Christ’s Bride-to-Be
We say we are engaged to Christ,
His happy bride-to-be,
Won by the life He sacrificed
And loved eternally.
Can others see your happy eyes,
Your buoyant confidence?
Do others hear you advertise
His virtues so immense?
Do people see that you’re in love
And all your thoughts surround
The One you wait for from above
Whose glories you expound?
Are you preparing for the day
He takes you as His bride
That joyful, all-absorbing way
Until you reach His side?
Have you selected special friends
To help you best prepare,
The kind who questions and defends
Your joys to gladly share?
Do you invite the folks you know,
The people that you meet?
What do your words and actions show
About that day so sweet?
Have you been faithful to your groom –
No others have your heart?
Your love for Him leaves not one room;
From lesser loves you part.
Do you spend time with Him each day
Despite life’s constant care?
Somehow for Him you make a way,
You want Him everywhere.
How have you changed your thoughts and deeds
To please the one you love?
Do you rejoice in where He leads
To reach His home above?
We say we are engaged to Christ,
His happy bride-to-be.
What can we say we’ve sacrificed
So He our love can see?
Christina Joy Hommes
Who is this God I love and serve
Who gave His Son for me?
What honors does His Name deserve
Whose love has set me free?
He is the Lord of life and light,
Of righteousness and peace;
The God of justice, grace, and right
Whose glories can’t increase.
He is Creator of all things –
Sustainer, Master, Guide –
His wisdom all creation sings,
His strength can’t be denied.
He is the Savior of all men –
Who gave His only Son,
Who died for me and lives again,
Who’ll do what He’s begun.
He is the King, the Judge, the Way,
Beginning and the End;
He does not change from day to day,
On Him all things depend.
All glory, majesty, and praise
With honor, worship, fear
Are due to Him whose wondrous ways
In everything appear.
No mortal tongue, no creature’s voice
Can offer all He’s due;
And yet He chooses to rejoice
In praise from me and you.
How wonderful the God I love!
How bright His glories gleam!
In life and death – here and above –
May He be all my theme.
Christina Joy Hommes
Heaven for Me!
It’s heaven for me!
I’m headed that way;
A few more short years
Then unending day.
I’m headed for home
Where Jesus awaits,
He’ll call me to come –
I hardly can wait!
It’s heaven for me!
I’m on my way home;
A few more small tasks
Then He’ll bid me come.
I’m headed for glory
To dwell with my King,
And retell the story
My worship to bring.
It’s heaven for me!
I’m headed right there;
A few more short breaths
Then life without care.
I’m headed to see
My Lord by and by,
Oh glorious prospect!
My home is on high.
Christina Joy Hommes
If you seek to rise
by pushing down those around you,
you will only surround yourself with a mote
which separates you from the world you sought to gain.
If you seek to rise
by lifting up those around you,
you will surround yourself with bridges
which lead you to the world you seek to reach.
My life’s goal is: To know, love, and serve God, and point others to Him. This poem expands on that thought in prayer.
Know, Love, Serve, Point
Dear God, we want to know You,
Your character and ways,
That we might bring You worship –
You’re worthy of our praise.
And then we’ll truly love You
With heart, soul, mind, and strength
As we see how You love us –
The breadth and height and length.
That love will look like service
To You and for Your sake –
Kind deeds, small words of comfort,
Forgiving a mistake.
And as we love and serve You,
We’ll point with deed and word
The people all around us
To Christ our living Lord.
May every thought remind us
Along our upward way,
To know, love, serve, and point to
Our glorious God each day.
Christina Joy Hommes
Echo of the Angels’ Song
What is this voice of singing
So jubilant and bright
Which from the fields is ringing
This joyful Christmas night?
The sound of angel voices
So beautiful and clear –
Oh, how my heart rejoices
For what my ears now hear:
“Fear not, I bring you tidings
Of joy with glad refrain:
The Lord is now residing
Among the sons of men.
“To you, as to all people,
A Savior has been born;
He lies in yonder stable
To greet the break of morn.
“This is the Lord, Messiah,
In David’s city see,
Fulfilling words from Micah
And every prophesy.”
Then, suddenly appearing,
A band of angels sang
To shepherds gladly hearing –
The very heavens rang.
“To God Most High be glory,
And peace upon the earth.”
’Twas thus they shared the story
Of Christ our Savior’s birth.
I hear the glorious singing
Resounding from that night,
Its echo ever ringing
In carols glad and bright.
Christina Joy Hommes
Christmas 2015
