Those Who Follow in His Train

Michael E. Wood
December 13, 2011

While serving as Pastoral Care Provider at Atria El Camino Gardens, and having a desire to know the spiritual pulse as it were of those with whom I have been given the responsibility to lead in corporate worship, I have had the privilege of passing on a short devotional of which I receive weekly from one of my former Pastors via internet called IMPACT (I Must Persistently Acknowledge Christ Today). The following is a brief conversation that took place and contains the poetic thoughts of my heart both during the dialogue and afterwards. Click HERE for the link by which you may read the devotionals for yourself.
Hey Pastor Latour,


Just thought you might be encouraged to know that we have been taking the liberty of making copies of the IMPACT series over the last few weeks and handing them out to those that attend the services with us at Atria El Camino Gardens. Usually I ask someone else to hand them out as the residents are leaving, but took the opportunity to do it myself this past week as our attendance was down, and was blessed by the fact that several of them were truly delighted to receive them.


Thank you for your faithfulness in persistently acknowledging Christ today!
Rejoicing with you in Jesus,
Michael


Amen, Michael! I am so thankful that these devotionals have blessed some of the folks that you serve. It is one of those ministries to which we just try to stay faithful and ask God to use them as He wishes. Please pray that He will graciously use them in the lives of my unsaved relatives and students.

To Pastor LaTour:
While pondering your request for prayer the following came to mind, and while wrestling with my own pride on whether to send this or not, I trust that our God is pleased to hear and to perfect that which pertains to our unbelief, as He is able to do exceeding and abundantly above all that we can think or ask.


Rejoicing with you in Jesus,
Michael

Oh Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come
Committing all into Thy care, while here the race we run.
Oh hear the cry of faithful hearts committed to Thy cause,
Through Christ, Your Spirit thus imparts beyond our mortal flaws,
The truth of who You Are, to those we know; are made to feel
That none that breathe have gone too far, to know that You Are Real.
Be pleased O LORD to give new life to members that are dead,
Deliver them from sin and strife through our Anointed Head.
Oh show that You are Just and justified through Christ alone.
That believing is a must and crucified He did atone
For transgressions from the fall and require repentance,
Given as a gift to all who bow in their submissions
By the faith of grace extended from Your throne above
Be pleased to show Your face; transcended mercy now in love.
And as we stand before You, all the praise be Yours alone
Oh Shepherd of the sheep who gave His life for all His own.

Father we thank You that it is of Your mercies that we are not consumed, and that You are well pleased with the sacrifice of Your Son, by which we boldly come to lay our requests before You. We ask that You would be pleased to hear the cries of your humble servants who are in absolute dependence upon You for the deliverance of our family members and students that You have been pleased to open an opportunity to faithfully proclaim by life and by word the gospel of Your glorious grace. As we commit all into Your Sovereign care, we trust that You will be glorified in the salvation of souls and the edification of the body of Christ unto the praise of Your glory. In the matchless Name of Jesus we ask. Amen!

From Pastor LaTour:
Amen. Thank you brother Michael.

The following was written in response to Pastor Latour's reply; but, never sent:

Our efforts here are never in vain as we for glory press
To make the Name of Christ be known who is our righteousness.
For as our thoughts are purged and we before Him bold approach,
We trust God’s mercy that He hears and gives without reproach
The wisdom that in Him alone we shall not be denied,
That He will give what He deems best to show He’s glorified
By redemption freely given to those who will believe,
As mercy flows to melt our hearts; to Him alone to cleave.

Oh not to us but You alone, may all the glory be
O Christ who died for sinful men, our curse upon the tree.
And though You need not anything of which that we might offer
We thank You that You’re pleased to hear, and we by You now proffer,
As kings and priests rejoicing in the offering up of prayer
While resting in the promise You receive the glory there.
Oh help us walk with diligence while clad with glories light,
The sweet perfume of which You give to show Your glorious might.

And with our battles over when in heaven You will prove
That before we called, it was our hearts that You did move
To before You bring that which Your Spirit would address
To show You are our God who answers all in holiness
Which was given from the cross and to our hearts applied
By the Lamb who led us forth, as death He has denied
By His blood presented on the altar not of hands
Perfecting those who follow in His train and glory stands.

Forget the Benefits?

Michael E. Wood
November 26, 2011

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases... Psalm 103:1-3

How amazing is our God and Father! The Lord Jesus Christ has provided for us the written words wherein He speaks to us as the Living Word by His mighty Spirit to remind us of those things that we possess in Him. As He calls us to responsibility, He also enables us to live by faith in the midst of the infirmities and corruptions of our flesh which includes the weakness of our mortal minds to grasp instantaneously with our redeemed imagination glimpses of His glory and beyond the present realities of the not yet.

I must confess that there are times
My grasp may often fail
To hold on to the words You speak
And show within the veil
Of Your very presence
As my soul clings to the dust
And often I forget the benefits
You now entrust,


To every single child of which
You purchased as Your own,
As through the blood of Christ
You grant forgiveness and atone
For every imperfection
By Your mercy and Your grace,
That we may look to You alone
And see Your smiling face;


Not only in the providence
Of which You send our way,
But more within the very words
You speak through lips of clay.
For as Your Mighty Spirit
Stirs our souls to see the good
By which You satisfy our need
Far more than understood.


We thus with thankful hearts
Will look to praise You more and more
For steadfast love and faithfulness
You give from heavens shore.

In Quiet Contemplation

Michael E. Wood
November 22, 2011


A Prayer


In quiet contemplations
You now speak unto my soul
Reminding me tis grace by
Which You came and made me whole.


This grace is but a foretaste
Of the fullness You impart
With every step of faith we take
With courage and true heart
Of which You gave: The Precious Gift
To worship only You,
Transfixed upon Your glory
Unto which You called us to.


Oh, be to us the wisdom
That You promised by Your blood,
You shed at Calvary to
Overcome the coming flood
Of wrath with which this world
Shall be consumed with Holy fire,
Displaying the great truth of which
You speak, and will transpire,
At the time appointed and
Have spoken by Your Word,
As God incarnate, You shall come,
Your voice be clearly heard.


And none with disappointment
Will then meet You on that day
That You have washed and clothed
With righteousness to then display,
The awesome majesty of
Who You Are in holiness,
That we may in perfection
Worship You; all glorious!

The Gift of God Receive

Michael E. Wood

Original Writing was on 7/12/11

with Christmas in Mind

 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15, 16

While listening to a message being preached by Gregory N. Barkman entitled, “Why Jesus is the firstborn”, the quaint little saying that is used around the time of year that we celebrate His birth came to mind. “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

While I am thankful this phrase is used to draw attention to the fact of our Savior’s birth, it bothers me tremendously that in many ways I fear this phrase is actually used to reduce the significance of who Jesus Is! The Son of God in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily is the reason all created things have their existence including time itself.

Sam Storms in his Commentary on the book of Colossians put it this way, “He that is Jesus is the reason, the goal, the aim, the intent, the point, the purpose, the end, the terminus, the consummation, and culmination of every molecule that moves.”

The reason, more majestic

Spans beyond imaginations.

The Alpha and Omega, Yeah

The purpose of creations

Beginning and its end

Has only one just thing in view,

That all things will reflect

And give the glory that is due

To Him who was before all time

And spoke into existence

This season which is now called time

And proves His pre-existence

And in the end it will not matter

What we accumulate

But only that we’re known and know

The blessed Potentate,

Who as a babe in Bethlehem

And of a virgin born

Was also Him who all creation,

His glory did adorn.

And as He did not come as one

Of whom we would desire,

He yet in His humility

Took on the sin entire

Of all who by His grace through faith

Would trust Him and believe,

Borne of the Holy Spirit

And the gift of God receive.

Much more than just the reason

For the season; Jesus Is,

God incarnate glorified

And everything is His!

The Lamb whose blood, Your work has done!

Michael E. Wood
December 7, 2011

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.  Hebrews 12:22-25

Having been blessed of the Lord to read a number of messages concerning the precious blood of Christ preached by C. H. Spurgeon from the late 1800’s over the last several days, a number joyous thoughts stand out in my mind conveyed from our mighty God through that man.

One thing in particular was this, “Preach the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God and then sing of it.” C. H. Spurgeon February 28, 1886

Though the following can in no way convey the breadth, the length, the depth and the height of the communion of the eternal Spirit of Christ as He has offered His precious blood as an atonement for our sins, may the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD our strength and our Redeemer!

Preach the atoning sacrifice
Of Jesus Christ the Lamb
And sing of it ye children
Of our God, The Great “I Am”.


The sprinkling of His blood that day
Is that which keeps me in the way
Of righteousness and peace within
By Christ’s atonement for my sin.


Oh, when we see our self as weak
The precious blood of Christ doth speak
And answers to the Father’s throne,
“These children I have made my own.
For when I drank the bitter cup
Of wrath in full when lifted up
Upon the cross on Calvary’s hill
It was for them, my blood did spill.
For You were just and justified
When My eternal Spirit cried
Out ‘Forgive’; and godly made
Sinners by My blood and bade
Them bold approach as satisfied
And You My Father glorified
Discharged the dept as fully paid
As I my blood before You laid
The only sacrifice accepted
With every member thus connected
In My body, Your blessed Son,
The Lamb whose blood, Your work has done!"

Remember He Remembers

Michael E. Wood
December 2, 2011

Psalm 104:33-34
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.

Psalm 105:1-11
Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying,” To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.

While meditating on the passages above, these words came in a joyous frame to mind.

Remember all the wondrous works the LORD our God has done.
Remember, He remembers what He spoke unto His Son.
The everlasting covenant, He made with Abraham
Was promised first before the world in Him, Who Is, I Am!
Oh praise Him all ye chosen ones, as long as you shall live,
Delighting in His mercy, and to Him the glory give!

For as you view with eyes made new our God in history,
The Holy Spirit will in truth unfold the mystery
Unto all those of which He bids to seek with joyful hearts
The Lord who is our strength and by His pleasure He imparts
The knowledge of His presence, loosing lips to make them sing,
All glory, praise, and honor to our Lord, and God, and King!

For Jesus has indeed fulfilled the promised covenant,
And sealed it by His blood and speaks as heaven’s supplicant
For all the Father gave Him, He secured with not one lost.
He lived and died for sinful men, and paid the awful cost.
Oh praise Him all ye chosen ones, as long as you shall live,
Delighting in His mercy, and to Him the glory give!

While reading back through this poem the following day, which was a Saturday morning, a Celtic type tune came to mind and thus the original poem took on a slight alteration and became a new song which was recorded and sung prior to preaching the following day at Atria El Camino Gardens.

Supplies From Heaven’s Throne

Michael E. Wood

December 1, 2011

I must confess that I grow weary

In this world of sin,

But Praise His Name, God uses this

To help me and depend

On Him alone, who Is my strength

And bids me seek His face

To know Him better by the power

Of  His Spirit’s grace,

Of which He promised and provides

Through Christ who did atone

For all my sins by precious blood

To make me all His own.

What more then could I ask for

But to make His glory known

And trust Him for the grace that He

Supplies from heaven’s throne.

For though I witness daily the

Great darkness of the lost,

Oh help me Father to uphold

The matchless, glorious cost

Of which You did determine

By the counsel of Your will

To redeem a remnant for

Your praise and shall fulfill.

And though You need not anything

Of which we can supply,

It is of Your good pleasure while

We breathe, that we might cry

Out as trumpets, as Your voice

Is heard in every land,

Rejoicing in the victory

You have wrought by Your right hand.

And when the day is ended

All the ransomed will then bless

Our God and Father, Jesus Christ

Who is our righteousness!

Our Great Shalom

Michael E. Wood
November 28, 2011

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
 2 Corinthians 3:16-18

So often we are tempted to
Now trust in things we know,
When in truth, tis only Christ
By which we learn and grow.

The turning by God’s pleasure
Of our hearts which once were veiled
Continues to bring great delight
In Christ who has prevailed
O’er hardened hearts and minds
Which could not see beyond the law
And worship Him in truth,
As He indeed is LORD of all.

For by His Holy Spirit
We can look now to His face
In every word transcribed
To see the glory of His grace.

And thus the more we see Him,
More like Him we want to be,
Who called us and transforms us;
For this freedom, we’re made free!

And more abundance He shall give
As in Him we delight,
From glory unto glory
Till we stand in perfect light,
Rejoicing in His presence
As in awe, we’ll be at home,
To glorify the One who was
And is our Great Shalom!

In Solitude God Doth Provide

Michael E. Wood
November 10, 2011

In solitude God doth provide
The things that we have need of
And teaches us to look to Him
Whose bounty from above
Doth feed our souls with fatness
Which is found in Christ alone;
The marrow of His gladness
Which doth strengthen every bone
Of which cannot be broken
As we reap the benefit
Of the death that Jesus died
To make us every wit,
The children of His promise
As He guards each step toward home
Though now on earth we find within
Our spirit that we groan
To be swallowed up of life;
The burden of this tent,
Secured and guaranteed to us;
His Spirit He has sent
To take good courage as we walk
By faith and not by sight.
We make our aim to please Him
By the power of His might!

Christ Doth Reign From Heaven Above

Michael Wood
November 7, 2011

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
Psalms 105:5, 6

As God is gracious as a Father and knows what things we have need of, He may at times choose to withdraw a portion of His sensible presence to prove His faithfulness amidst the infirmities of our flesh. Oh how easily we are distracted at times by the things we hear, the things we see, and the things we feel, not to mention the fact that when we are called to take a new step of faith in the declaration of His Word by the life we live and the words we say, you can absolutely count on the fact that we will draw enemy fire both from within and without. Some times we may even draw what could be called friendly fire from those who judge according to fleshly observations based on preconceived ideology taught by the traditions of men rather than after the working of the manifold grace of God; Who gives to each of us according to the good pleasure of His will. Well did the song writer say, “Oh to grace, how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be, Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee!”

Thus it behooves us to take Him at His Word, and remember the wondrous works that He has done. For He that hath begun a good work in you shall perform it till the day of Christ! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

In times when You withdraw from me,
I feel my need more keen
To look into Your Holy Book
To see what I have seen
Of all the goodness You have shown
Throughout the course of time,
By miracles and wondrous works
Confirming all of Thine.


For You have uttered judgments
For the offspring and the seed
Of Abraham, Your chosen ones
In whom You are well pleased;
As only in the righteousness
Of Christ are we adorned
To come before the throne of grace
For mercy as those born
To proclaim Your glory
As Your praises we shall sing
Throughout eternity by Him
Who Is our Offering!


So in the early morning
And throughout the passing day
Oh strengthen us to see Your hand
At work in every way
Of which You choose to show
Through us the miracle of love,
That all may see that You, O Christ
Doth reign from heaven above.

Your Covenant Secures

Michael E. Wood
November 1, 2011

He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, Psalm 105:8, 9

While God as a Father calls us to be responsible and to remember the mighty works that He has done throughout human history as well as within our hearts by His Spirit, He likewise knows the infirmity of our flesh which often includes a short memory span. I am so thankful that we live in a day in which we are privileged to have the written Word of God in its entirety at our disposal here in America, whereby we are enabled to stir up the gift of God that is within us by way of remembrance. But even more thankful am I that He is not dependant upon our memory to fulfill His covenant promises through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank You that Your memory
Is better than my own
And that Your covenant secures
Sure mercies from Your throne
For when my heart condemns me
For the sins that I have sinned,
My confidence comes from Your Word
And Spirit now within.


And You are so much greater
Than my heart or anything
That would seek to separate me
From the loving Spring
Of which You are and showed to us
When Christ; His life laid down
That we may stand alone in Him
Who Is the solid ground,
And stabilizes every step
As we follow in His train,
By grace through faith as He
Our Master over us doth reign.

To Serve Before Your Throne

Michael E. Wood
November 1, 2011

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:9-13.

When the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ shines within our hearts, the true grace that is given is not perceived by those which are in the world and the depths of that work is not always discerned immediately by others whom God has called unto Himself. Thus a part of the working out of our salvation may often mean undergoing a type of rejection or “waiting period” from God’s own people. Even the apostle Paul as noted in the scriptures was given the task to defend the authority that had been given him by God to the saints as well as the other apostles. To be well known and yet unknown for the glory of God is the task we are often called to, and thus in humble submission to the will of Him that does all things well, “Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the LORD!

He came unto His own and His own received Him not.
They did not know the work of God that by Him would wrought.
And blind as they are we, until we humbly bow the knee,
And subject ourselves unto the King at Calvary.

And this we could not do apart from sovereign grace
Which shined within our hearts to see the light of Jesus face.

Should we then be surprised, if against us should then rise
The same contending spirits who did witness with their eyes
That God as One had come to us. The person of His Son,
Incarnate in the flesh, and on the cross our vict’ry won.

He sent to us His Holy Spirit and though the battle rage,
The Captain of our souls doth by His Word teach us to wage
The warfare here on earth that will render honor due
To God alone and glorify our Savior Jesus too!

Oh help us then to know the things You teach about our self,
That we may know the healing balm and glory of Thy wealth,
Of which You freely give, as we to You, our Father cry
For grace with full assurance of Your mercies as we fly
With wings like eagles as we mount upon Your strength alone,
Renewed in faith as those who wait to serve before Your throne.