Let God Do It

Life started out on a canvas,
With Christ making a painting of me;
But I took the paint brush from Jesus,
And painted what I wished to see.

The colors I painted kept running,
And the objects grew all out of size,
Till the mess I made on the canvas
Seemed now so completely unwise.

Then I brought back the canvas to Jesus
With the colors and figures so wrong;
In the market it simply was worthless,
Yet His blood made my painting belong.

He stood there with no condemnation,
Never mentioned the mess I had made;
He just started the painting all over,
For the price had already been paid.

As He dipped His brush in the rainbow,
The colors grew brighter in hue;
And in glory of Heaven's salvation
Brought the forms in perspective anew.

Since I tooled the brush back to Jesus,
And let Him do the picture for me;
I've found that the painting by Jesus,
Is the one that I first hoped to see.

-Unknown-

This Is My Prayer

Bless me, Heavenly Father,
Forgive my erring ways,
Grant me strength to serve Thee,
Put purpose in my days...
Give me understanding, enough
to keep me kind
So I may judge all people with my heart
and not my mind...
And teach me to be patient in everything I do,
Content to trust your wisdom and
to follow after you...
And help me when I falter and hear
me when I pray.
And receive me in Thy kingdom
to dwell with Thee someday.

-Helen Steiner Rice

Sun & Cloud

Sometimes God leads down pleasant paths
Where all is bright and fair,
And we can see the way ahead
And know that He is there.

But then life takes a sudden turn
Where briars and brambles grow,
And there are snares and pits dug deep
By many an unseen foe.

The way is long and lonely,
With none to help or care,
And it seems there's not another
With such a load as ours to bear.

It's then, when all is darkest
And we feel the most alone
That we find His arms about us
In a way before unknown.

And He speaks to our hearts a truth
That our eyes had failed to see:
Life's clouds, like its sun, are for blessing
Or else they would not be.

-Kathryn A. Horton

Thy Will For Me

I do not ask the "how" or "why"
No vision of the future, Lord.
But only that Thou point the way
Mid darkest night or toil of day.
By Thine almighty word.

I do not ask the "where" or "when"
Where'er Thou choosest I will go
And when: for I will follow Thee;
Thy time shall my desire be,
If Thou wild let me know.

The future, Lord, I do not seek,
Nor care to know where it may lead,
If only I may know Your will,
Be it for pleasure of for ill;
Thine, only Thine, I'll heed.

From out this doubting darkness,
Lord, Flash forth Thy light, show me Thy way.
Not mine I see, but Thine to do,
Thy will my calling to pursue;
Thine, only Thine, I pray.

Tomorrow's Work, Today

I see with startling clarity that life is never long enough to put off until tomorrow.
The things that are before are all too soon behind.
I can never pick up the years I've put down.
If I intend to walk with Christ tomorrow, I must start today.

*Ruth Harms Calkin*

A Deep Grace

Lord,
There are countless things in my life that are inexcusable.
There are things unaccountable and things unexplainable.
There are things irrefutable and things irresponsible.
But it comes to me with unutterable relief that
because of your amazing love,
NOTHING in my life is unforgivable.

*Ruth Harms Calkin*

Choose!

Choose to love- rather than hate
Choose to smile- rather than frown
Choose to build- rather than destroy
Choose to persevere- rather than quit
Choose to praise- rather than gossip
Choose to heal- rather than wound
Choose to give- rather than grasp
Choose to act- rather than delay
Choose to forgive- rather than curse
Choose to pray- rather than despair