Not Promised Tomorrow

I go along content,
So certain of tomorrow,
Making plans of what I will do…one day.

Oh there’s that call I’ll make,
To a long lost friend,
Make amends, mend fences and restore.

I promise…I’ll finally get to that letter,
Write of my love,
Tell you what you’ve meant to me.

It all seems so sure,
Each day dawns and the sun still sets right on time,
Every day seems to go on…just as I’d planned.

Then one day…news,
An accident, disease, a sudden death,
My plans unalterably changed.

Words of forgiveness will go unspoken,
The words “I love you”,
Will not be heard by the one I love.

I will not know this side of eternity,
Did you know I had forgiven…so long ago?
Did you feel the love deep in my heart…but never uttered from my lips?

Oh Lord forgive me,
For I have presumed…I did not know,
We are not promised tomorrow.

By Susan Bunts
February 23, 2008

It seems with the passing of each day…there is news someone’s grave illness or death. Sometimes drawn out over time…sometimes in the blink of an eye they are gone. I can only pray that during that time…they reach out make amends, say I love you, and leave nothing unspoken.

I know full well the peril in not taking the time to ask questions and work through issues. My mom has Alzheimer’s…and the answers to questions I might have asked are securely locked up in her mind and will remain a mystery this side of heaven.

More importantly is the choice that each of us must make. Will I confess Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior…will I bend my knee this side of heaven? The Bible assures us that one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord…to the glory of God forever.

One of the concerns I have is the uncertainty of my mother’s salvation. She went to church…and lived a decent and good life. Not perfect…but good. She didn’t talk of spiritual matters too often. Bible reading and prayer were not something that were part of our daily life. Her church going was in her youth…and after my father died. When she remarried we went to church weekly. She was in church…but I can’t tell you for sure if she is in Christ. That is why I talk to her about Jesus…and how to be saved. But because she can’t clearly express herself anymore I don’t know if she was saved at moment in time. I don’t know if she has the ability to make that choice now.

If I am hard hearted, willful, refuse to obey God’s leading, unkind, uncaring and stingy in my grace…then I will live a life of regrets. If I think I’m getting into heaven because I go to church, say a prayer, or live a life that’s better than the average guy…then I will be shocked when I hear Jesus say, “Away from me, I never knew you.” I will be protesting all the way to hell.

God’s word tells us that “Today is the day of salvation”. Today…I can make that choice. To refuse to do so…is presuming upon tomorrow. God may not give me tomorrow. When I lay my head on the pillow tonight…I don’t know if I will draw my last breath. The question is…when I awake in eternity…will I be in heaven or hell?

Broken

Am I broken,
Over churches who compromise,
Fail to teach the Word of God?

Am I grieved,
When churches aim to please seekers,
Instead of feeding the flock?

Do I cry,
When my Savior,
Has been made a mockery to an unbelieving world?

Do I sorrow,
Over pastors who seek to entertain,
With feel good messages?

Do I question,
Pastors who desire to grow numbers,
Rather than grow character?

Do I turn off,
Not even listen,
To pastors who dare not utter the word “sinner”?

Am I appalled,
When a pastor changes a hymn,
From “wretch”, to “saved a soul like me”?

Do I tolerate,
The pastor who embraces a Muslim,
And proclaims we that worship the same God?

Do I confront heresy,
When those in the pulpit,
Deny the trinity, the virgin birth, even Jesus Christ our Lord?

Am I embarrassed,
By those who claim to be a “man of God”,
Yet are ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Or do I diligently seek,
Listen attentively,
For the Bible, the inerrant Word of God?

Is the Bible my measure,
To discern,
If one is truly in the faith?

Do I thank God,
Fall upon my knees,
For the uncompromised preaching of the Word of God?

Do I allow,
The full counsel of His Word,
To rebuke, correct, instruct me in righteousness?

Am I overcome,
With gratitude…do I loudly proclaim,
I am a sinner, saved by grace, not of works, least I boast?

By Susan Bunts
February 17, 2008

Fighting Faith

The enemy seeks division,
Between me and my God,
He prods me to ask why,
Instead of trust and obey.

This trial will tell,
My faith, is it genuine and true?
Solid…unwavering…standing firm,
On the holy Word of God?

Will I permit circumstances to be my focus?
Give in…fall prey?
Believe him who was declared a liar from the beginning?
Or rise up…put on…the full armor of God?

The weapon supplied by my Father above,
When my mind is steeped in Scripture,
It’s then I might effectively wield,
The mighty Sword of the Spirit.

By Susan Bunts
February 11, 2008

Seeds of Doubt

Seeds of doubt,
So skillfully sown,
In the fertile ground.
Of a wound heart.

Forgiveness the healing balm,
To recondition the soil of my heart,
Then no weeds, thorns or thistles can grow,
From seeds of hurt, anger and bitterness.

By Susan Bunts
February 11, 2008

The Sanctified Tongue

Oh dear one,
Your testimony tells me,
You were saved,
Oh so many years ago.

But you cause me to wonder,
Has that salvation,
Worked it way,
To your tongue?

Gossip and slander,
So easily uttered,
About a fellow believer,
One considered a brother or sister in Christ.

Then tell me, please do,
What difference is there,
Between us and the unbeliever?
Dear Lord, what must they think?

Most certainly,
We are not perfect,
And will never be,
This side of eternity,

Yet, are we not washed,
In the same blood of the Lamb?
Did the nails not pierce His hands,
For your sin and mine?

We have been saved,
To the uttermost,
Through and through,
Dear Lord, now please sanctify our lips.

May our salvation,
Work its way,
From our heart to our tongue,
And now bring for praise for Christ Jesus our Lord.

by Susan Bunts
February 3, 2008