Chosen

A creature you are that slithers and writhes.
Don't turn away and think otherwise.
For when suddenly you turn to the echo of your voice
and see the mist your labor has formed,
when the lyrics you've prattled and the song you've danced
is the symphony of madness that has led your trance,
when the cheering crowd is the jeering of hell
and the roar of your strength is the mush of decay,
when the mirror reflects the dark shadow you cast,
and your mind is a chamber that holds you fast,
then is the day for your rejoicing!
For He has paralleled His holy gulf and His infinite grace
to the bottomless cavern of your sin and the vastness of your evilness.
And like a whirlwind with unknown speed
He'll show His might and salvation you need.
For there is only one remedy for you
only one Savior who can rescue evil hearts.
By His hand He'll rescue you, old man
from evil work done by your own hand.
But do not think He rescues once
'tis a lifetime of rescues He performs for you.
For you would surely fall from His care
if life were left in your small hand to bear.
So come to His light to His purifying blood
that cleanses daily your undoing.
Be washed from your sin and receive your healing
that you may be a vessel for His glory to be revealing.

sarah jones

A Slice of Grace For the Laodicean Race

Revelation 3:15-18

There was a beggar who thought himself so grand,
so wealthy, so happy in all of the land.
From morning till dust he'd borrow and trade
for handfuls of pleasure that always would fade.
He prized his treasures which he horded away
and knew not his folly that all would decay.
His person, his looks he stated so fair
but never bothered to look and take care.
For he was wretched, miserable, and blind,
poor and naked with no Savior to find.
But, at last, without merit of his own
the Savior, Jesus, took out his heart of stone.
He's been redeemed, clothed, and given gold
and a Savior that always keeps him ahold.

sarah jones

A Military Christmas Salute

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “It’s really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separate you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘Pearl on a day in December.”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘Nam”,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue…An American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fight,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

Author unknown