Daily Archives: August 15, 2011

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Poetry, Proven Path Ministries, Uncategorized

How Long, How Wide, How Deep, How High

I wrote this poem of praise after I studied through the book of Ephesians… praise Him with me 🙂

Grant me O God, according to the riches of Your glory, to be strengthened in my inner man
Strengthen me with power, with the power of Your Spirit, so that in Your grace I might firmly stand
O my Savior, my glorious Christ, come dwell freely in my heart,
Come in and have Your way in every hidden part
Through faith You have Your entrance
And through faith
The love with which you captured me may be grounded and take root
O that I might know the wonders of Your love,
How long, how wide, how deep, how high
Are the riches of Your mercy and the kindness of Your will
O that I might understand the vastness of Your grace,
How long, how wide, how deep, how high,
And that with all Your fullness my Creator God my self You would fill
For I know there is no limit to the power that You hold
I cannot even fathom the glory of Your greatness that is of yet untold
You have given me Your Spirit,
How deep, how low He had to come
He resides, how long, within this decaying flesh
In order that I more like Christ might become
How could I not declare Your glory
How could I not sing loud Your praise
How could I not fall down in worship
How could I not be humbled by Your grace
My Jesus, I am Your prisoner, I am Your willing slave
Oh that I might walk in a manner worthy of all that you have gave,
How wide, Your arms outstretched in order me to save
You called me out of darkness and snatched me from the fire
I was dead in my trespasses, living according to my flesh,
Held in chains by the evil one, the power of the air
Yet You in Your rich mercy lavished me with grace
You made known to me the Gospel, the power of salvation to all who would believe
You called to me,
You saved me,
And now alive I am,
And now how high, I am seated in my Jesus, forever with Thee I’ll be.

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries, Uncategorized

>One True World Champion

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This is the first poem I wrote as I was studying through the book of Isaiah. I wrote this one after I had studied through the first 25 chapters… hope you enjoy 🙂 

Oh Father, You are in heaven and You are on the throne!
You are sovereign and all authority is Yours alone.
I submit to You.
I bow before You and acknowledge my allegiance to Your crown.
I bow down and pay homage and glorify Your name of renown.
You are holy in Your everything,
Righteousness surrounds You within and without.
Justice proceeds and truth is seen and it brings all men of the earth to their knees.
The rebellious hosts of heaven will glorify You at Your feet,
As they lay as a footstool in their ultimate defeat.
The kings of the earth who rose against Your name
Will cry out from Sheol and writhe in eternal shame.
For holy, holy, holy is the LORD GOD Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
The whole earth is filled with Your glory
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory,
Forever and ever!
You lift up Your voice and the thunders call.
You speak but a whisper and the torrential waters fall.
You wave Your hand and the earth begins to quake,
Yet with gentleness beyond comprehension in my womb life You create.
My God You are awesome in might and in strength.
You are pure in Your thoughts and just in Your ways.
Wickedness You have endured with much patience for mercy’s sake.
In Your love You pour out grace upon grace that mankind might be saved.
We are Your vessels of mercy for in Your image we alone did You make.
You desire that none of us would perish but all to the name of Christ give praise!
Repent! Repent! Your messengers call.
Come out! Come out, from behind the world’s wall!
Come to the One who has given His all.
Come to Zion, receive hope and life at the cross.
Come! Come now, while the Light leads the way.
Come to the mountain that stands on grace.
Rebellion occurred in the heavens on high
And the enemy was thrown down and his anger did rise.
His desire is to destroy and divide in his hate.
For he knows at Sheol his final destiny awaits
Yet those who are going down rarely want to go alone
So he speaks lies out of his mouth and promises mankind a throne
Follow me he says and the things of this world I will lay at your feet.
I’ll give fame, land, and fortune, and at your name people will scream.
He’ll even dress himself up and appear as an angel of light
But what the mouth speaks…shhhh, pay attention, here truth one can find.
For out of the mouth the heart does speak and this no man or host of heaven can hide
There is only One who is worthy, only One who speaks and whose heart His lips do not contradict.
The LORD has spoken from the foundations of the earth,
The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, the Male Child, to whom the woman has given birth
In the beginning was God and in the end will be God
He will stand as King and He will rule with a righteous rod.
The peace that life cries out for, that every soul longs for, is alone found in Him.
For He restores what was stolen and He heals us from all sin.
He opens our eyes to reveal what flesh cannot see.
Now in this state of enlightenment, He beckons, come to Me!
Run my dear friend, Run to His arms!
Run to your Champion for the veil has been torn.
The chasm that separated holiness from sin,
Has now been bridged by the love of our King.
His kingdom has been established and is growing in His name
One day this whole earth He will openly claim.
One day those that have chose upon His promised reign to wait
Will declare to all and point to our LORD and say See! Oh you see!
Behold our God who said He would save us! See behold His face!
Glory to God, glory to God, on You alone I wait.
And until that day my God I give You all my praise.
Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries, Uncategorized

>Beatitudes For Every Woman

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>My family spent this weekend having a yard sale.
I do not like yard sales.
I like going to other people’s yard sales, but not having my own. I always have this looming dread in the back of my head that I am going to waste all this time and energy packing and pricing and arranging and end up just sitting out in the hot Alabama sun for nothing.
Then I still have to do something with all the things that do not sale.
My husband tried to encourage me… to no avail.
So Thursday morning through Saturday afternoon we sat out in our driveway praying that someone would see our excess and make it their treasure.

While I was walking around the tables and re-arranging things, the way my mother-in-law showed me how to do to encourage the sales, the wind blew open one of the cookbooks that we had on a table.

I looked down on the table to close the cover and read God’s recipe for salvation. So I thought hmmm maybe I’ll flip through this one.

I never randomly flip through a cookbook. I had rather look and see what we have in the kitchen and then go to google and search a recipe for whatever item I have found. My husband is the one who looks to see what’s in the cookbook and then goes to the store to search out the items for the recipe he has found.

This particular cookbook was from around 1987 and was put together by a Christian’s women group in Tennessee, L.i.f.t., Ladies In Fellowship Together. I thought the acronym was quite good so I carried the cookbook with me to my shade chasing chair.

As I turned through the pages I came across a page titled Beatitudes For Homemakers. Before I share these “beatitudes” I think it’s pretty important to point out that the term homemaker has been possibly misused a little. I say that because I believe that every wife, every mother- whether they are a “housewife”, a “stay-at-home mom” or a “career woman” or a “working mom”, are all still the home makers. So really this should just be Beatitudes For Every Woman.

Now before I typed all these out I considered conveniently leaving out the one’s I’m not so good at… and well I just went ahead and put them all in… 🙂

Beatitudes For Homemakers
Blessed is she whose daily tasks are a work of love; for her willing hands and happy heart transform duty into joyous service to all her family and God.
Blessed is she who opens the door to welcome both stranger and well-loved friend; for gracious hospitality is a test of brotherly love.
Blessed is she who mends stockings and toys and broken hearts; for her understanding is a balm to her husband and children.
Blessed is she who scours and scrubs; for well she knows that cleanliness is one expression of godliness.
Blessed is she whom children love; for the love of a child is of greater value than fortune or fame.
Blessed is she who sings at her work; for music lightens the heaviest load and brightens the dullest chore.
Blessed is she who dusts away doubt and fear and sweeps out the cobwebs of confusion; for her faith will triumph over all adversity.
Blessed is she who serves laughter and smiles with every meal; for her cheerfulness is an aid to mental and physical digestion.
Blessed is she who introduces Jesus Christ to her children; for godly sons and daughters shall be her reward.
Blessed is she who preserves the sacredness of the Christian home; for hers is a divine trust that crowns her with dignity.
“Who can find a virtuous woman?
For her price is far above rubies.”
Proverbs 31:10