BY Elizabeth Prata
The winds of sin blow strong
The hearts of stone weigh heavy
The minds of shadow love darkness
The evil day His will prolongs.
The wicked will not prosper
They answer for their deeds
Their names not found on the roster
They stand before Him, these weeds
The winds of grace blow strong
Sin, death and hell cast out
All is fresh and new in beauty
Jesus reigns in glory over the throng
By EPrata
By Elizabeth Prata
From whence does your hope spring?
From this thing or that thing?
They will pass away.
On what does your foot stand?
On filthy mud? Unstable sand?
You will fall.
On what does your eternity rest?
Your works? Your deed or words you thought best?
They will be rejected.
Jesus is the hope, the rock, eternal life.
The narrow path, the bread of life, the door, the gate-
In Him we reach eternal state.
In Him and only Him is the way.
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
poetry by EPrata
By Elizabeth Prata
As we prepare enter Holy Week I’d like to share a poem I wrote a few years ago. The Lamb, He is worthy! He is majestic! Praise the Lamb of God, the Holy One of Israel, the Eternal King!
Firmly ensconced in English Hymnody, no one is quite sure where this gem came from. First seen as a poem in a Scottish Bible in 1594, and published intermittently as a stand alone poem, a hymn, or a text-feature in various Bibles, this piece extols the virtue of our ‘incomparable treasure’ of the Holy Bible. In the 1846 book titled Wanderings of a Pilgrim in the Shadow of Mont Blanc by George Barrell Cheever, the author tells us that the poem appeared in nearly all the copies of the Geneva editions of the translations of the Bible, which was made during the reign of Queen Mary by those illustrious exiles John Knox, Miles Coverdale, Anthony Gilby, Christopher Gilman, and others.
Though its origins may be a mystery, its point is made beautifully clear in moving verse.
Enjoy!
Here is the spring where waters flow,
To quench our heat of sin;
Here is the tree where truth doth grow
To lead our lives therein;
Here is the judge that stints the strife
When men’s devises fail:
Here is the bread that feeds the life
Which death cannot assail.
The tidings of salvation dear
Comes to our ears from hence;
The fortress of our faith is here;
The shield of our defence.
Then be not like the hog that hath
A pearl at his desire,
And takes more pleasure in the trough
And wallowing in the mire.
Read not this book in any case
But with a single eye:
Read not, but first desire GOD’s grace,
To understand thereby.
Pray still in faith with this respect
To fructify therein;
That knowledge may bring this effect,
To mortify thy sin.
Then happy thou in all thy life,
Whatso to thee befalls;
Yea, doubly happy shalt thou be
When GOD by death thee calls.
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