John 3.36
If all the "shalls" in Scripture meant "perhaps,"
And all the "haths" meant simply "hope to have,"
And all the "ares" depended on an "if,"
I well might doubt.
But since our Saviour-God means what He says,
I trust His faithful Word and know that I
Shall surely dwell throughout eternity
With Him whose love led Him for me to die.
"The course of this world." (Ephesians 2:2)
Mark yon broad and rapid stream!
Brilliant though its surface seem,
Mingling in its depths below
Poisonous currents surely flow.
Christian parent, pause to think
On that treacherous river's brink,
Ere you launch your tiny bark
On those waters deep and dark.
Yours the path of Jesus here;
Seek it for your children dear.
Though you cannot life impart,
Cannot bow the stubborn heart,
Do not help to weave a chain
You would gladly break again.
Shall not He Who for you died
Food and raiment still provide?
He who has your children given,
He can bless for earth and heaven.
Seek then first His holy will,
Seek His pleasure to fulfil,
Constant still in faith and prayer
That this blessing they may share.
And when by the Spirit's power
Comes the gladly welcomed hour,
When the lips you love so well
Of a Saviour's grace shall tell,
They will have no cause to say
That you turned their feet astray;
Rather, from their earliest youth
Taught and nurtured in the truth,
May their light unhindered shine,
To the praise of grace divine.
We gather in Thy Name
To celebrate Thy love,
And here to ponder once again
What drew Thee from above.
O thought confounding grace,
What will not love devise?
For Adam's lost and helpless race
The Lord of Glory dies.
How can we praise the Lord
Or reach this note in song?
The Spirit only strikes the chord
And leads the praise along.
Yet higher still we rise
To worship and adore,
For silent in the tomb He lies
To suffer nevermore.
And forth the Victor comes
With triumphs on His brow,
The highest note our ransomed tongues
Can reach, is sounding now.
Exalted to the height
Of resurrection fame,
His love is all our souls delight
Who gather in His name.
1 Peter 3:12
Duties, burdens, worries, troubles:
They may come to me all day;
How can I prepare to meet them,
How, I ask, except to pray?
When I plan fresh undertakings,
Then this warning seems to say,
"Don't in your own strength begin it;
First of all, about it pray."