What if They’d Thought to Praise Him?

I. What if the Boatmen Had Thought to Praise Him?

 

What if they’d thought to praise Him?

Might Christ’s followers in the boat

Perhaps have been commended

For keeping it afloat?

 

Instead, they woke the Master

With rebukes like “You don’t care!”

And “How can you sleep while we sink?

It simply isn’t fair!”

 

What if they’d thrown a praise party

When first they saw the storm

Begin to rage around them

Like a yellow jacket swarm?

 

Might they have scared the devils

That were stirring up the sea

And threatening to drown them

In that lake of Galilee?

 

And what if they’d praised God

When they saw Jesus walk on water

Instead of crying “Ghost!”

Like any fearful son or daughter

 

Whose trust in God lasts for a day

But in the night grows dim?

What if in every thought and deed

They’d sought to honor Him?

 

What if they had, like Peter,

Dared to step outside the boat,

Declaring with great boldness,

“Lord, you make my feet to float!”?

 

Imagine Jesus’ pleasure

As he watched their budding faith

Spring to life in awesome ways.

But no, they feared a wraith.

 

II. What if the Farmers Had Welcomed Him?

 

And what if those who saw the man

Who once was demonized

Clothed, sitting, and in  his  right mind –

What if they’d recognized

 

The wonders God had done for him?

What if great joy they’d voiced?

Instead of begging him to leave,

What if they had rejoiced?

 

The farmers in that last tale

Would have surely been commended

Had they not focused on the way

Their lives had been upended.

 

But when they lost their livelihood,

They forfeited their joy,

Rejecting Christ’s deliverance

For creatures that annoy.

 

Yet who expects a pig

To sing a happy worship song?

But when we offer praise to God,

It makes our frail faith strong.

 

Based on events recorded in  Matthew 8:23-34 and Matthew 14:23-32

 

 

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The Fear of Man Kills Miracles

The fear of man kills miracles because it names mankind

As the remedy that meets one’s needs. Such fear can blind,

Eclipsing poignant truth that points to God as one’s supply,

While stating that “On ‘me, myself and I’ I must rely.”

 

Either that or, “I’ll make someone slave away for me.

I cannot let them off the hook. They’re my security.”

But who beholds the fear of man which will not let us be?

For only God does miracles. It’s He who sets us free

 

So that on other people we do not have to rely.

After all, why place your trust in someone who will die?

Because the bully known as “fear of man” wants company.

Then, when it gets your company, it zaps your energy.

 

The fear of man finds wily ways to take up all your time.

Then, as you fret over lost seconds, it scarfs up each dime

Of lunch money you earned, but won’t say “sorry” for its crime.

I am afraid this awful fear has no reason or rhyme.

 

The fear of man desires to control your very soul.

How then can you find healing and how can you be made whole?

For miracles arise through faith, but fear is forged through doubt.

It’s like a trap. Once you fall in, it will not let you out.

 

To try to get free by yourself leads to a vicious cycle,

Based on the “Me, myself and I” that fear loves to recycle.

“But I am not afraid,” some people say. “No, not one bit.”

Then some poor parent asks them how they’d like to babysit

 

A little boy who might just misbehave and/or act wild.

But they won’t even use a ten-foot-pole to touch the child.

Truth is, we all fear something, but the proud will not admit it.

Unknowingly, they welcome fear when it drops by to visit.

 

Still others freely share the fears that press upon their hearts,

But in a way that magnifies the devil’s fiery darts.

They tell their hurts to people who’ve no strength to bear the weight,

So when they feel the shock of it,  their nerves absorb the hate

 

Related to the fear that snares and will not let them be.

But God can do a miracle. He wants to set us free.

If we’ll free others from the debt we think that they owe us,

And choose to trust God with it, then we’ll never need to fuss.

 

The bully known as fear of man will have to let us go,

For Christ has power to cast it out. To leave it won’t be slow.

He is the king who paid our debt. His grace can heal our heart.

If we’ll allow Him, He’ll extinguish Satan’s every dart.

 

He’ll free us from the chains of sin that want to keep us bound,

And heal us of all hurt and pain when in His grace we’re found.

According to His glorious riches, not based on our deeds,

For when we trust Him, we need no one else to meet our needs.

https://miracle-times.com/enemies-of-miracles/dont-bully-remember-grace/

 

 

https://miracle-times.com/jesus/gods-miracles/

 

 

Medicine for an Insane World, Part I

“Who said that you were naked?” God had asked the frightened man.

For Adam to feel guilty and ashamed was not His plan.

Clearly the forbidden fruit was messing with his brain,

To eat of it, we must admit, was totally insane.

 

Alone and unprotected he was never meant to be.

The Lord’s design was not for him to have anxiety.

What rebel urge had filled his heart to put God to the test?

At its worst, it was defiance; willful ignorance at best.

 

As Paul told Timothy, it’s not the man who was deceived.

He could have very well refused the fruit that he received,

But he allowed his wife to lead him to temptation’s door,

Regardless of the awful consequence which lay in store.

 

The evil knowledge overload was more than man could take,

Combined with instant condemnation which he could not shake.

It started with the fruit that planted doubt inside his head

And shook him to the core till he was overcome with dread.

 

To cover up his shame, the man relied on his own wit.

His wife and he plucked fig leaves which together they did knit.

But God saw through their scheme. He would not let such folly stand.

To pay for their transgression, He had something better planned.

 

One woman’s seed would pulverize the head that spoke the lies

Which caused such double-mindedness inside man’s mind to rise.

The Savior would destroy the tongue that lay the wicked snare

And demonstrate the fullness of His Father’s tender care.

 

He would resist temptation like no human ever could,

And through His kindness prove that God is very, very good.

For those who trust Him, He restores sound judgment and insight,

Atoning for their sin to change their mind from wrong to right.

 

 

 

Afraid to Forgive

Tormented, grieved, forsaken. Oh, what pain he felt inside,

Beset by views of ugly news, from which he could not hide!

He knew he should dismiss past hurts still screaming to avenge

The wrongs that so besieged his heart, but he desired revenge.

 

“It’s closure I must have,” he said. “That is the path to peace.

For only then can I enjoy the fruit of sweet release,

And satisfy the anger which has locked me in this cage.

To free myself from prison, I must first appease my rage.”

 

Such thoughts, like sharp two-edged swords, clashed wildly inside his mind;

Chaotic clangs, with violence tinged, set to a beat unkind.

He did not see the torturers whose pitchforks, dipped in fire,

Stirred coals of shame inside his heart to magnify his ire.

 

“It’s not your fault,” they told him, “for the way they treated you.”

“Your hatred’s justified. Those were such awful things to do!”

But still the guilt kept hounding. He could not escape the blame.

“You too have sinned horrifically, and ridiculed God’s name.”

 

Fear gripped his heart with condemnation he could not ignore.

If God was mad at him, then there was nothing to live for.

He knew he must forgive and must forget but was afraid

That he’d get stolen from again and never be repaid.

 

He didn’t trust the sovereign Lord to care for all his needs,

But bought the lie that debt forgiveness rests upon good deeds,

He said, “I’m doomed to earn my bread by my own toil and sweat,

Let him who owes me foot the bill. Let him repay the debt.”

 

But what a yoke to put upon an ordinary man!

He knew it wasn’t right, and yet he had no better plan.

His blood pressure was through the roof, he wasn’t feeling well.

Then suddenly a light shone in the darkness of his cell.

 

The Son of God was standing there. His glory filled the room.

“I paid your debt in full,” He said. “Why all this gloom and doom?”

“I thought you were a hard man, Sir,” replied the man, amazed.

“I thought I must fend for myself, for that’s how I was raised.”

 

“But now I see it isn’t so. There’s no cause for alarm.

For, though you’re greatly to be feared, you’d never do me harm.”

“That’s right,” said Jesus. “All I ask of you is to believe,

In my unfailing goodness trust, and of my grace receive.”

 

“Remember how I shed my blood to wash away your sin.

In me, there’s life. In man, there’s death. Stick with me and you’ll win.”

“Why ask a man to pay you back for all the things he stole,

When, by my stripes, you can be healed?  For I will make you whole.”

 

And the moral of this poem is that forgiveness involves trusting God to pay back what the enemy stole from you, instead of demanding that some fallible human being supply your need. Yes, God can use people to provide for you, but they’re just tools in His hands. Our trust must be in Him, for He alone is faithful to the end.