Sparks of Praise

Michael E. Wood

September 21, 2012

Oh who but God could come as man

And manifest the Fathers plan

Born out of such a Sovereign love,

So High and Holy from above?

September 24, 2012

Do you read the Word of God

For joy or just for duty?

Do you see in it the grace

Of Him who is our beauty?

October 12, 2012

Have you not heard, have you not seen

The will of Him on whom we lean

As He leads forth through Holy Script

To walk by faith in what is writ

To grow in love where grace abounds

By actions where the joyful sounds

Of praise to Christ is more increased

As those imprisoned are released

From sin when by the Spirit born

To glorify Him as adorned

With all the fullness that He gives

To know and show by life, He Lives!

A Soul Left From This Earth Today

Michael E. Wood

October 4, 2012

Upon completion of the service held in the Alzheimer’s Unit at Atria, one of the employees approached me and said that one of the residents was in her final moments here on earth and asked if I would come and pray with them. Upon responding in the affirmative we began to walk down the hall, and I could hear coming from the room the words and music of “It is Well With My Soul”.  With so much more to tell than what I will convey through prose, thoughts of Elizabeth taking her last breath stayed with me throughout the evening until finally I found myself sitting at the table as the following came to mind.

A soul left from this earth today as I stood there close by,

The body quaked as friends were near until the final sigh.

Some hymns were sung for comfort and then from the Bible read

Was the Psalm called twenty-three, as God the Spirit led

To speak in those last moments of the Shepherd of my soul,

Who calms our fear and comforts as He leads by His control

Through all the days of life on earth for all who are His own

And brings them safe to final rest in His eternal home.

Oh think not or imagine that this day will pass you by

As all will face the Judgment; as appointed once to die.

Oh make all preparation, but one thing, Oh do not miss,

The place called Calvary where righteousness and peace did kiss.

For all the work was finished, and forgiveness is now owned

By all who trust in Jesus Christ, whose blood there has atoned

As the only way in which Gods wrath is satisfied

And demonstrates His love for us which cannot be denied.

And though not one is worthy, but He chose for His own sake

To redeem a remnant by His grace and to partake

Of all that He has promised by His covenantal will

To display His glory by the cross of Calvary’s hill!

All for Your Name, O LORD!

Michael E. Wood

October 3-6, 2012

For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Psalm 25:11

While reading through Psalm 25 in preparations for preaching in the Alzheimer’s Unit at Atria, the music for “Faith is the Victory” came to mind.  The words of this Psalm seem to fit the melody for the most part and I began to write. While in the progression, I was reminded that the scriptures of the Old Testament were intended to point us to Christ and the power of the gospel. Thus a new song to an old tune with a slight nuance in the chorus was formulated.

One might also notice that the priority in our salvation is to magnify the glory of God.

To You, O LORD, I lift my soul,

My God in You I trust.

O let me not be put to shame.

Give grace to kill my lusts,

Which yet remain as enemies,

And would exult o’er me,

But to Thy cross I cling, O LORD,

Through which you set me free.

(Chorus)

All for Your Name, O LORD!

All for Your Name, O LORD!

How great Your glory is displayed

By Christ who set me free.

Remember mercy, steadfast love,

For they have been of old.

Remember not my sins of youth

Or my transgressions bold.

According to Your loyal love,

O LORD, remember me.

And for Your goodness sake, O LORD,

O hear my humble plea.

(Chorus)

His secret counsel He reveals

To those who are His own

And comforts us when we may feel

That we are all alone.

For He has promised by His Spirit

He would never leave,

And gives to us experience

That He to us doth cleave.

(2^nd Chorus)

All for Your Name, O LORD!

All for Your Name, O LORD!

How great Your glory is displayed

By Christ who set us free.

Oh who is he who fears the LORD,

For he the LORD will teach,

By providence and covenant

His soul will be made rich.

His offspring shall inherit the

Great Promise of the land,

Which comes by faith with all the pow’r

The gospel gives to stand.

(2^nd Chorus)

The gospel is the power of God

To save us from our sin

And by the grace of Jesus Christ

We’re made to enter in.

Not of ourselves, for we were dead,

And hopeless without thought,

But by His blood we’re purchased as

The trophies He hath bought,

(2^nd Chorus)

He That Waters Others

Michael E. Wood

September 28, 2012

Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. Proverbs 11:25

I am often amazed at how the Holy Spirit brings the word of God to mind, and then likewise gives words of praise and instruction for encouragement to stand fast in the faith, knowing that our labor is not in vain, in the Lord. 

Evaluate the place that God has placed you in and see

That he that waters others will be watered and will be

A vessel and a channel of our Fathers loving will

To show Himself so infinite to water others still.

For as the Promise of the Father and the Son now brings

Refreshing water as the Spirit to our heart now sings

Of all He is to fill us with Himself and overflow

To magnify the Precious Gift that others will then know

That Jesus is the Mighty One who came to earth to save

A remnant by His cross and resurrection from the grave.

So be steadfast and hold the line by grace through faith unfeign

And know that in the work you do, it shall not be in vain.

For in the time to come when all of life is said and done,

We shall rejoice as the reward of Jesus Christ, the Son!

The Son Now Casts the Shadows

Michael E. Wood

September 18-19, 2012

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:5-8

What began as a simple thought concerning the goodness and pleasure of God to give us that which we have need of to serve Him with joy, was expanded upon while contemplating how He might work in the lives of others.

When I visit those whom the Lord has appointed to my care in the assisted living facilities, there are times when I know well in advance what I will be sharing from His word and believe it to be that which He has in mind.  There are other times that I have no idea until I get there. And then there are times that He gives to me that which will be the focus shortly before I head out.

God is faithful to bring His Word to bear by His Spirit. Some times I can be distracted by focusing more on what I perceive to be the duties that I have been called to rather than the One who has not only called but prepares my heart and sends me forth.

The first stanza of the following poem is an expression of that line of thought and was written on the 18^th of September.   On the 19^th, as I sat out on our balcony with the sun rising in the early morning, I noticed how the shadow of the leaves of a large oak could be seen on the screen directly in my view. Suddenly the shadows began to move and the rest of the poem flowed from there as the Spirit of the Lord brought the passage from John 3 to mind in preparation for the visit that I would be making in a short time.

My original thought had been to share a passage from the book of 1^st Peter as an encouragement to a dear saint in her later years, but upon arrival at the facility we found that another one of the residents came outside where we were meeting in the cool of the morning with a slight breeze blowing.  Ann smiled as I began to speak of the new birth and the way in which the Spirit of God works as the other resident sat nearby listening in.

How oft we in the quagmire of our duties lose the sight

Of the power and the glory and the beauty of Thy might

For when our focus stumbles in the things we think or do

We forget that freely given are the things that pleaseth You.

The Son now casts the shadows through His trees upon the ground

And sows the seeds of faith by grace that He alone be found

To be the only Savior sent from God to be believed.

He is the only answer to our sin and to our need.

Through shadows cast You show the movement of Your Spirit here

That we may know Your presence and then walk with godly fear

With hope in the assurance that by faith You will then use

Our lives a living sacrifice, that others may peruse

The mighty wonders of Your grace through which You will then save

All those whom You appointed by the Son of whom You gave

To take our place, as wrath was spent on him instead of us

That all may know that Christ is He who is all glorious!

“Without books a man may learn much by keeping his eyes open…Every flower is waiting to teach you…Sermons glisten in the morning on every blade of grass, and homilies fly by you as the sere leaves fall from every tree. A forest is a library, a cornfield is a volume of philosophy, the rock is a history, and the river at its base a poem. Go, thou who hast eyes opened, and find lessons of wisdom everywhere, in heaven above, in the earth beneath, and in the waters under the earth. Books are poor things compared with these.” C.H.Spurgeon,” Lectures to My Students”