God Fights for Me

Christ is a God of peace, but fights for me,
He fiercely fights right to His bloody death,
He even gives up His divinity,
and through His pain He fights to His last breath.

“You’ll only get to take his bloodied soul
over My own dead body,” Christ has said,
“I’m willing to redeem his bloody toll,
and trade My life for his poor soul instead.”

Why would this God of peace for me make war?
He knows how long eternity will last.
He shows so light’s my cross, so rich His poor,
so small my pain, His love for me so vast,.”

For me God fights like hell the devil’s lies,
and then by heaven gives up His life and dies.

                               -- by Pete Voelz     7/7/12

Love in the Way

I don't like love when love gets in the way.
If God is love, true love is meant to be,
but for His true love, He wants me to pray,
love binds me to Him, yet He sets me free.
His love keeps coming back, His voice is clear,
but this world's so enticing, seems so good,
and I don't want to miss the fun that's here,
is there a rule I must do what I should?
There's more than God's love in this world of ours,
and free among these things He lets me choose,
there is His work, or I can smell the flowers,
if I choose Him, there's so much I could lose.
What's love, O Lord? I know it lies in You.
But if love's in the way, care I it's true?

                         -- by Pete Voelz       5/10

Ageless Angel

O Guardian Angel, have you aged with me?
How little do I know your sense of time.
If I could just have known you personally,
I would have heeded you more in my prime.

O Angel, you have known me through and through,
and you still pray for me before God's face;
did you have some good angel guarding you,
providing you some access to God's grace?

So much about you, Angel, I don't know,
I put my faith in what the Scriptures say;
I wish I knew how you go to and fro,
I hope together we can work today.

I love you, Angel, so I pray the Lord
will give you more than just your just reward.

                         -- by Pete Voelz        10/07

Tender Surrender

Most loving Lord, help me to now surrender
this heart and mind of mine You gently tend,
forgiving every sin of this offender,
Your infinite love extending without end.
Lord, loving You gives me a tenderer heart,
for I know You want my heart most of all,
no sacrifice suffices on my part
as much as tender love though great or small.
You tender me Your tender love, O Lord,
from Your kind heart as tender as can be,
may my heart be more tender to You moored,
as evermore You're ever moored to me.
O gracious God, though I'm a poor pretender,
pour on my love so slender all Your splendor.

                                -- by Pete Voelz     2/10

Harmless Prayer

Prayer does no harm, no one is hurt by prayer,
yet prayer is strong, more powerful than we know,
joined to God's strength, my prayer has power to spare,
God makes my tiny prayer-power overflow.
Prayer's power brings great responsibility--
to do no harm, but with prayer do great good,
with harmless power, for all of that it's free,
it costs me nothing to pray as I should.
This power to pray we all have talent for,
though humble, helpless, weak, I still can pray,
in fact, me humble makes my talent more,
since stubborn pride's what most gets in the way.
O God of love, joined to Your love above,
help me today gently to pray my love.

                            -- by Pete Voelz       4/10

Claim to Fame

My claim to fame is I'm beloved by God,
that of all beings He deems me the best,
that God views you that way too may seem odd,
for we think best means better than the rest.
We guess a contradiction in God's thought,
we don't see wisdom in His foolishness,
but while we judge the way we have been taught,
God's foolishness is wiser than our guess.
God loves us each with love that's infinite,
to Him we're all the best though all the same,
such love's the best that finite we can get,
we're mystified by God's strange kind of fame.
Let me, Lord, not forget that it is You,
Who says how much we're loved and what is true.

                                      -- by Pete Voelz     8/10

God Right Here

God is right here, He isn’t far away,
don’t look for Him beyond some distant star,
God is right here, and He is here to stay,
don’t hesitate to call, He’s never far.

God shows how close He is in every breath,
without Him in us, we would not be living,
with us in life, He’s with us too in death,
His presence proves He never stops His giving.

A God of infinite life, He’s everywhere,
He fills up every minute, every place,
and always listening, ready for our prayer,
dying to flood us with eternal grace.

All patient, gentle, merciful and kind,
not hard to find, if I’d not be so blind.

                    -- by Pete Voelz       6/25/12