By The Power Of Jesus

By The Power Of Jesus

 

Every chain has been broken

By the power of Jesus

I hear the chains a fallin

By His power He frees us

 

When I was in prison

Chained to these walls

The prison of my mind

Where I fall and I fall

 

Every chain has been broken

By the power of Jesus

I hear the chains a fallin

It’s by His power He frees us

 

I was stuck in this prison

Where there was no getting out

I would hear the voices in my head

Where they would do nothing but shout

 

Every chain has been broken

By the power of Jesus

I see the chains a fallin

By His power He frees us

 

I heard a new voice

Whispering in my ear

Come to Me My child

Let Me draw you in near

 

I will open up your heart

Then come and live inside

You’ll want to live with me

You’ll never ever have to hide

 

Every chain has been broken

By the power of Jesus

I see the chains a fallin

It’s by His Power He frees us

 

 

Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved 2021

ON The Hill At Calvary

On the hill at Calvary

You died upon that cursed tree

I hid my life in shame and fear

I trust the One who draws me near

I cast my anxiety on the cross

You died for me when I was lost

My soul is free I will not die

I trust my Lord and not the lie

It’s when I put my trust in You

I know that You will carry me thru

From the beginning to the end

I’ll have Your Spirit that You did send

Your Spirit lives with-in my heart

Every day with You I start

You died upon that cursed tree

You died alone to set me free

I’ve been set free from guilt and sin

Never to go back again

It’s when I put my faith in You

You keep me awed in all You do

I bring my burdens to the cross

It’s in You I never get lost

My forgiveness come from faith in You

Grace thru faith is Your Truth

On the hill at Calvary

You died and rose, that’s what set me free

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved 2018

He Called Me By Name

He Called Me By Name

From out of the dark into the light

No longer in fear no longer my plight

I once lived with no hope cover in scars

Locked in a prison chained behind bars

The prison was mostly in my own mind

Out of control the gears started to grind

Billowing smoke from out of my own ears

Grinding and grinding, grinding all the gears

This prison I hosted started with lies

They came from the devil all in disguise

One little lie then two then three

Running amuck chasing after me

I ran, and I ran then I ran to the cross

I found my Savior there He knew I was lost

He extended His hand then called me by name

He taught me how to walk I was no longer lame

I started believing Truth not the old lies

I started believing Jesus not the devil in disguise

The more I believed Jesus the more I found solid ground

The devil can huff and puff, but he can’t blow my house down

I am standing on the promises of my loving God

Who’s love forgives sin and all of my flaws

I gave my life to Jesus, it’s Jesus I serve

Living for Jesus is how I won’t swerve

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved 2018

Broken Inside

I was lost and broken all inside

Had twisted emotions that I couldn’t hide

I was all alone with no friends in sight

Being cornered in a field, I had to fight

It was two on one the odds stacked high

I thought they were my friends, I tried to ask why

The betrayal that I felt was more than I could stand

It seemed to me they were guided by satan’s hand

The wind was blowing, it was cold and brisk

When all of a sudden my face caught a fist

We tossed and turned and fell to the ground

The other boy jumped in so we went for a round

All of a sudden a bystander stopped by

She broke up the fight before they could ask why

This was a day I sent a prayer up to God

I asked what was wrong with me and why I was flawed

I don’t know if He answered, I really don’t know

My spirit was telling, telling me to go

Where was I to go, what was I to do

I was so lost and feeling so blue

I had no place to go, I couldn’t go home

I was stuck in this world and felling all alone

I eventually got thru that one lonely day

From then I feared people and kept them at arms bay

From then on I kept to myself

For fear that no one could help

This happened when I was young

Having few friends hurt and stung

But I eventually grew up and moved on

It’s now a memory that has since gone

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011 through 2016

Tear Stained Eyes

One foot in front and one foot behind
I’m walking the fence going out of my mind
Limb by limb I climb up a tree
It’s out of the darkness that I try to see
But I’m blinded by pain and blinded by scars
It’s a stronghold that has me locked behind bars
I can’t seem to run and can’t seem to hide
I’ve got a fortress built with walls that are too high
You want to get in and I try to get out
I have voices in my head that just scream and shout
I sit in the corner with tear stained eyes
Looking for an outcome that’s forward and wise
I hear a message about Christ that opens my ears
It’s His message of love that’s drawing me near

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011 through 2016

Along The Way

For most of my life I lived in fear
I didn’t believe that God was near
I was living in sin and lost my way
Like an ole dog living astray
I didn’t know which way to go
I was living a lie and hoped it didn’t show
I was more confused than I was lost
I paid the price but never counted the cost
I was searching around always on the prowl
If you got close I would bark and growl
I had often used people to get what I want
There were consequences that came to haunt
They came and haunted me day and night
I was lost in the world and losing this fight
I was lost in drugs and they had me hooked
When I hit bottom I started to look
I lived with a woman who lost a son
In a custody battle that wasn’t any fun
As a result I sought out a church
I thought she needed help because she was hurt
I sought out a church to help her find her way
But it was me who needed to stay
She gave me a message from the bottom of her heart
She told me to trust Jesus He would give me a new start
It took me a while but I stopped committing crime
One night I heard a message and then started to rhyme
I submitted my life over to this Christ
I quit letting the devil take me for a heist
I open my heart and let Christ have His way
For my heart is the place that God’s Spirit stays
For it was God who was with me all along
He’s the only one that can make me strong
I lean on God’s Spirits along the way
For He is the one who helps me to not stray

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015

Your Grace

Your grace is sufficient for me
It is what has set me free
So when I am down
On my face there’s a frown
Your grace is sufficient for me

Your grace is sufficient for me
It’s what allows me to live free
So when I’m messed up
Got an empty cracked cup
Your grace is sufficient for me

Your grace has freed me from sin
My heart is where Your Spirit lives in
When temptation comes
And I’m trying to run
Your grace has freed me from sin

Your grace has freed me to live
To You my heart I do give
So when I’m tore up
From the floor up
Your grace has freed me to live

Your grace is sufficient for me
It’s what allows me to live free
When I’m running in fear
Face is streaming with tears
Your grace is sufficient for me

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015

Torn

This is a rewrite/finished from the last poem Torn I posted.

In my mind I’m all confused
I feel I’m judged I’m being perused
I stand alone in a crowd
In their presence I am cowed
Oh how my heart is hard
I stand alone like I’m on guard
I often don’t know what to say
I want to turn and run away
But I want to run and hide
This leaves me without a guide
I want to ask what’s wrong with me
Do I have a flaw you see
I petition God I ask and pray
Help me Spirit with what words to say
I know my heart belongs to You
But I’m torn and don’t know what to do
I do not wonder where I belong
Is there something inside me wrong
Oh Lord please hear my prayer
Help me to peel back the layers
Oh Lord hear my cry
On Your Word I do rely
Oh Lord this I pray
In You Presence I want to stay

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015

Yours

This is a poem written by my daughter and was inspired while at a womens retreat with my wife.

 

Yours

By: AnnaMarie Jones

 

Today whilst I prayed,

God led me to him

 

God, help my walk

and my talk

and my life to be yours

 

Help my sorrow

and my pain

and my sadness to be yours

 

Help my love

and my joy

and my heart to be yours

 

Help my tears of joy

and tears of love

and tears of laughter to be yours

 

Help my words

and my talk

and my pen to be yours

 

Help my jealousy

and my anger

and my forgiveness to be yours

 

Help my friends

and my family

and everything to be yours

 

But most of all…

Help me to be yours

Do You Have Hope ? What’s The Reason For Your Hope ?

1 PETER 3:15
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those that speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, one never has the foreknowledge of when God places them in a situation to where this verse is going to be fulfilled in there life. I think in my mind that’s why it says to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. I personally am a member of a program called Celebrate Recovery and have within CR given my testimony at a few different meetings and it’s always a blessing to be able to do so. But my pastor and ministry leader believe as do I that a believer should have their testimony in 3 different, lets say versions. One written out to give as a 15-20 minute testimony at a meeting or church, a 2nd one a shorter version that is a “rated G” version to give to older kids and teens, and 3rd a 3-5 minute version to give maybe to someone one on a trip or air plane. I also happen to wear my one and only CR T-Shirt quite frequently which I believe puts me in the position to be asked about CR and what it is all about quite often. I can honestly say that I’ve never had the pleasure of giving a 3-5 minute version of my testimony until yesterday when at the Emergency Room with my youngest daughter and wife. My daughter was in the back being seen for what we thought was strep throat and I was in the waiting room drinking coffee watching the news, with my CR t-shirt on. I can say it was mid morning and the ER wasn’t full, however there were a good amount of people waiting and in and out when this older gentleman came from around the corner, saying hello and greeting people. Judging from the ID Badge on his shirt I figured he worked for the hospital. It wasn’t until the end of my conversation with this man that I found out he was a chaplain. When he saw me he boasted of how he loved the program of Celebrate Recovery and how it changes peoples lives. Now mind you this man does not speak quietly at all and as we were talking I noticed people looking our direction and to be honest I wasn’t exactly whispering. It was a small waiting room and we were vocal enough you knew what we were talking about. All of a sudden the chaplain says let me hear it, give me that 3-5 minute version of your testimony. I did not have any time to rationally think about what I was going to say and if you look at me with all my tattoos (full sleeves, and on fingers and hands) you could guess what my life could have been like. So I started out that CR is a Christ Centered Recovery Program not just for people with drug or/and alcohol issues. CR is a program for people with life issues, that suffer from any of life’s hurts, habits, and hang ups such as grief, codependency, abuse of many forms, sexual integrity issues, anger, food issues the list is endless. I was honest and I told him how I lived most of my life as a drug addict slash drug dealer, that I had prospected at one time for an outlaw motorcycle club, that after the Marine Corps and medical assistant school I chose to live most of my life outside the law, and that in 2005 through my girlfriend loosing custody of her youngest son to her ex-husband God started making attempts at getting my attention. Through that experience I thought that my girlfriend needed spiritual guidance that I couldn’t provide for her then one day she told me that she was good with her relationship with Christ and that God was looking for me not her. Then in 2009 I submitted my life to Christ, rededicated my life to Christ and was baptized. I then started living the new creation that God had purposed me to live, and how God had led me to CR where I was freed by Christ from the addiction to drugs, and how my life has now been a testimony in how through the 12 steps. I have learned that there are other areas of my life that I need to work on and how God has transformed me from the inside out and that I’m a work in progress.
I said all that in around 5 minutes, but mostly I got to talk about how Jesus changed an old hardened, angry, bitter heart to a loving, kind, gentle heart for Him. My heart belongs to Jesus and He didn’t give me my life back, I don’t want to go back. Jesus gave me a new life, even in the struggles He gives me a life that I want to live, that I look forward to living. With Jesus and Celebrate Recovery I get the opportunity to serve God in my church, my community and in Celebrate Recovery. Hopefully what I got to do in sharing that 5 minute testimony was plant a seed in someone’s mind and heart that there is a place where people can find healing from life’s hurts, habits, and hang ups of all sorts. And I hope for you the reader if you need healing seek Christ and His power. Find someone you can talk to who knows Christ and can help lead you to a relationship with Christ so you can find freedom from life’s hurts, habits and hang ups.

 

 
© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014