This Harp 11-18-09

The dust completely covered
the memories of old,
as I sat in my attic,
as melodies turned cold -
though still completely faithful
for all these many years,
I had no lone ability
to perk up hungry ears.

Until the seed was planted,
forgiven all, times seven -
until I grew through practice -
a harvest seen in Heaven -
until revived with water -
until restored with oil -
this harp was all but worthless,
lacked spirit through my toil.

BUT THEN set to a purpose
and held in humble love,
full notes created music
which floated high above.
This harp exposed a message,
and melodies took wing -
but only when His fingers
strummed each and every string.

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Psalm 147 (KJV) 6 The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.

Best Friends 11-16-09

Am I best friends with Jesus?
Does friendship really pay -
when troubles seem to always come
and things don't go my way -
when sunlight sets in darkness,
yet Him I must obey?

Am I best friends with Jesus?
Does friendship really pay -
when pain and sorrows come about -
and my heart, heavy weighs -
when others seem successful
while I'm in disarray?

Am I best friends with Jesus?
Does friendship really pay -
when this world's full of vultures
and turns me into prey -
when enemies surround me -
yet focused I must pray?

Am I best friends with Jesus?
Does friendship really pay -
when living in this sinful world -
residing day to day?
Am I His loyal soldier -
through love above the fray?

Am I best friends with Jesus?
Does friendship really pay -
if to myself I'm focused with -
and Jesus I betray?
If clay becomes the potter -
where is the faith in clay?

Am I best friends with Jesus?
Does friendship really pay?
Because He came to bear my cross
is friendship then okay?
Are both my eyes on Jesus -
committed ALL the way?

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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John 15:13 (NASB) Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

The Sands Of Time 11-9-09

Time is ever constant
on table's level line -
the hourglass sets steady.
It's all in God's design.

Will pride still hold me hostage,
tied tightly to my chair
and sitting at my table -
while sands are sifting there?

When I see that hourglass
and wear, if I, a mask -
questions must be answered,
if questions I can ask.

Will guilt and sorrow overcome
when sinful shadows cast -
if humble, I, right where I am,
repent of failures past?

Will perseverance ponder
tempations endless goal -
if faithful, I stand steadfast
in whom I can extol?

Final sand still empties out
and grains, will fewer be.
The hourglass sifts steady.
The sands of time test me.

When the hourglass stands empty,
and life's race I have run -
will God look back upon my life
and say the words, "Well done"?

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Matthew 25:29,30 (NASB)
29 "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
30 "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Perfection's Promise 11-8-09

There is no perfect paper,
there is no perfect pen.
There is no perfect poem
that can be told by men.

There are no perfect phrases,
that offer perfect rhyme.
There are no perfect voices
to comfort us this time.

We chart our many poems
and give them all a grade -
or pass them off as faulty -
ignore, lest truth invade.

Poems by the millions
can offer but a clue -
to how our Savior really felt
when He was torn in two.

Though not a bone was broken,
though not a word was said -
Jesus broke that perfect mold
and showed us love instead.

If we can't see perfection,
from love that God bestowed -
from love that Jesus gave us,
from love that Jesus showed -

If you can't see perfection
in poetry and all -
then you will never understand
and God will never call.

So take this very poem
and rip it all to shreds -
if you can't see the promise
in what our Jesus said.

However, if your heart is soft,
if humble you can be -
if you can rip yourself from pride -
then Heaven you will see.

There is no perfect poem.
Perfection never starts -
unless we see God's promises
down deep within our hearts.

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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John 3:16 (KJV) 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.

Insignificant? 11-7-09

Are we so blind in our own little world -
can't see our own ship's demise -
and feel deep down an emptiness
with insignificant eyes?
Yet do we love life's dangers,
and into the tempests lean -
with all our focused attention on
this world's corrupted scene?

Are we so deaf in our own little world,
when waters send warning tears -
that we can't discern the crashing waves
with insignificant ears?
And do we love life's dangers
that envies what sins enjoy -
with all of our selfish actions,
with insignificant noise?

Are we so wrapped in our own little world,
balled up as some yarn and strings -
yet hanging from a single thread,
with insignificant things?
Oh, the storms that God allows
as we tighten ourselves in chains.
We cannot break free from greed and lust
with insignificant brains.

When temptation's storm keeps tossing
our ships on the mighty sea,
are we so lost in our own little world -
we can only think about "me"?
When waters keep rolling and breaking
our ships against angry waves -
will cries be screamed at Heaven to
a Jesus who truly saves?

Would God send His Son with His infinite love,
with insignificant goals -
to have Him die on an old rugged cross
for insignificant souls?
Certainly not! We're meaningful -
we faithful sons and daughters.
Grace is sufficient against all storms.
Let Jesus calm Life's waters.

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Galatians 3:26 (NASB) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

The Hourglass 11-2-09

Who begins the timeline,
life's hourglass, brand new?
Excitement grasps first days of life
as grains of sand slip through.

Youthful times surround us.
We lack full wisdom's clue.
We learn to make decisions though,
as grains of sand slip through.

Middle age is stressful
with obligations due -
so we go about our business
as grains of sand slip through.

Oh, to know the answers -
and every facet knew -
so we prepare the answers then
as grains of sand slip through.

With sunset years upon us,
we find God's Word is true -
but still the days flee fast from us
as grains of sand slip through.

Who holds our real value -
and have regrets, will you -
as the hourglass stands empty and

the final grain slips through?

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Ecclesiastes 9:12 (NASB) Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them.

Autumn Leaves 10-25-09

How do those leaves expose bright, vivid colors -
that are seen throughout autumn's day,
when those same leaves in the darkness of night
are simply a cold shade of gray?

The works of the flesh are futile and worthless -
when cloaked in the darkness of sin.
Only grace proves God's light is so brilliant -
and faithfully shines truth within.

So even the greatest of all Christian trees
can't be proud of colorful deed -
but humbly drop several acorns around
faithfully planting the seed.

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Isaiah 66:2 (NASB)
"For My hand made all these things,Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD "But to this one I will look,To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."

The Moral Compass 10-21-09

Have they been long forgotten,
as trials trouble so,
the morals from the stories learned
so many years ago?

Points, that moral compass, where?
In circles, does it turn?
When lost deep in the wilderness -
do hearts sincerely yearn?

Follow, do we, others' paths
to North, East, South or West -
or any other 'rabbit' trails?
What waters do we test?

Is morality of value -
when values others form?
What forms the lawful ethic then -
from those who aren't reformed?

'Woe is me' when troubled from
corruption's planted seed -
and bountiful afflictions come
from harvesting the greed.

Economies will all collapse
and drive us far apart -
when money is the real love
that's locked within our heart.

Oh, man still harbors evil.
Respect is all but dead.
The young, the old, the least of these -
can see their lot ahead.

Yet God's Word sets a standard,
from wisdom's tested past -
and only if we follow Him,
will peace forever last.

Hold, if we, that truer love
and do what we were taught -
would people ever think to steal,
or have an evil thought?

What if no one ever killed,
and no one ever lied?
The way, the truth and the life -
It opens eyes so wide.

What have I in my goblet?
What have I in my flask?
What do I treasure in my cup,
it's me that I must ask.

Seek, I must, humility
and drop my royal cup -
for the moral of this poem is -
the compass points straight up.

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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John 14:6 (NASB) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."

Cricket Wisdom 10-14-09

No one seemed to care for me,
I had no great demand.
As tears were pouring down my cheeks,
did no one understand?

A cricket jumped in front of me,
so I took it to task.
"Be treated fair" is what I said,
Was that too much to ask?

Did my friends all turn away?
Had they done what they ought?
Oh, I had done so much for them -
but it was all for naught.

I asked and asked and asked for help.
I searched, that there might be -
just two small words of wisdom -
yet no one answered me.

Even God won't answer me -
oh, don't you understand?
I felt that I was sinking fast -
grasped in life's quick sand.

That cricket sat there patiently.
It hadn't any words.
Its chirping - simply worthless,
its wisdom for the birds.

Yet still it sat in front of me -
I wished that I was dead...
But then I stopped my talking and,
"I'm listening," it said.

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Deuteronomy 28:41-50 (NASB)
41 "You shall have sons and daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.
42 "The cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground.
43 "The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower.
44 "He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail.
45 "So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.
46 "They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever.
47 "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things;
48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
49 "The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand,
50 a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young.

Grandma's Place 10-11-09

I sat there on those weathered boards
as 'welcome chimes' would ring -
Yes, grandma's place was special on
her old porch swing.

Her dinners were delicious,
her cookies she would bring,
as rich aromas found me on
her old porch swing.

At times the wooden seat was damp.
The morning dew would cling -
but I just had to sit there on
her old porch swing.

The chains, stressed on occasion,
that held a many thing.
Sat, all her friends and fam'ly, on
her old porch swing.

Served well those rusty bolts.
Though not for queen or king,
but all the folk were welcomed on
her old porch swing.

The conversations several -
the arm rest, everything -
as we discussed my problems on
her old porch swing.

Nothing makes my heart so glad
and nothing makes it sing,
until I think of grandma on
her old porch swing.

Many years have long since passed.
To memories, I will cling -
those days I sat with grandma on
her old porch swing.

The workers razed the homestead -
In fear, the birds took wing,
but always in my memory is -
her old porch swing.

Some say it wasn't special,
nor good for anything -
yet that's where I found Jesus - on
her old porch swing.

©2009 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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