Poetry Saturday—Through

Annie Johnson Flint“When you pass through the waters”
   Deep the waves may be and cold,
But Jehovah is our refuge,
   And His promise is our hold;
For the Lord Himself has said it,
   He, the faithful God and true:
“When you come to the waters
   You will not go down, but it THROUGH.”

Seas of sorrows, Seas of trial,
   Bitter anguish, fiercest pain,
Rolling surges of temptation
   Sweeping over heart and brain—
They will never overflow us
   For we know His Word is true;
All His waves and all His billows
   He will lead us safely THROUGH.

Threatening breakers of destruction,
   Doubt’s insidious undertow,
Will not sink us, will not drag us
   Out to ocean depths of woe;
For His promise will sustain us,
   Praise the Lord, whose Word is true!
We will not go down, or under,
   For He says, “You will pass THROUGH.” —Annie Johnson Flint

Poetry Saturday—On A Theme From Nicholas Of Cusa

C.S. Lewis at his deskWhen soul and body feed, one sees
Their differing physiologies.
Firmness of apple, fluted shape
Of celery, or tight-skinned grape
I grind and mangle when I eat,
Then in dark, salt, internal heat,
Annihilate their natures by
The very act that makes them I.

But when the soul partakes of good
Or truth, which are her savoury food,
By some far subtler chemistry
It is not they that change, but she,
Who feels them enter with the state
Of conquerors her opened gate,
Or, mirror-like, digests their ray
By turning luminous as they. —C.S. Lewis

Poetry Saturday—The Friends Beside Us

Oswald ChambersWhen the powers of hell prevail
   O’er our weakness and unfitness,
Could we lift the fleshly veil,
   Could we for a moment witness
      Those unnumbered hosts that stand
      Calm and bright on either hand—
Oh! what joyful hope would cheer!
   Oh! what faith serene would guide us!
Great may be the danger near,
   Greater are the friends beside us. —Anonymous, quoted by Oswald Chambers in Not Knowing Where

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him Who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. —Hebrews 12:1-3

Poetry Saturday—He Leads Us On

Count Nicolaus Ludwig von ZinzendorfHe leads us on by paths we did not know;
Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow,
Though oft we faint and falter on the way,
Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day;
Yet when the clouds are gone,
We know He leads us on.

He leads us on through all the unquiet years;
Past all our dreamland hopes, and doubts and fears,
He guides our steps, through all the tangled maze
Of losses, sorrows, and o‘er clouded days;
We know His will is done;
And still He leads us on. —Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf

Poetry Saturday—Preventing Mercies

IMG_4992The sorrows, that to us seem so perplexing,
   Are mercies kindly sent
To guard our wayward souls from sadder vexing,
   And greater ills prevent.

To save us from the pit, no screen of roses
   Would serve for our defense,
The hindrance that completely interposes
   Stings back like thorny fence.

At first when smarting from the shock, complaining
   Of wounds that freely bleed,
God’s hedges of severity us paining
   May seem severe indeed.

But afterwards, God’s blessed springtime cometh,
   And bitter murmurs cease;
The sharp severity that pierced us bloometh,
   And yields the fruits of peace. —Hugh Macmillan

Poetry Saturday—Truth

William CowperOh how unlike the complex works of man,
Heaven’s easy, heartless, unencumbered plan!
No meretricious graces to beguile,
No clustering ornaments to clog the pile,
From ostentation, as from weakness, free,
It stands, like the cerulean arch we see,
Majestic in its own simplicity.
Inscribed above the portal, from afar
Conspicuous as the brightness of a star,
Legible only by the light they give,
Stand the soul-quickening words—BELIEVE AND LIVE. —William Cowper

2 Poems + 1 Quote On Jesus From David Jeremiah

On This Holy NightOn This Holy Night is a great pre-Christmas read, to help you focus your thoughts for your celebration of the First Advent. I’ve been sharing some of the quotes from this book. David Jeremiah wrote a chapter entitled “Thou Shalt Call His Name Jesus.” Here’s a quote from Pastor Jeremiah, and two poems he shared.

“Did you know that in the Gospels, God’s Son is called by the name Jesus over 500 times? In fact, the word Jesus appears throughout the New Testament 909 times. You get the impression that it’s the favorite and most endearing term for our Lord. Of all of the names and of all the titles that are given to Christ, the one most beloved by His followers is that simple name, Jesus.”

Jesus, the name high over all.
In hell, on earth and sky.
Angels and man before it fall;
And devils fear and fly.
Jesus, oh the magic
Of the soft love sound.
How it thrills and trembles
To creation’s bound. —Anonymous

There is majesty in the name of God.
There is personality in the name Jehovah.
There is power in the name Lord.
There is unction in the name Christ.
There is affinity in the name Immanuel.
There is intercession in the name Mediator.
There is help in the name Advocate.
But there is salvation none other,
None under heaven given among men,
Apart from the name Jesus.
An Alexander may build an empire.
A Napoleon make change the nations of the world.
A Newton may bring about an intellectual revolution.
An Edison may create a new world for science.
A Wyatt may usher in a new era of industry.
There is only One who can touch and transform the human heart.
And that One is Jesus. —Anonymous

I’ve also shared quotes from this book from John Maxwell, Bill Hybels, and Max Lucado. And you can read my review of On This Holy Night here.

Poetry Saturday—Two Things Stand

Adam Lindsay GordonQuestion not, but live and labour
   Till yon goal be won,
Helping every feeble neighbor,
   Seeking help from none;
Life is mostly froth and bubble;
   Two things stand like stone:
Kindness in another’s trouble
   Courage in our own. —Adam Lindsay Gordon

Poetry Saturday—Multiply

DSC_0091One man awake, awakens another.
The second awakens his next-door brother.
The three awake can arouse a town
By turning the whole place upside down.
The many awake can cause such a fuss
It finally awakens the rest of us.
One man up with dawn in his eyes
Surely then multiplies. —Lawrence Tribble

Poetry Saturday— A Grammarian’s Funeral

Robert BrowningThat low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it:
This high man, with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,
His hundred’s soon hit:
This high man, aiming at a million,
Misses an unit.
That, has the world here—should he need the next
Let the world mind him!
This, throws himself on God, and unperplexed,
Seeking shall find Him. —Robert Browning