Inside my own heart, in God’s secret place,
I talk with my Jesus, we talk face to face.
Although I can’t see Him, I know He is real.
He gives me His peace, a peace I can feel.

Dear Reader: The following is a repeat of the December 2021 blog post, only with a different Christmas carol. The message still fits–I am still desperately and diligently studying and meditating on His Word. And my gratitude for His great grace grows each day.

I pray that He draws you closer than ever to Him this Christmas season, in the very midst of the craziness of the world.  He is the One Who “spreads a table before us in the presence of our enemies! (Psalm 23) So come! Feast on His love and His precious presence!

Desperate about His Word. The short poem above, and the three stanzas below, can be sung to the tune of “Away in a Manger” while you go about your daily life this Christmas season. I wrote this poem two years ago [now three years ago], in the Christmas 2019 season. It is one of several poems singable to Christmas carol tunes, which you can find in the booklet entitled “Carols for Consecration” on the Books and More page of this website. They were all written as I was pondering Scripture.

Two years ago, I was learning how to maintain healing from life-controlling depression and fear, a healing God began in March of that year. What brought healing? Diligent, daily meditation on God’s Word. Two years ago, I desperately needed the constant reassurance this poem describes. Fortunately, that desperation led me to meditate on comforting Bible verses hour after hour, all day long, during every free minute, every day, week after week, month after month. God’s Word healed my heart after all else failed.

God has maintained the healing and helped me grow. How? By His grace moving me to continue delighting in His law and diligently meditating “on His law day and night.” (Psalm 1:2, NIV).

Still desperate about His Word. I am still desperate about His Word because I have learned I can do nothing without Him but that “I can do everything through Christ Who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13, NLT) By His grace I can now say to my loving, gracious Father:

“I will keep Your law continually, forever and ever [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it]. And I will walk at liberty and at ease, for I have sought and inquired for [and desperately required] Your precepts. (Psalm 119:45, AMPC)”

I pray this and the other poems in “Carols for Consecration” move you to diligently meditate more and more on His truths, so that you may “have a constant supply of Living Water, that you may bear your fruit in season, that your leaf may not wither, and that all you do will prosper.” (Adapted from Psalm 1:3). To learn more about “Diligent Meditation”, see the booklet by that title on the Books and More page.

Below are the other stanzas of “Away in a Manger/Inside My Own Heart”

[2] He loves me each day, He loves me each night.
And all through the day He makes all things right.
He’s walking beside me, He is my best friend,
He’s with me forever, on Him I depend.

[3] Outside it is dark, outside it is cold
With Jesus inside me I’m strong and I’m bold.
I know He is with me, for I feel His hand.
He’s with me forever. He helps me to stand.

[4] No matter the problem, no matter the fear.
I trust my Lord Jesus. I know He is near.
He’s strong and He’s mighty and He cares for me.
He loves me forever. He simply loves me.

Dedicated with all my love forever, to my two grandsons.
Nana