Blessings From Very Light Afflictions - Part 7

Michael E. Wood

July 13, 2011

While the present series does not encompass all of the blessings received to my heart from the Lord during recent days while waiting for what I trust will be full temporary recovery from my back injury, my desire is that He will use the things He has given me to be an encouragement to others and most of all that He will be glorified therein. Thus with prayer and praise we look to Him who was, and Is, and is to come! To Whom be glory both now and forevermore. Amen!

Closing Prayer and Praise!

The glories of Your grace,
Enlightened by the knowledge

That we soon will see Your face;

Oh help us to be bold

And speak the truth in love,

Dependant on Your Holy Spirit’s

Power to unfold

The mystery of the cross

Of which You bore alone,

O Christ, redeeming all You chose

From great eternal loss.

For in Your train we follow now,

As justified, forgiven,

Till all the earth shall know

And every knee before You bow.

After reading the following to my beloved Dianna, she said, "That sounds like a song". I smiled and said, “We’ll see.”

Oh when we fail to notice

As our mem’ry is so weak,

We trust in You that every step

From slipping You will keep.

As all for Your great honor,

Oh help us to be true

And by Your Holy Spirit’s power;

Christ give glory to

Your precious Name, as it alone

Is worthy of all praise

And by the power of Your blood,

We stand, forgiven, raised,

Rejoicing in the privilege;

The called and justified,

As grace through faith You gave to live

Till with You glorified!

Blessings From Very Light Afflictions - Part 6

Michael E. Wood
July 13, 2011

Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.


How oft do we think of afflictions as being those things which we suffer physically in the body or emotionally in our minds?

While having not the slightest intention of belittling those things, and am becoming all the more familiar with bodily afflictions as I grow older, the things that bother me most are those things I find remaining in me revealed by the Holy Spirit through the scriptures and the holiness of God Himself in the person of Christ.

The slowness and deception of my own heart and mind to grasp and to speak the realities of the One true God by the power of His Spirit unto His glory would be disheartening at times to the point of exasperation apart from His free grace. But God in His infinite wisdom gives peace through the blood of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and causes us to rejoice in every tribulation with hope and assurance that in all things He will be glorified. In steadfast love and faithfulness, He walks with us and He talks with us, reminding us that we are His to do with as He will. And He who has begun a good work in us will continue to do so till the day of Christ. He is our life; we are hidden in Him, and all for the purpose of His infinite glory. Amen!

Heaven We Foretaste

Afflictions of the heart
And afflictions of the mind
Are places all God’s children
Will in Him true comfort find.


For as we drink the cup
In earnest looking up
To Him Who Is our peace
And bids us to Him come and sup


Of resurrection power,
He is each passing hour
And gives the fruit of joy
Which comes from each new budding flower.


And in them we do taste
That nothing is a waste
He uses as in sweet communion
Heaven we foretaste

Blessings From Very Light Afflictions - Part Five

Michael E. Wood
July 8, 2011

Often when I am given a new poem, my immediate desire is to share what I have been given with my beloved Dianna as soon as possible. Upon calling her and reading to her the poem from the previous post, I said, “Why is God so good to me?”, and then, “I know the answer to that!” Upon hanging up the phone the following came to mind.

The Smile of God and Not a Frown

Why is God so good to me
Is what I ask in part,
When I know the dark recesses
Of my stubborn heart?


Then in mercy, He doth speak
By Holy Spirit groan,
“In Christ alone, You are mine,
Whose blood did full atone
For every action, every thought
Of sin with great offense.
I Am your One Great Treasure,
And I Am your Recompense!
For My glory, I have raised you
From eternal loss.
For My praise you may forever
Glory in the cross!”


And thus His exaltation
Is forever now my aim.
His steadfast love and faithfulness
Forevermore proclaim.


For He is all my hope
And all my joy,
And all my crown;
For in Him
I receive
The smile of God and not a frown!

Blessings From Very Light Afflictions - Part Four

Michael E. Wood
July 8, 2011


Another benefit of being immobilized for a few days was the opportunity to begin to read the book entitled “Revival”, by Martyn Lloyd Jones.

It is quite obvious that in the day we live there are multitudes upon multitudes of people oblivious to the Presence of the Living God.  Oh that He might send revival in our day that Christ would be exalted, and that His Name would be praised to the glory of God the Father! The following are a few excerpts from the aforementioned book which stimulated both the prayer of my heart expressed through poetry.

“The basis of everything is the sovereign, transcendent, living God, who in His eternal, glorious freedom acts, intervenes, and interferes with the life of the whole church and of individuals.”


“And in revival men and women feel as Paul did. They see their own sinfulness; they are horrified and cry out for deliverance.”


“That is what happens in every period of revival and of re-awakening. Men and women quake in the presence of the living, and the holy God.”

The Awareness of Your Presence

The awareness of Your presence
Is that which we beseech,
Not aught of self but all of You,
O Holy Spirit reach
Into the hearts of mortal men
That they may know Your hand,
O Father how You condescend,
Give grace to understand;
The wickedness with which we’re born,
Our hopelessness and loss,
Then fill their eyes with faith to know
The wonders of the cross.


For powerless are we to gain
One soul by what we speak
But You our Mighty Savior
Are the Shepherd that doth seek
The lost of which You purchased
By Your blood and when You cried,
“It Is Finished!” bowed Your head
And on the cross You died.


Buried in a borrowed tomb
And three days later rose;
Our Father’s satisfaction
Was accomplished to expose
Your glory which will never end,
But in it stand amazed
The remnant by the mercies
Of our God Whose Name be praised!

Blessings From Very Light Afflictions - Part Three

Michael E. Wood
July 7, 2011

The Temple He Hath Built!

Haggai 2:5-9 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the LORD of hosts: “Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.  And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.

While continuing to be laid up in the bed with back pain, I was given the pleasure of reading through some of the Minor Prophets. What a delight it is to be enabled by His Spirit to see the God-centeredness of God through the scriptures; the proclamations of prophesy concerning the sacrifice of His Son, a glimpse into the glory of the finished temple in heaven built by Himself, and the benefit of peace we have received through the covenant of grace between God the Father and God the Son.

Thus we will boast more gladly of our weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon us, having all confidence that He will build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Do you stand before God’s people
And in awe you speak
Of Him Who has all power
And from heaven still’s His sheep?


To know that as His voice is heard
With all of heaven shaken,
Those remaining will delight
In Him who was forsaken.
For us it was upon the cross,
Communion with the Father
Was broken momentarily
For every son and daughter,
That in Him God was pleased to give
This Holy benefit
By Jesus Who gave up Himself
For sin so infinite.


And thus with joy we shall delight
In all He brings our way
And glorify for mercy
Till with Him at perfect day.
For God the searcher of all hearts,
Remover of our guilt,
Will glorify Himself that day;
The temple He hath built!

Blessings From Very Light Afflictions - Part Two

Michael E. Wood

July 6, 2011

While being the tenth consecutive day with back pain, one might ask, “Why do you address this as very light afflictions?”

In comparison with things many of our brethren undergo daily throughout the world, mine is indeed a very, very, very light affliction. I heard a missionary quote a believer from another country as saying, “You Americans pray that God will remove the burden from your back. We pray that God will strengthen our backs to bear the burden.”

In Romans 5:1-5 We are instructed, and learn by experience, that not only do we have peace with God judiciously through the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ; but, we also enjoy peace with God as a benefit of our justification while He leads us through the various trials of this life, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God!

Our Great Physician

Oh far beyond our intellect

Our Mighty God, He doth select

Our tribulations whereby we

May know and love His Majesty!

He does not need our earthly things

But takes great pleasure in the wings

Of faith He gives for us to fly

Into His arms of love on high.

In our patience we possess,

Experience whereby we bless

His Name in hope and without shame

All glory will go to His Name!

And thus through time we shall reflect

His knowledge, Who without respect

Of persons but by our position

In Christ alone, our Great Physician!

Blessings From Very Light Afflictions - Part One

Michael E. Wood
July 5, 2011


While pretty much confined to being on my back in bed for four consecutive days, Dianna printed out a number of pages from an eBook we had purchased through http://www.monergism.com/.

The make up of the book is a collection of articles by different authors on the subject of Justification by faith alone through Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. One of the articles is entitled, Free Justification by Octavius Winslow. The following poem was written upon the completion of that article along with other various readings.

Do You Trust Morality

Do you trust morality and living life much better
Than so many others by the law, Yeah even to the letter?
Do you seek as for yourself the good of every neighbor,
And is the goal of heaven what you seek in all your labor?

Do you trust religious forms and closely to them cling?
Perhaps you as a member of a church have joined and sing,
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound”, and yet the truth be known,
You do not trust in Jesus Christ, by grace through faith alone!

Perhaps you live above reproach compared to other men
And yet you’re blinded to the fact, in Adam you have sinned.
So driven by desire to prove that you know what is best
You do not trust in Christ alone and enter in His rest!

Oh when this life is over and much sooner than you think,
God as Judge o’er pride and ignorance will not then wink.
For if you trust in anything of self you’ll be denied
As only through the blood of Christ can you be justified.

And through the cross this was accomplished for all those who look
And live by faith in Christ alone, as God who undertook
The only way by which the Father’s justice vindicated
Could display the glory of Almighty God as stated.

For in His written Word He has declared for His Own sake
To redeem a remnant of all peoples to partake
Of holiness of without which no man could ever see,
God alone through Jesus Christ to Whom all glory be.

Oh Holy Spirit come and speak these truths into effect
In hardened hearts and blinded minds who will no way subject
Themselves unto the One True God, except by grace You give,
The light of glory in the face of Jesus Christ to live!