Be Thou Encouraged: Forty Poems of Faith

By Jonathan Cordero

Life is not easy for a Christian. Every day we wake up and go to war. Whether it's fighting against our flesh or battling against the enemy, we Christians are in constant combat. And as every good soldier would attest, you cannot go out to battle without weapons and armor. What then are the weapons and armor of the Christian? Our sword is the word of God, and our shield is our faith in Jesus. Be Thou Encouraged is a book written to help the reader keep their sword sharpened and their shield buffed by providing encouragement for life's daily battles. These forty poems of faith interweave various themes to form one consistent message: trust in God no matter what.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Jun 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666742619

Jonathan Cordero

Jonathan Cordero is a writer from many places, but he currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a dedicated husband and father, but above all, he is a servant of Christ. Jonathan believes that every Christian should use their God-given gifts to advance the message of the kingdom. He uses his gift by writing encouraging literature for the body of Christ.

Book preview

Be Thou Encouraged

Forty Poems of Faith

Jonathan Cordero

Be thou encouraged

Forty Poems of Faith

Copyright ©

2022

Jonathan Cordero. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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Resource Publications

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199

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www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-6667-4259-6

hardcover isbn: 978-1-6667-4260-2

ebook isbn: 978-1-6667-4261-9

June 6, 2022 1:35 PM

Table of Contents

Title Page

Anointed, Sanctified, and Hallowed

I Shall Want for Nothing

Thou Shalt See It Come to Pass

All That I Have Is Thine

O Merciful God

Everlasting Mercy

Created to Praise Thee

A Poem for the Morning

He Rescued Me

Suffer Me to Speak

They Lie in Wait

An Husband Unto Me

True Riches

Desire Understanding

Exceeding Great Reward

The Death of Former Things

Thou Art My Rest

Be Thou Moved by the Spirit

His Temple

Who Am I?

A Poem for Communion

Sing Unto the Lord

A Poem of Repentance

Breaches in Mine Armour

Fall Short in Comparison

Similitudes

The Beauty of the Lord

Thy Righteousness Shall Abide

Rebuke the Thick Cloud

A Poem of Healing

He Shall Gather

We Thy People

Thy Church

Praise with Thy Entire Being

Prayer of the Youthful Servant

Be Thou with Me

Love Even Thine Enemies

Get Thee Behind Me, O Satan

All Things Are Possible for God

Faith

Dedicated to Ruth and Anthony,My angels looking down

Introduction

God is worthy to be praised with every gift and talent that we possess. This I’ve known since my youth, but I have not always paired this knowledge with action. Since my formative years in grade school, I’ve always loved poetry and creative writing as a whole. I’ve used this gift in many different ways over the years. Some of my first memories consist of me writing poetry on loose-leaf binder paper and then seeing them hung on the bulletin board outside of my classroom. When I was eleven years old, I was inspired by the works of Tolkien to write a short fantasy novel. Three years later, I recomposed that same novel into a two-hundred-page manuscript with the newfound knowledge that I had acquired from my time in middle school. I later got into songwriting and screenwriting, but none of my efforts to use my gift ever came to much beyond the writings residing permanently in either a drawer or a hard drive. The lack of success that I had seen in all of my ventures into creative writing left me not only discouraged but I was also left uncertain if this was even a gift that I truly possessed. It wasn’t until years later when my love for Christ had been rekindled, and when I found myself with a deep yearning to be used by Him that I realized that my gift was not meant to be used to entertain or to conform to the world, but rather, my gift was meant to be used to glorify God and to push forward the gospel of the Kingdom.

As with the understanding of His word, I feel that God eased me into the process of writing this book of poetry. I began writing my first Christian poems when I’d wake up suddenly in the middle of the night to pray after having been awoken by terrible nightmares and cold sweats. While the attacks of the enemy were strong enough to wake me, God’s