Words for the Soul: Poems to Ponder

By Sandra A. Haynes

Words For The Soul, a devotional book, is a collection of original poems by author Sandra A. Haynes, which highlights the spiritual and practical values of the Christian lifestyle. Its precepts are time-honored and inspirational. The poems give insight to current happenings and life challenges. Words to Live By joins Haynes’ previous books: The Things That Matter, Of Butterflies and Men, Perspective, Reflections, Contemplation, From Where I Stand, Viewpoint, Poems to Ponder, and Harbingers of the Apocalypse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664198746

Sandra A. Haynes

Sandra A. Haynes was born in the South. Her first poem was penned at age eleven when she was inspired by a lovely sunset. Her interest in writing was later developed in college where she majored in English. She became an English teacher and taught at several different levels, her last being at a junior college where she taught writing for many years. Her books of poetry were written during this time after she learned to use the computer. Her interest in spiritual topics has influenced much of her writing. Many of her poems reflect on life’s values, opportunities, and relationships. Sandra’s poetry has been featured on Better Life Television Network where she was interviewed in a segment on creativity. Reflections joins her previous collection of poetry books which include these titles: Of Butterflies and Men, The Things That Matter, From Where I Stand, Viewpoint, Perspective, and Contemplation.

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Copyright © 2021 by Sandra A. Haynes.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 11/23/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

A WAKE-UP CALL

A Definitive Move

A Dreadful Beast

A Letter to Laodicea

A Peaceful Rest

A Raging Controversy

After Covid19

At Dawn’s Light

Esther At the Door

Blasphemy

Christ’s Kingdom

Every Wind

Finding Your Voice

First Choice

God’s GPS

Green Sabbath

In Days Like These

In This, Our Time

In Turbulent Times

Leaning on Him

No Baloney

Peace in the Storm

Prayer for Truth

Ready or Not

Sabbath Truth

Sola Scriptura

The Book of Revelation

The Cross and the Law

The Hold Out

The Root of the Gospel

The Ten Commandments

The Test

To Burn or Not to Burn

Two Agents of Evil

When God Said Remember

Will the Real God Stand Up?

MEDITATION

A Better Model

A Christian in Camouflage

A Dreamless Sleep

A Pastoral Appreciation

A Pilgrim’s Prayer

A Sinner’s Plea

A Writer’s Prayer

All God’s Promises

All This and Heaven, Too

An Easter Revelation

An Evening Prayer

An Offer of Love

At Calvary

Be Still

Body and Soul

Cacophony of Life

Certain in Uncertainty

Closer Than a Brother

Contemplation

Covenant Terms

Covenant

Created Equal

Discernment

Do You Know Jesus?

Dysfunction

Early Resolve

Easter Joy

Eve’s Lament

Freedom

From East to West

God Calls

God’s Grand and Holy Day

God’s Great Gift

God’s Holy Temple

Grateful Debtor

Harmonious Rhapsody

Hath Made of One Blood

Heart Probe

Heaven Isn’t for Sissies

Heavenly Connection

Heavenly Plans

In Christ Alone

In Service to Him

Incarnation

Influence

Jesus Barabbas

Joseph

Keep the Faith

Light for the Journey

My Heavenly Brother

New Jerusalem

No Friend Like Jesus (Song)

No Pinkie Promise

Not a Fish Tale

Not About Me

On a Tree

On the Mark

One Life to Live

Patience

Picturing God

Prayer for Today

Pride Goes Before a Fall

Punching Holes in the Dark

Resolution

Resurrection Revelation

Resurrection Truth

Return to the Cross

Sabbath Connection

Sabbath Rest

Sabotaging the Sabbath

Search and Rescue

See Him There

Serenity Challenge

Sing the Songs of Zion (song)

Son of God, Son of Man

Study for Approval

The Called, the Chosen

The Controversy

The Mantra of Heaven

The Master Plan

The Mystery of Iniquity

The Open Cage

The Outstretched Hand

The Path of Return

The Pinnacle

The Power That Wins

The Saga of Jesse McGraw: A Parable

The Sanctuary

The Seventh Day

The Unconventional Christ

The Underdog

The Wheat, Tares, and Weeds

Unrivaled Heritage

Victory in Christ

Weapons of our Warfare

What is in Your Hand?

What is Love?

When You Care

With Eyes to See

POEMS FOR EVERY DAY

A Backward Glance

A Grandma’s Reverie

Birthdays

Competition

Fall Promise

Granny’s Dating Rules

Hands Off Till Then

Honesty’s Challenge

In Memoriam

Kick Start

Love’s Calling

Marriage Challenge

Marriage Retreat

Power of the Voice

Remember When

Speech

The Evil of Rape

The Gift of Words

The Origin of Valentine’s Day

The Red, White, and Blue

The Storm of Twenty-One

The Thin Blue Line

Trafficked

What Matters

White Coats

Wise Words

Words to the Young at Heart

CHRISTMAS

Breath of Heaven

By Grace Alone

Christmas Betrayed

Christmas Is

Emmanuel

The Great Controversy

The Lion or the Lamb

The Suffering Servant of Isaiah Fifty-Three

To Face a New Year

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the honest in heart who are looking to God for meaning in life, for Jesus said, If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John 7:17 May God bless each heart who is seeking truth and direction from the Source who holds each man’s destiny in His hands.

A WAKE-UP

CALL

A Definitive Move

Distracted by Covid’s relentless attack,

The people in ignorance sleep,

While the papacy forges ahead with its plans,

Eternity on us will creep.

Assembling elite from the world’s corporations,

They are called to Vatican City,

Through subtly disguised intentions to rule

In a scene that encourages pity.

Using the cover of cry of the poor,

And demanding more equitable growth,

The pope woos investors to a new paradigm

To engage their allegiance and oath.

By showing concern for the planet at large,

Tapping men’s fear of climatic change,

He uses events, His agenda to push,

God’s people to finally estrange.

By innocent family and worker-friendly laws,

Which propose the world to bless,

He encourages Sunday--a green Sabbath law,

To allow the planet to rest.

America sleeps while the papacy runs

Toward her goal of control and of power,

While no one protests, not willing to own

The crisis that grows by the hour.

The innocent law will turn vicious in time,

And those who oppose it will feel,

The ire of the dragon as the papacy flaunts

The time-serving power she wields.

Persecution will turn on the people of God,

Who are keeping the true Sabbath day,

Then people will think they do favors for God

By putting His saints away.

Then Christians, wake up, though the papacy seems

To be gentle and mild today,

The battle still rages; the showdown will come,

Which will lead many people astray.

It’s time to return to the Sabbath of God,

Which is found at the end of the week,

God’s judgment will rest on the choice that you make,

Be sure it is truth that you seek.

A substitute day will lead you astray,

Don’t follow traditions of men,

God said to remember the seventh day,

When His finger was used as a pen.

Each man has a choice, for all have a voice,

Will you choose to serve God or man?

Be sure that today, you are walking God’s way,

On His Sabbath, the honest will stand.

A Dreadful Beast

A dreadful beast that was wounded, yet lives,

Is described in the Revelation,

As the product of Satan’s deception and lies,

Its end is annihilation.

Backed by the devil, men’s falling away

From the primitive, Christian teaching,

Was predicted by Paul, who announced that in time,

The beast would become over-reaching.

For after Christ’s death, pagan errors crept in,

And the church was no longer pure,

The day of the sun was embraced by the church,

And truth could no longer endure.

When those who detected deception and fraud

Of the practicing leaders complained,

The result was the dungeon, the rack, and the fire,

With vengeance and hate unrestrained.

Fifty million dissenters were slaughtered in death,

Because they wouldn’t agree,

To the desecration of truth that was taught,

With oppression of liberty.

Indulgence was sold for forgiveness of sin,

So that temples of gold could be built,

Sanctimonious garments of white covered men,

As if to resolve pompous guilt.

The people at large were kept in the dark

From the freedom the gospel would lend,

They suffered from ignorance, error, and fear,

In a system, refusing to bend.

The Bible was kept from the people until

The time of the Reformation,

When the shadows were lifted and people were freed

From deliberate misinformation.

The just shall life by faith was the cry,

Not by penance and cruel flagellation,

Confession was made directly to God,

Not to priests in humiliation.

The entrance of freedom of mind and of soul

Would dispel the darkness and gloom,

The Renaissance time of enlightenment rose,

Education and creativity bloomed.

The Protestants now are protesting no more,

For they honor the pagan day,

By accepting the Sunday as if it were right,

They’ve wandered from truth away.

Come out of her, my people, God says,

For Sunday is of human making,

It’s based on tradition and not on God’s Word,

Which amounts to truth, forsaking.

The devil will come as an angel of light,

Approving God’s day has been changed,

It’s more of his lies, now peddled to men,

When he first, God’s commands rearranged.

You cannot depend on anything else

But the truth that is held in God’s Word,

So open His book and take a new look,

All other pretense is absurd.

There’s a heaven to win and a hell to shun,

God’s truth still matters today,

Go back to the Bible and study God’s Word,

So you are not led astray.

Don’t be caught in the web of tradition and lies,

But stand for the truth; be bold,

For it won’t be long, Christ will come once again

To gather His sheep to His fold.

A Letter to Laodicea

When exiled on the Isle of Patmos many years ago,

John wrote to seven churches then, a message all should know.

The last church, Laodicea, represents God’s church today,

Who is commissioned to declare to man, God’s truth and way.

Though written centuries in the past, John’s counsel here must stay,

For it reveals some parallels that plague the church today.

For God condemned the church for being neither hot nor cold,

Content to have the truth, yet being lukewarm, stale, and old.

The condemnation may seem harsh, yet as we near the end,

The church must feel an urgent need to warn each soul as friend.

God’s judgment time is close at hand; just look around and see,

The world is running short on time; we face eternity.

We need to waken from our sleep and change the way we live,

For souls are being lost today; God’s truth we’re urged to give.

We need to rise up from our pew, complacency to spurn,

For there are souls around us, lacking truth they need to learn.

Though thinking we are rich in goods, in need of nothing here,

The fact that we are naked seems to come through loud and clear.

Yet God has promised to His church if they will rise and shine,

That they will sit upon His throne, their future to define.

A Peaceful Rest

In these strange and trying times, everyone needs rest,

Not just sleeping through the night, but freedom from all stress.

Life presents some challenges, some burdens hard to bear,

You need the trust and confidence in knowing God is there.

Every soul that God has made, though powerful or small,

At times will feel discouragement, when courage seems but small.

It’s at these times you need to turn to Jesus Christ, your friend,

Who promised that He’ll never leave you, staying till the end.

He knows your frame, for He has made you from the very start,

He longs to give you comfort and to make your fears depart.

For He has walked this way before; He knows just how you feel,

In every circumstance you face, His love for you is real.

Then lean on Him when days are hard, and you are looking down,

His presence then will comfort you and take away your frown.

He’ll send His Spirit to remove your worries and your fears,

You’ll find you can depend on Him, for He is always near.

A Raging Controversy

If you don’t believe that a devil exists,

Take a look around on earth’s sod,

For a great controversy is raging today

Between the devil and God.

It was set in motion in heaven above,

When Lucifer challenged God’s rule,

He was jealous because of God’s power and might,

Which he wanted to use as a tool.

But jealousy never accomplished what’s right,

It comes from a selfish desire,

But once it begins, as everyone knows,

It’s hard to put out the fire.

This angel had beauty that God had bestowed

But allowed it to go to his head,

He wanted the power that only God has,

On this thought, he constantly fed.

God pled with him long to turn him around,

But he stubbornly kept on his way,

Till God decided to thrust him from heaven

So peace would return to stay.

He was thrown to the earth where he has displayed

His hatred of God and of man,

Wreaking havoc on all of the creatures God made,

Using power at his command.

He causes the problems with which we contend,

The tragedies, illness, and pain,

The disasters we see on the news every night,

Repeated again and again.