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!

I AM With You Always

Michael E. Wood

June 4-8, 2012

Matthew 28: 20b And behold, I Am with you always, to the end of the age.

Living in the presence of Christ is not optional for the child of God. While we have been commissioned by Christ with the greatest work that any human soul could ever be involved in while here on earth, we are like wise commanded to behold the fact that He is with us always, to the end of the age. Upon being given the privilege of preaching to my brothers and sisters of Immanuel Baptist church on the subject of “Living in the presence of Christ”, (of which you can listen to by clicking here this link:  http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?SpeakerOnly=true&currSection=sermonsspeaker&keyword=Michael%5EWood , ) the following poem was given as an overflow of that privilege.

I Am with you when you rise and I Am with you when you sleep,

I Am with you every moment as the Shepherd of the sheep,

And watch and care for every one of which I’ve called by name

And placed within you glory in the bud removing shame; 

As grace sufficient for each day is now to you supplied,

You will magnify me by the life I lived for you and died,

With resurrection power as I reign o’er all the earth

And heaven by my Spirit showing all my matchless worth.

I Am with you when you’re low and I Am with you when you’re high,

And I Am with you by my providence to draw you ever nigh,

To see me as I Am one day in perfect purity

And cause you even now to see in part, imperfectly;

To reflect my glory, as the moon now does the sun

Having nothing in yourself but only that which now comes from

This gift I’ve given you by my own blood and through the cross

To know my tribulations are for good and not for loss.

I Am with you in afflictions showing others I Am health

Far beyond the bounds of mortal life, the source of all true wealth.

I Am with you when you see not what I’m doing for your good

And then gently will correct you by my glory understood,

That my presence may be with you as with me you are enthralled

By my goodness as revealed to you, the children I have called.

And then others will be strengthened while yet others may then stumble

As they grope for answers that I give unto the meek and humble.

I Am with you as a Father in communion as you call,

As the Bread of hidden manna feeding multitudes of all

Of which I have appointed in the sphere of all the host

Far beyond what you imagine through Jehovah, Holy Ghost.

I Am with you always to the end of present age,

Intertwining every member of my body for the stage,

In which the righteous will then shine like suns eternally

In the kingdom of their Father in His love then perfectly.

One Thing (New Song)

Michael E. Wood

May 1-2, 2012

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”  But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

“You cannot slay the enemy by throwing away your sword, and nearness to Christ is your battle-axe and weapons of war; you have lost your power when you have left your Lord. One thing is needful—let the rest go. What if we have not learning? - what if we have not eloquence? If we live near to Christ, we have something better than all these; if we abide in Him, and He abides in us, we shall ask what we will, and it shall be done to us. If His word abides in us, we shall go and bring forth fruit, and our fruit shall remain; if He abides in us, we shall enjoy heaven on earth, and be daily preparing for that eternal heaven which is to be our portion. ‘One thing is needful.’ God grant it to every one of us!-Amen.” C.H. Spurgeon

One Thing

What a privilege we share

As we come through You in prayer

Robed alone by the blood that You shed,

And our Father now hears

Wiping out all of our fears

And on Him we shall cast all our cares.

But one thing that means most

By Your sweet Holy Ghost

We draw near as we sit at Your feet.

At Your feet we see your face

Though now but dimly by Your grace

And You speak by Your own word

And bring delight by what we’ve heard,

Transforming all that lies within;

Compelling love which conquers sin.

Lord Jesus speak as we sit at Your feet.

There are times that we may grieve

Your Holy Spirit and to leave

Your very presence when we dwell on our sin,

But Your promise holds us firm

As You work that we may learn

That through the cross is where You did to us cleave.

And one thing that means most

Is that in which we shall boast

Is by that cross we will sit at Your feet.

At Your feet we see Your face

And grow in strength to run the race

As all before us have done

Secure in what You have won

And though all hell shall assail

In You alone we shall prevail

And safely home we shall sit at Your feet.

Father hallowed be Thy Name.

May Thy glory be our aim.

May Your kingdom come and find us then entire,

All arrayed in shim’ ring white

By the power of Thy might

As we dwell within the glory of Thy fame.

And one thing that means most

As a member of that host

Will be to see You and to sit at Your feet.

At Your feet we’ll see Your face,

The God of glory and of grace,

And all Your fullness then will be

The light of all eternity

And as we gaze upon Your smile

In adoration all the while

We’ll praise You as we sit at Your feet.

We’ll praise You as we sit at Your feet.

The Living Stone!

Michael E. Wood

May 9, 2012

City Light Preaching Nights

Various preachers and pastors from biblically based churches from around the city of Sacramento have been given the task to preach a series of messages on the attributes of God, hosted by Immanuel Baptist Church the first Saturday night of each month from May through the remainder of this year. Pastor Robert Briggs of Immanuel Baptist preached the first night, May 5^th, on “The Knowable God”.

Quoting from J.I. Packer, he noted, “It is better to know a little of God than to know a great deal about God.” “All men know God “, Pastor Briggs went on to say, reading the text from Romans 1:19-23  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

The first four verses of the following poem came to mind as he was preaching and was completed Wednesday morning while pondering the thoughts that had been expressed.

In what way do you know Him

Who is God of all the earth?

Do you know Him just by nature

Or in truth of all His worth?

For He himself has shown you

Even though you may suppress

The truth of who He is

By all your own ungodliness.

And though you may now hide behind

The things of your own mind,

Born out of such imagination

In the end you’ll find-

He has indeed revealed to you

And made it very clear,

Jehovah-Tisidkenu* alone

Is He whom you should fear!

For those of us He purchased

And has made His very own,

We take delight in giving praise,

For Jesus did atone.

As for our sake He took upon

Himself all of our sin,

And justice met with mercy,

For us righteousness to win.

And as we are now justified

And give the glory due,

God likewise will be honored

By His condemnation too.

For all who are not humbled

With new hearts made to repent,

Rejecting Jesus as the only One

Of whom He sent

Will bow before Him in the judgment

When comes the final day

And proclaim Him Lord of all,

His triumph then display.

Oh will you not now come to Him?

By grace through faith alone

And trust in Him for mercy

As He Is The Living Stone!

(*Jehovah Tisidkenu- Jehovah is our righteousness.)

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The following City Lights Preaching Night Schedule is included as an invitation to anyone may read this blog during this season of special meetings. Thank you Greg Garcia and Viktor Palenyy for your labor of love.

CITY LIGHT PREACHING NIGHT A SERIES ON THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

6:30 PM WHERE: IMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH (1424 24TH STREET - MIDTOWN)

1.	The Knowable God	May 5th	Robert Briggs	Immanuel Baptist Church
2.	The Triune God	June 2nd	Steve Meister	River City Grace
3.	The Infinite-Personal God	July 7th	Greg Stoever	River City Grace
4.	The Holy God	August 4th	Phil Layton	Gold Country Baptist Church
5.	The Loving God	September 8th	Erik Myers	Veritas
6.	The Wrathful God	October 6th	Jeremy Twombley	Immanuel Baptist Church
7.	The Faithful God	November 3rd	Ron Poarch	Grace Reformation Church
8.	The Beautiful God	December 1st	Jon Mroos	Elk Grove Bible Church