Grace From Heaven’s Throne

Michael E. Wood

July 13, 2011

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

This past week I have had the pleasure of both preaching from Psalm 19 along with the continuation of reading through Studies in The Sermon on The Mount by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.  Lloyd-Jones quotes George Muller as writing the following, There was a day when I died, utterly dead, died to George Muller and his opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame of even my brethren and friends; and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.

Thus the following thoughts in prayer came to mind...

Much more than what I say or do

Lord, make my heart more true

That even in my thoughts intent

All praise will go to you.

For as You search me; painfully

I must confess that now

I see more need to die to self

And only You know how

To lead me by Your Spirit

And the words that I now hear

To walk in all true holiness

And live with You in fear.

Thank You for the fact that

Not a moment do You leave

But work to cleanse me from my sin

And more than I perceive.

And though at times it seems

That only tears You give for meat,

The blessing surely follows

As You guide me to complete

The work that You began

When first You brought me to the cross

To see my sin you carried

And exchanged eternal loss

For the life that I now live

With no claim of my own

But ask that You would fill me more

With grace from heaven’s throne

Sparks of Praise Continued: Remembrances, Part 3

April 22, 2011

Thoughts on Mortification of sin:

We must not be concerned only of ourselves, but our concern must be for God.

Why do you seek to mortify “this sin”?  Because it troubles you and takes away your peace?

Yes, but you have neglected prayer and reading? Vain and loose is your conversation with other things? Jesus Christ bled for these also! Why do you not set yourself against them?

“We must hate all sin as sin and not just that which troubles us. Love for Christ because He went to the cross and hate for sin that sent Him there is the solid foundation for true spiritual mortification. To seek mortification only because a sin troubles us proceeds from self-love.” John Owen

As every day we celebrate

Our risen Lord and Savior,

His glory is made manifest

By praise and our behavior.

May 29, 2011

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.  “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ Revelation 2:1-7

 Upon preaching a message from the proceeding passage, Pastor Robert Briggs made the first statement below and I simply finished it with poetry.

Local churches come and go

And yet the Church will stand.

For Christ has purchased all

Appointed by the Father’s hand.

June 19, 2011

Give grace to sow beside all waters

That the fruit of sons and daughters

May be seen around Your table

By Christ Jesus who is able

To present before the Presence

Of Your glory and Excellence

As faultless with exceeding joy

The ones You kept to show Your glory!

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. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12, 13

Do you worship approval; acceptance of others,

Or true to our God and the sake of our brothers,

Lay down your life by the faith of our Lord,

That He may gain praise: He alone is adored?

Sparks of Praise Continued: Remembrances 2011

Michael E. Wood

March 3, 2011

Though I be a lesser light

Than those now gone before,

My aim with sincere faith remains

The same as those of yore.

For as I have been chosen

To reflect the Greatest Light,

May God be glorified in me

Through Christ who gave me sight.

March 25, 2011

Can you say that you were saved

When for sin is what you craved

With no thought for God to honor,

His Holy Name, you brought dishonor.

Satan’s strong to make pervert

The scriptures to those not alert

And his poison thus remains

Flowing freely in the veins,

Diluting all who in their pride

Walk the way that’s broad and wide.

March 27, 2011

 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,  even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:15-18

 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.   All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."  John 16:12-15

Pastor Robert Briggs preached, “The Central Aspect of The Spirit’s Ministry in the Life of the Believer as Spoken by Christ.”

Oh One who now declares the truth

Of all we have by grace

Received to know and love the Light

Of Glory’s Precious Face.

Oh come and tell us more afresh

Of what we now can bear

That Jesus may be magnified

As life in Him we share.

Sparks of Praise: Remembrances 2010 – Part One

Michael E. Wood

With increased opportunities and responsibilities of being used as a vessel of mercy through which I trust the Spirit of God is writing the truth of the gospel upon the hearts of men and women unto the glory of God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, I am likewise finding it more difficult to maintain the pace of writing poetry of which I once enjoyed. Working on memorizing some of the songs that have been previously given also takes a toll on having time to devote to new writing, but with the added blessing of being able to have the capacity for recall has its own set of benefits as well.

There are many times that a couple of lines of praise or prayer may come to mind in the form of poetry, but I do not have the time to write them down and sometimes I am just plain lazy. There are yet other times a desire for excellence is given and thus delay putting pen to paper. With that said, there have been a number of times that a simple spark of praise has been given over the past couple of years that have been written down with the intent of writing more later. Since it seems that I may never get around to expanding upon these, we thought we would simply publish them as is, so that they would be included in our books of remembrances. So then, the next few posts will be entitled, “Sparks of Praise; Remembrances”

July 15, 2010

I will delight in who You are,

Oh You who are my God

For all in love You do for me

Though chastened by Your rod.

For You know best, withholding not

To show Your loving favor

To make me more like Christ my King,

Who is my Lord and Savior.

Instruments of Righteousness

August 1, 2010

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.  Romans 6:13

Trombone, guitar, and piccolo

Engaged by Christ, His glory show

In harmony let all proclaim

The splendor of our Savior’s name.

As God our Father orchestrates

Our hearts, while Him we contemplate;

Oh by His mighty Spirit sound

The name of Jesus with renown.

The Knowledge of How Great Thou Art!

Michael E. Wood

June 18, 2012

The following is part of a post you can find on the Gospel Coalition blog, written by Paul Tripp, June 3, 2012

No Longer Amazed by Grace

“He spoke matter-of-factly, probably not understanding the significance of his words, but I couldn't get them out of my head. He was the head of a national ministry. We were in a meeting talking about ministry partnership. I was sharing my excitement over what I saw happening in the church around the world, and he said, "I don't think anything excites me anymore." It wasn't my place to respond, but I immediately thought, You better be excited, you are leading a ministry, and if you can't get your excitement back, maybe you shouldn't be doing what you're doing. He had lost his excitement, left only with duty to do the repetitive business of ministry day after day. What a sad and dangerous place to be!

Perhaps it begins in seminary with the up-close examination of faith. Perhaps there is a moment when the glory of God just doesn't seem all that glorious anymore. Perhaps living in the middle of a theological community begins to dull my excitement and numb my amazement. Perhaps the Bible gets reduced to little more than a theological manual. Perhaps even God himself becomes more an object of study than the Lord of glory.”

Upon reading the above article in its entirety along with Paul’s post from June 17, entitled The Motivation Behind Every Thing We Say and Do, the following words came to mind.

Oh help us more by You be awed

In holy reverence more enthralled

To know and love You as we ought,

Reflecting Christ by whom we’re brought

To see Your presence new each day

As darkness flees with each new ray

Of light cascading from the sky

Into our hearts by Your own eye

And melting all remains of sin,

As holiness now dwells within,

As by Your Spirit You impart

The knowledge of How Great Thou Art!

Oh Father thank You for the wealth

Of Christ within; renewing health

To praise You more in every thought

As sin and self is brought to naught;

As more consumed we are with Thee

Our passions rise that glory be

Forevermore to You displayed

By what we do and what we say.

And though we fail now miser’bly

Our hope and trust resides in Thee,

Who by Your pleasure we are blessed

By grace through faith in peace; and rest

In knowing You alone impart

The knowledge of How Great Thou Art!

Thy Kingdom Come

Michael E. Wood

June 13, 2012

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

As the schedule of which I am being called to keep is becoming increasingly busy, I rejoice in the opportunity to be used as a vessel through which the Holy Spirit may write the truth of the gospel on the hearts of men and women. A certain by-product of this usage seems to be having less time for the writing on paper of new poetry and songs, as the flow is reduced by the lack of time to devote as the output of the things which are given are more keenly developed for the purpose of direct deposit into the lives of those that are in need at the present, rather than those that are yet to come. Never the less, while contemplating the current course of study concerning the model prayer as instructed by our Lord, the following came to mind.

Thy kingdom come, Oh Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Oh help us embrace Thy truth in the face

Of glory in Christ as the leaven

At work in this dough, Your presence to show

His image though now but a taste,

That others may see, to Him glory be

Preparing His bride as the chaste

Virgin with whom, shall overcome doom

When comes then the end of the age

And shine as the sun, as all will be done

In Him who did for us engage

God’s wrath by His cross, to save us from loss

Which would be our due for our sin,

But clothed us in blood, His mercy the flood

Of righteousness filling within

Each day; this will last, as eternity past

Will come to fruition by Him

On whom we will gaze, forever amazed

As we praise Him in song and in hymn.

He delighted to join us with them.

Happy Birthday United States of America

Michael E. Wood

July 3, 2012

I do not consider myself a pessimist, but rather an optimist and yet, at the same time, a realist.  Though I am thankful for this great nation of which we have tremendous privileges, it is yet painful to be a witness of what may very well be its soon demise apart from God sending revival.

Two hundred, thirty-six years ago

Is like unto just a few hours,

As God ordained this nation to raise

To become one of world powers.

And Oh what agony first was then felt

As He brought it then into birth

And grew it strong, as many did long

To show forth His blessing and worth.

And time marches on, as it crumbles and falls

As covetous idols can not

Feed all the greed of its people so vast

As God over all we forgot.

With so many forms of religion and freedom,

Perverse blinding darkness prevails,

As true to his task, the great Serpent offers

Peace but not peace that entails

The honor and glory that is due only

To Christ and to all by His grace

Who in Him are found, raised from the grave

Of our sin by the light of His face

Which shines forth the glory of God over all,

As He made us salt and the light

Of this present world till He comes again

And then there will be no more night.

Revive us again as You have in the past.

Give grace to stand firm to the end

And trust in You only to guard and to guide us

By Your Spirit in whom we depend

To work all together for good and Your glory

While looking to Jesus alone

Who suffered to free us to worship You freely

As He for our sin did atone.

Oh Father in heaven, may Your kingdom come,

May Your will be done on the earth

As now in heaven, when You make all new

And show forth Your fullness and worth!