Prose and Poems about Jesus

By Pastor Richard Ralls

Pastor Ralls was a man who walked in God’s Holy Spirit. Therefore, his poems are far more than just the insights of a great poet. In these writings, he reflects the heart of Father God calling to His children: Come unto to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. In these wonderful poems and their companion prose

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Aug 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643456911

Book preview

Pastor Richard Ralls

PROSE & POEMS ABOUT JESUS

Copyright © 2019 Pastor Richard Ralls

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Stratton Press Publishing,

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Wilmington, DE 19801

www.stratton-press.com

1-888-323-7009

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in the work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-64345-548-8

ISBN (Ebook): 978-1-64345-691-1

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Preface

Introduction

God in Us!

Seasons of Delight

The Church

The Church with a Steeple with a Bell

Saving Faith

Set Free

The Cross and History

The Grace of God

The Faith of Abraham

A Patient Man

Have You Been to the Cross?

The Cross

God’s Army!

The Conflict

Forgiveness and the Lord’s Prayer

Forgiveness

A Paradox

This Is Love

The Offense of the Cross

Offended No Longer

The Just for the Unjust

The Donkey Ride

Abnormalities

A Week Apart

The Peril of a Lie

Heaven to Gain and Hell to Shun

Serving Jesus

Savior of Men

The High Calling of God in Christ Jesus

How Then Should I Live?

Faith Factors

Faith

God’s Special Ways

Hannah’s Silent Prayer

Rejected!

The Parable of the Sower

The Christian Pilgrim

A Pilgrim’s Prayer

The Valley of Baca

Home at Last!

The Judgment

The Judgment Day

Heart and Mind

If!

God So Loved the World!

John 3:16

Scandal?

A Debt Fully Paid

The Story of the Bible

Paradise

Sent to Serve

The Intruder

See Jesus, See God!

The Living Creatures of Revelation

The Agony of Despair

Come Pray!

The Power of the Gospel

Such Were Some of You

The Law of the Lord

Bad News—Good News!

Introduction to the Stone

The Stone

Part 1: The King’s Dreams

The Stone

Part 2: The Prophet’s Prayer

The Stone

Part 3: How God Was Praised!

The Stone

Part 4: Revelation of the Stone

All Out War!

The Armor of God

The Crucified Life

Two Tunes

Who Is This Man?

In These Last Days

Have Faith in God

So Sarah Laughed!

The Flight

What Joy He Brings!

Our Unchanging Lord

Jesus, I Come

God’s Approval

God Likes People

The Message of the Cross

Give It All to Jesus

The Thirteenth Chapter

Something Really Big Is Coming!

The Stage Is Set

What Jesus Did with a Lad’s Lunch

The Turning Point

Childlike Faith

Our Life, A Vapor!

An Old Man in the Making

Love Never Fails

Leave Her Alone!

When Loss Is Gain!

Full Disclosure

His Own Blood

Therefore

Total War!

What the Blind Man Saw!

The Helper

God’s Special Critters

The Plot Against Christ

The Image on the Coin

God’s Will and Ours

A Fool’s Art Gallery

Be Sober! Be Vigilant!

Be Vigilant Now!

God’s Time Clock

Will Revival Ever Come?

Light of the World

Pierced by Love for Sinful Man

Deception Is Believing a Lie

Light and Lies

The Hour Has Come!

An Evil Plot and Satan’s Demise!

Unsearchable!

Jesus Died Once for All

Betrayal and Denial

When Christ Arose

The Devil’s Demise

Babylon, Past and Present

God’s Jewels

God’s Precious Treasure

Preface

The beauty and power of the poetry herein reflects the holy living of its author. I have knelt with Pastor Ralls at the altar on Saturday nights as he cried out to his God for the blessed flock in his charge; I have prayed with him through the years as he labored for his Lord. Filled with the Holy Spirit and abiding in flaming love for his Savior Jesus Christ, I think it would be correct to say of Richard that which he said of his own dad: I never knew a more holy man. Pastor Ralls’s waking thoughts are of his Lord; his heart is singularly in God’s Word.

The fruit of such consecration is the treasure you will read in the following pages.

The poems were written across time to companion and crystalize the Sunday sermons. Pastor’s practice was to include the poems (and a single page of prose about each) in the weekly bulletin, thus recording the ministry as it proceeded.¹ His practice is carried forward in this book, and therefore, you will see the poems and their respective prose statements on adjacent pages.

I hope you will quickly realize that you are not just reading the words of a poet. Rather, you will be sharing in the heart of a true man of God. And in that discovery, I pray you will be blessed by his words as much as we who knew him during his wonderful life and ministry.

—Darell Dyal

(friend and brother)

Introduction

Then He said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.’ (Matthew 13:52)

From my youth, I have observed that those who love the Bible most are those who read it most. To them, it never gets old. It is the living Word of God, new every morning and yet as ancient as its author.

There is no higher calling than to be called to serve God and proclaim the glorious gospel of Christ. In the preaching and teaching of this gospel, one discovers things new and old of which Jesus spoke. The truth of the gospel is both simple and vast! It touches upon all things that pertain to life and godliness. It is up-to-date, and yet it was life and light for those who have gone before.

These words which I leave behind express my heart’s desire to exalt my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in many ways. He is the truth. Everything true flows from Him and is about Him, so I pray that you see Jesus in everything I write.

God in Us!

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:22–23 NIV)

This quotation is from Jesus’s prayer to the Father on the night before his crucifixion. It expresses Christ’s profound longing to save us from our sins and indwell us as we journey through this life. The spirit of darkness indwells us before salvation, but the Spirit of Christ comes to indwell us when we are born from above.

We must not neglect this doctrine! Paul referred to this truth as Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col.1:27). God has no desire to glorify us for our talents and accomplishments; that is the world’s way. But as our text indicates, He desires to glorify us far beyond any earthly acclaim. The glory He gives us is the glory of His presence in us. And as He lives through us, the world sees His glory. The world will never see His glory so long as we glorify ourselves!

Because He is the Light of the world, if He abides in us, the world will see that light. What is inside a man always comes out. If His glory is in us, His glory will be seen in the love we have for each other. And the world will be amazed! This is God’s glorious purpose for us.

Seasons of Delight

The beauty of the fall

Which I so vividly recall

Is the color of the leaves

As they’re falling from the trees.

The pleasure of the summer

Which we can all remember

Are hot days which cause to grow

Lush green crops row after row.

The wonder of the winter

And our gladness in December

Is our Savior’s holy birth

When God came to