WHAT IS YOUR DESIRE? Contract OR Covenant?

I was offered "The Life!"
I could have Anything!
I could do Everything!
I could be Somebody's Something!

I was Offered A Contract!
If I Did ...
Then He Would Do ... !
He promised he would Show Me A Good Time
With many of those things froufrou!

I was Disappointed!
I did not want to have Fun!
I wanted The Commitment!
I wanted Permanency even through The Strife and
Satan's Bedevilment!

I wanted The Covenant!
No Running Away!
No Possibility ever of
One of Us Walking Away!

I Turned and I ...
Resolutely ...
I Turned and I Walked - Not Quite Sadly - Away.

THEN I MET ... HIM!

He Offered Me The Covenant!
He Offered Me HIS Life!
I will be His Forever but ...
My Life Will be Filled With Strife!

I will have to Endure Many Things!
I will have to Ignore Everything!
I must Believe that Despite Uncertainties that
The Good Life is at The End Of The Way of Suffering!

I Looked in His Eyes - a Burning Flame
His Heart is Plainly Revealed - Body Riven and Hole Pierced!
I Blessed The Almighty and
Our Covenant is Sealed - being with Him gives Me No Disgrace!

My Uncertainties Point To The Promise
The Promise Points to The Holy Way
The Holy Way is Certain - Laid Out
And I'm Walking with Him Day By Day!

When I'm Down He Lifts Me Up!
When I'm Happy I Sing To Him - and I Pray!
And all the while - No Matter The Matter
He Speaks To Me and there is No Smell of Truth Decay!

I Met Him and We Married!
I walk with Him - He cannot Stray
And I know when This Life is Over
In New Life We'll be Together
For Ever, and Ever More
On That Wholly Holy Peaceful Blessed Shore!

The Devil Can Keep His Contract!

Jesus Christ Has Got My Back!

The Covenant In Blood

Is My Security 

and

Jesus Christ Will Prosper Me

No Matter How Satan Attacks!

No Jostling Crowd Around Him!

The Noise was Deafening
The Atmosphere Carnival
The Barkers were Dedicatedly Offering 
To Any and All 
The World's Myriad Joys and Toys!




I had Visited The Carnival on many an occasion
I always had Money with which to Pay Play
But for Some Reason on This Occasion
I Wondered, at The Entrance Exit
What Would I Get Gain on This Foray?

I Wandered Around for a short short while for
Direction Seemed To Matter Today

And then ...

Then ... I saw HIM
And My Heart Went After Him in a Big Way!

He had no Stall!
He had no Barker!
He stood Tall!
He had Kindly Eyes!
He Spoke with Intensity and Passion
And not a word He spoke said: "Lie!"

There was no Jostling Crowd around Him!
No Music!
No Madness!
No Burly Men
To Restrain those who got too Rambunctious!

There was Quiet and Peace
... for those Listening!

He used words like:
Rest and Relief
Grace and Mercy
Calling Everyone to from Sin Cease, and
Offering, yes, Peace, Joy, Rest and Comfort to The Riven Soul
And I Felt My Body Grow Warm Hot Cold!

I Knew Him - this ... Man!
I Recognized Him
In My Heart - The Blessed Son of Man!
I'd Found what I Unconsciously Sought and
My Wanderers Tickets To Fun needed no longer to be Bought!

I Talked to Him!

He said:

 "Come."

I Listened to Him!

He said:

"You Need No More To Run 

for

I Offer You Life, Liberty 

and

Freedom for Your Soul!

Take Up Your Cross!

Fit Your Yoke!

Bear Your Burden

and

I Will You hold!

Walk The Straight Path

and

At The End 

I Will Return To Carry You 

to 

The Eternal Home!"

This Meeting Felt Right!
I had The Kingdom in My Sight!
I had a Task, and
A Road to Follow, and
A Home to Achieve!

I Gave The World My Back!
I Did Will Not Look Back - Not in My Heart
And Not Physically!
And I Removed The World Off My Sleeve
As The Love of  Him Who Is The Master
I Humbly Gratefully Received!

For Me, The Carnival Is Over!
My Disgrace Is Permanently Displaced!
My Home In Heaven Is Paid-Booked, for
The Hand of The Savior - By His Blessing - I Took!

PRAYER: My Spirit Is Troubled ...

Father, 

I need You 

Right now, this very minute!

My Spirit is troubled within me and

I need Your Rest!

Lord, where is my portion of Your Peace?

I try my best to do Right

I try my best to live Right

And yet, everywhere, everything is as Night!

Have Mercy, and Bless

In Jesus' Holy Name I plead, Lord

AMEN.

Beloved, My Beloved

Look at Me!

Look to Me.

I AM Your Peace.

I AM Your Rest.

Give Me your burden - lay it down

And walk away for

I AM here!

I will take care

Let Me the burden bear -

All - Not a share!

I will not let you fall for

I AM in All

Until The Day of The New Beginning

When I will disclose All.

Take Heart!

Trust Me!

 Raise your Eyes in Hope!

and

Lift your Heart toward Heaven!

I AM Here for You ... Forever.

Trust Me - I AM The Way, and

I make A Way ... for You.

Come unto Me, My Child and Rest Easy

for 

I give unto you The Blessed Assurance

Of A Home with Me in Glory.

I AM The King of Salem

and 

I Give You ... PEACE.

Lessons Taught by False Worshipers

When they saw the handsome singer

They raised their hands in praise

They bowed their heads in worship

Their eyes spilled copious tears!

Some fell over in convulsions

Some fainted dead away

We watched the recording in shock and horror

For it seemed that their god had appeared!

Shouts of love and adoration

Those personally touched were in ecstacy

And all around you could hear voices in the throng saying:

"Amazing! He looked directly at Me!!"

The Minister of The Gospel

The Preacher of The Holy Word

Charismatic

Voice Melifluous

Praise for him

On voices was heard:

"Oh, I do so love him!

"Isn't he amazing!?"

"This is like heaven!"

"I could listen to him every day!"

"Oh, to be near him thrills my heart no end!"

"Being in his presence makes me feel heavenly!"

"This day could not be more perfect!"

"I wish we could keep him for ever and a day!"

These unholy displays of affection

While wildly disturbing

Unexpectedly opened up my eyes

They caused me to think

Of Almighty God whom I worship

And made me wonder about my praise and worship bona fides!

I know for sure I don't run around in a frenzy at thoughts of Him

I don't hyperventilate when I pray

I don't sweat and cry when He speaks to my spirit

And I know that when He finally appears

There's not going to be anyone fainting dead away!

These Idol Worshipers' Worship is Committed!

My Holy God Worship is at times Ho Hum!

But their Forbidden Worship Gives me Insight into Evil

And how The Devil's Thread of Sin is made of Homespun!

Forbidden Worship shows Commitment and Devotion

Heart-felt Hard-core Positivity

They will not be swayed from their chosen pathway

For they serve their god completely unreservedly!

We may take a page from Wrong Worship (Lord Jesus have Mercy!)

Of course not the excesses that we often see 

But the fact that their faith cannot be shaken

And for them their homage is right and holy!

"All In" is their Singular Motto

They'll "Take a bullet!" for what they believe

They can, and do, defend the words of their master

And their faith you cannot make them suspend, or cede!

We worship The Holy God so let's take that Holy Worship and 

By The Indwelling Holy Spirit kick it up a grand notch

Let's Really Know and Speak of  Our God Intimately and

Let's Not The Declared Mission of Spreading Hope botch!

Let Us Stand Up 

and 

Be Counted 

as

We Righteously Show Our Devotion 

to 

The True and Living God!

*******

Let Us Do What is Good 

and 

Right!

*******

Let Us Stand Our Ground

and 

Be Brave in The Fight

For God Alone Saves 

When Comes The Dark Night!

GUEST POSTER: +Daryl Luedke - Abide, O Dearest Jesus!

This is the prayer that the Lord put on my heart to send you. 

It is a prayer-hymn that I learned in grade school many years ago! It was inspired by the Book of Luke, chapter 24 verse 29.

Abide, O dearest Jesus, among us with Thy grace 

That Satan may not harm us nor we to sin give place.

Abide, O dear Redeemer, among us with Thy Word 

And thus now and hereafter true peace and joy afford.

Abide with heavenly brightness among us, precious Light; 

Thy truth direct and keep us from error's gloomy night.

Abide with richest blessings among us, bounteous Lord; 

Let us in grace and wisdom grow daily through Thy Word.

Abide with Thy protection among us, Lord, our Strength, 

Lest world and Satan fell us and overcome at length.

Abide, O faithful Savior, among us with Thy love; 

Grant steadfastness and help us to reach our home above. 

Amen!

Thank you, Daryl, for a beautiful submission!

PRAYER: My Hallelujah Friend

Lord, 

Please help me to Endure until The End

Help me not to faint and The Journey Suspend

Help me to know in my Heart that on You I can Depend

Help me to Stand with You, Lord, my Hallelujah Friend!

AMEN

VESPERS AT THE END OF THE SABBATH: Profitable, Profitable, Unprofitable!

ProfitableUnprofitableProfitableProfitableUnprofitableUnprofitableUnprofitableProfitableProfitableUnprofitableProfitableUnprofitableProfitableProfitableUnprofitableUnprofitableUnprofitableProfitableProfitableUnprofitableProfitableUnprofitableProfitableProfitableUnprofitableUnprofitableUnprofitableProfitableUnprofitableProfitableUnprofitableProfitableUnp

My Master was a harsh man
I know he did not like me at all - I was afraid of him
He was going on a long journey
And he called us managers together and
Gave out Investment Packages
As each had "ability" to "chew":

He gave his Favorite One 5
He multiplied 5 by 2

He gave his Stoolie One 2
He multiplied 2 by 2

He gave me One! ONE!
I steupse ... and
I buried it and stepped on the spot with my shoe!

But ... I Am Getting Ahead of The Tale!

Well, de Master dun gone 'long 'bout 'e business!

Party Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!

After All ...

What could I do with a useless portfolio
Everybody knew that in that environment you had to have assets to survive
And Bossman giving me nay-nay investment
Ensured to him I would not thrive!

... Sooo, I "Helped" It Along!

I did didley squat!

And Here's Why:

Bossman was one of those you hear talked of all the time!
The ones who get gain ... but not by putting anything in
And they does pick up all kinds of profits
From where they had not been even investing in!

Why should I waste my valuable time
My beautiful, bountiful, gray matter
Working on what I couldn't foresee profit from?

Why should I even go to the profiteer bankers
And just get back a penny on a big-able pound?!

A Loooooooong Time Passed ...

When I Tell You Long, I's Mean Real Long!

No one was watching me, so
I did what I felt like!
I ran with The Howlies
And I played well into The Night
And on my last night returning what I did behold
Told me a story
Of life in The Hot Coals!

Well, I am now quite ashamed to tell you
Them others did real good for themselves
But that I had seen no point to expending my best effort
On something I knew could would not pay!

I Was Wrong!
Dead Wrong!
ETERNALLY WRONG!!

Well, when His High and Mightiness 
The Master  a/k/a Bossman 
Returned from his Journey
He started settling accounts
From highest to lowest, and
He saw wonderful investment growth!
Amazing Investment Growth ... from He Favorites!

I call them his Favorites because he had given them multiples of the best investments possible!
They were sure to succeed!

Riiigghht?!?

But Me ... Well!!

Of all people, HE called Me, ME, Lazy!
I worked hard at all kinds of programs
And projects and initiatives for him
Not that they were productive ... but I worked!

How 'bout some kinda credit, huh?!

Really!??!

Well, it was like ...
Aaahhhmmm ...
Alright, I kinda, sorta, maybe, probably, thought of and almost tried, and pretended to work ...

Well ...

He called Me Lazy!
He called Me Unfaithful!
And, to top it all off
He called his guards - them big scary ones from WingCo Corps
Who picked ME Up
By the scruff of my neck
And threw me out of the house, and off the premises - it was dark out there!

And Now ...?

And now I have to spend Big Time with
Wicked McGruff
Who tell me in the first place that The Bossman
Ain't had no Snuff!!

AND NOW, I CAN NEVER GO BACK
To T'Absolute Best Master 
I ever hadddd!!

... I can never darken His Door ever, ever, ever again ...

All those years ...
Gone ...
For nuffin' ...
Forever ...
sni .. sni ... sssSnnniiifff ...
Boo hoo hoo!
If onlyyyyyy!
I should haaaave!
I could haaaave!
But, but, butIdidn't!!!
Lordhavemerrrrrrrrrrcyyyyy!
Gimmeachance, gimmeachance!
aaaaaiiiiii, aaaaaiiiiii, aaaaaiiiiiiiiii!!


Dear Ones,

We cannot fool God!

He is All-seeing!

He is All-knowing, and

He IS Ever Present!

He has no accountant, and He keeps perfect records!

What The Lord has given unto you is yours to do with as you see fit!

Your gifts are a Trust! 

Do what you will but, remember, there is a time of accounting!

Saying that God plays favorites and gives other people better gifts that what has been given unto you will not hold water, or carry weight!

Each of us has gifts, and if those gifts are exploited for the Glory and Elevation of The True and Living God, when He settles His Accounts with us, His Stewards, we will all be rewarded based upon what we have done to bless God and others!

Do not blame God for neither your mercenary nor impecunious use of His Blessings.

He gave you the best "deal," and He is fully expecting R.O.I!

Since we cannot not pay Caesar i.e., Death and The Tax Man, take time to pay God who gives to All liberally! 

We are not our own property, and God does not require usury from us!

Remember: 

Cheap Service 
Prejudiced Service
Pretentious Service

and

Service Lacking in Service 

all equal 

No Service!

Please Pray ... and Pass The Word Along!

MARANATHA!

Creditor Extraordinaire!

God's Grace Will Gain Me Glory
God's Love Leads Me to The Lamb
God's Mercy will Gain Me Residence
In His Eternal Home in The Heavenly Land!

I Cannot Repay The Jesus-Peace Benefit
And Looking at My Life I'm in Terrible-Past Arrears
Satan is The Memory-Debt Collector
And he is Preying On My Irrational Fears!

I Received A Faith Card of Credit
To Use As When Always Whenever I Need
I Often Reach My Personal Limit of Endurance
And Must Call:

"Jesus Have Mercy! 

I Need Your Blessing! 

I'm Going To Fall!"

I Have Made The Life-Call to King Jesus
Creditor Extraordinaire
I have Laid My Case on His Mercy
And He has Promised in Blood to Always Be There!

I have Nothing to Lose by My Commitment
I have All to Gain if I Should Stand
Firm, Upon The Word - It Is Gospel
Written by The Holy Hand of The Blessed Son of Man!

Lord, Lead Me On To Victory

Lead Me to The Promised Land

Hold My Hand - My Heart I Give You

On You, Solid Rock, I Firmly and Eternally Stand!

HAPPY SABBATH + Gifts From God!

God gave Her a gift
She treasured it well
She dusted and polished it
And put it high on The Shelf.

God gave Him a gift
He treasured it well
He abused it
Misused it
It tripped him up ... and he fell.

God gave Me a gift
I treasured it well
I used it, and returned it
Polished brightly where it was worn
Out from my Mission
And accompanied with Gain
Attached with The Message:

"Dear Father, I thank You!

I accepted The Gift and

I was bold!

It gave me pleasure for sure

But I was generous!

I took my Gift out of doors and

I entertained and educated!

I comforted The Dear Ones, and I sang Praise!

I lifted up Your Name, Father

On the streets and in the glades, and

I told The Old Story even unto

Singing of New Birth and

I fed Little Children

Even though I oft' got cursed!

I thank You!

I bless You!

I treasured The Gift

And I just want to Praise You for

My work was Heaven Kissed!

I spoke to The Wanderer!

I comforted those in Despair!

I Blessed as I was Blessed, and now

Others hold Your Name Dear!

I have One Favor, Father

To ask You today

If I have been found Worthy

Please Multiply my Gift - I Promise I will Take Care."

Your Talent 

is 

Your Gift FROM God!

*****

Using Your Talent for His Service 

is 

Your Gift TO God.

*****

Please Do Not Squander Your Talent!

*****

You Will Be Required 

to give 

Your Statement of Account 

to 

ALMIGHTY GOD

about 

Your Stewardship

on

That Great Day!