as if an abcess had developed low down at the back of it, and the pain was almost unbearable.  At the time I had for some years been seeking the Lord about sickness and divine healing, and had felt that He had been teaching me to trust in His divine power to heal, which I had already experienced, but also to trust in what He was telling me to do no matter what.  When I sought the Lord over this particular situation, He spoke to me through several scriptures that I kept opening to.  He kept showing me Isaiah 31 v.1 'Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD', verse 3 says 'the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit'.  I felt as though the Lord was encouraging me not to rely on man and his physical ability, but to rely on God and His spiritual capability.  I coould not forget that I had asked Him to teach me about 'divine healing'.  He also spoke to me through 2 Chronicles ch.16 v.12, where Asa was diseased in his feet yet did not seek help  from the Lord but from the physicians.  Once again I felt that in this instance the Lord was telling me to rely on Him and not on man.  Shortly after this, my throat began to ease a little but a lump started to develope under my left arm.  Still the Lord spoke to me through the same scriptures when I sought Him and also through a poem which I had written.  In it I felt that I was being encouraged to listen to the words that the Lord was speaking to me, to take every thought into captivity and to recognize where the doubts were coming from.  I called it

Who Said?

Who said that I'll not heal you 
who told you child this lie
Who said that you will get much worse 
and points his finger to the curse?
My child .... It was not I

Who speaks new precious words of life 
to all who live in fear and strife
And says ' By faith shall live the just'
 if in their Lord they'll put their trust
For through God's word has been revealed 
that by my stripes you shall be healed
Who says your needs I'll satisfy
My precious child - was it not I ?

Beware the serpent oh so sly
to steal your blessing he will try
My child it still remains your choice 
the devil's hiss or the Master's voice
For even in this latter day 
Satan keeps asking 'Did God say?'
Still questioning God's Holy Word 
hoping you'll doubt what you have heard
Don't listen child each time he tries 
to win you with his evil lies
Tell him this time it's not the same 
this time you wear your Saviour's name
The name of Jesus Christ - God's Son 
by whom redemption has been won
And from the curse you've been reprieved 
if in my word you have believed
So stand within God's promise child 
by the devil's lies be not beguiled
And when he questions as you're led 
you say to him
'Yes God has said'

The Lord highlighted a scripture to me when I wrote the poem, it was from Revelation ch.12 v.11.  At that time the only part that spoke to me was 'and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb', but since I have started to write this testimony down, the other half of the scripture '... And by the word of their testimony' has been highlighted to me, and I believe the importance of testifying to one another about what the Lord is doing in our lives is being pointed out.  He also spoke to me through Psalm 116, a prayer of thanksgiving for recovery from illness.  One verse in particular stood out to me, it was 'I kept my faith, even when I said 'I am greatly afflicted'.  Over the next few years a lump appeared under my right arm, another appeared under my left foot, and several glands swelled up.  My throat sometimes felt better, other times it hurt a lot, and it felt like a lump was growing in it.  Yet still, when I doubted and sought the Lord, He highlighted the same scriptures to me, and many others.  The more symptoms that appeared in my body, the more thoughts of what these symptoms could mean according to the knowledge of man and the medical profession came into my mind, bringing with it fear.  A few years ago, during one of these fearful times of concentrating on the symptoms, the Lord spoke to me through another poem that I entitled.

'The Journal'
I looked into the medical journal 
to see if my sickness was there
Scanned pages from start to finish  
my symptoms and pain to compare
I found there all sorts of malignants 
from tumours to non - healing sores
Bone fractures, coughs, colds and contagious 
diseases were there in their scores
I didn't feel better for reading 
I have to admit I felt worse
For the words written there spoke no blessing 
only page after page of a curse
So I looked in another great journal 
this too spoke of symptoms and pain
The symptoms were those of rebellion and sin 
but the pain there was all for man's gain
Yes the symptoms were mine and the rest of mankind
They were sorrow and torment and loss
But the pain was my Lord's to redeem many souls
As He hung in our place on that cross
So I'll close the big book that speaks only of strife
Inflicted by Satan - the liar
And I'll open the book that brings blessing and life
The one written of Jesus - Messiah

And so I have continued, believing one hundred percent that the Lord has been encouraging me all this time to trust in Him for my healing.  I know that He can heal, and is capable of doing that which is not possible for man to do.  I know that He still heals today, because I have been healed solely by His divine power several times, but I have also been learning over the past twenty years to keep my faith in great affliction.
A few years ago a swelling that came up on my arm and an incident in another person's life caused more fears to creep into my mind, this time greater fears which wee pointing to the synptoms being life threatening.  Again I sought the Lord and again He gave me scripture to combat the carnal thoughts that were trying to rob me of God's promise to me.  He told me that His grace was sufficient for me and that His power is made perfect in weakness.  This scripture was a great comfort to me because it had already been used in my life preceding a healing.  The Lord also spoke to me through another poem which demonstrated to me the spiritual warfare that was going on in my mind and just who was the most powerful of the two opponents.  Through the scripture and the poem, I was being shown the enemy's tactics in causing fear in my mind, and being encouraged yet again to trust absolutely in the Lord's power and ability to defeat him.  This poem I called

An Enemy Stood At My Door

An enemy stood at my door - I recognized this foe
His tap was soft at first and he was calling out my name
He'd tried to rob mankind of truth a long, long time ago
And now he'd come to me to do the same
His knock grew louder with each strike - his voice began to rise
My heart was wildly beating and my mind was filled with fear
With curses pouring from his mouth he rent the air with lies
I froze at what I could not fail to hear
Within the door I looked around and sought a place to hide
A sanctuary of safety from the taunting and the jeers
The enemy like thunder now began to rage outside
With trembling hands I tried to block my ears
Then suddenly within the room a warrior appeared
His form was bathed in light and He was brandishing a sword
The power and the fury from the enemy I feared
Diminished as I recognized my Lord
'Don't be afraid child' Jesus said 'at all that you have heard
This foe will turn to ashes and his power fall as dust
Take refuge in my presence as I speak God's Holy word
Your peace will then return because you trust
The words that I shall speak to you are Spirit and are life
They bring into existence that which does not yet appear
And have a power of their own to banish all the strife
That's coming from this enemy you fear'
I looked into my Saviour's eyes and knew His words were true
That God had sent Him to my aid, this enemy to fight
He said 'My child just stay within the light surrounding you
Your foe dwells in the darkness of the night
And he will come to carnal mind to try to steal the seed
That I have planted in you as you seek me every day
Hold fast to all I've told you - to his threatening pay no heed
When dawn arrives the darkness must give way
For search within God's written word and you will surely see
That for this very purpose was made manifest God's Son
And how to me the Father granted all authority
To halt the workings of the evil one'
I listened to my Saviour and I spoke out what I heard
To counteract the curses of the foe outside the door
And marvelled when I realized the power of God's word
Commanded him to bother me no more
Then slowly, but with boldness now, I walked across the floor
And lifted latch with Jesus' words embedded in my mind
God's grace for me sufficient - When I opened up the door
No messenger of Satan could I find

After writing the poem, I wondered about the line 'this foe will turn to ashes and his power fall as dust', and thought 'Where did that come from?'.  A few days later I was reading the book of Job and came across verse twelve of chapter thirteen which reads 'Your maxims are proverbs of ashes, your defences are defences of clay'  Job's friends were being told by Job that what they had spoken was of the earth, a fleshly wisdom.  Elihu later states that it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand, and offers revealed knowledge rather than the voice of human experience and tradition.  I realized that I was in danger of allowing man's wisdom and knowledge to overrule the much higher wisdom and knowledge of the creator Himself.  The enemy only had a power over me whilst I was believing in the worldly wisdom and knowledge that was filling my mind above God's word..  His ultimate weapon was fear.
Some weeks before I wrote 'An enemy stood at my door' I asked an elder of the church I was attending at the time if he would anoint me with oil and pray for me according to the instruction to the sick in the book of James.  He said he would ask another elder because the verse actually said 'elders' as opposed to 'elder'.  The following Saturday I felt the Lord was speaking ot me again concerning this.  I woke up feeling that there was a swelling and some pain in my throat, and the lump under my right arm was also painful.  I started praying to the Lord, using a verse from Psalm 119 to ask Him to remember His word to me in which He had caused me to hope, telling Him, as the psalmist did, that His word was my comfort in my affliction, and that His promise gave me life.  I then reminded Him of the scriptures He had given me, one by one, as I remembered them.  Suddenly a picture of a small bottle of oil that I had put in my cupboard weeks befor came into my mind as clear as if it was in front of my eyes.  I had been given it free with an olive tree I had bought.  I thought about the anointing of oil and the prayer not actually being done and wondered if God was trying to tell me something.  Later that morning, I noticed that the reading in the 'Daily Bread' devotional for that day was on the verse 'Blessed is the man whose confidence is in Him', and it spoke about obedience, and being faithful in the small things.  The following Friday moening I awoke feeling not very well and once again fear and doubt started creeping into my mind. I thought about how this particular sickness had been in my body for sixteen years at that time, far longer than anyt other sickness I's had, and appeared to be getting worse.  Even the act of anointing with oil seemed insignificant.  Suddenly the word 'faith' appeared in my mind as clearly as the bottle of oil had appeared.  Immediately, thoughts of my previous instances of divine healing filled my mind, and the anointing of oil seemed as significant and necessary as being baptized had been to me, and walking around Jericho sefven times, shouting had been to the Israilites all those years ago.  It was significant insomuch as it was an act of obedience to God's instruction.  Things that would appear foolishness to the world had to be obeyed with the unquestioning innocence of a child by the Christian.  Later that morning I read my UCB 'Word for today' reading for that day.  The scripture reading was Proverbs ch.3 v.5, 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding', and the first sentence of the accompanying commentary read 'Stop trying to figure out things that should be lift in God's hands. When you put something on the shelf and say you are going to trust God with it, don;t try to take it back because you don't like the way He's handling it, or the length of time He's taking'. 
Since then I have been avle to maintain my trust in the Lord and am learning that, although I hae experience the Lord's ability to both heal and perform a miracle, I am also learning that His grace is sufficient for me and that that grace can be used to increase my faith as He teaches me to be still and know that He is God.

Lord I thank You for what You have been teaching me.  I have learned, and am still learning, to take nothing for granted, to realize that things can be changed, but that Your perfect love is the engine that motivates change and that Your perfect peace is the feeling by which I recognize that change as having come from You.  Your Holy Spirit is teaching me that if I run from things that hurt or challenge, then it is for the very fact that these things hurt or challenge that You hafe brought them across my path.  If I run, hurt goes with me and challenge remains where I stood.
You have helped me, and are still helping me, to love not only those who love me, that is easy, but to love those who find it hard to love me, and to realize that no one sees the whole picture of another's life, and that there is a common enemy that would seek to separate.  You do not ask me to love, You command me to love, and I thank You Lord for Your patience with me as I learn to love others as You love me.
I have loved the song 'Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord', and know that it is a very true message.
You have continued to encourage me to take every thought into captivity and see if it lines up with Your word spoken to me, and You have strengthened me often to act upon that word, even though my carnal mind may be questioning it.  I have come to know that Your wisdom is far greater than my own, and You are bringing me more and more to put my trust in it.  You have strengthened me in the past and are still strengthening me to believe that Your word has the power to bring into existance that which does not exist.

Ecclesiasted ch.11v.7 says 'Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun'.  You are my heavenly warrior of light Lord, Faithful and true, that rides on a white horse, having king of kings and Lord of lords written upon Your rove and thigh, as You slay my spiritual enemies with Your sword of truth, and it is pleasant for my eyes to behold You.
Lord, I continue to say 'Not my will, but Your will.  Not my truth, but Your truth.  Not my love, but Your love, and continue to make these two prayers to You.

Examine my heart Lord, look to see
If what I see in others lies also in me
Examine my hands Lord see the work that I do
Does it say 'Look at me' or bring glory to You?
Examine my mind Lord and the thoughts deep within
Are they righteous and holy or tempered with sin?
Lord take from this vessel that You wish to mould
All that is clay and replace it with gold

Increase the 'You' in me Lord, increase the solid rock
Increase the strength the Father sent to protect from every knock
Increase the 'You' in me Lord when I try to stand alone
Remind me that I'm still a child, that in You I'm not yet grown
Increase the 'You' in me Lord, take all my foolish pride
Take the 'me' that still remains in me and place th 'You' inside
Increase the 'You' in me Lord, that when all is said and done
And people say 'Thank you, thank you', I'll say 'Not me ....God's Son'