Floating Up

Walking in the Spirit
lightens my burden
I turn to Him
whenever I'm hurtin'
Within my heart
he and I sup
and I realize
I'm floating up

 Upward bound

Upward trajectory

High above ground

I'm soaring free

I don't look down

but keep my eye

On the One who blazed a trail

through the welcoming sky

The One who flew before me

on whose wings I rise

When trials come

as I know they must

I don't come undone

I don't raise a fuss

For this I know -

In this truth I trust,

when I fall,

I'm falling up!

Upward bound

                                                                    Upward trajectory

                                                                   High above ground

                                                                  I'm soaring free

                                                                 I don't look down

                                                                but keep my eye

                                                               on the One who blazed a trail

                                                              to this pristine sky

                                                             the One who flew before me

                                                            on whose wings I am soaring

                                                           who will ever live and not die

The Higher I rise

the more I see

I'm not going home            no

my home's coming to me

For his very throne

is in my heart

To God I'm known

from the very start

I'm floating up

like a Spirit-filled balloon

Yes I'm floating up

and I know that very soon

I'll meet Him here

in the midst of the sky

He'll wipe each tear

from the midst of my eyes

And I'll never

know pain again

because our union

will never end............

(Down floats the dust but I'm floating up)

The Gift

He stood before us
He was about to speak
He was just another voice
in just another week.
To be quite honest
(because you can't hear the snoring),
Wednesday nights at our church
can get rather boring.
But the first thing he said was
pay no attention to me,
give me no mind, pay me no heed,
for I've only come, this is all, this is it,
I've only come to share with you my gift.
All you'll receive
on this Wednesday eve
is only what God has given to me.
I can take no Glory
for myself at all             for
I am a sinner - unworthy to be called
And from that moment on
he shut up and let the Lord share
And we were transformed
by such sumptuous fare
For God's words are Spirit
and they are Life
And it was His words
we dined on that night
When he stepped aside
and gave God place
Our hearts rejoiced
for the feast we ate....

We're unlearning even as we're learning.
We're discarding things we've been taught
     when we haven't been discerning.
Even as we receive, we're busy removing
     things not given by God.
At the same time we're unraveling
     the ropes of doctrine
the enemy's using to bind us to falsehoods,
   we're braiding the rope
the Holy Spirit's unveiling
  to tie us to all He's revealing that's good.
Even as we're tearing up the plantings
from the devil's seeding,
the seeds God's planted
we're nurturing and watering.
As we tear down with one hand,
we're building up with the other,
ousting all that is of Satan's kingdom
while embracing all that God's uncovered.
This duality
is our reality.
Pain and pleasure
are what we live with daily.
We make this confession -
We carry within the same breast,
both our cross (our death)
and our ressurection,
both joy and sadness,
both sorrow and gladness,
both defeat and victory,
but in Christ, it all will be
for our blessing.
So Amen good brethren!
Continue the fight,
continue the struggle
to do what is right.
Though sin and godliness
play tug o' war within,
never stop struggling
to let Holiness win......

like the thief on the cross
we've all stolen from God
we've all taken what is His
what I'm speaking of is this -
We've stolen our hearts
our minds and bodies, too
we've stolen our time
our very lives, it's true
and unless we give it all back and quickly
at our trial we'll be found guilty
and our sentence will be
more than we can bear -
He'll tell us "get out of here,
far away from Me,
out of my sight"
Our reality
we'll be
out of paradise
for eternity...

Please do not be forsaken
please return what you've taken

High in the Himalayas
hidden from view
Far from prying eyes
known to but a few
a distant paradise....

Shangri-la
Perfection on earth
No war, no sin, no harm, no hurt
Food, shelter, pristine weather
All that brings man pleasure.

This is man dreamin'
of the long lost garden of Eden
A place we know deep down exists
It's more than just a myth
For God never destroyed it
but set an angelic guard
One day intending to reinhabit
The place from which man was barred
the place of man's betrayal so tragic.
This place is real
more than a dream
The way concealed
now clearly seen
By following Christ
in sacred Fellowship
The path of Life
in no longer hid.
The tree of Life is ours to ingest
for it's Christ himself - our wine and our bread
Our ressurection, our life from the dead
Our only key to the garden's reentry....

As he said to the dying thief -
"Soon you will find relief
for today you will be with me in paradise
where I will wipe every tear from your eye
The pain you now feel
is a temporary thing
What you'll find is real
is the love I am now sharing.
I, your Christ, choose now to forgive
that you, my son, will not perish but live"

And he breathed not his last breath
but merely took his rest
from this mortal soil
He went to Hell to release
those in captivity
Setting the captives free
in a magnificent burst of Glory!
Those who died in faith
received Faith's reward
As those in Abraham's bosom
were delivered by God's mighty sword
to dwell on high
in paradise
with God forevermore.....