Forever with the Lord

 Forever with the Lord!

Amen; so let it be,

Life from the dead is in that word,

'Tis immortality.

Here in the body pent,

Absent from Him I roam,

Yet nightly pitch my moving tent

A day's march nearer home.

My Father's house on high,

Home of my soul, so near,

At times, to faith's far-seeing eye

Thy golden gates appear!

Yet clouds will intervene,

And all my prospect flies,

Like Noah's dove, I flit between

Rough seas and stormy skies.

And the clouds depart,

The winds and waters cease,

While sweetly o'er my gladdend heart

Expands the bow of peace.

In darkness as in light,

Hidden alike from view,

I sleep, I wake, as in His sight,

Who looks all nature through.

Forever with the Lord!

Father, if 'tis Thy will,

The promise of that faithful word

Even here to me fulfil.

Be Thou at my right hand,

Then can I never fail,

Uphold Thou me, and I shall stand,

Fight, and I must prevail.

Knowing as I am known,

How shall I love that word!

And oft repeat before the throne,

Forever with the Lord!

Forever with the Lord!

Amen; so let it be,

Life from the dead is in that word,

'Tis immortality.

—Octavius Winslow

Loneliness

John on the isle of Patmos

Paul in a prison cell

Hannah in her barrenness

Jeremiah in the well

All saints have stung of loneliness

The depths, to others, unknown

Save the Savior by Father forsaken

For the sake of redeeming His own

—Vicki Baird

From Nowhere to Glory

 On a road bound to nowhere

with pain carried in my heart,

A journey where I compare

and I finish where I start.

On a road bound for anguish

with pride always to the fore,

A journey where I languish

and hope hurries for the door…

On a road bound for glory

with my Jesus there to guide,

A journey of our story

and how shame and grace collide.

On a road filled with meaning

with His Spirit within me,

A journey of His leaning

and where He's, my guarantee

by Dave Mudford © 2024

A Stubborn Lot

Can a penny buy a morsel of some dried unleavened bread?

Can a nickel have some meaning to apologies unsaid?

Can a dime hide a confession that we want to keep inside?

Can a quarter take the place of the regrets when we have lied?

Can a dollar buy a drop of love from someone we have pained?

Can a ten buy us full freedom, though it's we ourselves we've chained?

Can a hundred cover up our sins so we can't be enslaved?

Can a Million pay for all our sins so that we can then be saved?

Can a Billion buy a sliver from the cross where Jesus died?

Can a Trillion buy a seat in Heav'n so we can't be denied?

ALL the money in the world can't buy one SPECK of space

in Heaven where the God of Love bestows sufficient grace.

It's loving dedication and full faithfulness we owe.

Our money is so worthless - yet we idolize it so.

We are a spoiled people in our air conditioned cars.

We're over-entertained by our most fav'rite superstars.

We are a prideful people and we're such a stubborn lot -

but owe to Jesus EVERYTHING and EVERYTHING we've got.

by louis gander © 2022

http://www.ganderpoems.org