Stir My Heart to Comply!

Written in 1662 in Bedford gaol (jail), John Bunyan described prayer as being, "a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to His Word, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God".

And thus without intent to be a guide in anyway; but, to simply share the intents of my heart in the process of learning to pray and sharing through the express gift of the thoughts being implanted by the mind of the Spirit of grace and supplications through the vent of poetry given to me of which I trust that God for His good pleasure will use to resonate in the hearts of those who seek Him. For without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. ( Hebrews 11:6)

Clothed by the blood of the crucified One,
I come to You Father Who made me Your son.
United to Christ by Your Sovereign election,
Converted, enlightened by Your Spirit's selection.

And thus by Your Word here in prayer come now I
And ask that You quicken, stir my heart to comply
With all You have purposed by Your strength to prevail
Through Christ, who in inapproachable light dwells.

So now I come poor, and yet trust in Your Promise
That You will make rich by Your Spirit upon us.
Great grace please now give to Your saints whom You touch,
The apple of Your eye, whom You love so much.

And cause them to stand in the midst of temptation
And get Yourself glory through their tribulation.
Provide for their needs as the lilies and birds,
For You own the cattle of thousands of herds.

And give them the wisdom to walk in Your light,
And power to put all of Your enemies to flight.
Your Kingdom advance by Your seed that we sow,
By the power of Your Spirit and cause it to grow.

And show forth the power of Your Word to command
To the praise of Your glory, by Christ, Your right hand.
In all that we ask, we submit to Your will,
For our good and Your glory, You work by Your skill.

All praise we now give by Your strength not to falter
Lay all at Your feet and our life on the altar
And thus by Christ' Name, we leave all now to You
For You are our peace and our Great Comfort too!


Michael E. Wood
July 28, 2010

We Thank You and Praise You for All You will Do!

While perusing through a notebook, of which I normally take notes while listening to the public preaching of the Word of God, I came across this little poem of which I had written on my wedding day to my beloved Dianna. Whereas we would be making a cross country trip to California leaving out at 6:00a.m. the morning after our wedding, the car was already packed including the computer, and thus I am happily reminded that though we may forget, God never forgets the prayers of His people, as we are led by His Spirit to ask in accordance with His revealed will, believing that He will assuredly answer for His Own glory and praise.

What excitement fills my mind as I rejoice in the remembrance of that day, of which has come and gone, and yet the purpose of Almighty God for the exaltation of the Precious Name of Jesus grows with clarity each new passing day, as together we seek first the kingdom of God and His glory, entrusting that He will add everything we have need of to fulfill His purpose for us, just as He has promised, to that end.

This is our prayer of which we trust that we will see fruit in the redemption of souls, and the building up of the body of Christ; not only as a result of the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified on that day, but continually until we see Him in glory.

Oh Father in heaven whose rain You now bring,
The shimmer of light in all heavenly things.
For even amidst our most sweet earthly joy
We plead that in Christ, You show forth all Your glory!

Oh would You be pleased in this day You anointed,
To fill up the vision of all You appointed
To come to the cross, as in Jesus we see,
Your wonder and power with all clarity.

Not one now deserveth because of our sin,
And yet by Your mercy we may enter in--
That we may gain grace to attend every need;
To wait upon You as we follow Your lead.

Oh help us be quick and discerning in all,
As humbly we lay our petitions and fall--
Now prostrate before You and trust in Your will,
To use now our weakness, by Your Spirit to fill--

Up with all confidence by Your Word to provide
The means of all grace, as in Jesus we hide.
These things we now ask for we know You are True
And thank You and praise You for all you will do.

In Jesus Name, Amen!

Michael E. Wood
May 18, 2010 (The day of our Wedding - 1:25 am-5:20 am)

Be Glory There!

According to 2nd Thessalonians 1:10, one of the great awesome wonders for the followers of Christ upon His return, is the fact that when He comes on that day, He will be glorified "in His saints, and will be marveled at among all who have believed". What a glorious day that will be indeed, to be completely sanctified by the Spirit of God, conformed to the image of Christ, living in the midst of the new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, as partakers of the glory which shall be revealed. Hallelujah! What a Savior! To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity! Amen!

Be Glory There!
Lyrics & Music by Michael E. Wood

May Christ by His grace
In our life now impart
His sweet testimony
Rejoicing our heart.
That we for His glory
His cross we shall bear
Til He in us marveled at
Be glory there!

(Chorus)
Be glory there! Be glory there!
Christ in us marveled at
Be glory there!

Be glory there! Be glory there!
Christ in us marveled at
Be glory there!

We pray to this end
That our God will make you,
His calling then worthy
As all He subdues,
With every good work
In His power by faith done
In you through the Name
Of the glorified One!

(Chorus)

Oh be not now shaken
Or faint in your mind.
The grace of our God
All sufficient you'll find,
As He is now in you
And you in Him too;
Our Lord Jesus Christ
Glorified then in you.

(Chorus)

Hold now to Him
Who now holds on to you.
For He is our confidence,
Steadfastness too.
Direct now our hearts
O God by Your sweet love,
Til with Christ in glory
We're seen then above.

(Chorus)

When on that day
As His saints glorified,
Beholding His face
Who was once crucified
We then as He is,
His likeness shall be,
Proclaiming forever
His great majesty!

(Chorus)

His Great Congregation

In Paul's letter to Pastor Titus, addressing the stewardship of God entrusted to the saints, there is a heavy premium placed upon the manner in which we live and do our work both in private and in the public arena as a reflection of the work of grace that has translated us out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light, and thus with much delight in being pleasing to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and having a view to be ready to give an answer to every man that asks of the reason of the hope that is within us with meekness and fear, we are to be as they, " ...showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior." (Titus 2:10) And thus we are to let our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven!

In everything, may by grace we adorn
The doctrine of God; our Dear Savior.
That through our lives, we may preach Christ--
Who Is our Sweet Source of behavior.

May our primary thought in all that we are
Be for the Kingdom's advancement.
For the glory of God in all that we do
Will show forth His Nature's enhancement.

For just like all men, we were in sin
With no hope or the power to save us,
But Christ gave us life by His sacrifice--
By grace then through faith, we will trust,

As we live in His Spirit, let us walk close to Him,
Whose power brings life from the dead.
Speak truth then in love, as we'll answer above--
May no words be then left then unsaid.

For His Promise is now, and this is the day
In which He may bring forth salvation;
To those who are close, by the Sweet Holy Ghost
To make up His great congregation.

Oh pray then, Oh pray, for this is the means
God chose by His will to conceive.
And He, for His glory, will speak forth His story
And cause men in Him to believe.

Michael E. Wood
July 27, 2010

The Romans Project (Part Six & Seven)

Romans 5:12-14 (3:07 p.m. 7/3/10)

Once in Adam we all were dead
In him who sinned, our federal head.
And all from glory short we fell,
Our just dessert would then be hell!

For through one man, death came through sin.
Death spread to all, for all have sinned.
Into this world sin came indeed
When man had not a single need.

For God made Adam pure and perfect,
And yet they* bowed unto the serpent.
Both* doubted, denied God's Word they did,
Transgressed His Word and from Him hid.

His blood now runs through all our veins,
This ill-repute to our God Who reigns.
Though sin's not counted where there is no law,
Sin did indeed bring forth our fall.

And death from Adam to Moses reigned
Though all like Adam sinned not the same.
And he was like one yet to come,
The Son of God, The Righteous One!

*(they and both refer to Adam and Eve, as Genesis 5:1,2 states,"This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; Male and female created He them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created")

Romans 5:15-17 (8:16 a.m.-4:09 p.m. 7/26/10)

Oh come let us see the wondrous comparison
In awe of the Greatness of God; His compassion.
For if many have died through the one man's trespass,
Much more we have grace through The One Man now access.
,
To come to the Father, by the free gift of grace,
The light of the glory of God in the face
Of Jesus who brought to us justification,
Exchanged for the judgment which brought condemnation.

For not as one trespass, much more the free gift,
Through the abundance of grace by That One Man uplift,
Though by Adam's one sin we were spiritually dead,
We reign now in life by Christ Jesus our Head!

Oh can we now fathom and value the cross
As all men in one man brought infinite loss.
The free gift of righteousness through Jesus came
As He bore our wrath and the infinite blame.

Oh Father now help us, Your glory, our gain,
To magnify Jesus, for all else is vain.
For the free gift that followed our many trespasses
As the praise of the grace of Your glory surpasses,

The great reign of death by which we were held
Through The One Man Christ Jesus it's grip was dispelled.
The free gift much more than our words have conveyed,
Tis Your pleasure, Oh God, by which we are saved!

Michael E. Wood

Have You Grown Indifferent?

Upon reading a series of messages by Charles Haddon Spurgeon on soul winning and coming to one entitled, "SOUL-SAVING OUR ONE BUSINESS", based upon 1st Corinthians 9:22, "That I might by all means save some", the following poem came to mind, with some preceding thoughts to consider.

With a clear understanding that salvation is of the LORD! That it is He, according to the good pleasure of His will, having chosen us from the foundation of the world, who are the called according to His Own purpose and grace to bring us by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the gospel into a saving relationship with Himself for His Own glory, it is yet incumbent upon us to remember the rock from which we were hewn and the pit from which we were dug. He has called us who make up His church, while we are here on earth, to preach the good news of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, making disciples of every nation unto the glory of God!

With that in mind, the following are a few excerpts from that message by C. H. Spurgeon:


"The expression used gives great prominence to instrumentality, and this is the wont of scripture."

"It has pleased God to save souls by His people, and therefore He places in them a sacred longing by all means to save some."


"...the Lord has implanted in the heart of all genuine believers a passion for the salvation of souls: in some this is more lively than others."


"...He knows best how to glorify His Own Name. He puts a longing to save others into our souls, that He may get glory by using us, even us who have little fitness for such work except this passion which He has implanted in our breasts."

"Lo, God has given to His church the work of conquering the world, the plucking of brands from the burning, the feeding of His sheep and lambs, and this it is which trains the church to deeds of daring and to nobility of soul."

"Unquestionably the Lord will see that His Own elect are called in due season, but He will do this by the preaching or teaching of the Word."

"...if you have grown indifferent to the conversion of those around you, search out the secret reason, find what is the worm at the root of your piety, and in the Name of Christ seek to be delivered therefrom."

Oh does God's passion in you rise
To lay up souls beyond the skies.
For by His glory He instills
A broken heart to sow the fields,

Of men who are as once you were,
Whose chief desire was to self-serve.
And blinded by their lust and sin
Will not receive God's Son within,

Their hardened hearts with which they're born
With only thoughts of God with scorn.
And yet for us the Savior died
And cried forgive when crucified,

And by His Spirit we were born
To praise Him, Who we once had torn.
It was our sins which held the whip,
And from His back His flesh did rip,

And plunged the spear into the side
Of Christ by Whom we're sanctified.
For by His blood we are made fit
To preach by faith and Holy Writ.

For we know not who are elect
But preach Christ, Who will then perfect
A holy people unto the praise
Of God who from the dead did raise

The church to be His instrument
To preach the truth, that men repent,
And turn them to our God above
And praise Him for His endless love.

Michael E. Wood
July 24, 2010

Precious Crumbs

The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands. Psalm 138:8

Psalm 145:3,4 Great Is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and His Greatness Is Unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare Your Mighty Acts.
Oh what great and precious promises we have through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ both of the life that now is and of the one to come. Insofar as we are enabled to see we have been purchased with the precious blood of Christ, and He is the same yesterday, today and forever, then we are likewise enabled to see the glory of that which He has accomplished in us by grace through faith in the finished work of His cross for the increase of His kingdom beyond our own understanding and the years of our existence on earth. Thus we are to sow the Word of Truth beside all waters by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, as we live, entrusting that God for His Own glory will fulfill His purpose for us whether by life or by death.

Oh do we not by faith preach truth
To souls beyond our years.
For Christ alone, speaks from the throne
To overcome all fears.

And if we be but precious crumbs
Dropped from our Master's table.
Broken and blessed, we shall be used
To speak them loud as Able.

To feed a multitude so numerous
Beyond the sight of eyes,
Immortal with the KING of kings,
Who was and Is our Prize!

And as we follow in His train
With those gone now before,
Our shouts of Hallelujah ring
Til then on Heaven's shore--

We see His face, Whose Sweet Perfume
We smelled while in this life,
Through death rejoice we, through the blood
Of Christ our Sacrifice!

And when as voices from the past
You find us present there,
We bid you from the Smiling Face
Of Christ, Who's gentle care--

Will strengthen you to see by faith
The Wonders of His Love,
As all through life He carries you
With eagles wings above.

Michael E. Wood
July 21, 2010