This Week that was Written

Michael E. Wood
June 17, 2011

With having two opportunities to be a mouthpiece to proclaim the glory of Christ this past week, very little thought was given toward writing, and yet the privilege to spend a greater degree of time reading and studying the Word of God reminded me not only of my need and dependence upon the Spirit of God to be my teacher but also a reminder that it is God the Father through the merit of Christ who has written and continues to write the truth of the gospel upon my heart. Thus the following words came to mind Friday morning.

Little on paper this week that was written
But into my heart by my God that was smitten.
For He in the form of a man on the cross
Gave His life to redeem me from failure and loss.


For nothing I’ve done or can do measures up
To the blessed forgiveness obtained by the cup
Christ drank to the full as God’s justice was spent
Wherein He showed mercy, gave grace to repent
From the sin and the pride that had blinded my eyes
To know that His love overcomes the great lies
That once I believed as a child of this world
While led by its spirit as deeper I hurled
Myself into depths of depravities store,
Deceived by my heart and God’s Word I ignored
Until He was pleased to reveal by the Light
Of His glory through Jesus to live in His sight.


The times of my ignorance God has winked at.
O glorious translation for more than a chat,
For we by the power and the joy of Christ’s’ union
Embrace and enjoy such Holy Communion
That all in this world surely loses appeal
By the greatest high calling, consumed by the zeal
Of knowing our Savior who over His house,
Has loved us forever; His bride and His spouse.


Now He is the purpose my soul shall define,
His excellence grants me the grace to refine
All that remains to His praise by the Name
Of Jesus, Who Is and forever the same!

The Word of God Now in You

Michael E. Wood
June 7, 2011

Hebrews 4:10-12 "...for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His. Let us labor therefore to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

While pondering thoughts of heaven over the last few days, I opened my Bible and my eyes came to rest upon the preceding verses. As the Word of God is living and active in the lives of those whom God has appointed unto salvation, the natural overflowing effect is a life of joy committed to holiness unto the LORD. Though the life giving stream from the fountain-head may seem to trickle at times, He is ever present working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure and for His glory. The following was written initially as a poem but while reading through, music from another song came to mind of which it can easily be sung to. Initially I could not recall or find the tune but when I asked Paul Vossen before the main corporate prayer meeting of Immanuel Baptist on Wednesday night, he immediately recognized it to be “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken”, written by John Newton in 1779.

Is the Word of God now in you,
Sweetly saying, “You are Mine”?
Holy, sanctifying, Savior
By His Spirit to define
To a dark and dying world He
Did His Image resurrect
In your heart and ever growing
Till with Him you are perfect.


Look then to yon heaven’s gates and
Strive till death with all thy might,
With all power He has given
And His promise as you fight
For the prize now present with us,
Love of God now manifest,
As He by the Holy Spirit
Draws us ever near His breast.


For the glory He possessed
With the Father before time,
As the Lamb slain for our purchase
Paid for every sin and crime
That we have and ever shall commit
With every thankless breath,
Yet our warfare was accomplished,
Hallelujah, through His death!


As the justice of the Father
Was by Christ full satisfied,
We then by His resurrection
Are made one and unified
For the purpose that His glory
Shall be one day fully shown,
As all things for Him created
Will be new and in Him known.

The Foundation that Surely was Laid

Michael E. Wood
June 8, 2011

While reading through the book of Ezra, I came to chapter 3 verse 6, which says, “…But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.”

Of course as you read through the entire text of the book of Ezra you find that in time and against all attempts to thwart the building of this temporal Jewish temple were overcome, the foundation was laid and the building completed.

What a glorious day we live in that many of us have a completed copy of the scriptures, and we are enabled to see by the sure mercies of God, as blood bought children of God through the sacrifice of Christ Himself and the effectual work of His Spirit, that we as gentiles “…are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together, into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)

And thus we have the assurance, that come what may, ‘…God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those that are His”, and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”’ 2nd Timothy 2:19

Thou Father God, You without change
Revealed the foundation that surely was laid
By Your apostles and all Your prophets
And by the stone without hands that was made;
Chief-cornerstone, on which is built
The city of lights where Your glory doth shine,
And of all men, Your Spirit expressly
Speaks to our hearts that we know we are Thine.


Help us to offer in Thy true temple
And on the altar of which is now made
In such a way only those holy and
Bought by the price of the blood that was paid:
Such sacrifice as is now pleasing,
Accepted, the fragrance in which You delight,
Redeemed by the ransom of Jesus who lives
In Your great inaccessible excellent light!

A Doorkeeper

Michael E. Wood
June 9, 2011

While being in Sacramento for a little over a year, God’s choice of temporal employment for the time being is that of part time janitorial duties for Immanuel Baptist Church of which Dianna and I are now members. This allows for our temporal needs to be met, and the freedom to be and to do a number of other things we trust and pray will be used for the advancement and the glory of His kingdom. While contemplating this position in relation to other possibilities of employment and much more the purposes of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the following came to mind.

A doorkeeper in the house of my God
Is where I would rather be
Than dwell in the richest palace
This present world has to offer me.

For God has a plan; His place in this world
Is to take now the lowest seat
And humility is the place where we see
God is Just, He is Right, He will meet

Every petition that to Him we make
With honest integrity He only can give,
Delighting in mercy to make us like Jesus
That we for His infinite glory shall live.

Oh what a wonder as children of God
That we are made to be kings
And priests of our Father now hidden in Jesus
As grace upon grace to us brings

The sweet understanding of what He has done
By His blood and His Spirit to come
For strength every day as He leads the way
As the depths of our heart He doth plumb

To show us the things by His Word that remain
To count as but ashes and dross
And trust in His power by faith to believe
These too have been nailed to the cross.

Oh the infinite love and the patience He shows
Within us until He does form
The things which our Savior did ask for His own
Then went to the garden that morn.

As He sweat drops of blood and in agony cried
“Not my will” but Thine only be done.
God answered by pouring the wrath we deserved
On His only begotten loved Son.

Oh how can we measure the infinite gain
That for us He bought on that day?
For words cannot tell, but with Him we dwell
In answer for which He did pray.

So serve Him with gladness regardless what others
May think of your earthly position,
For Christ is exalted, as now with all joy
He Is our one goal and ambition.

You Are The God Of Wonders

Michael E. Wood
June 2, 2011

After spending a number of days reading through “Justification by Faith Alone” by Jonathan Edwards, I was getting ready to head out to work and, for the most part, the words to what became the chorus of this song came to mind. Originally thinking this to be simply the beginning of a poem, I hurriedly wrote it down on a three by five card, with no more thought given to it, until I arrived home from work.

Then, while waiting for Dianna to come home from work, a tune came to mind to go with the words. Over the next two days with thoughts toward what heaven might be like, once we that are the redeemed of the Lord are there, the rest of this song came to mind.

How simple it seems
Yeah, now through the beams
Of men You did sovereignly place,
Your glory to show
In Christ we would know
Salvation from sin and disgrace.


(Chorus)
You are the God of wonders
And You are the God of all grace.
You are the God Who sweetly has shown
The light of Your glorious face.


O how it makes sense
That our recompense
No other way for us was brought;
As Christ’s sacrifice
Sufficient in price
As justice for us was then wrought.


(Chorus)


All things are made new
And we worship You
With strength by Your Spirit within.
Transformed by the pow’r
You give for each hour
Where time with You will never end.


(Chorus)


Forever we’ll be
In every degree
Reflecting Your glorious grace.
Perfection define
By every new line
In songs never sung in this place


(Chorus)


Forever we’ll sing
And thank You our King,
Whose presence in light we behold.
Beyond mortal song,
To Whom we belong
And greater than ever were told.


(Chorus)

In Us We Know That He Lives!

Michael E. Wood
May 24, 2011

Colossians 1:12-15
...giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption; the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Romans 5:5
and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us.

From Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin book 1 chapter 15:

“.. man was created in the image of God. For though the divine glory is displayed in man’s outward appearance, it cannot be doubted that the proper seat of the image is in the soul.”


“Only let it be understood, that the image of God which is beheld or made conspicuous by these external marks, is spiritual.”


“…our deliverance begins with that renovation which we obtain from Christ, who is, therefore, called the second Adam, because He restores us to true and substantial integrity.”


“We now see how Christ is the most perfect image of God, into which we are so renewed as to bear the image of God in knowledge, purity, righteousness, and true holiness.”


“…the image of God… is now partly seen in the elect, in so far as they are regenerated by the Spirit. Its full luster, however, will be displayed in heaven.”


“The likeness must be within, in himself. It must be something which is not external to him, but is properly the internal good of the soul.”

What a delight and privilege it is that we have been given to witness the love and the power of God through the person and work of Jesus Christ to set us free from self and sin which has been and continues to be manifest to us by His Spirit dwelling within.

The kindness of God is measured not
By what you see without,
But only by the love within
He poured by His Spirit to shout-
Out the victory that He alone
Through Christ Jesus our Lord
Secured when He arose from death,
Now peace with God to afford.


As Jesus bore the load of all
Our sin and all our pride
It was His death and resurrection
By which we were justified
From all the sin by which the image
Of God when we were created
Was marred so much the wrath of God
Could no other way be abated.


For at the core of our fallen nature
God’s glory we sought to steal
Inherent by the lie believed
In Adam at Satan’s appeal.
But God in mercy unfathomable
Stretched out His omniscient hand
To reform a remnant for His
Glory by Sovereign command.


With all the law fulfilled in Christ
We may to the throne boldly go
And trust Him for the grace He gives
That He above all we may know.
And as He is our great delight
No longer for just what He gives,
He is our treasure beyond all measure
And in us we know that He lives!

Only in You Known!

Michael E. Wood
May 26, 2011


From The Confessions and Letters of St. Augustine, Chapter 1

“O Lord, my faith calls on Thee, - that faith which Thou hast imparted to me, which Thou hast breathed into me through the incarnation of Thy Son, through the ministry of Thy preacher” (128)

Footnote (128) That is, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who was instrumental in his conversion (vi.sec.1; viii sec.28etc.). “Before conversion”, as Leighton observes on 1 Peter 2:1, 2, “wit or eloquence may draw a man to the Lord, and possibly prove a happy bait to catch him (as St. Augustine reports of his hearing St. Ambrose), but, once born again, then it is the milk itself that he desires for itself.”

The following poem was actually first stimulated by a statement made in our seasonal nurture group on a Wednesday night. The last two stanzas came as a result of looking for a rhyming word to fit. While looking for that word, of which I ended up not using, I came across the above quote.

Thanks be to God that He uses the men and women of His church in the measure He so chooses to glorify Himself therein by the power of His Spirit unto the praise of His glorious grace, but more so, thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift of Christ Himself of Whom we are made to partake!

Thank You Father that a taste
By faith of heaven we partake
As in Jesus we are freely
Given all and for His sake.


Oh that we as one may rise
And glorify Thy majesty
As by faith we grow in grace
And know in truth, Thy liberty
Which was given through the cross
When Christ bore our sins for us
That we may in life and death
Prove You as all glorious.


Though You need not anything
Which our hands may now produce,
Make us more the vessels through
Which You choose to introduce
Yourself as God; High and Holy,
Lifted up in Whom we stand,
And to Jesus Who is present
Interceding by Your hand,
For all those You have appointed
By Your glory and design
To be with You by Your Spirit;
All the chosen: Come and dine!


Though we now in the measure
You have given point the way,
Only that which You have finished
Will be shown as true that day.


Though we have now many teachers,
It is You for whom we groan,
And our satisfaction fully
Will be only in You known!

Do You See Him On The Cross?

Michael E. Wood
May 20-21,2011


While contemplating Romans 4:13-25 the following came to mind.

As we consider some of the various aspects of the life of Abraham, is it not the life of Christ in him by faith that draws the admiration of our hearts toward him?

We read the promise made to him; “’I have made you the father of many nations’- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” Likewise we read, “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead…” and “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God…” In these words are we not given insight into the counsel of the God-head before all creation?

William R. Newell said it well when he penned the words,

“Oh the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary!”

God in knowing the choice that would be made by Adam to transgress His command that would bring the wrath of God and death to the entire human race beforehand determined and promised to save a people for Himself, and for His Own glory. This people also known as the church and the bride of Christ would be made up of every nation, tribe and tongue.

Though God is love, there was only one way God could be just and the justifier of the ungodly. Jesus Christ the Son of the living God would give himself, as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world to bring into existence the things that did not exist. It is beyond our comprehension to fully understand the perfection of love enjoyed between God the Father and God the Son in eternity past. Knowing the price that He would pay at Calvary, for wretched, deplorable men like you and me, He humbled Himself becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

For the joy that was set before Him, the joy of pleasing the Father, he endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God the Father. It is faith in Christ that gives glory to God and it is faith in Christ that was counted not only to Abraham as righteousness, but to all of us who believe in Him who raised up from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered for our trespasses and raised for our justification. It is Christ that has raised us from our spiritual death to live with Him now to glorify our Father in heaven.

Do you see Him on the cross,
Crying out to God Most High,
In the form of human weakness
Calling out then, “My God, Why”?


Yet He staggered not a moment
Though our sins on Him were laid.
His obedience to us counted
By His blood then death was slayed.
For the joy then set before Him,
Jesus Christ, the God of grace
Suffered wrath, despising shame,
Endured the cross then in our place.
By His resurrection; freely
We are now then justified
And one day we shall see clearly
Face to face then glorified.


O Father now by sweet profusion
You have shown Your love to me
By Your Spirit never ceasing
In my heart by Calvary.
Far beyond what we imagine
Yet by faith to think and feel
You have shown us things prepared
And through the Spirit to us reveal
Things that to the world are hidden
And for Your glory did decree
Before the ages and in Jesus
All is given fully free.


Thank You for this gift of mercy,
Whereby we may contemplate
All You have done to transform us,
God of wonder, God so Great!

A Song for Giving Thanks

Michael E. Wood
May 23, 2011

While being in a habit of reading and meditating regularly upon Psalm 145, I thought it good to consider the thoughts of C. H. Spurgeon concerning this particular portion of scripture. The following are a number of experts from his commentary concerning Psalm 145 from The Treasury of David which resonate with my own heart.

“The Holy Spirit condescends to use even the more artificial methods of the poet, to secure attention, and impress the heart.”


“Let each Christian reader present his own praise unto the Lord, and call it by his own name.”


“To bless God is to praise Him with a personal affection for Him, and a wishing well to Him; this is a growing easy exercise as we advance in experience and grow in grace.”


“Our love to God is not a matter of holy days: every day is alike holy to holy men.”


“Song should be founded upon research… when we meditate most, and search most studiously, we shall still find ourselves surrounded with unknowable wonders, which will baffle all attempts to sing them worthily. The best adoration of the Unsearchable is to own Him to be so, and close the eyes in reverence before the excessive light of His glory.”


“All men of every race, condition, or generation should unite to glorify God. No man need ever think that he will be rejected when he comes with his personal note of praise; all are permitted, invited, and exhorted to magnify the Lord.’


“Our hearts revel in the delight of praising him. Our mouth, our mind, our lip, our life shall be our Lord’s throughout this mortal existence, and when time shall be no more.”

Many, many more excerpts could have been included, but as each of us borne of the Spirit of God are the work of His hands through the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I trust these few will whet the appetite of a few to venture there for themselves.

While in contemplation of many of these thoughts from Psalm 145, words from Psalm 100 came to mind and the following song with music was recorded.

A joyful noise O all the earth,
Sing to the Lord this chorus
And serve with gladness; He has come
And ever present for us.


(Chorus)
Enter His gates with thanksgiving.
Come into His courts with praise!
Give thanks to Him and bless His Name,
To honor Him all of our days!


We thank You Father, You did send
Your Son to earth to save us.
And by the cross and through His blood
By grace through faith forgave us.


(Chorus)


We know that You are God alone
And by Your Spirit bade us
To come to You, as we are Thine,
Sheep of Your pasture made us.


(Chorus)


Your steadfast love endures to show
Forever Lord, You are good.
To every generation Lord,
Your faithfulness is understood.


(Chorus)


While writing I could hear this song in my mind as though it was being sung by a group of children at play.

 "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets."  Zechariah 8:5

Oh, that we may never fail to have a child-like spirit when it comes to our desire to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

The Fountain of All Wisdom

Michael E. Wood
May 18, 2011

Proverbs 18:4
The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

Christ became to us wisdom from God. He is the Fountain of all wisdom. As He by His indwelling Spirit speaks to our hearts and our minds through the written Word of God, we are enabled to rejoice in the spring welling up to eternal life.

You are the fountain of all wisdom,
And wisdom You will surely keep,
For all those who look; dependant
As Your chosen, human sheep.


Though by nature, You are Holy,
Yet You chose to condescend
As the Word made flesh among us;
As the Lamb slain to this end:


That Your promise would be freely
Given by Your pleasure to
Those appointed by Your counsel
To rejoice in knowing You.


Holy Father, You have shown us
Through the work of Christ as finished,
Granting mercy and repentance
Which shall never be diminished.


As a bubbling brook within us
You now by Your Spirit dwell
As the fountain and the wisdom;
God only wise does all things well!