God’s Greatest Poem

God’s Greatest Poem

Please read this whole post so you don't misunderstand where I am going with this devotional.

God gives each of us (mankind) one or more talents; talents we can squander on ourselves, for the world, or use for God's glory. If we come to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, the Bible teaches the Holy Spirit also gives us spiritual gifts to be used to build up and strengthen our fellow believers.

One talent I have had since I was a child was the ability to play with words and make a poem out of them. Granted, I do not consider most of the poetry written before I came to the Lord to be worth much in the eyes of eternity, nor when compared to the poems I have written since I have gotten saved. Now I use my spiritual gifts (exhortation and teaching) to make my natural talent better and to make a difference in the lives of those around me, especially to edify my brethren and remind them of the promises of God.

Truly, my talent and gifts in this area would be nowhere near as good (if that is an appropriate word to use) without the input of my Christian friends throughout the years. Friends such as my webpartner, Angela Trenholm, who has helped me make so many poems better - including helping me rewrite It's Only After and Just As I Was. My sister, Lori, whom I can tell when she doesn't like the wording of a line here and there. But it is such a pleasure to see when something I write touches her heart and draws her closer to the Lord. There are also the many friends from my Bible study group and my church who have helped iron out parts of my poems here and there.

All that being said, I'm a poet. I love expressing the truth of the Word of God through poems and songs because they affect people emotionally in a way that dry facts or doctrine itself does not - though I seek God's wisdom in each poem to make sure that every idea and phrase I use is according to the Word of God (specifically the King James Bible), because only people and the Word of God last forever. If I want God to bless my poems, it must not be some nice sounding religious idea, but a poem firmly based on the Bible.

As a poet, I am not finished with a poem completely until I get it exactly the way I want it, until it sounds pleasant to me, until I get the Scriptural ideas and promises across in a way that is clear to those I share each poem with. I want an end result that is the best I can make it - and yes, that includes taking into consideration the input of others. I want a finished poem that I can be satisfied thoroughly with and that glorifies the Lord God.

Did you know God is writing a poem too?

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The word for "workmanship" is the Greek word poiema, where we get our English word poem from. According to this verse, you are God's poem!

And just like an earthly poet keeps working on each poem until he gets it exactly the way he wants it, so does God. The difference is He is the great Creator, He has all wisdom, and He absolutely loves each poem He has started. He will continue working on us until the day He takes us home to glory.

Philippians 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Isaiah 64:8  But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

In His love and wisdom, the Heavenly Potter will work in each of our lives and make the final product that He has long desired - a vessel that is transformed into honour and that brings Him eternal glory. If you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation, believing He paid the complete penalty upon the cross when He died for your sins, know that the Risen Saviour is also working on you each day. He is the Master, the Potter, the Creator, and He has the power to transform any vessel, no matter how marred and scarred, into one that is a valuable treasure to Him.

Jeremiah 18:2-4  Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Psalm 68:13  Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.

Once God started the work of salvation in you, He promised that He will continue until He has the finished product before Him in Heaven. as long as we are alive, the Lord is working on each one of us.

Truly, God's greatest poem is you!

November 20th, 2024

Jerry Bouey

Under Construction

Under construction by the Lord,
Pieced together in perfect accord,
Bit by bit, each part joined carefully,
Fitted and arranged with wisdom, tenderly.

As the Holy Spirit smoothes the edges,
And transforms His vessel into honour,
These changes, blessed by God's own touch,
Are wrought by His glorious power.

When God's final product is presented,
It will have been tested and proved.
Fired in the kiln of life's afflictions,
Refined and the impurities removed.

Though I can't imagine the end result as yet,
This work of art will someday be done.
Molded by the Potter with His very hands,
Lovingly crafted into the image of His Son.

August 22nd, 1995
Jerry Bouey

Saved To The Uttermost! - Part Two

Saved To The Uttermost! - Part Two

This devotional builds upon one I wrote a long time ago, Cities Of Refuge. Please read that first for context.

Hebrews 7:22-28 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this Man, because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people's: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

The Lord Jesus Christ is our great High Priest. It might be helpful to read all of Hebrews 7 if you need a refresher on what it says, though the passage above is the part I will primarily be focusing on.

Jesus, the Son of God, became a Man so He could die for our sins. As the Bible reveals, He has never sinned; therefore, His one sacrifice on the cross of Calvary paid the complete penalty that was needed to forgive and remove our sins forever. And because He was tempted in all points as we are, but He has never given in to sin, He knows the struggles we face, He knows our weaknesses, and is the person most qualified to help us in our day to day struggles. He is the only person that can give us the grace and spiritual strength we need to conquer the sins and temptations we face in our own lives.

Hebrews 2:17-18 Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

One of the Old Testament types is the Cities of Refuge. If an Israelite or a stranger in their land killed another person unintentionally (ie. without premeditation or by accident), he was able to flee to the nearest city of refuge to find sanctuary until the death of the current high priest.

Numbers 35:25-28 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.

Once the high priest died, the sin was wiped away and the manslayer was able to return to his own land again, safe from any further retaliation or future harm from the revenger of blood. Almost 2000 years ago, our great High Priest - our Refuge - died upon the cross, and our sins were wiped away by His shed blood, but after three days and nights in the grave, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, never to die again! Not only was our sin debt fully paid for upon the cross, now we are free forever from any spiritual revenger of blood, from the accuser of the brethren, from the guilt and penalty of our own sins, from the wrath of God - Jesus paid it all, and the proof of that fact is that He is now alive forevermore.

Romans 1:3-4 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 

Revelation 1:17-18 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

All that the high priests in the Old Testament pictured was (and is!) fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Now He ever liveth, never to die again; therefore, not only is He the perfect Refuge, He is forever our own High Priest, who is able to intercede for all His spiritual brethren, all those believers who have placed their faith in His finished work of redemption.

Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines uttermost as: Extreme; being in the furthest, greatest or highest degree; as the uttermost extent or end; the uttermost distress.

Strong's Concordance gives this definition for the word uttermost: from G3956 and G5056; full-ended, i.e. entire (neuter as noun, completion).

Strong's 5056: from a primary τέλλω téllō (to set out for a definite point or goal); properly, the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state (termination (literally, figuratively or indefinitely), result (immediate, ultimate or prophetic), purpose); specially, an impost or levy (as paid).

Strong's 5055 (a related word) is defined as such: to end, i.e. complete, execute, conclude, discharge (a debt):—accomplish, make an end, expire, fill up, finish, go over, pay, perform.

We can see this last word used in John 19:30, in the phrase, "It is finished!"

From the uttermost and to the uttermost - that's from the farthest reaches to the furthest extent. As some have stated in the past: from the guttermost to the uttermost. Not only did He save us and blot out our sins forever, He gave us an inheritance in Him, a relationship with Him, a home in His presence for all eternity. What more could we ask for? To the uttermost!

...He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him...

October 26, 2024
Jerry Bouey

Saved To The Uttermost!

A New Name

 A New Name

Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Knoweth is ginosko - personal experience, personally knowing something. I don't know how in eternity we can have a name only we know, but if Jesus gives us a name based on our walks with Him or our victories in Him, then it is something only we can personally know. I can tell you Jesus gave me a name that meant such and such - but only I would personally know the true significance of it, only I would have personally experienced its meaning in my own life.

1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

Good thing the Lord will seek out the good in my walk with Him - even if I have to give account of other choices or things I do that I should not have done.

Think of people's names that God Himself changed - Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, Jacob to Israel, Solomon to Jedidiah. There were other people that had nicknames - Simon to Peter, James and John to Sons of Thunder, Saul to Paul (though it does not say who changed the name - whether God or Paul himself).

The animals in the Garden of Eden Adam named by observing them and noticing something about each of them. The Lord has a name for every single star He created.

Genesis 2:19  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Psalm 147:4  He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

The Lord knows everything about each one of us - what makes us tick, what matters to us, our personalities and the way we think, our spiritual ups and downs, our victories and defeats. Whatever our new names will be, it will mean something significant to Him and to us.

February 24, 2023
Jerry Bouey

The Lord Sees Our Potential

The Lord Sees Our Potential

As a much younger believer I remember reading a book or commentary where the author points this passage out:

Judges 6:12, 14  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour... And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

Then he mentioned that the Lord God saw Gideon's potential as a warrior BEFORE Gideon ever fought his first battle. The Lord opened the doors needed for Gideon to step into that role and equipped him fully for it - long before he ever fought that first battle. God already stated that Gideon had the might, the strength or power, that was needed to fight the upcoming battles God had planned for Gideon to set free the oppressed Israelites of his day.

Our Heavenly Father is sovereign. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows everything about us, has a plan for us, and He has all that is needed to bring out that result in our lives that we may fulfill His will, as we walk with Him daily by faith.

We see this same principle in two other passages:

Exodus 6:26 These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. 

Exodus 12:17, 41, 51  And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever...  And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt...  And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

Notice the language the Lord used to describe His oppressed people. He referred to them several times as a host, an army, BEFORE they ever fought a battle with the Canaanites and other nations they would encounter on their way to the Promised Land. AND notice, the Lord of Hosts had already equipped them BEFORE they ever left Egypt.

Exodus 13:17-18 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

Harnessed means armed, equipped for war.

I find the contrast presented in the passage above interesting. God knew His plan for His people, He was putting into motion the events that would free them from their oppressors, and knew what would hinder them; therefore He chose not to bring them a certain way until they had gotten the battle experience He knew they would need to conquer the Canaanites in the land He was leading them to.

One other example I want to bring to your attention:

Exodus 3:7-10 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Moses, I've chosen you to deliver My people from Egypt. Then came Moses' excuses, which God dealt with one by one. Maybe the biggest fear for this leader-to-be was basically the fear of public speaking - in this case, speaking to Pharaoh, the leader of the Egyptians, and speaking to the nation of Israel as their new leader.

Exodus 4:10-12 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

God promised to provide someone to speak on Moses' behalf - he just needed to be obedient and go do what the Lord had called him to do. The Lord, in His wisdom, provided Moses' brother to help him (whom the Lord had already sent on his way to meet Moses). The part I find so intriguing is that after Moses' and Aaron's initial meeting with the elders of the nation of Israel (in which Aaron did speak), and their first encounter with the Pharaoh (in which they spoke together), we find that Moses was the primary speaker from then on.

Exodus 4:29-30 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. 

Exodus 5:1-3 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 

Exodus 6:9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. 

Exodus 7:1-2 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.

Exodus 8:9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

One final observation from all these passages is that the Lord God promised to be with them in all He had called them to do. Notice the following:

Judges 6:12 ...The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

Exodus 4:12 ...Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

Exodus 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 

The Lord is with His people, guiding them, preparing them for whatever He has planned out for each of their lives, equipping them for service and opening the needed doors for ministry in their lives.

What has your heavenly Father called you to do in Jesus' name? Are you fulfilling His will? He has left us with so many promises - not just that He will be with us as we go into all the world with the Gospel of salvation, but that He will provide, prepare, and equip each of us as we walk with Him in obedience and serve Him day by day. Consider these final two promises:

Revelation 3:7-8 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

This next one is a sevenfold promise that the Lord will provide EVERYTHING you need through His Word and the power of His Holy Spirit to faithfully serve Him.

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

Go forth, thou mighty child of God and serve Him today!

November 2, 2023
Jerry Bouey

The Song Of The Redeemed

The Song Of The Redeemed

I like it when something in a passage gets explained and it opens up. I’m sure I knew some of this before (though this old brain gets forgetful), but it struck me more today.

Rahab, when used as a symbol through the Old Testament, refers to Egypt. Now read this:

Isaiah 51:9-10 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

God defeated Egypt and made it so His people - the redeemed - could pass over the Red Sea to go to the Promised Land/Jerusalem (well, what would one day be called Jerusalem/Mount Zion). Now read the next verse which most of us probably know as a song. Literally, it refers to the nation of Israel; spiritually it applies to all God's people being delivered from their old master (sin and Satan) and going to the heavenly Zion.

Isaiah 51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

September 18, 2022
Jerry Bouey

For A Season

For A Season

1 Peter 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.

The Bible teaches that we will have manifold (many kinds of) trials. That we are to rejoice in them. That there is a need for us to go through them, that the Lord has a purpose for every trial He allows in our lives.

There is also a bright ray of hope shining through that verse, which at first, in the darkest moments, we may overlook. It is just five simple words:

Though – though it may not seem joyful when we are going through them. Our hearts may be heavy and weighed down.

Now – right here, right now, you are going through a trial, but the trial isn’t all there is on the horizon. All is not bleak or gloomy, though it may seem like it now.

And finally, for a season – There is an appointed time for every trial, there is a season of struggle that we go through, but like the seasons of the year, they will end in time, and a new period will begin in our lives. In Ecclesiastes 3:1, God says “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

Let the Lord fulfill His will in your lives, cling to Him through the trials, let Him teach you what He wants you to learn from this season, and cling to the Biblical hope that “…we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

The Lord Jesus Christ knows what He is doing! Just trust Him, and if the road is rough, let Him be your refuge and let Him carry you safely in His everlasting arms. (See Deuteronomy 33:27)

Written February 24th, 2002
Jerry Bouey