O Christ, in Thee my soul hath found,
And found in Thee alone,
The peace, the joy I sought so long,
The bliss till now unknown.
I sighed for rest and happiness,
I yearned for them, not Thee;
But while I passed my Savior by,
His love laid hold on me.
Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me;
There’s love, and life, and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee.
Unknown.
Photo credit: wallsfeed.com
In the Lord we have redemption,
Full remission in His blood,
from the curse entire exemption,
from the curse pronounced by God:
What a Savior Jesus is!
O what grace, what love is His!
Sweet His name, that name transcending
every name on earth, in Heaven;
Praise, through ages never-ending,
To the Son of God be given!
He alone the Savior is,
Everlasting praise be His!
Thomas Kelly (1769-1854)
Photo credit: sodahead.com
This is my first poem that I wrote for my fiancé, when he decided to accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior
Since I met You,
I saw a new light of life; change the darkness soul into the glow of holiness, forgiveness and salvation I accepted.
Reborn with new identity taking a new glorious journey in the sinful and chaotic world
No more fears upon my path, no more doubt within my step
Since I met you,
Standing strong on Your promises, always walking in the Divine righteousness
There are no tears flow, sorrowful removed, Joyful granted
Carrying the light of Your loving kindness and mercy in the brume
Since I met you,
Longing to Spread God’s love among the animosity; share God’s peace between anxieties.
Burden to proclaim Your forgiveness and salvation among the perverse.
Being a body of Christ, bear and spread the fruit of Spirit, and send out the light of life in the comfort of Holy Spirit.
Since I met You, I am Yours!
Karina, August ,2009
What do we hoping for? A job with a better salary? Success in Business? Happy marriage or something else? We use the term “hope” to refer to pipe dreams, wishful thinking, fantasies, and the like, but very few of us actually understand what true “hope” is. The American Heritage Dictionary defines hope as “a wish or desire supported by some confidence of its fulfillment.” Hope from a Biblical perspective is exactly that a belief grounded in faith and based upon the promises of a God who never lies and who always keeps His word.
Romans 5:3-5 says, “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love in our hearts.” Hope enables people to keep going long after they think they can because it holds promise of better days and brighter horizons. Ecclesiastes 9:4 states, “Anyone who is among the living has hope–even a live dog is better off than a dead lion.” In other words, if we are still breathing, there is hope for us. No matter what we have done or what we are going through God promises hope is available to us because of three unchangeable truths from the Bible.
First, God is a God of second chances, forgiveness, and redemption. It is never too late to get right with the Lord because He is always ready to transform whatever we give Him into something usable. Psalm 103: 10 says, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” and in the verse 12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Secondly, God has the power to make all things new, even us. Lamentations 3:22-23, says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” continued in verse 25: “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him” God offers us a new beginning every day. Take Him up on His offer.
Finally, God never withholds what is good from us, so we can have hope that He will provide what we need and sustain us through trials. Psalm 34:10 says, “Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” God always has our best interest in mind so we can trust that He will bring about what He has promised and that His plan will ultimately satisfy our every desire.
The devil wants to keep us in bondage to fear and dread which lead to discouragement, despair, and depression. But the “God of hope wants to fill you with all joy and peace as you trust Him, so that you may overflow with hope” (Romans 15:13). When the Psalmist was distraught, he cried out, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42:5). He knew the remedy for discouragement look expectantly to the Lord for deliverance and trust that He is fully capable of bringing it to pass. May the hope of our Lord be with us today and remind all of us that in all things we are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus! (Romans 8:37). Amen
Karina
Four words that I said when I received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior:
I Admit – That I am a sinner and in need of a Savior (Rom 6:23)
I Abandon – self-effort and realize I cannot be saved by my works of efforts (Acts 16:31)
I Accept freely Christ’s payment for my sins, required of the Father (John 3:16)
I Acknowledge Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior (Acts 4:12)
Karina
The man slowly looked up. This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new. She looked like that she had never missed a meal in her life. His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before.
“Leave me alone,” he growled.
To his amazement, the woman continued standing.
She was smiling – her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
“No,” he answered sarcastically. “I’ve just come from dining with the president. Now go away.” The woman’s smile became even broader.
Suddenly the man felt a gentle hand under his arm. “What are you doing, lady?” The man asked angrily. “I said to leave me alone.”
Just then a policeman came up. “Is there any problem, ma’am?” he asked.
“No problem here, officer,” the woman answered. “I’m just trying to get this man to his feet. Will you help me?”
The officer scratched his head. “That’s old Jack. He’s been a fixture around here for a couple of years. What do you want with him?”
“See that cafeteria over there?” she asked. “I’m going to get him something to eat and get him out of the cold for awhile.”
“Are you crazy, lady?” the homeless man resisted. “I don’t want to go in there!”
Then he felt strong hands grab his other arm and lift him up.
“Let me go, officer. I didn’t do anything.”
“This is a good deal for you, Jack,” the officer answered. “Don’t blow it.”
Finally, and with some difficulty, the woman and the police officer got Jack into the cafeteria and sat him at a table in a remote corner. It was the middle of the morning, so most of the breakfast crowd had already left and the lunch bunch had not yet arrived. The manager strode across the cafeteria and stood by the table.
“What’s going on here, officer?” he asked. “What is all this. Is this man in trouble?”
“This lady brought this man in here to be fed,” the policeman answered.
“Not in here!” the manager replied angrily. “Having a person like that here is bad for business.”
Old Jack smiled a toothless grin. “See, lady. I told you so. Now if you’ll let me go. I didn’t want to come here in the first place.”
The woman turned to the cafeteria manager and smiled. “Sir, are you familiar with Eddy and Associates, the banking firm down the street?”
“Of course I am,” the manager answered impatiently. “They hold their weekly meetings in one of my banquet rooms.”
“And do you make a goodly amount of money providing food at these weekly meetings?”
“What business is that of yours?”
“I, sir, am Penelope Eddy, president and CEO of the company.”
“Oh.”
The woman smiled again. “I thought that might make a difference.”
She glanced at the cop who was busy stifling a giggle. “Would you like to join us in a cup of coffee and a meal, officer?”
“No thanks, ma’am,” the officer replied. “I’m on duty.”
“Then, perhaps, a cup of coffee to go?”
“Yes, ma’am. That would be very nice.”
The cafeteria manager turned on his heel. “I’ll get your coffee for you right away, officer.”
The officer watched him walk away. “You certainly put him in his place,” he said.
“That was not my intent. Believe it or not, I have a reason for all this.”
She sat down at the table across from her amazed dinner guest. She stared at him intently. “Jack, do you remember me?”
Old Jack searched her face with his old, rheumy eyes “I think so – I mean you do look familiar.”
“I’m a little older perhaps,” she said. “Maybe I’ve even filled out more than in my younger days when you worked here, and I came through that very door, cold and hungry.”
“Ma’am?” the officer said questioningly. He couldn’t believe that such a magnificently turned out woman could ever have been hungry.
“I was just out of college,” the woman began. “I had come to the city looking for a job, but I couldn’t find anything. Finally I was down to my last few cents and had been kicked out of my apartment. I walked the streets for days. It was February and I was cold and nearly starving. I saw this place and walked in on the off chance that I could get something to eat.”
Jack lit up with a smile. “Now I remember,” he said. “I was behind the serving counter. You came up and asked me if you could work for something to eat. I said that it was against company policy.”
“I know,” the woman continued. “Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble. Then, when I looked over, I saw you put the price of my food in the cash register. I knew then that everything would be alright.”
“So you started your own business?” Old Jack said.
“I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business, that, with the help of God, prospered.” She opened her purse and pulled out a business card. “When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons. He’s the personnel director of my company. I’ll go talk to him now and I’m certain he’ll find something for you to do around the office.” She smiled. “I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to live until you get on your feet. If you ever need anything, my door is always opened to you.”
There were tears in the old man’s eyes. “How can I ever thank you?” he said.
“Don’t thank me,” the woman answered. “To God goes the glory. Thank Jesus. He led me to you.”
Outside the cafeteria, the officer and the woman paused at the entrance before going their separate ways. “Thank you for all your help, officer,” she said.
“On the contrary, Ms. Eddy,” he answered. “Thank you. I saw a miracle today, something that I will never forget. And … And thank you for the coffee.”
If you have missed knowing me, you have missed nothing. If you have missed some of my emails, you have missed a laugh. But, if you have missed knowing my LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, you have missed everything in the world …
Karina's Thought 