In His Hands

Look on the suffering savior

With the nails piercing His hands

He is full propitiation

He fulfills the law's demands

The sin bearer bore our penalty

When for His own He died

God His Father sees the woundings

And is fully satisfied.

But though they tore this temple down

He raised it in three days

In the carpenter's mighty hand

True power He displays

In meekness He laid down his life

But in Glory He arose

Now regard the nail-scars in His hands

From which love and mercy flows

Look upon the revelation

Of the Sovereign glorified

With a voice-cry like trumpet

Flowing hair and glowing eyes

In the midst of seven lamp stands

Seven stars in his right hand

He is holding His beloved

Who have followed His command

He has the whole world in His hands

The sovereign wields the sword

He raises high his holy stars

He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Look upon the living one

The first and the last authority

The alpha and omega

He is holding Davids key 

As He holds the keys to life and death

Heaven's Kingdom he will plant

He will rule the New Jerusalem,

For He fulfills the covenant

He has the whole world in His hands

The sovereign wields the sword

He is the door who holds the keys,

He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Look now upon the warrior

Who is wielding Judgments sword

He is clothed in bloodstained garments

The agent of Gods wrath outpoured

This lamb slain from the worlds foundation

Here is the worthy one revealed

He alone has the authority

To break open Judgments seals

He has the whole world in His hands

The sovereign wields the sword

He raises high his two edged blade

He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Revelation 1:16-18; 3:7

Anthony Foster

September 24, 2018

Tremble

Enter now into the throne room

Of your great Creator King

With a holy fear approach him

Feel your heart begin to sing

Let His wonder make you tremble

Let His promise make you bold

As you come into His temple
As His glory you behold

Filled with awe, filled with amazement

At this access, full and free

When you greet him as your Father

You  will meet your destiny

The One who spoke creation

Who reigns in light above

Is the One who laid His life down

So that you might know His love

Tremble with joy-The closer you draw

Tremble with wonder-Tremble with awe

Tremble in sober reverence-As in Majesty you stand

He will shake your soul with glory-As He holds you in His hand.

The mighty Majesty on high

Laid down on a cruel cross

Became a servant and a reject

Suffered sin's heartbreaking cost

His atoning blood was offered

As a final sacrifice-

To cover our obscenities

Death was the purchase price

All the sin that separates you

From the Father he has borne

He who knows s as he knows himself

Took on a crown of thorns

So that he might reign in glory

Be exalted to the throne

Interceding for His beloved

Till he harvests what He's sown

Tremble with joy-The closer you draw

Tremble with wonder-Tremble with awe

Tremble in sober reverence-As in Majesty you stand

He will shake your soul with glory-As He holds you in His hand.

On a hillside called Golgotha

The serpent's skull was crushed

Christ has left this broken angel

Ruined and writhing in the dust

He ransacks the devil's prisons

He has set the prisoners free

He has broken his dominion
At His name see Satan flee

Turning mourning into dancing

Bringing triumph over death

Changing agony to comfort

As we breathe His Spirits breath

He'll not leave you or forsake you

In your suffering and strife

So take courage as He guides you

Through the battlefield of life

Tremble with joy-The closer you draw
Tremble with wonder-Tremble with awe

Tremble in sober reverence-As in Majesty you stand

He will shake your soul with glory-As He holds you in His hand.

September 24, 2018

Anthony Foster

Down a Rat Hole

"Devoting a life to material comforts and security and thrills is like throwing money down a rat hole."- John Piper

This hit me and prompted me to write this little ditty:

Down a Rat Hole

You can be generous or you can be greedy

But its tragic if mammon you trust

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy

Or reserve them for  moths and for rust
Flee from those objects of lust

Quit being satisfied with the 2% yields

Of pleasures and all that you please

Invest in the blue-chip, eternal, high-yield,

Divinely insured se-cu-ri-ties.

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.

Choose ease, comfort, and pleasure or heavenly treasure

You can be generous or you can be greedy

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.

If material comforts are your main goal

Security and this week's thrills

That's like throwing money down a rat hole.
Gluttony never fulfills

Life's more than just paying your bills.

To live in luxury satisfies-- never

It is much more blessed to love

More blessed now, and more blessed forever.

So set your mind on -things -a-bove.

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.

Choose ease, comfort, and pleasure or heavenly treasure

You can be generous or you can be greedy

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.

By storing up treasures here and not above

It's everlasting rewards that you spend

But investing a life in the labor of love

Yields joy unsurpassed without end:
An eternal dividend!

Buckets of blessings that never grow old

Returning rewards without measure

So will you be content with your silver and gold

Or will you seek e-ter-nal trea-sure?

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.

Choose ease, comfort, and pleasure or heavenly treasure

You can be generous or you can be greedy

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.

“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. [And thus] provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail”

Luke 12:33, Matthew 6:19–20

Anthony Foster

September 20, 2018

Promises of God

Praise to the goodness of the Lord,

Who rules his people by his Word,

And there, to those who in Him live

His kindest promises He gives

Each promise, empowered by that Word

All creation heeds as it is heard

Much stronger than any other force

It makes all nature takes its course

Chorus: On the promises of God we stand

We know his Grace and understand

He cannot break His Word or lie

He fulfills every promise bye and bye.

Praise, everlasting praise, be paid

To him that earth's foundation laid;

Praise to the God whose strong decrees

Sway the creation as he may please..

The promise of the Lord is sure

This Word that forever endures

His Word is our security

Though life fades fast and friends may flee.

Chorus: ­On the promises of God we stand

We know his Grace and understand

He cannot break His Word or lie

He fulfills every promise bye and bye.

Then should the earth's old pillars shake,

And all the wheels of nature break,

Our steady souls should never fear

The times and trials that draw near.

Our everlasting hopes arise

To the world where the soul never dies

Where the eternal Maker reigns,

And His own courts his promise sustains.

Chorus: On the promises of God we stand

We know his Grace and understand

He cannot break His Word or lie

He fulfills every promise bye and bye.

After Isaac Watts

Anthony Foster

September 19, 2018

You are I AM

You are the God who is love and light

You owe nothing to any one

You never change, you are always right

You are the Father the Spirit, the Son

Infinite in power, unrivaled in might

All creation must conform to you alone

All life in the universe in the depths and heights

Flow through You and to You and from Your throne

You are I AM, your glory we declare

You are I AM, your majesty is beyond compare

Oh the unspeakable privilege to taste and to see

And to know the God of Eternity!

You hide us in the cleft of the Rock

The pierced, exalted Son

You declare your Name and we are struck

Devastated and undone.

You are the triune Three in One

Holy and Righteous, Gracious and Just

Your person and power is beholding to none

Your manifold mercies are true to our trust

You are I AM, your glory we declare

You are I AM, your majesty is beyond compare

Oh the unspeakable privilege to taste and to see

And to know the God of Eternity!

By Your own power were all things made;

By You supported all things stand;

You are the whole creation's head,

Its foundation laid by your right hand.

Your wonders work in heaven and earth

To declare your glory to the nations

Praise to the God whose matchless worth

Is revealed In all creation

You are I AM, your glory we declare

You are I AM, your majesty is beyond compare

Oh the unspeakable privilege to taste and to see

And to know the God of Eternity!

Psalm 9:10

Anthony Foster

September 19, 2018

Maranatha Morning

In the glorious light of your return

Our spirits long to see your face

Hearts that ever seek Him yearn

For God to shed his richest grace.

When trumpet sound shall tear the skies,

And mountains fall into the sea

Saints, you may lift your joyful eyes,

There a new heaven and earth will be

Maranatha morning, rend the skies,

Bring that delightful, dreadful day;

Cut short the hours, thrill our eyes;

Maranatha, Lord we pray.

The lightning of your sharpened sword

Will cleave the skies as you appear

They will see the pierced, risen Lord

And this dark world trembles in fear

Haste, then, upon the wings of love,

Rouse all this anxious sleeping dust,

That we may join in heav'nly joys,

And sing the triumph of the God we trust.

Maranatha morning, rend the skies,

Bring that delightful, dreadful day;

Cut short the hours, thrill our eyes;

Maranatha, Lord we pray.

Some words after Isaace Watts

Anthony Foster

September 17, 2018

Zechariah 2:12

Luke 17:24

“For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.” (Luke 17:24)

The Soul's Final Feast

Oh how we long for perfection

Lord how we long for your touch

We long to have you draw us to your side

Sure is our hope in election

Of your promises Lord we make much

We long for your throne-room, there to abide.

We are hungry for the bread of life

We are thirsty for salvation's cup

To taste and see and know the prize

Eternal praise we will lift up

As we partake of the soul's final feast

To dine with our perfect high priest

When you come for your bride

And we're taken inside

And celebration shall never decrease!

v2

Oh how we long for your presence

There where our faith becomes sight

When we forever gaze on your beauty

There we will bask in your essence

With pleasure, with joy, and delight

Your glory manifest fully to see

We are hungry for the bread of life

We are thirsty for salvation's cup

To taste and see and know the prize

Eternal praise we will lift up

There our hungry hearts will be filled

There our thirsty souls will be drenched

There your glory we will behold

As we dine our desires are all quenched

As we partake of the soul's final feast

From the limits of flesh we're released

At the feast of the lamb

From eternity planned

And forever our joy will increase.

As we partake of the soul's final feast

To dine with our perfect high priest

When you come for your bride

And we're taken inside

At your banquet that never shall cease.

Meditation on a reading from Desiring God by John Piper
Psalm 37:4, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 27:4

September 16, 2018

Anthony Foster