THEN WHAT?

One day I was asked a question

What is your life plan?

Is the course of your life

To be ruled by God or man?

I know that there’s a God

And I’ve heard about his son

But all of that religious stuff

Doesn’t sound like fun.

Why are you asking me this question?

You’re rushing things it seems.

I’m sure that in time I’ll realize

All my hopes and dreams.

I guess a career will be my focus

And success will be my goal

I will educate myself

And prepare for my new role.

Then What?

I will search out my career

And prepare to move ahead

Then I’ll find a mate

And we will both be wed.

Then What?

Where you’re going with this question

Truly has me perplexed.

Isn’t the answer obvious?

Of course our kids are next.

Then What?

I will work so very hard

So I can provide the most life brings.

I want to raise my kids

And give my family the best of things.

Then What?

I will put my kids through college

And I’ll be the best at what I do

Our worth will be defined

By all that we accrue.

Then What?

My kids will be successful

And I will retire with my wealth

I will exercise and eat right

So I will have good health.

Then What?

I will be a great grandparent

And focus on family unity

I will do charitable things

And be a pillar of the community

Then What?

The only thing that’s left I guess

It’ll be time for me to die.

I know I’ve lived a good life

And have favor with God on high.

Then What?

I will stand before Mighty God

And show him all I’ve done.

So what will be your answer

When God’s asks about his Son?

I went to church all those years

I said that God is King

I claimed Jesus as my Savior

But I guess I didn’t change a thing.

Then Mighty God’s answer

Caught me by surprise

You never really knew my Son

Through your life of compromise

I’m sorry to say my son

You’re name just isn’t here.

Then all of a sudden my heart

Was filled with doubt and fear.

Hey get your hands off of me.

God they’re taking me away

Yes my son they are

It’s your final judgment day.

I woke up in a cold sweat

And fell to bended knee

Oh Jesus you are My Savior

Oh God please hear my plea

I know what I must do

To avoid this awful fate.

I must live my life for Jesus

I’m Blessed it’s not too late.

So if you die tomorrow

And you stand before the Lord

For the life you’ve chosen to live

What will be your just reward?

I thank God I had that nightmare

Filled with fear and pain

And even still today that question

Keeps echoing in my brain

.

Then what?

By William C. Scheel II

          (Bill)       (Shale)

Started: July 27, 2011

Finished: July 31, 2011

 

MARRIAGE IS GOD'S MIRACLE

The miracle of marriage

Is God’s enduring love.

And as we become one flesh

It’s God’s kingdom we’re part of.

Marriage can be God’s miracle

Though not in every case

It can be ever lasting love

Or end in heartache and disgrace.

When God set forth his plan

To unite a man and wife.

His Holy vows defined that

It should be for life.

We are to have and to hold each other

Just like a precious jewel.

God shows us how to do this

With his Golden Rule.

For better or for worse

Is joy or suffering without measure.

God’s peace will fill our lives

When his Word is our treasure.

For richer or for poorer

Defines our earthly state.

But the riches of God’s love

Is what makes marriage great.

In sickness and in health

Describes our physical condition.

No matter what we go through

God’s love should be our mission.

To love and to cherish

Each other as we are one.

To sacrifice for each other

As God did his only son.

How long should this go on

‘Till death do us part.

Together enduring all

With God’s love in our heart.

If your marriage feels empty

And you’ve decided to look around

Have you become complacant

About the love that you found?

Don’t settle for divorce

Cast down the devil’s lies.

When you turn your heart to God

He will always hear your cries.

No matter how bad things are

The miracle of marriage is still there.

When God’s love fills your heart

There’s nothing God can’t repair.

It begins with God’s forgiveness

For yourself and for your spouse.

Invite Jesus into your lives

And bring God’s word into your house.

Remember the love you had

Before you drifted apart.

Find that special person you met

It’s never too late to start.

From this very day forward

Speak your Holy vows again.

Pledge your faithfulness to God

The victory is yours to win.

As you let go of guilt and fear

And commit yourselves to one another

God’s miracle of marriage

Will be the blessing you discover.

By William C. Scheel II

          (Bill)       (Shale)

July 13, 2011

1 Corinthians 13:4-7  

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Colossians 3:18-21  

¹⁸Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them.

²⁰Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.  

²¹Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

SIN IS A MONKEY TRAP

From the very beginning

When Eve ate the apple.

Sin became the struggle

With which we all must grapple.

Now estranged from God

Through this trap called sin.

God devised a plan

To correct this mess we’re in.

When God spoke to the serpent

His plan he did reveal

“He will crush your head

And you will strike his heel.”

The Word of God tells us

That “he” is God’s son Jesus.

God sent his Son to die

So his innocent death could free us.

Satan tried and tried

To defeat God’s perfect plan.

He struck at Jesus’ heel

To retain his victory over man.

But Jesus in perfect wisdom

Never went astray.

He crushed Satan’s head,

On his resurrection day.

Even though defeated

Sin is still Satan’s power.

When we become sin’s slave

We’ll be Satan’s to devour.

A monkey trap’s unique

It’s a container filled with bait

It’s got a small opening for access

The monkey’s choice becomes his fate.

When the monkey grabs the bait

His hand becomes enlarged.

And unless he let’s go

He will never be discharged.

Just like a monkey trap

Sin is Satan’s trick.

We can hold on or let go

It’s up to us to pick.

God gave us victory in Jesus

The choice is ours to make.

Do we hold on to our sin

And give victory to the snake?

Or do we let go of the sin

That will surely bring destruction?

As we make Jesus our Lord and Savior

We will turn from sin’s seduction.

We need to read God’s word

And put it in our heart.

As we emulate Christ Jesus

We become God’s work of art.

So if you’re feeling empty

Let Jesus fill the gap.

He’s the only one who can free us

From Satan’s monkey trap.

By William C. Scheel II

          (Bill)       (Shale)

July 10, 2011

Proverbs 11:6 

⁶ The righteousness of the upright delivers them,

but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

THE FAITHFUL FARMER

There once was a farmer

Who so loved the Lord

That he prayed and he prayed

For his just reward.

First week after week

Then year after year

He patiently watched

For his crops to appear.

He sang praises to God

And he studied God’s Word

Still there were no crops

Had his prayers gone unheard?

He looked up at God

And said what should I do?

I have studied and read

And sang praises to you.

God spoke the answer

To the question he asked

What have you done

To accomplish this task?

The farmer replied

Lord I trusted in you.

I believed for my faith

You would give me my due.

Then God spoke

And gave revelation.

You have to create

For me to Bless your creation.

I have provided your fields

And your seed to sow.

You need to plow and to plant

If you want crops to grow.

It’s true you’ve been faithful

In worship and praise

But faith without works

Is like years without days.

When you are idle

And have no labor to show

The harvest received

Reflects what you sow.

You’re defined as a farmer

By the work of your hand

By sowing the seed

And working the land.

People will know you’re a farmer

They won’t have to guess

When the fruit of your labor

Is what I can to Bless.

Receiving God’s answer

He sowed his field.

As he worked for the Lord

His fruit was revealed.

Each tree is recognized

By it’s own fruit.

Is your life as a Christian

Up for dispute?

If we wait on God

To do everything

Why does he need us?

What good do we bring?

Prepare for God’s work

With study and praise.

Then walk in his love

And we’ll truly amaze.

 When we accept Jesus

And work for the Lord

An Eternity in Heaven

Will be our reward.

By William C. Scheel II

          (Bill)       (Shale)

Started: June 23, 2011

Finished: June 25, 2011

BLESSED BE THE DAD

Our Father Mighty God

Is the Lord of all creation.

He created man and woman

And a means for their salvation.

As woman came from man

So God assigned authority.

The dad, then the mom

Is the order of God’s priority.

The dad is the one,

Who God holds accountable.

When the dad trusts in God

No challenge is insurmountable.

When sin takes the dad

God’s plan is interrupted.

The enemy swoops in

And soon all are corrupted.

God calls the dad

To cherish his lovely bride.

And for better or for worse

To remain steadfast by her side.

He is to be the provider

Of all his family’s needs

He is to Minister God’s word

Through his speech and through his deeds.

He is to guide his children,

In the ways of the Lord

And through God’s discipline

Their obedience will be restored.

He is to be the protector

From physical and spiritual harm.

He is to call on Mighty God

To defend and to disarm.

He is called to be faithful

And loving to his wife.

He is to make God and his family

The priorities of his life.

When the dad’s an obedient servant

And walks in God’s ways.

Blessed be the dad

Who is worthy of God’s praise.

By William C. Scheel II

          (Bill)       (Shale)

June 17, 2011

INSIDE OUT

Everywhere we look today

The superficial thrives

How do the way things look and sound

Truly affect our lives?

The flashy politician

Who knows just what to say.

The criminal sports hero

Who was acquitted yesterday.

Bulimic super models

Who look so thin and gaunt.

Power wielding Billionaires

Who can have anything they want.

Famous movie starts

Who give their face another lift.

Popular sex symbols

With personal lives adrift.

This list of  worldly heroes

Goes on and never quits.

They have the best the world can offer

Yet their lives still give them fits.

With popularity wide as the ocean

And character deep as a puddle.

Their search for true happiness

Continues to confound and befuddle.

When fame and worldly treasure

Become your life long goal,

Is the bounty of your gain

Really worth your soul?

Are all these worldly heroes

What life is all about?

How attractive would they look

If you could turn them inside out?

Do you know the story

Of a man named Dorian Gray?

He decided to sell his soul

So forever young he’d stay.

His portrait is what would age

While he retained his youth.

As he filled his life with sin

Only his portrait revealed the truth.

Finally in a rage

He stabs the portrait with a knife

But the knife enters his heart and

His horrid corpse reveals his life.

Ask yourself a question

Are you like Dorian Gray?

He was willing to sell his soul

For what he could have today.

Is your success in this world

The scale you use to measure?

The Lord, God almighty says

Don’t store up earthly treasure.

God tells us to clothe ourselves

With compassion, kindness and humility.

The true worth of our lives

Isn’t ours, but his ability.

For God so loved the world

That he gave his only son

When Jesus died and rose again

 God’s defeat of death was done.

When we keep Jesus in our heart

And his love’s what we’re about.

We will show the world his love

When we wear our inside out.

By William C. Scheel II

          (Bill)       (Shale)

Started: June 8, 2011

Finished: June 11, 2011

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