“A true and faithful Christian does not make holy living an accidental thing. It is his great concern. As the business of the soldier is to fight, so the business of the Christian is to be like Christ.” – Jonathan Edwards
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First Principles: A True and Faithful Christian Does Not Make Holy Living an Accidental Thing…The Business of the Christian Is To Be Like Christ
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Accidental, Business, Christ, Christian, Concern, Faithful, First Principles, Holy Living, Jonathan Edwards, True
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To Become Better
To Become Better
by Michael Doyle
Pumping my brakes amidst the celebration,
It's time to focus on my destination.
The old year is held in quiet reflection
As we start the new year, amid this contemplation.
Steps are taken in our life's journey,
Bringing our fulfillment in our destiny.
We close the door on this year, 2025,
Happy as we are and thankful in how we thrive.
God's heavy lifting has seen us through,
Providing the path for all that we do.
Walking as one family and never as one alone.
We link together with all that our Father owns.
We lay our crowns summarily at God's feet,
Knowing that He has made our lives complete.
We surrender our lives for God's everything.
All serve our purposes for our holy King.
The Holy Lamb sits on His bejeweled throne.
We give our all to be His own.
All heave and earth join as one together
As we offer our lives to become better.
(c) December 7, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged 2025, Brakes, Ce;lebration, Contemplation, Destination, Destiny, Door, Family, Foscus, Fulfillment, God, Happy, Heavy Lifting, Journey, Life, Liink, New Year, Old Year, Path, Poetry and Poems, Pump, Reflecttion, Steps, Thrive
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Thought For the Day: Do All the Good You Can, By All the Means You Can, In All the Ways You Can, In All the Places You Can…As Long As You Can
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” – John Wesley
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged All the Good, All the Times, All the Ways, Can, John Wesley, Long, Means, People, Thought For the Day, Times, You Can
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First Principles: Trust In the Lord With All Your Heart and Lean Not On Your Own Understanding; In All Your Ways Submit To Him, and He Will Make Paths Straight
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
Posted in First Principles
Tagged First Principles, Heart, Lord, Paths, Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV, Trust, Understanding, Ways
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Humble Triumph
Humble Triumph
by Michael Doyle
Praising the Lord with all my soul,
I give over all things out of my control.
Strumming guitar as I joyfully sing,
Grateful for all the Lord constantly brings.
We find ourselves born again,
Awakening to being freed from our sins.
Once divided, we find the gap filled
In the holiness of Christ's love recalled.
Born to the manger in splendid humility,
Bethlehem received Christ in His divinity.
In their blindness, some refuse the native son,
Though in His birth, the Father's will is done.
It is in Christ's birth that we find our happiness.
His birth gives us the way to life lived in bliss.
We let the spirit of Christmas guide our contemplation.
The twinkling stars herald our inspiration.
I hear the words of Biblical prophecy,
Clearly pointing to what is the living history.
He came to save us from our mortal sins.
That thought alone is enough to repeat again.
(c) December 6, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Awakening, Bethlehem, Biblical Prophecy, Birth, Blindness, Bliss, Born Agaiin, Christ, Christ's Love, Contemplation, Control, Divide, Divinity, Father, Freed, Gap Filled, Gratefu, Guitar, Happiness, Holiness, Humility, Inspiratoin, Living Histoty, Manger, Mortal Sin, Poetry and Poems, Praise, Recall, Repeat Again, Save, Sin, Sing, Soul, Spirit of Christmas, Star, The Lord, Triumph, Will, Words
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First Principles: Children, I Beseech You To Correct Your Hearts and Thoughts, So That You May Be Pleasing To God
“Children, I beseech you to correct your hearts and thoughts, so that you may be pleasing to God. Consider that although we may reckon ourselves to be righteous and frequently succeed in deceiving men, we can conceal nothing from God. Let us therefore strive to preserve the holiness of our souls and to guard the purity of our bodies with all fervor. Ye are the temple of God, says the divine Apostle Paul; If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” – St. Nicholas of Myra
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Apostle Paul, Bodies, Children, Correct, First Principles, Hearts, Holiness, Pleasing To God, Purity, Rghteous, Souls, St. Nicolas of Myra, Temple of God, Thoughts
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Thought For the Day: Personally, Of Course, I Believe In Santa Claus; But It Is the Season of Forgiveness, and I Will Forgive Others For Not Doing So
“This is, first and last, the real value of Christmas; in so far as the mythology remains at all it is a kind of happy mythology. Personally, of course, I believe in Santa Claus; but it is the season of forgiveness, and I will forgive others for not doing so.” – G.K. Chesterton
The Fight After the Fight
The Fight After the Fight
by Michael Doyle
The first death you see
Strips away a layer of life's dignity.
It stays with you like an aura you wear
While you fight the pangs of despair.
The pain grips you by the heart.
As you look into the eyes, and life departs.
Whoever tells tales of war's glory
Has probably only seen from outside the story.
Losing a brother or sister in battle
Is a lesson learned, more than a saber's rattle.
It's the pain in a rucksack's layered carry
As you remember the souls of those you bury.
There is little more to be done than to move on.
But at night, you remember the dead and gone.
To think of this in the Christmas season,
Feels to me like a strange kind of self-treason.
Alas, still, here I am, thinking of you
And wishing I drank to give you your due.
All I have is this quiet moment of misery.
It's another layer of my life's mystery.
This then is the fight after the fight.
I pray just to make it through another night.
Not thinking about what it is I now lack.
But living to honor your fade to black.
It was said that the Chaplin would be available.
Yet that required more words than I was capable.
Steadying my grit instead for my brothers, left and right.
I determined to man myself up for the next fight.
While I wondered if I myself remained efficient,
The Jesus I know has always been sufficient.
Going where needed, I locked up with intensity,
Carrying a memory of you, in its full immensity.
Carrying a ghost has always proven itself heavy.
Little by little, we do our best to conceal it as we bury.
Rumor is that we are only responsible for our own weakness.
And so in this season, we seek our measure of happiness.
Saying one more prayer through interlinked fingers,
I salute you as my old memories bring tears and linger.
I bury myself in the gift of my new self.
Blessed by your memory, and a carol from the wooden shelf.
(c) December 5, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Aura, Battle, Bury, Christmas Season, Dead and Gone, Despair, Dignity, Due, Eyes, Family, Fight, First Death, Glory, Heart, Lack, Layer, Life, Love, mental-health, Misery, Move On, Mystery, Night, Pain, Pan, Pangs, Poetry and Poems, Rattle, Rucksack, Saber, Soul, Story, Treason, War, Writing
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Thought For the Day: A Landscape Does Not Exist In Its Own Right, Since Its Appearance Changes At Every Moment; But the Surrounding Atmosphere Brings It To Life
“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life – the light and the air which vary continually. For me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere which gives subjects their true value.” – Claude Monet
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Air, Appearance, Atmosphere, Change, Claude Monet, Contnuous, Every Moment, Exist, Landscape, Life, Light, Right, Thought For the Day, True Value
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First Principles: Learning Is Not Attained By Chance, It Must Be Sought For With Ardor and Diligence
“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” – Abigail Adams
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Abigail Adams, Ardor, Chance, Diligence, First Principles, Learning, Sought
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ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 