Heaven’s Treasure

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living    Psalms 27:13

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I dreamed I stood at heaven’s door

and heard its hinges creak

Around its frame a light shone out

As it opened for the King

“What have you brought?” He asked

“From your time on earth now through”

I didn’t know what I could say

I just had to tell the truth

So I talked about the mission’s trips

And how each day I prayed

And how I often read His word

And all the tithes I gave

When I finally stopped – He paused

And then He gently said

“Those were not from your truest heart

But just rituals instead”

“But the forgiveness you gave your parents

When divorce left you alone

And love you shared with strangers

When you opened up your home

And sorrowful repentant tears

And confessions in the night

Those are the things I treasure here

And are precious in my sight!”

 

Ears

Ears

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Only ears can hear

That’s just the way God made us

If ears could see or hear

They’d certainly betray us

 

But when God fashioned ears

Those humble awkward things

That flop about and wiggle

On little inner springs

 

He made a way to tell us

How much we’d been forgiven

And then He set and tuned them

To hear His words from heaven

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Oh – only ears can hear

That’s just the way God made them

Humble listening gifts

That lead us to obey Him

 

 

Gifts of Mercy

Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high Luke 1:78

Mercy may seem like a small thing, to someone who is an outside observer, but to the one who is receiving it, Mercy is the most necessary thing on the planet!

While we are busy shopping, celebrating and giving gifts it is important to remind ourselves that the most important gifts are unlikely to be found in stores. The gifts of greatest value can only be given after our own hearts have been touched by God’s mercy. In Bethlehem’s manger God chose to come and visit us and for 33 years He stayed until the day when His blood was given as His sacrifice of mercy. Remembering that amazing gift, then what gifts of mercy can we give to others today?

A Gift of Mercy Can be

A pint of blood for someone we don’t know

A handful of tissues when tears start to flow

A silent embrace when someone’s world falls apart

A light at the door when we come home after dark

A kiss of acceptance from someone we’ve hurt

A check in the mail when we’ve been out of work

Angel songs in the night when we’re out in the field

And the Babe in the manger before whom we kneel!

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