Subject: poem - A CHRISTIAN’S ALPHABET - W.J. Hughes - Auckland, N.Z. 1944
A CHRISTIAN’S ALPHABETALPHA speaks of new-born hearts being taught at Jesus’ feet.Going on to Omega where learning is complete.BUSINESS controlled, and clean, won’t get you in too deep;Pursue it in the daytime; don’t bring it home to sleep.CONFESS CHRIST, and let your life conform to all you preachThere may be some seeking soul whom you alone can reach.DISCIPLINE prepares the heart to serve its Lord through graceFor rebels in His Kingdom He cannot find a place.ENDURE hardness; the loads you bear will make you strong;Today is enduring time; tomorrow ends in song.FAITH makes the things of God and Heaven of greater worth,Than all the treasures and deceitful sins of earth.GENTLENESS is always loved; ‘tis strong and yet so mild;Longsuffering is its mother, and Goodness fair its child.HONEST hearts ne’er shun the cost of rightness in God’s eyes;To bargain and procrastinate will only lose the prize.INTERCESSION at the Heavenly Father’s ThroneBrings help to other hearts, and grace unto your own.“JESUS” is the answer to all questions in your mindFor present, and for future, and all that is behind.KEEP thy heart with diligence, the garments undefiled;Then as the ‘apple of His eye’ will God e’er keep His child.LOVE made our Shepherd choose the rugged mountain track,To seek and find, and on His shoulders bring us back.MARRIAGE with three good rules will bring its own reward - -Wisely, not hastily, and ‘only in the Lord.’NOAH brought up sons for God amidst a world of wrongs;This will require more of you than lilting cradle songs.OLD THINGS are best; God changes not His mind;Unchanging Truth, and God’s good Way are sweet to find.PLEASURES are passing; lasting joy is only foundWithin the will of God, and on Redemption ground.QUIETNESS and confidence will give thee strength Divine;Absence of Condemnation will cause thy face to shine.ROLL all thy burden on the ONE who loves and cares;He understands thee, and all thy sorrows shares.SLANDER is an evil thing, and hard to be forgiven,For slander is a heart sin against the law of Heaven.TRUE THANKFULNESS to God, expressed in joyful praiseIs seemly, and is but His due, and brightens all thy days.UNDERSTANDING from the Lord is more than Knowledge;His Spirit teaches better far than school or college.VALUES will change for us and different be our goalWhen in eternal scales we weigh a human soul.WATCH your hand when sowing; consider well the reapingIn bounty or in scanty sheaves; in joy or weeping.XERXES was a King of Kings; Vashti his bride through grace;Forgetting what he made her cost her favored place.YOUTH are called to fame and glory, and the crown to win;Youth are called to tell God’s story, saving souls from sin.ZEBEDEE’S two apostle sons, and ever-open door,Have been an inspiration to many thousands more.W.J. HughesAuckland, N.Z. 1944