Grounded In Him

 

The world is filled with so much rage
That rushes in at me,
And I must stay above the waves
Or be lost in that sea.
 
I see the evil frothing there
And hear it call my name,
Demanding that I wade on in
To share its wrath and shame.
 
If I keep my eyes on the waves,
I tend to drift down near,
But if I keep my thoughts on Him,
His peace is all I hear.
 
I struggle with anger, some days,
No matter how I try,
But I hold to His strength, not mine,
And let it wash on by.
 
When I fear I might let Him down
And give in just once more,
He leads me back from the tempest,
Farther up onto shore.
 
His is the hand to which I cling,
His is the strength I need.
His is the peace that turns the tide,
And assures I succeed.  
 
I walk upon that windswept shore
And watch the rage roll in.
If I were not grounded in Him,
I would be drowned in sin.
 
Isaiah 41:10
fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
 
Isaiah 26:3
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Like Judas's Kiss

 

You have the right to speak your mind,
The law says that is true,
But keep in mind, the rights you hold,
Those are rights I hold, too.
 
I’m often told to hold my tongue,
Keep my thoughts to myself,
On most days and on most topics
I put them on the shelf.
 
Yet, when you speak my Savior’s words,
Then twist them, just know this,
That’s an evil I hold equal
To Judas’s vile kiss.
 
I’ll speak out in condemnation
Of everything you say,
While still seeking your salvation
Each time I stop and pray.
 
You may call yourself a teacher
Of my God’s holy word,
But, when you weave in satan’s lies,
That claim becomes absurd.
 
Turn back from walking that dark path,
Let His light guide your pace.
The law will let you hang yourself,
But healing comes from grace.
 
Romans 6:14
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
 
Matthew 27:5
And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.

This amazing photo is a gift from AC and her trip to Africa a few years back. 

Get Thee Behind Me

 

Satan’s calling to the world
And many hear his voice.
Thinking they will hold great power,
They make an evil choice
 
I see him upon the pulpit,
He’s smiling as he lies,
Twisting the truths that God gave us,
Working your soul’s demise.
 
I see his demons bow in the streets,
Demanding you do, too,
That their demonic overlord
Might take your soul from you.
 
I seem them screeching, condemning
All that God’s declared good,
Destroying what they do not own
Because they think they should.

 
Serving the darkness in the world,
Turning away the Light,
Will not lead them to earthly wealth,
But to eternal night.
 
So many voices crying out
In pursuit of his plan
Shall find that serving satan’s will
Does not end well for man.
 
For, if you serve him here on earth,
You’ll serve him, too, in hell.
That service is void of all hope.
Turn back, don’t heed his spell.
 
Put him behind you, walk away,
Take hold of God’s promise.
His is the Word, the Light we seek,
All satan’s calls, dismiss.
 
Matthew 4:9-10
And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Pretty, Poison Lies

 

Though it is joyful on its face,
There’s poison at its core.
Be careful that you’re not deceived,
Death’s all it holds in store
 
So is it, often, with mankind,
Behind a smiling face
There lies a heart that longs to lead
Innocence to disgrace.
 
They speak as if they hold wisdom,
Their words are sweet to hear,
But there is poison in their hearts.
Be cautious when they’re near.
 
They preach His words, but twist them up
To lead you far from Him.
The vipers, as in days of old,
Still harbor souls most grim.
 
Heed those who share His word, not man’s.
Turn back from those who try
To make you believe something that’s
A pretty, poisoned lie.
 
Matthew 24:11
And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
 
James 3:8
but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Cleansing The Temple

 

He called them out for corruption
In that once holy place.
Their avarice was palpable,
He condemned their disgrace.
 
He spoke hoping to turn them back
From the course that they chose,
But they would not heed the Lord’s words.
They had no time for those.
 
It wasn’t all the animals
That filled the place with sin,
As much as the pride and the greed
Of all those “holy men”.
 
He came to cleanse that holy place,
Make it holy once more,
But, even more, He came for us,
To cleanse and to restore.
 
Matthew 21:12-13
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Once again, the sweet photo is a gift from AC, taken in Africa a few years back. 

So Many False Prophets

I hear the words of false prophets
And my heart aches for those
Who listen and who then follow
Where each false prophet goes.
 
They claim to share The Word and yet
With each and every breath
They twist It and they hide Its truth
With lies that lead to death.
 
The souls who turn to them in faith
Are following the call
Of him whose only purpose is
To assure mankind’s fall.
 
The silken words in soothing tones
That mark the easy way,
Are all intended, in the end,
To lead us far astray.
 
Beware the voices who promise
Their truth’s the better one.
Turn back from that path to the dark
And seek again the Son.
 
Matthew 24:11-12
And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 

Keep Guard On My Mouth

 

We live in frictious times, that’s true,
And some are prone to wrath,
But I am trying to live life
Walking along Your path.
 
You taught us to speak out with grace,
Though truth is still a must.
Yet there are so many who choose
To speak rage and disgust.
 
It’s easy to be drawn into
Responding out of ire,
But You’ve called us to speak from love,
So I must quench that fire.
 
Lord, when I start to speak my mind
Please remind me to pause
And seal my lips until I’m calm
In respect of Your laws.
 
Help me to hold my tongue and think
Before I speak harshly.
Then give me wisdom to speak truth,
But do so graciously.
 
Psalm 141:3
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

The Wages Of Sin

Be careful who you choose to serve
As you walk through this life.
Serving the Lord, sharing His grace,
Or serving satan’s strife.
 
Oh, you who walk the roads of sin,
Of hatred and of wrath,
Will find yourself unsatisfied
At the end of the path.
 
For those dark longings cannot feed
The hunger in your soul.
You will just magnify that lack
With hate and sin, your goal.
 
He’s warned us more than once or twice
To turn from that dark way.
The price for serving satan takes
Eternity to pay.
 
There is a dark heart in us all,
That Christ’s grace can make right,
But only if you turn back from
The darkness to the Light.
 
If not, prepare to face the wrath
You seek to sow in life.
Eternity is a long time
To live beneath that knife.
 
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What I Can't Do, You Can

Where do I start my praise tonight,
With anger or with grace.
Neither will do me any good,
My wishes have no place.
 
I can’t control what has happened,
Nor can I make it right.
The only good that I can do
Is trust You and Your might.
 
Therefore, let me lift up those hurt,
The frightened and the lost.
Then place the wicked in Your hands
And let You set the cost.
 
I cannot fix what has been done,
That’s outside my command,
But all that I can’t do, You can.
I place it in Your hand.
 
Psalm 105:7
He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 

Forgive From Your Heart

 

He died to wash my sins from me,
Each transgression is gone.
Now it falls upon me to take
His grace and pass it on.
 
If I accept His forgiveness,
Then I must offer mine
To those who have sinned against me,
All those who’ve crossed the line.
 
Some people make that difficult.
That much I know is true,
But we must forgive, let it go,
As He’s called us to do.
 
The weight of bitterness and wrath
Will tear a heart apart,
But letting it go, forgiving,
Gives that heart a new start.
 
No matter what someone might do,
To me through lies or strife,
It’s small when compared to the sins
He bore to cleanse my life.
 
We have to live fully in Him
Letting bygones be gone.
You have not received heaven’s grace
If you can’t pass it on.
 
Matthew 18:35
So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.

Blessed Are You

I find my heart is filled with rage,
There’s no forgiveness there.
I have to let it go somehow,
I’m called to loving care.
 
Though there are some who will stand up,
Proclaiming Your Word’s worth,
The demons of the great darkness
Still prowl across the earth.
 
They snarl and howl, demanding all
Must bow before their rule.
They proclaim lies and call them truth.
They are the devil’s tool.
 
Although the demons of darkness
Dance in delight today,
When they choose to serve satan’s plan,
There will be hell to pay.
 
Lord, take this anger from my heart,
Remind me to forgive.
For judgement is not mine to pass,
That’s Your’s alone to give.
 
Instead, let my prayers for the lost,
Who stood in faith with You,
Be all I raise up from this heart
That has been torn in two.
 
Matthew 5:11-12
 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

In sorrow over the loss of Charlie Kirk, Christian advocate, husband, father and genuinely good man. 1993 - 2025

Vengeance Is Yours, Not Mine

 

Oh Lord, I need to hear Your Word
Repeated in my heart,
For I grow angry, now and then,
And step out of my part.
 
You’ve called me to forgo my wrath
And let Your plans play out,
But some days my rage seems to burn
Too hot to just put out.
 
I know Your plans will always be
Better than those I make,
And my plans would be, without doubt,
A terrible mistake.
 
Help me, Oh Lord, to turn away
From the wrath that I feel,
To trust Your plan to right the wrongs
And help this world to heal.
 
Help me to put vengeance aside
And pray for each lost soul,
For those living in Satan’s thrall,
To be redeemed, made whole.
 
Help me to turn back from my rage,
Vengeance is Yours, not mine.
Forgiveness heals what rage destroys,
And Your Word will refine.
 
Romans 12:19
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Learning To Forgive

 

There’s always been sin in this world,
We each have done our part.
Yet, there can be forgiveness, too.
If we give Him our heart.
 
He taught us how to offer grace
By giving it to us.
Our sacrifice won’t be as great,
Though we complain and fuss.
 
Sometimes it’s pride, sometimes it’s pain
That leads us to hold back
From giving the grace we’ve received.
His compassion, we lack.
 
Yet, if we offer up our hearts
To Him whose grace we need,
Then we will find we have enough,
Our own grace, to concede.
 
It still amazes me, at times,
How quickly small seeds grow
If they’re the seeds of forgiveness
That He taught us to sow.
 
Colossians 3:13
bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Avoid Anger, Be Gentle

 

I see the anger in the world
And shake my head in shame.
For I know we are called to share
His grace and not our blame.
 
It seems to just pop out sometimes,
When we ought to refrain.
We seem to forego all kindness
And let anger remain.
 
Yet, what is gained by that anger,
Better still, what is lost?
For anger, carried for too long,
Levies a brutal cost.  
 
It robs us of the peace we seek,
The joy of each day’s grace,
And sears the heart with its poison.
Of love, it leaves no trace.  
 
After a time, we cannot see
The damage that’s been done,
Until we turn to find a friend
And learn that we have none.
 
Be gentle with your fellow man,
Set quarreling aside,
And find a way to walk in peace.
In His mercy, abide.
 
Titus 3:2
to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Fret Not

 

There is great evil in the world.
Darkness holds many hearts
Captive to anger and the sin
Which mindless rage imparts.
 
Let not the poison of the world
Infect your mind and soul.
Fret not, when evil shows its face,
For God is in control.
 
Don’t let your heart be infected
With that rage and despair,
For God’s Light still outshines the dark.
His love is everywhere.
 
Be still and wait, with faith in Him,
Trusting His perfect plan,
For God’s love does not fade or fail.
Fret not, oh child of man.
 
Psalm 37:7-8
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

Anger Destroys

 

Anger will stalk the heart of man,
Working to tear the soul
To which God gave new life and joy,
The soul His blood made whole.
 
Anger will peck and tear away
At any peace we find.
Unless we cast it from our heart,
It will consume our mind.
 
It circles every day we live,
A vulture with its prey,
Waiting for sin to answer rage
And seal the soul’s decay.
 
Anger will come, it’s part of life,
But forgive and move on.
Don’t let that evil eat at you
Until all life is gone.
 
Ephesians 4:26-27
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

As We Forgive Others

The world seems so contentious, Lord,
With little room for grace.
It seems like people seek conflict,
They run to its embrace.
 
I find myself wondering why
Many seek out a fight
Instead of just passing on by
Those certain they are right.
 
Until I catch myself, also,
My umbrage on the rise,
Seeking to set the record straight…
Self-awareness applies.
 
I cannot ask to receive grace
If I have none to give.
There is no peace within the soul,
And that’s no way to live.
 
Please help us, Lord, to turn from wrath
And seek to share Your peace,
That we may then ask You, in turn,
For our own sin’s release.
 
Matthew 6:12
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.

Though We Rage

 

You formed the sun, the moon and stars
And set them on their course.
Mankind can neither slow nor speed
Such displays of Your force.
 
Man can distract or briefly block
Our view of Your design,
But we cannot delay, deter
Or hamper Your timeline.
 
Though wildfires may fill up the air
With smoke, and such debris,
That sun and moon look discolored,
They’re both still there to see.
 
Man may pretend that we can change
The truth of creation,
But all we do is block our view.
Your work can’t be undone.
 
We praise our fantasies in vain,
For Your will carries on.
The sun and moon will still be there
When man has come and gone.
 
Why then should You waste any time
On rebel souls like ours?
We are but thoughts that come and go,
And short are our lives hours.
 
Yet it was for the lost You came,
And for such fools, You died
To rise again, redeeming us,
That we may, with You, bide.
 
I cannot understand Your plan,
And I am not called to.
But I can understand clearly
That all my hope’s in You.
 
For, by Your love and grace alone
You hold us in Your plan.
You watch us through our defiance,
Then call us home again.
 
Psalm 8:3-4
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

This photo is of the moon rising through a smoke filled sky during the wild fires a few years back. 

Standing Divided

 

We seem to have grown far apart,
And further every day.
We used to let each other have
Room to choose their own way.
 
Yet, somehow we forgot that grace
And patience have value.
We now cast condemnation on  
Those with a different view.
 
We’ve been down this path more than once,
And then found our way through.
In fact, the only constancy
In this life, Lord, is You.
 
When we are scattered, You are You,
When we are one, You’re You.
When nothing else makes any sense
You’re constant and You’re true.
 
I lift to You this broken land
And pray for healing grace.
I trust in Your unchanging love
For all the human race.
 
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The Wages of Evil

 

The Lord has called us to forsake
A life of sin and strife,
But He has also let us choose
The path we’ll walk in life.
 
The price of sin, eternal death,
Is often grimly paid.
Yet, He grieves for each wayward soul,
Who chose sin, and then stayed.
 
The darkness comes for all of us,
But light follows the dark
For all who know and call Him Lord.
He’s the eternal spark.
 
For those who choose a sin filled life,
And turn from His clear path,
There is one answer, grim and hard;
They’ll, one day, know His wrath.
 
The evil that fills heart and mind
Will kill both, ruthlessly.
The darker the path they have walked
The harder death will be.
 
Turn back from darkness, do not heed
Evil’s seductive call.
Redemption’s price, already paid,
Is there for one and all.
 
Don’t let the evil of this world
Be all you speak and do,
Or you will find death, when it comes,
Holds even worse for you.
 
Ezekiel 18:23
Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
 
Proverbs 10:16
The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death.