Joe
by a Jenny Wren

A Christian blind man lay a-dying
Joe's age almost eighty-three
Upon his death-bed he is sighing
"Lord, just once, God let me see!

“Can I see a bird fly in the sky
In a cloudy sea of blue overhead
Just one house Lord, before I die
Or, maybe, a rose's soft red-head?

"There is so much I'd love to see."
His voice now rising near to a shout
"Lord, Just once, let me see...me!
I want to see what I'm all about"

Joe starts to see as he is talking
What a sight there is to behold
Joe's transported, as he is walking
On a street that looks like gold!

Joe sees a river so fresh and clear
It's just as he thought it would be
He bent over the quiet water near
He laughs "Lord is that really. . .me.?"

A reflection of a white-haired man
That was looking right back at him
Joe waves the water with his hand
There on his face a verified grin

A beautiful man walked towards him
He's smiling, holding out his hand
Jesus is standing beside him, then
Said “I’ll show you the New Jerusalem."

He shows Joe the tree-of-life
And many things the Lord has made
There is no toiling and no strife
There all of Joes treasures lay

Treasures that Joe sent on before
There lay each kind - word-and-deed
Jesus said at the storehouse door
"Joe, You've planted so many seeds!

“Here is the mansion made for you
See red roses bloom by your door
look! see birds flying in the blue
Joe, You shall 'see' forever more. ...!"

Matthew 24:31
31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

The old man has an encounter with God, and is wooed over with the greatest love ever known to mankind.

Such love he cannot resist, when God calls for his own.

The word so fills your heart and life. You worry people with trying to tell them of the Lord. As you try to prophesy to them how good and how they have this for sure, you tell them they need the Lord to be complete.

John the Baptist’s old self represents John who was beheaded, and was killed. Indeed John had grown less just as self grows less while Jesus grows up more and more within us.

Jesus, who starts out as an infant inside of us, has to be nourished in order to grow. He will take us through all of the stages of growing, from head start to graduation, and even to highest education in him. Wherever we wish to try and go.

We can learn to swim about in his lake of power, dispensing gifts of love, channeled through us, to all of those who will listen, knowing they search for something. As God is trying to show them what it is they search for. The old self has to be killed and ever so slowly replaced by the teachings of the Holy Spirit of God within, before the new can be accepted. Self is a mixture of good and evil and self is determined and is so set on keeping its throne in your heart.  When Jesus died on the cross, the way was made totally back to God. Jesus knocks patiently on your heart’s door and if and when you open up to him as you hear his call, he enters through that opening.  Jesus moves into your heart where he can now take his throne (you have been bought with a great price). Your body on earth is a part of his footstool.

John 3:16 - when I first got saved, I felt God enter my heart as I gave my completed will to him and my all my extremities. I felt him as he was pouring into my being from years past, renewed and knowing of scripture.

I handed all of my life over, understanding him in total. Until that day, I could not believe the stamina I still have for my Lord. It is remarkable even when illness besets me.

Troubles seemed to abound, more and more, in my life at each turn. Illnesses of every description, pain and bone dislocations, seizures, ahh! I almost swore there was no God because I had such conflict. After years of knowing I had to stay because the love I felt from God was stronger than the pain and pure sickness of being ill for so long.

With God, with me, we stuck it out. Then I noticed all things suddenly stopped. And just seemingly went way, I felt like a huge light had been turned on in my whole mind and the deepest soul, my heart. My inner being just seemed to drip with love for God and mankind.

I felt a new love for everyone around me still wanting to serve God more and more. The longer I stayed with the Lord the more I loved and adored him. I still find it hard to explain this wonderful love I have discovered living within me.

It is not because I write to stay saved. The reason I write, sing and feel pleasure in the Lord is because I feel compelled to serve him out of pure love for him. So much is not that it is because I am saved.

Jesus would say, ‘’I have prayed for you, so that when you are converted, you will be able to strengthen your brothers, who too, will go through this fiery trial of their faith.

I have found now that I can help those who are where I once was, but what I find instead of them wanting help, is much jealousy or a real fear of this knowing of this Lord I speak of.

God had a plan to send his son to take away the sins of this world, one time for all time, to be a sacrifice for all mankind. All who looked upon the cross with the ‘God man' hanging there.

Just as when Moses lifted the brass serpent up on the pole and the people then were saved, and when people looked upon that serpent they were both healed and saved.

Jesus said "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. Just as that serpent was lifted high, for the snake-bitten mankind (who were dying from snake bites) like we are dying in and of our sins (another type of serpent bite). Sin abounds, but Jesus has made a way for rectification of it.

In the wilderness that was your life, you also shall be saved - if you but look upon and trust in the Lamb of God, the human sacrifice made for man. Jesus became an image of the serpent to save us. Jesus died with the sins of the world covering him. That must have been a horrendous sight to the Father of mankind.

Do you know that Satan laughed, but little did Satan know; that the last laugh was to be upon him, and all of his followers?

There you can now see the two crosses on either side of the Jesus cross.

There stands an illustration of two fruits from the original tree in the Garden of Eden.
On one side of Jesus hung evil fruit. On the other side of Jesus hung the good fruit.

The two thieves were hung with him.
 
One was saved, one wasn't.

One good, one evil, although both were thieves.

One asked for forgiveness, the other laughed.

This shows the world's people of today.

Good and evil live inside each of us, even to this day. But the way is made through Jesus hanging as that serpent from olden times, hung to save, and if thou but believe, thou shall be saved.

Today, until then, our God comes inside of us to live and frees us of the evil one who has been living within every child since the very beginning of time. We are born with good and evil inside of us,


2 Corinthians 5

1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight.)

8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

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as hard as I seemed to want evil in my life, it has now reversed and no more will there be room for Satan on my heart’s throne, because I have given possession to its rightful owner, who now sits there. The satanic self is finally dead.

Praise God the old self is gone, I will never mourn him.

He caused me nothing but misery and pain of every description, at each and every turn in my life.

I praise God all of the time because he has set this old pilgrim free.

Suddenly the scriptures of both the Old and New Testament seem to start opening up to me. There within me is the unspeakable joy of knowing that the Lord is sufficient enough to make me know. He is mine forever. People would almost run and hide when seeing me coming.

I was a real pain in trying to beat them over the head with my savior, instead of just lifting him high so he could draw others to him, just as he drew me.

I guess I was so excited about the treasure I had found, I could not wait for them to experience it also. I was so anxious for them to feel what I know is so real, this knowing that God will come and live inside of each of us, his children. There he will teach and guide our lives and give to us a life more abundant.

The old man in us dies we are raised as a new man, in Christ, Jesus is God making himself one man out of us his children. Each of our whole body is as one individual cell of his gigantic body on the body of God, his church.

With all of the D.N.A inside that one cell to make and create yet another image of God.  God is in the life he created. God is the life he created and placed inside of earthen matter.

Just as our brain connects to our body parts, so will God connect to his body (which is us). He will at last have a place to rest his weary head upon the huge body of his church. God bless and open your understanding that we shall be one in one. He is our master, the head that rules over his new body and we now rule over our own personal body with our head.
Yes indeed we are made in the image of God.

Jenny Wren

Heavenly Father,
We come to you in gratitude for all you have done for each of us. We gather here in two's to read your word and to sing your praises. In poetry and song. Stay with us as the day is long. We shall give to you the praise forevermore.

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Jenny Wren