Freedom: A Collection

By Steven G. Ryder

Freedom: A Collection was God’s choice! By Steven G. Ryder, Sr.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639038732

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Freedom

A Collection

Steven G. Ryder, Sr.

ISBN 978-1-63903-872-5 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63903-873-2 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Steven G. Ryder, Sr.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Dedication

Forward

Freedom

A Great Idea

Wait & See

Be on Guard

Acting Out

Viking

God and Adam

As Deep as It Gets

Home at Last

Mountain Top

Fight On!

Being the Least

Zacchaeus

Caleb

Final Words

With You

Shine Through Me

Who You Are

Do It, Now!

Look Alive!

Leave Room

The Wonder of Life

Heavenly Fun

Heaven's Scene

Today

Be Still

Vengeance is Mine

Lovers of the World

Rahab

Look and See

All This Territory

Pass Through

Just as the Lord Had Promised

Nothing Like God's Word

A Special Day

Jericho

A Decision

The Journey

Miracle Partners

Not an Observer

Eliab Speaks

Counting Stars

Counting

All About Trust

I Will Go

Reasons for Joy

Triumph Over Trials

Yes

One Way

Be Aware

Adam and Eve Revisited

Give Thanks

Delivering

But

Uniquely Chosen

David's Vision

I Must Go

Take It!

Thorns

Pray for Conflicts

Cookies

Fiery Trials

Holy Amen

The Promiser

Give Us a Song

Says the Lord

I A-comin'

The Story

Be a Soldier

Can I Not

Jesus Saves

Happy at All

Pleading for Forgiveness

Common Man

I Pray

Common Man

Most Sorry

Trust God Only

Be Clean

Fragrance

Disciples

Towne Crier

Foreword

Glory, Glory

I'm Crying

Joel 2:28-32

Just Come

His Voice

On This Mighty Day

Oh!

Blind Bartimaeus

Draw Near

I Will Sing

Shine Through Me

I Believe, Do You?

Let It Be!

I Was There

Unlimited

The Desperate

Crossing Over

And Nothing More

Boldness

Dainty

Twenty-third

Reasons for Joy

Closed Doors or Empty Pots

A Strong & Courageous Faith

Our God Reigns

Only Jesus

This Season

Extraordinary Times

Prayer of the Redeemed

Prayer of the Redeemed

Common Man

Micah 6:8

Ehyeh—I AM

Which Path

Engraved

Sharing a Victory

God's Plan

Remember This, My Son

Remember This

You Have Seen Me

You Are a Song

You Are

Standing Firm

Know Me

Christmas

Micah 5:2

The Angel Gabriel's Message

Christmas Day

A Sacred Day

Traveler

Welcoming Committee

The Trip

Discover the Power

One Morning

More Than Just a Name

Finding Favor

Promises Kept or Broken

Be Exalted!

Christmas Child

Star Seekers

White Christmas

What

The Tell Me Series

Tell Me

Tell Me: Friendship

Tell Me: Father

Tell Me: Warrior

Tell Me: Potter

Tell Me: Lamb

Tell Me: Lord

Tell Me: Comforter

Tell Me: Groom

Tell Me: Alpha and Omega

Tell Me: Sin

Tell Me About Redemption

Tell Me About the Plan

Tell Me Again, Please

Tell Me, Jesus

The Gentle Spirit

Colors

Jesus' Colors

What Now

Calm

A Hero

A Pat on the Back

Pilot

Sustaining Hope

A God for the People

As a Famine

Nineveh Rejoicing

A Day Is Coming

Listen, Take Heed

Father Ordained

Explaining

The Widow

Make Sure

A Precious Faith

We Heard

Heavy

Omnipresent

A Story to Tell

Watchman

Who Will Believe

I Beseech Thee

Repent!

Coming

About the Author

Dedication

Mr. Nicholas was my instructor during the summer of 1967. He helped me refine my craft and this volume of work is dedicated to him for his love and support.

Forward

To Steven on going away to school

The golden days of Youth

When dreams

Build up the future

On foundations of great Hope.

When armor of the Truth

Is bright and shining,

The heart is set on victory.

Ideals never know defeat

When Christ is One

To whom the great commitment's made.

The dreams become reality

In work well done.

Come, Hope wins victory.

Dreams put in action with

Lord Christ's well done.

And at the end of life's long road

The victor's crown.

Written by Elmer H. Nicholas

With all good wishes for your dreams

and their results in reality.

Psalms 37:5 August 17, 1967

Freedom

What is persistent faith? In the face of opposition

What is the meaning of having faith.

It is the freedom knowing that Jesus is in control.

That nothing comes to us except through him.

With our faith in Jesus comes freedom;

Freedom from the bondage of sin,

Freedom from the hopelessness of death,

Freedom to worship the one true God.

According to Psalm 37, we are free

To abide in Jesus away from anxiety and fear.

The righteous in God prevail as high mountains,

Our justice is unfathomable as the depth of the sea.

With our trust in God we are privileged to do good,

To dwell safely in the land and enjoy green pastures.

We delight in the Lord and get the desires of our hearts.

We have to commit our ways to the Lord and trust him.

Our righteousness will shine like the dawn.

And our justice will prevail as the noonday sun.

We must be still before the Lord and wait patiently.

Wicked schemes will never win out, just wait.

In God we are free from the bonds of wickedness

Which wants only to exercise raw power to flourish.

To gain the advantage over their opponents.

They plot to overtake and bind, forgetting their debts.

The righteous are free to exercise humility,

To be blameless, to be generous and upright,

To be peaceable and from whose mouth the

Wisdom of godliness spews forth as a spring.

A Great Idea

A great idea originates with my granddaughter, Manon. She has a favorite saying which is: I have a great idea. And after saying this she plops on my lap and says: Let's play! We proceed to play house; she is the mother and child and I the father. We play for awhile, and then she is off to something else. She is only five. Everything we do is pretested with: I have a great idea.

Wait & See

In my prayers and supplications today,

I told God I felt like I was useless.

I felt like I should be a branch thrown away;

I did not feel productive and alive.

Then God spoke my name, Steven,

He said "Look at what we have written;

Consider the volumes of work accomplished.

They are the fruit you have produced."

Then he said, "Wait and see!

Wait and see the rewards coming your way.

See the blessings, I will overflow;

You will not be able to handle them."

"I appreciate your willingness to kneel,

Empty and unencumbered before me.

I know your tears, cries and sobs.

I have recorded them for eternity."

"Now, I tell you, my son;

Arise and be courageous today

For I am with you and will provide.

Let your faith triumph today!"

Be on Guard

Life is full of choices.

We either walk or run.

We either sit or stand.

We either talk or be silent.

We either accepted Christ or not.

As a believer, we still face choices.

We either stay clear of evil or give in.

We either heed warnings or get burned.

We need to watch out and not be carried away

By the errors of wicked people.

There is no such thing as a balance.

We are either fully committed or not.

We either grow in favor and knowledge

Or we become stagnant and stale.

We are either led by God or not.

We must be on our guard

For temptation surrounds us

And wants to devour us. Stay Alert!

Remember temptation is grounded in desires,

Desires which can be either holy or evil.

Be on your guard and stand firm,

Be true to what you believe and put your faith in.

Be courageous and be strong.

Let love be the hallmark of your activity.

Stand firm in your faith in God.

Acting Out

How often are we asked to act out our faith.

God demands us to put actions into our faith.

He says, If you trust me, do this.

It is our decision to put our faith to work.

Consider the mighty man of war, Joshua.

God demanded him to parade Israel,

First through the Jordan River

Then seven days around Jericho.

We can be thankful Joshua never doubted God.

After the lesson of Ai, he never faulted.

He made sure the marching orders were God's.

He acted out his faith valiantly.

Now, consider one special lady, Ruth.

She was a foreigner and a widow,

An outcast of society but she acted.

She placed her trust in God and acted it out.

Consider our favorite Biblical hero, David.

If he had not acted out his faith

The Israelites would have been slaves to the Philistines.

He stood strong and flung a stone.

We can also consider the rock, Peter.

He proclaimed the resurrection of Christ

Despite being told to be quiet.

He acted out his faith by speaking boldly.

When was the last time you acted out your faith?

When you were bold and courageous.

When did you stand up against the Devil.

When did you tell him to flee from you.

We can know the angels celebrated

When Joshua, Ruth and David obeyed.

Have they had occasion to celebrate your faith?

Let's give them opportunities to celebrate.

Peter at first hesitated to put his faith into action

When he was told to put out into the deep;

After obeying Christ, the catch overwhelmed him.

Will God's response to your faith overwhelm you?

Viking

Do not fight me! declares the Viking,

As he sets sail to conquer lands.

Do not fight me, he says to the sea.

Do not fight me, he says to the wind.