A Poem by St. Patrick

There are some selected people in which I often quote. Spurgeon, MacArthur, Piper, Comfort, and an occasional Ruckman. However, I doubt you will ever find me quoting a Roman Catholic. I disagree on ninety-five percent (or more) of their doctrine, and am baffled why any true born-again Christian would be a part of their truckloads of false doctrine. (Unless, of course, they are decieved by Satan. But we'll set that aside for just a moment.) However, being that it is in fact St. Patrick's day I thought I would do a little research on the fellow, and see what Mr. Succat had to say. I found this poem written by the patron saint (Ugh. Why don't they get that we are all saints as believers!) Have fun:

"I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation."

A few of my peculiar comments for ya':
-First of all we need to realize that every morning when we arise, it should be through Jesus Christ and Him alone. Through Him only do we have strength. Amen to that, Patty!
-Next, God is in three parts, Father, Son, and Spirit. They are all one God, but have separate duties.
-The third paragraph is extremely Roman Catholic, and unbiblical. We come through JESUS. J-E-S-U-S! Not angels, not cherubims, and most deffinately not through men. We can do NOTHING through the power of a mere man! Disgusting...
-The fourth paragraph is equally disgusting. A whole lot of gobbely-goop.
-Paragraph five is well said. As Christians, we have power through God. We can come to Him because He is now our Father. We have entered into the "Royal" family!
-Paragraph six speaks about spiritual warfare. Satan and his army is everywere. But praise God, we have a much greater heavenly army than anything you could ever imagine. We have the Creator of the universe fighting on our side!
-Read paragraph eight again: "Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me." This is the true Peculiarite paragraph! Christ needs to be in every part of us. Every action that we conduct should be a model of what He would do.

Other than paragraphs three and four, I thought it was a nice poem. Live your life through the strength of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and Him alone.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!