Sailing On! 7-1-21

"Why is it...
...when stormy seas toss me about,

I call on You, with distressed shout?

I do not pray when things are cool,

but call on You when out of fuel.

"Decisions, mine.  I'm on my own,

don't do Your will, I sail alone.

And so at times I miss Your docks

and run my ship up on the rocks.

"When seas are choppy, I'm annoyed,

but when it's calm, it is enjoyed.

That's why, when seas are peaceful, still,

I do my own, and not Your will.

"But bilge is full of water now.

I don't know why.  I don't know how.

The pump is on but it's behind.

Another fix, I cannot find.

My best was just not good enough!

My sins now make my life so rough.

And now I'm lost!  I'm going down,

through dark abyss, deserve to drown!

"I can't let go.  Loosen my grip!
Pilot my hopes, my needs, my ship!

You are my breath, my life, my all.

On You, Lord, I'll forever call.

"It's full of leaks and on the brink!

Please intercede!  Don't let me sink!
Lord, take the helm!  I do believe!

Please stay aboard and never leave!

"We now sail peacefully.  It's grand!

I pray you ships will understand.
When Him, you finally call upon,
you'll safely too, be sailing on!"

©2021 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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And Christian Be 6-1-21

It's hard to write through intense pain,

but this I know- it's not in vain.

For God so loves.  He offers grace-

while selfish man still turns his face.

So I will write my prayer today

that man will turn from wicked way.

My numbered days, I cannot view

and doctors say I may have few.

So I will change and will not wait

to share His love at this late date.

Please humbly love and then confess

and then repent and He will bless.

For ALL have sinned against His will,

yet grace abounds.  Yes, even still.

There's nothing more I'd rather see

than you accept, and Christian be.

©2021 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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I love you all.

Simple Poem 5-19-21

This simple poem is just to say

that we are so caressed.

Through God's agape love and grace,

our souls are richly blessed.

If we think we deserve His love,

then we're completely wrong.

For Jesus hung on wicked cross

where really, we belong.

We don't deserve one bless-ed thing

that God has given us.

And that's my simple poem now.

There's no more to discuss.

©2021 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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John 3:16

"For God so loved the world,

that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,

but have everlasting life."

Pain For Peace 5-1-21

Pain's misery is haunting.  Good health is best to keep.

This cancer is unbearable, it keeps me from my sleep.

I've been so many months with pain, I don't know what it's like

to break free from these awful pains; to walk, to jog, to bike.

I don't remember what it's like to live without this pain

and it continues stabbing me.  I'm going now, insane.

Now God still holds the miracle and God is still in power
and God can take all pain away in these, each precious hour.

I pray, "Dear Lord, deliver me, if it is in Your will,

and take this awful pain away that I'm enduring still.

I do not have the answers and I do not have the voice.

I do not have the fortitude and do not have the choice.

I don't deserve forgiveness and I don't deserve Your love,

for I have sinned against Your will and Heaven there above.

But grace has set me free from sin.  You've healed me spiritually,

so if Your will is so inclined, please heal me physically."

So many care. So many pray.  So many read my words,

but I would give it all away to fly among the birds.

The blue skies seem so endless up above the tallest tree.

Birds seem to be so free of pain and soar above so free.

I'd praise my Lord with ev'ry song, with ev'ry line and verse.

And could it be, long life on earth, is just a wicked curse?

But if God wills, I'll stay on earth where pain may never cease.

Yet should He will to take this 'cup', I'll trade this pain for peace.

©2021 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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NOTE:  A day or two after I wrote this poem the pain left me.
God does answer prayers and I thank all who have prayed for me.
May these words praise His name, (not the author).
Thank you Jesus!

Heaven's Gates 4-18-21

"Thy Will be done" is how I pray

but how do I start out my day?

Does God come first or is it rare

that I reach first to Him in prayer?

Alarm clock rings.  I've got to run.

It's long before the rising sun.

The world awaits as Heaven parts,

but I'm on time as 'chemo' starts.

Questions many, but answers few.

And prayer to God is overdue.

Again, again, I sin, I sin.

I've failed to do God's will again.

My best is never good enough

while grace forgives my selfish stuff.

I recommit myself each day

to live according to His way.

It's sobering to see life's end.

I miss family, miss my friends.

My best friend though?  Christ still awaits,

so patiently at Heaven's gates.

©2021 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Eternal Life 4-17-21

It wasn't what I expected and I didn't like the answer,

when the doctor walked in and said, "I'm sorry.  You have cancer."

I froze with no emotion.  I never said a word.

Questions rose inside my head, now how had this occurred?

The next few days were but a blur...

drawing blood, testing, biopsies... yet no cure.

I never smoked, I never drank, I never used a drug.

How could this have happened?  The doctor merely shrugged.

Physically, the cancer kills.  Spiritually, sin does.

Sin kills like a cancer.  It does so deep because -

it fights the 'spirit' body.  It just does not belong,

deceiving like the 'Evil One' that we all know is wrong.

To say that it's a little lie, not black, not gray, but white,

deceives us into thinking that it isn't wrong, but right.

But let it take ahold of us and let it spread awhile,

and we will find it's Satan's way of saying, "You can smile."

Before we see, before we know, before we realize,

our heart is hard, our spirit's dead and we've been paralyzed.

And only God can heal us then through love and grace and pow'r.

And just like cancer, He can heal before your final hour.

So yes, I have a cancer, a cancer physical.

That's not as bad as other kinds, those cancers spiritual.

Now God can save us from them both, for He is in control.

He can cure both cancers and can also save the soul.

So I can't die.  I am alive, alive as I can be.

Because God gives me life anew, a life inside of me.

I'm glad I'm not forever here, cursed with a sin internal,

because Christ lives within me now and it's a life eternal.

©2021 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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I was informed on March 29, 2021 that I had advanced pancreatic cancer.
May "God's Will" (not mine) be done with regard to my physical health.
Thank you for your prayers.