Flame Of God (Poem © by Amy Carmichael)

Flame Of God (Poem © by Amy Carmichael)

 

From prayer that asks that I may be

Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,

From fearing when I should aspire,

From faltering when I should climb higher

From silken self, O Captain, free

Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

 

 

From subtle love of softening things,

From easy choices, weakening,

(Not thus are spirits fortified,

Not this way went the Crucified)

From all that dims Thy Calvary

O Lamb of God, deliver me.

 

 

Give me the love that leads the way,

The faith that nothing can dismay

The hope no disappointments tire,

The passion that will burn like fire;

Let me not sink to be a clod;

Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God 

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My Prayer (Poem © By Amy Carmichael)

My Prayer © By Amy Carmichael

 

And shall I pray Thee change Thy will my Father,

Until it be according unto mine?

But no, Lord, no, that shall never be, rather

I pray Thee blend my human will with Thine.

 

 

I pray Thee hush the hurrying eager longing

I pray Thee soothe the pangs of keen desire.

See in my quiet places wishes thronging,

Forbid them, Lord, purge, though it be with fire.

 

 

And work in me to will and do Thy pleasure.

Let all within me, peaceful, reconciled,

Tarry content my Well beloved’s leisure,

At last, at last, even as a weaned child.

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Bonhoeffer’s last poem, “Who Am I?”

One of Bonhoeffer’s last poem,  “Who Am I?”  deserves another hearing:

 

Who am I? They often tell me

I would step from my cell’s confinement

Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,

Like a squire from his country-house.

 

Who am I? They often tell me

I would talk to my warders

freely and friendly and clearly,

as though it were mine to command.

 

Who am I? They also tell me

I would bear the days of misfortune

Equably, smilingly, proudly,

Like one accustomed to win.

 

Am I then really all that which men tell of?

Or am I only what I know of myself,

Restless and longing and sick like a bird in a cage,

Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,

 

Yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds,

Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,

Trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation,

Tossing in expectation of great events,

Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,

Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making

Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

 

Who am I? This or the other?

Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?

Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,

And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?

Or is something within me still like a beaten army,

Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

 

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.

Whoever I am, thou knowest, O God, I am thine.

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The Treasure of Time (©by Martha Kilpatrick)

The Treasure of Time 

from Adoration – Mary of Bethany – The untold story 

by Martha Kilpatrick

 

Time is the treasure of life. Time IS life. 

Time is the willing sacrifice that you offer up to 

the worship of what you love. 

Don’t tell me what you love. Tell me where you spend your 

TIME and I’ll tell YOU what you love.

 

The dispensing of time, the investment of time 

is the exposure of what you truly love. 

You give your time to your cherished treasure. You do.

 

Frenzy says that there is no time left for God. 

Hurry cannot live the life of Mary.

 

Haste insults HIM. It says there are 

other important, more urgent activities than being with 

the Lord of the Universe.

 

It takes giving the costly gift of time to find Him, 

to hear His heart, 

to gain the wisdom of where to spend your 

riches of time.

 

Many give their lives to Him, 

who do not give their time.

 

To the frantic, Mary’s life was a waste. 

The waste of time and energy on Jesus.

 

To the busy, time is always critically short. 

There is not enough time for the ambitious…and the worried. 

Their many works are more than their shoulders can 

carry, more than their hours can cover.

 

They are like Martha, always behind and 

even in self pity because of it.

 

Their efforts are their own. 

Jesus did not call for them 

and cannot be blamed when the efforts 

do not succeed or give fulfillment.

 

Time is the shining jewel Satan steals. 

We do not understand its value as much as he does. 

If he can get your time, he has… you… without God. 

Your time is your life. 

So by noble demands and foolish distractions, 

he ekes away the minutes of your eternity.

 

There is all out war for your time, 

a relentless and clever scheme to fill 

your days with what is not God – 

what is not for Him or even about Him.

 

Martha was the unwitting instrument of that fiendish enemy 

to call foolish and irresponsible in Mary what was really… 

God’s highest and best.

 

Thus it always will be. 

There is a fight to be a Mary. 

And it takes a strong-hearted resistance 

to defend the preciousness of your own time.

 

To lose your time is to lose your destiny. 

To squander time is to waste your only wealth.

 

There is abundant time for your assignment… 

for God’s authentic will.

 

Plenty of time to listen and ample time to accomplish. 

God set the earth on the axis of Time 

and when He rules it, 

it is – like all His gifts – an extravagant supply.

 

God requires in this day, the offering of time. 

Give time to God and you become rich in Him. 

For to give time is to give your self 

and He gives HIMSELF in return.

 

God is ever real about time and humanity’s limited span. 

So whatever is given to Him is multiplied by the mystery of 

His transcendence over Time and Space. 

Time given to Him is returned enlarged, expanded by a 

multiplication that cannot be comprehended.

 

Mary lavished time on Him… 

because she deemed Him worth it. 

Martha had no time for Him, only a period to work 

for Him, a labor He 

rejected as a real… waste of time.

 

To Martha, Jesus was not worthy of her focused attention, 

and this He painfully knew by watching how 

she spent her… time.

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Wait – (Poem © by Russell Kelfer)

Wait

by Russell Kelfer

 

 

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried; 

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied. 

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . . 

And the Master so gently said, “Wait.” 

 

“Wait? you say wait?” my indignant reply. 

“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why! 

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? 

By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming your Word. 

 

“My future and all to which I relate 

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait? 

I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign, 

Or even a ‘no’ to which I can resign. 

 

“You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe, 

We need but to ask, and we shall receive. 

And Lord I’ve been asking, and this is my cry: 

I’m weary of asking! I need a reply.” 

 

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate, 

As my Master replied again, “Wait.” 

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut, 

And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting for what?” 

 

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . . 

and He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign. 

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun. 

I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run. 

 

“I could give all you seek and pleased you would be. 

You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me. 

You’d not know the depth of my love for each saint. 

You’d not know the power that I give to the faint. 

 

“You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair; 

You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there. 

You’d not know the joy of resting in Me 

When darkness and silence are all you can see. 

 

“You’d never experience the fullness of love 

When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove. 

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start, 

But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart. 

 

“The glow of my comfort late into the night, 

The faith that I give when you walk without sight. 

The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask 

From an infinite God who makes what you have last. 

 

“You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee, 

What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee. 

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true, 

But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I’m doing in you. 

 

“So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see 

That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me. 

And though oft My answers seem terribly late, 

My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait.”

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Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be … (©Frances Havergal)

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee.
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training for holier work above.
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in Heaven, another year for Thee.

— Frances Havergal (1874)

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In Acceptance Lieth Peace (©Hannah Hurnard)

In Acceptance Lieth Peace

Hannah Hurnard

In acceptance lieth peace,
O my heart be still;
Let thy restless worries cease
And accept His will.
Though this test be not thy choice,
It is His—therefore rejoice.

In His plan there cannot be
Aught to make thee sad:
If this is His choice for thee,
Take it and be glad.
Make from it some lovely thing
To the glory of thy King.

Cease from sighs and murmuring,
Sing His loving grace,
This thing means thy furthering
To a wealthy place.
From thy fears He’ll give release,
In acceptance lieth peace.

 

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In Acceptance Lieth Peace (©Amy Carmichael)

In Acceptance Lieth Peace ~Amy Carmichael

He said, ‘I will forget the dying faces;
The empty places,
They shall be filled again.
O voices moaning deep within me, cease.’
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in forgetting lieth peace.

He said, ‘I will crowd action upon action,
The strife of faction
Shall stir me and sustain;
O tears that drown the fire of manhood cease.’
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in endeavour lieth peace.

He said, ‘I will withdraw me and be quiet,
Why meddle in life’s riot?
Shut be my door to pain.
Desire, thou dost befool me, thou shalt cease.’
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in aloofness lieth peace.

He said, ‘I will submit; I am defeated.
God hath depleted
My life of its rich gain.
O futile murmurings, why will ye not cease?’
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in submission lieth peace.

He said, ‘I will accept the breaking sorrow
Which God tomorrow
Will to His son explain.’
Then did the turmoil deep within me cease.
Not vain the word, not vain;
For in Acceptance lieth peace.

 

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Do it immediately; Do it with prayer; … (an old Saxon poem)

 

Do it immediately;
Do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly,
casting all care;
Do it with reverence,
Tracing His Hand,
Who placed it before thee with
Earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence,
Safe ‘neath His wing,
Leave all resultings,
DO THE NEXT THING.

(an old Saxon poem)

 

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The WORD – [Isaac Wimberley]

The Word – © by Isaac Wimberley

If there are words for Him then I don’t have them

You see my brain has not yet reached a point
Where it could form a thought
That could adequately describe the greatness of my God

And my lungs have not yet developed the ability
To release a breath with enough agility
To breathe out the greatness of His love

And my voice, my voice is so inhibited
Restrained by human limits
That it’s hard to even send a praise up

If there are words for Him then I don’t have them

My God

His grace is remarkable
Mercies are innumerable
Strength is impenetrable

He is honorable, accountable, and favorable
Unsearchable yet knowable
Indefinable yet approachable
Indescribable yet personal

He is beyond comprehension
Further than imagination
Constant through generations
King of every nation

But
If there are words for Him then I don’t have them

You see my words are few
And to try and capture the one TRUE God
Using my vocabulary will never do

But I use my words as an expression
An expression of worship to a Savior
A Savior who is both worthy and deserving of my praise

So I use words

My heart extols the Lord
Blesses His name forever
He has won my heart, captured my mind
And has bound them both together

He has defeated me in my rebellion
Conquered me in my sin
He has welcomed me into His presence
Completely invited me in

He has made Himself the object of my sight
Flooding me with mercies in the morning
Drowning me with grace in the night

But
If there are words for Him then I don’t have them

But what I do have…Is Good News
For my God knew that man-made words would never do
For words are just tools that we use
To point to the Truth
So He sent his son Jesus Christ as THE WORD
Living proof

He is the image of the invisible God
The firstborn of all creation
For by Him all things were created
Giving nothingness formation

And by His word He sustains, in the power of His name
For He is before all things and over all things He reigns
HOLY IS HIS NAME!!

Praise Him for His life
The way He persevered in strife
The humble Son of God becoming the perfect sacrifice

Praise Him for His death
That He willingly stood in our place
That He lovingly endured the grave
That He battled our enemy
And on the third day rose in victory

Praise Him because He rose!!
Hallelujah He rose!!
He is everything that was promised

Praise Him as the risen King
Lift your voice and sing
For one day He will return for us and we will finally be
United with our Savior for eternity

So it’s not just words that I proclaim
For my words point to the WORD
And the WORD has a name
Hope has a name
Joy as a name
Peace has a name
Love has a name
And that name is Jesus Christ
Praise His name FOREVER!

 

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