With the recent passing away of my brother-in-law’s mother and also the brother of a former coworker, after a bit of sorrow, I felt strength in my soul while pondering scripture and reading these two simple poems. Hope these will be a strength to someone. One is by an unknown author. The second is by a man named Charles William Everest:
 
TRUST THE LORD
(Author Unknown)

Until I learned to trust the Lord,
I never learned to pray;
And never learned to fully trust,
Till sorrow came my way.

Until I felt my weakness,
HIS STRENGTH I never knew;
Nor dreamed til I was stricken,
That HE could see me through.

He who drinks deepest sorrow,
Drinks deepest too of grace;
God sends the storm so HE, HIMSELF
Can be our resting place.

His heart who seeks our deepest good,
Knows well when things annoy;
We would not yearn for heaven,
If earth held only joy! 
_____________________________

 Take up Thy Cross

Take up thy cross, the Saviour said,
If thou wouldst My disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after Me.

Take up thy cross; let not its weight
Fill thy weak soul with vain alarm;
His strength shall bear thy spirit up,
And brace thy heart, and nerve thine arm.

Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,
Nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
The Lord for thee the cross endured
To save thy soul from death and hell.

Take up thy cross, then, in His strength,
And calmly every danger brave;
‘Twill guide thee to a better home,
And lead to victory o’er the grave.

Take up thy cross, and follow Christ,
Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only he who bears the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.
               —Charles William Everest

I’m normally an upbeat person because I believe overall in the “spiritual remedy”—A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones (Proverbs 22:17), but I think also that to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). At the moment, for me, in light of the recent passings, this verse is appropriate:

Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better (Ecclesiastes 7:3). I believe, though, I’ll be smiling again before too long.

I was inspired by my niece, Jennifer, to post a new entry. Has anyone heard this poem? If so (or if not), what do you think of it? I thought it was worthy of all acceptation:

SERMONS WE SEE (by Edgar A. Guest)  

Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
– II Corinthians 3:2-3 

Here is a good but sobering poem about the woman in the Bible and the alabaster box of ointment. I thought that not only the poem but THIS WOMAN and HER HUMILITY were worthy of mention:

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
 - Psalm 126:6

I am glad I know the author of the best book in the world, the Bible. It is God himself who used men to pen His thoughts. Some of the best poems I’ve seen, however, with the exception of some wondrous poems by family members, have been written by unknown authors. This particular poem, though I know neither the author nor the title of the poem is one of those wondrous poems, in my estimation. I do believe, however, that God knows the author (and that’s the important thing, isn’t it?). If I could name this poem, though, I might name it: “The Choice of the Lord.” See what you think of this:

I may never see tomorrow;
There’s no written guarantee,
And things that happened yesterday,
Belong to history.

I cannot predict the future,
I cannot change the past,
I have just the present moment,
I must treat it as my last.

I must use this moment wisely,
For it soon will pass away,
And be lost to me forever,
As part of yesterday.

I must exercise compassion,
Help the fallen to their feet,
Be a friend unto the friendless,
Make an empty life complete.

The unkind things I do today,
May never be undone,
And friendships that I fail to win,
May nevermore be won.

I may not have another chance,
On bended knee to pray,
And thank God with humble heart,
For giving me this day. 

Life without purpose is barren indeed.
There can’t be a harvest unless you plant seed.
There can’t be attainment unless there’s a goal.
And man’s but a robot unless there’s a soul.

If we send no ships out,
No ships will come in,
And unless there’s a contest,
Nobody can win.

For games can’t be won,
Unless they are played,
And prayers can’t be answered,
Unless they are prayed.

So whatever is wrong with your life today,
You’ll find a solution if you kneel down and pray.
Not just for pleasure, enjoyment and health,
Not just for honors and prestige and wealth.

But pray for a purpose to make life worth living,
And pray for the joy of unselfish giving.
For great is your gladness and rich your reward,
When you make your life’s purpose the choice of the Lord. 

- Author Unknown

Have you ever heard the expression, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”? I tend to be competitive (hopefully in a good way), especially when I think about running in this Christian race (endeavoring always to do better at something than previously done, striving to do what is right, striving against sin). Perhaps the biggest part of our striving “to win” should be in playing the game FAIRLY. I liked this poem that brings out this thought. See what you think:

Prayer of a Sportsman

Dear Lord, in the battle that goes on through life
I ask but a field that is fair,
A chance that is equal with all in the strife,
A courage to strive and to dare;

And if I should win, let it be by the code
With my faith and my honor held high;
And if I should lose, let me stand by the road,
And cheer as the winners go by.

And Lord, may my shouts be ungrudging and clear,
A tribute that comes from the heart,
And let me not cherish a snarl or a sneer
Or play any sniveling part;

Let me say, “There they ride, on whom laurel’s bestowed
Since they played the game better than I.”
Let me stand with a smile by the side of the road,
And cheer as the winners go by.

So grant me to conquer, if conquer I can,
By proving my worth in the fray,
But teach me to lose like a regular man,
And not like a craven, I pray;

Let me take off my hat to the warriors who strode
To victory splendid and high,
Yea, teach me to stand by the side of the road
And cheer as the winners go by.

-Berton Braley

And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
- II Timothy 2:5 

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
- Daniel 6:3

I came across this poem and thought I’d use it as my entry #41. See what you think:

Take up Thy Cross

Take up thy cross, the Saviour said,
If thou wouldst My disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after Me.

Take up thy cross; let not its weight
Fill thy weak soul with vain alarm;
His strength shall bear thy spirit up,
And brace thy heart, and nerve thine arm.

Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,
Nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
The Lord for thee the cross endured
To save thy soul from death and hell.

Take up thy cross, then, in His strength,
And calmly every danger brave;
‘Twill guide thee to a better home,
And lead to victory o’er the grave.

Take up thy cross, and follow Christ,
Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only he who bears the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.               

—Charles William Everest

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

- Mark 8:34

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

- Romans 8:18

I came across this poem as I was thinking of a theme for the new year, something I could share with others who might read this blog entry. I thought of blessings and benefits the Lord has granted me this past year and wondered if I should write of those. I thought of some victories of the past months, some prayers answered. I thought of family and friends. I am grateful for all of this, but my heart remains burdened for those who are “without,” who may not know the way, who are caught up in “worldly things,” who are unaware (whether willfully or not) of salvation, God’s love, the gospel message, the sacrifice of Calvary, the triumph of the resurrection, THE HOPE OF THE CHRISTIAN!! This poem is introspective, and I hope that it may cause the reader to “ponder the paths of thy feet” (see Proverbs 4:26), that one may know that TODAY is the day of salvation—the day for ONE AND ALL to take time to walk with Him, to take the proper steps to being saved from sin—which are repentance, baptism in Jesus name, and the receiving of the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in another (unlearned) tongue as the Spirit of God gives the utterance. This is our entrance into the kingdom of God and the chance to have our names written in the Lamb’s book of life!

When You Stand Before The Lord

And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither [whatsoever] worketh abomination, or [maketh] a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. – Revelation 21:27.

Christmas cards often depict 3 wise men coming to Bethlehem to seek the child born who was to be Governor and rule God’s people Israel. However, surprising as it may be to some, the Bible never tells the number of wise men who went searching for the child. Perhaps it was the 3 gifts (which the Bible DOES mention—gold, frankincense, and myrrh) the wise men offered that lead some to believe it was also 3 wise men. Regardless of how many wise men came from the east, it was perhaps the 3 gifts themselves that were significant and symbolized some pretty profound and prophetic things. Here’s a poem I found, liked, and thought I’d share. It’s short, but you have to read it “with attention,” I feel, to understand its meaning. See what you think. Hope to hear your comments.

Gold and frankincense and myrrh,
Lord, they brought to Thee;
And myrrh was death, and incense prayer,
And gold was victory.
But first is last, as last was first;
The myrrh they gave Thee in Thy thirst
Upon the tree.

And through the solemn centuries
The prayers of saints have risen
From hearth and chancel, crypt and tomb,
From pyre, and from prison.

My niece, Jennifer (who incidentally just turned 16 and had her first behind-the-wheel driving lesson the other day) INSISTED that I FINALLY do another post. I’d planned to do a Thanksgiving post (which I did in Entry #37 before this one), but this post is in dedication to Jen. Hope she will get a laugh at the end, though she may have seen this before:

Dear God

So far today I have done all right.
I haven’t gossiped.
I haven’t lost my temper.
I haven’t been greedy, grumpy,
nasty, selfish or overindulgent.

I am very thankful for that!

But in a few minutes, Lord,
I am going to get out of this bed,
And from then on,
I’m probably going to need a lot more help.

Here’s something I came across by an unknown author. It’s what I call a special THANKSGIVING alphabet. See what you think: 

Christian Thanksgiving Alphabet

A lthough things are not perfect
B ecause of trial or pain
C ontinue in Thanksgiving
D o not begin to blame
E ven when the times are hard
F ierce winds are bound to blow
G od is forever able
H old on to what you know
I magine life without His love
J oy would cease to be
K eep thanking Him for all the things
L ove imparts to thee
M ove out of “Camp Complaining”
N o weapon that is known
O n earth can yield power
P raise can do alone
Q uit looking at the future
R edeem the time at hand
S tart every day with worship
T o thank is a command
U ntil we see him coming
V ictorious in the sky
W e’ll run the race with gratitude
X alting God’s Most High
Y es, there will be good times, and yes some will be bad, but…
Z ion waits in glory…where none are ever sad.

Author Unknown