STOP THINK

Listen to the voice inside you
Stop before you think too much
Before you think too much about it
Do you really want to grieve the Holy Spirit
Quench the only fire that
Keeps you alive
Keeps you walking in the light
Stop think
Do you really need
To satisfy your desire your way
Stop think
Oh that you would stop
Oh that you would think
Before you find yourself
Where you really don’t want to be
Choosing to satisfy the stuff
That tries to entice you away
Stop think
Do you really want to go there
To the cemetery of memories
Stop think
Let the Spirit be your guide
Let God’s word be the light on your path
Listen to that voice of truth
Stop pushing Him aside
Do you really think that
You will be satisfied
Oh will you be satisfied
Keep asking
Keep seeking
Keep knocking
Take God’s way of escape
Take His way if just for today
Don’t you worry ‘bout tomorrow
Today has enough of its own
Stop think
Before you choose
Stop think
About the love that He demonstrated for you
Stop think
How much it cost Him for you to be able to
Stop think

Angel Barreto

EXISTANCE

Walk down the hall
On out the door
Move thru the day
Move thru the night
Drift in
Drift out
When I scream
When I shout
Just to be heard
By anyone
By anything

Can anybody hear me
Can anybody see me
Is anyone aware
Of my existence
Am I here

You can run only so far
Before you stop
Realize one day
You can’t hide from
Who you are
Just want to be heard
Just want to be loved
Just want to feel alive
In this world
In this life

You are born
You take your first breathe
You live and you die
What happens to the rest
What happens to you then
What becomes of this existence

Can anybody hear me
Can anybody see me
Is anyone aware
Of my existence
Am I even here


Angel Barreto

WAITING

Am I seating around and hoping
For the Lord to do
Everything for me
Instead of preparing
For when He says move
Am I waiting on Him
Or is He awaiting me
Am I listening for His voice
Am I waiting in vain for me
Do I go crashing thru the door
Instead of waiting for it to open
Is my prayer Lord move or move me
Is my attitude one of expectation
Is it one of forced labor
Do I even think to ask Him
Or have I heard enough
Sometimes it takes
All you have to wait
Sometimes it comes as a surprise
When the moment has passed you by
Will I be ready for Him
Will I be left behind
When it is my time to move
Into His plan for my life
Do I stand on the sidelines sitting
Am I dressed to go in
Am I waiting around for the Lord to move
Is He waiting for me to prepare for His word
Move
Step into the place I have prepared for you
To serve
To grow
To be
Right where I want you
Even if it’s right where you are at
Waiting
Seeking
Preparing
To move


Angel Barreto

THE SILENCE OF THE SHEEP

In the silence of my faith
The fear looms
In the silence of my knowing
The truth gets tongue tied
So simple the words
Yet so hard to put forth
Do I actually live what I say I believe
Do I let the blood of the outsiders
Stain my hands
The silence of the sheep
So afraid to offend
Do I not remember how offensive
The gospel was to me
A stumbling block
Foolishness
No evidence
No bases for worry
Yet over and over
The surety lessoned
The silence of the evidence was deafening
In the silence of my tongue
Where political correctness shames my faith
The fire from my bones
Tries to burn through
If I am to be
What Jesus calls me
Ambassador, salt, light
Let this silence be broken
Let Your salvation be known
Assurance be quick
To make yourself known
Let the silence of this sheep end


Angel Barreto

TO BE TEMPTED

I have often thought about temptation. I have often entertained it and invited it in. I have enjoyed its momentary promises to my distraction and self satisfaction. Only to have my senses return in a bang of conviction and realization.
I don’t know about you but sometimes when I am really suffering the pangs of disobedience I can get pretty full of myself. I can get pretty angry at my salvation. I can blame You Lord for not letting me know this was going to happen. Funny how your pride can become allies with the very thing you truly hate and yet crave. I guess that’s why He says we should consider our old self dead.

To be tempted
To give into temptation
To choose wisdom
To choose wrong
To have to repent
To be obedient

Sometimes I wish I were a robot oh yeah when I let myself go that’s when I act like one. Programmed by a fallen nature, reminded by the old man. I wish I had the nerve to just do it, be obedient and stop taking the easy path to a hard ground. Temptation can be a good teacher or it can become a harsh gate into the place of sin.
How can one keep their mind fresh and renewed? Transformed by what you ask, by God’s living word. I can dive deep into what others have discovered and try it on for myself and my set of issues. But I have come to understand it takes first hand knowledge to really become first hand experience. I need to know His word for myself.
A quiet time alone with the word of God can help you when you least think you will need help. The lose of time spent with God colors how you will react when faced with temptation. It can mean the difference between walking through or giving in to the situation you may face.

To be tempted
To be wise
To live connected
To live submitted
To know your Lord
To rest in His peace

Temptation can mean growth in your character depending on your reaction to it. Temptation can strengthen your relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You just have to pay attention to what He has to say to you. Yes He still speaks. But will I listen?

WHEN I REMEMBER YOU

When I think of the people
Who have come across my path
Through the lens of time
With fondness
With shame
With forgiveness
Of and for me
Of and for you
When I remember you
Is it with a hint of sadness
Does a touch of regret
Color the glance back
Do I forget to let go
Of that which ties me to the past
When I shift through the debris
The memories I have hid
Beneath the mask of time
All the cast off lies
All the misplaced guilt
Polluting the mind
When I think of you
Do I let in the light
Do I hold onto the hardness
That can envelope my heart
Forgetting all that Jesus has done
To free me from it all
When I remember at all
May it be in this truth
I have been forgiven that I may forgive
I have been set free that I may be
God’s witness of His grace
When I remember you
Let it be through the cross


Angel Barreto