I looked into the fire as it crackles and spits,
I saw a set of eyes looking at me from the pit.
A face emerged from the ashes,
A sinister coutinence willed with passion.
A Viking angel he emerged to be,
The largest fiercest figure I had ever seen.
He pointed behind me and I turned to look,
I saw a gold trimmed case holding a leather bound book.
I stood before it to open the case,
Lifting the book from its silken place.
I turned around to where the Viking stood,
There he left his cape and hood.
I put them on and felt the fire
Humility coming my one desire.
I opened the book, hoping to reveal this mystery,
I felt a wind stir the trees around me.
The pages turned as an earee silence swept the forest,
I heard the words of an ancient chorus.
The fire dances and the shadows run,
Playing in the darkness brought by the dieing sun.
The voices in the darkness uttered a prayer,
And to look at the pages, did I even dare?
I did, and what was it that I did see,
But the words of the prayer being spoken over me.
Then the voices got louder and the intensity grew,
It was rising inside me and suddenly I knew.
Jesus was calling to a place I'd never been,
A new level of warfare, a new way of fighting sin.
Then before me stood a giant oak door,
Something inside of me cried out for more.
I reached to turn the golden handle,
The door lit by a lone, solemn candle.
I walked inside a spiritual armory,
Swords, daggers, and axes I did see.
The Lord said, "Pick out what you will, for tonight you must run,
Straight through Satans layer, hear me my son.
If you let up,or if you slow down,
You will surely and painfully be brought to the ground.
Except for the time when you stop to fight,
And when you do, fight with all your might.
Hear is my strength, hear is my power,
The time has come, now is the hour.
Start your journey you have all you need,
And one more thing, God speed."
I began my journey, and ran like lightning,
So very fast it was almost frightening.
I ran through rivers and dodged around trees,
There was no way Satan would bring me to my knees.
For I would sooner die than submit again,
And be washed away in a torrent of sin.
And while I was running a sword did appear,
I stopped and stood face to face with the spirit of fear.
He spoke to me in a raspy demonic tone,
He said, "I know that you are all alone!"
With courage and fire I said "I am not alone."
I could see my words cut straight to the bone.
I looked into his blood red eyes,
And found myself gasping in utter surprise.
The very essance of what he was controlled him.
He was overflowing with fear, filled to the brim.
I drew my sword ready to fight,
Its radiance shining fervant white light.
Its shining glory dropped fear to the ground,
All that could be heard was a faint hissing sound.
His last breath drawn, his last fight lost,
He didn't stop to think and his death was the cost.
I sheathed my sword with a metalic ring,
and ran so fast the wind started to sing.
It echoed the words of that chanted chorus,
As a firey red glowe spread over the forest.
As I was running I saw a castle in the distance,
The looks of it shook my very existance.
I ran and came to an old rusty gate,
I turned and saw the spirit of hate.
His friends were with him, jealousy, witchcraft, and lust,
I drew my sword knoing to defeat them I must.
They screamed and shouted, "You going to die."
But I knew in my heart it was a lie.
I felt the urge to take a deep breath,
And shout the words which would send them to their death.
"You come to me with sword spear and shield,
But in the name of Jesus I command you to yeild.
Take your place underneith my feet,
Christ is risen, heres your defeat
My sword through the air a white arc of light,
Their dead now they lost their last fight.
I kicked open the gate and went inside,
Knowing now that I could not hide.
But it did not matter no not even here,
For Christ is with me there is no fear.
For 7 days I marched around the city wall,
Waiting for this fortress to finally fall.
Its been here long enough, Its made its last stand,
Now God will destroy it with his righteous right hand.
The time has come the time is now,
The trumpet on my lips the swet on my brow.
The sound came forth like a thousand war cries,
Then I looked and saw a beautiful sunrise.
Suddenly the ground began to tremble,
As the walls of this fortress began to crumble.
A few miniutes past and everything was gone,
This demonic fortress , once mighty and strong.
The captive came forth held prisoner for years.
God had counted their many tears.
As the light shown in the darkness I heard a crack,
I knew in a instant that it had to be Satan's back.
He screamed in a dying shreek of agony,
His home determined for the rst of eternity.
Jesus had risen and finished what He planned,
The flight of the night, brought about by His hand.
Author; Nick Allen
He knew it was there but he tried to ignore,
But it kept on persisting more and more.
It was like a void deep in his heart,
He tried to explaine it, but he couldn't even start.
It got worse and worse untill he finally said,
"If I don't get rid of this, I will soon be dead."
Then a man named Jesus came to town,
And as he spook he said, "I offer you a crown.
"A crown of righteousness, a crown of salvation,
I offer this to every man woman, and to every nation."
And there was something in these words that Jesus spoke,
That reached out to this man 'till he finally broke.
Then Jesus walked over to him and said,
"Do you wish a crown of salvation on your head?"
The man looked up and reached out his hand,
And said, How could I when I can't even stand."
Then Jesus knelt down and looked him in the eye,
And said, "For you I will surely die."
"To give you strength and to give you life,
For you I will bare your sins and take your strife."
All this started a long time ago,
Through the bitting wind and the bitter snow.
In a lowly stable, in a single manger,
The three there together, not a single stranger.
Jesus, Joseph and the virgin Mary,
The baby Jesus she was so long to carry.
After he was born, sheperds came,
To sing his praises and worship his name.
And the angels on high gloriously sing glory to the new born King.
It is this time of year we've grown to love,
The Spirit of Christmas, enthroned above.
Author: Nick Allen
The wind blows hard and the waves roll high,
Sometimes it seems that the see wants me to die.
The days roll on and turn to weeks months and years,
There is only one being who could count so many tears.
Tears shed as I cry for one not yet there,
One who is soft, gentle, and filled with tender loving care.
As the days ware on, I begin to really see,
What God through all this had intended for me.
His intention was to make me stronger and fill me with his passion,
To bring to me a messure of deeper satisfaction.
Satisfaction though I couldn't look upon her face,
Though I couldn't see her beauty or admire her grace.
Though I couldn't hear her laughter, I couldn't see her smile,
I couldn't watch her eyes and gaze at them a while.
I couldn't hear her tell me that she loved me and she cared,
I couldn't hold her when she told me she was scared.
I couldn't tell her my thoughts, and give to her my heart,
And say we would be together, nothing can keep us apart.
You see I love her though I do not know her name.
And as soon as we meet, our lives will never be the same.
Until that time comes, all I can do is sail,
And pound the waves with the hull of my ship, untill I prevail.
And as many sunsets as have come and gone by,
That many prayers have I sent through the sky.
The prayer of a righteous man availeth much,
As I sail this sea and wait for her touch.
Author: Nick Allen
Jenny was so happy about the house they had found.
For once in her life 'twas on the right side of town.
She unpacked her things with such great ease.
As she watched her new curtains blow in the breeze.
How wonderful it was to have her own room.
School would be starting, she'd have friends over soon.
There'd be sleep-overs, and parties; she was so happy
It's just the way she wanted her life to be.
On the first day of school, everything went great.
She made new friends and even got a date!
She thought, "I want to be popular and I'm going to be,
Because I just got a date with the star of the team!"
To be known in this school you had to have a clout,
And dating this guy would sure help her out.
There was only one problem stopping her fate
.
Her parents had said she was too young to date.
"Well, I just won't tell them the entire truth.
They won't know the difference; what's there to lose?"
Jenny asked to stay with her friends that night.
Her parents frowned but said, "All right."
Excited, she got ready for the big event
But as she rushed around like she had no sense,
She began to feel guilty about all the lies,
But what's a pizza, a party, and a moonlight ride?
Well the pizza was good, and the party was great,
But the moonlight ride would have to wait.
For Jeff was half drunk by this time.
But he kissed her and said that he was just fine.
Then the room filled with smoke and Jeff took a puff.
Jenny couldn't believe he was smoking that stuff.
Now Jeff was ready to ride to the point
But only after he'd smoked another joint.
They jumped in the car for the moonlight ride,
Not thinking that he was too drunk to drive.
They finally made it to the point at last,
And Jeff started trying to make a pass.
A pass is not what Jenny wanted at all
(and by a pass, I dont mean playing football).
"Perhaps my parents were right....maybe I am too young.
Boy, how could I ever, ever be so dumb."
With all of her might, she pushed Jeff away:
"Please take me home, I dont want to stay."
Jeff cranked up the engine and floored the gas
.
In a matter of seconds they were going too fast.
As Jeff drove on in a fit of wild anger,
Jenny knew that her life was in danger.
She begged and pleaded for him to slow down,
But he just got faster as they neared the town.
"Just let me get home! I'll confess that I lied.
I really went out for a moonlight ride."
Then all of a sudden, she saw a big flash
.
"Oh God, Please help us! We're going to crash!"
She doesn't remember the force of impact.
Just that everything all of a sudden went black.
She felt someone remove her from the twisted rubble,
And heard, "Call an ambulance! These kids are in trouble!"
Voices she heard...a few words at best.
But she knew there were two cars involved in the wreck.
Then wondered to herself if Jeff was all right,
And if the people in the other car were alive.
She awoke in the hospital to faces so sad.
"You've been in a wreck and it looks pretty bad."
These voices echoed inside her head,
As they gently told her that Jeff was dead.
They said "Jenny, we've done all we can do.
But it looks as if we'll lose you too."
"But the people in the other car!?" Jenny cried.
"We're sorry, Jenny, they also died."
Jenny prayed, "God, forgive me for what I've done
I only wanted to have just one night of fun."
"Tell those people's family, I've made their lives dim,
And wish I could return their families to them."
"Tell Mom and Dad I'm sorry I lied,
And that it's my fault so many have died.
Oh, nurse, won't you please tell them that for me?"
The nurse just stood there ~ she never agreed.
But took Jenny's hand with tears in her eyes
And a few moments later Jenny died.
A man asked the nurse, "Why didn't you do your best
To bid that girl her one last request?"
She looked at the man with eyes oh so sad.
"Because the people in the other car were her mom and dad."
This story is sad and unpleasant but true,
So young people take heed, it could have been you.
A while back I was reading about an expert on the subject of time
management. One day this expert was speaking to a group of business
students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration I'm sure those
students will never forget. After I share it with you, you'll never
forget it either.
As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers, he
said "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon,
wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he
produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at
a time, into the jar
.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he
asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a
bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar
causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between
the big rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar
full?"
By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them
answered.
"Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought
out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into
all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked
the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted.
Fun illustration ...
Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began
to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.
Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this
illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how
full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some
more things into it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this
illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first,
you'll never get them in at all."
The title of this letter is The "Big Rocks" of Life.
What are the big rocks in your life?
To commune with the Father when you awake.
To spend time reading His Word that we may observe to
do all that is written in it.
To give and surrender ourselves daily to the
Lord as our reasonable service.
Acknowledging Him in all of our ways
and refusing to lean to our own strength and understanding.
This guarantees us that He will make plain our paths.
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at
all.
Author Unknown