We are given a chance to live,
Always God’s grace gives,
Those who accept the gift,
Adding souls He lifts,
Honor & Glory from above,
True perfect love,
With Him you are free,
Hope we all see,
Praise, Honor and Glory to Him,
Saved from all sin,
Nothing left except His word,
His truth is heard,
Sadly some will not live,
Still He gives,
Eternal Joy for all to see,
Forever with Thee!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle
12/2016
Down the road of life I travel each day,
Lost and confused not knowing my way.
Walking alone on this path & without care,
Dealing daily with people trying to be fair.
Burdens I carry weigh heavy on my mind,
A normal part of my life with more to find.
Each day goes by with no hope for respite,
I pray for help as I face each daily plight.
Who am I to ask for help from my grief,
A single soul among many hoping for relief.
With no choices ahead and still losing my way,
The only hope is to fall to my knees and pray.
Pray to the One who created all that there is & that will be,
He is the only One in life with a plan that can set me free.
Free from the pain I experience each day as it goes by,
Not knowing just what to do and always wondering way.
Now I can choose to have eternal hope or great despair,
I trust in God Almighty who truly loves me & always cares!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle
12/2014
By: Larry Shawn Cagle
December 20, 2014
This is about an amazing experience I had that occurred quite suddenly and was completely unexpected. When this happened, I was not praying or meditating. I was not reading the Bible or other theological styled book. I was not in some deep contemplation about God and the universe. I was not reasoning or pondering man’s existence. I was simply considering the accuracy of a Cable program that my wife and I had just finished viewing.
My unbelievable experience happened in the Fall of 2004. My wife and I had just finished watching a cable program on the original History Channel concerning people who “claim” to see Saints, Angles, Spirits or the Virgin Mary on a somewhat frequent basis. Overall, the program was at best, fair to very poor in quality. Plus, the individuals who were highlighted seemed to be somewhat out of touch with reality. I do not think I could believe these people because they seemed to be scripted and somewhat shallow. After the show ended, I decided to surf the internet for awhile. I went to our spare bedroom, the one that we used as our computer room and sat down and powered on the system. As it was slowly booting up, I started thinking about the program we had just watched and the topic that was covered. It occurred to me, how would these people or anybody really know if what they saw was real or just hallucinations or fabrications? Also, I considered what the images they claimed to have seen could of actually been. Were these images truly holy and from God or possibly Satanic. How would they know that they were not being deceived by Satan or his demons? The Bible states that demons can take on many forms including heavenly spirits (1 John 4:1, 2 Corinthians 11:14). In addition, I wondered if they were only seeking their 15 minutes of fame. How could anyone truly know and be sure that the images they experienced, like the one’s we just saw on the History Channel, were real, imagined, holy or demonic??
As I was sitting there reflecting on the questions I had just asked myself while waiting for the system to fully boot up, I suddenly and unexpectedly had an experience that is still hard for me to fully explain. This experience forever change my life and my perception of life, God and His love. What I experienced, for that magnificent moment, was God’s presence and His love.
I will try to explain how powerful and suprising experiencing God’s presence was, but unfortunately, I know that will not be possible. I know all my words will fall short of expressing the unimaginable magnitude of what happened. However, I will do my best to explain what I felt and discovered by my Godly experience.
When I first felt God’s presence, I noticed that everything I was either stressed or distressed about, including all I was worrying and concerned about was gone, vanished, did not exist anymore. All those negitive feelings I had from my entire life vanished from my conscience. It was as though they never existed or they were never experienced. I then noticed that beside all the negitive feelings, thoughts, memories, etc. in my life disappearing, everything that I cared about, all the positive things in my life, had also disappeared, vanished. They were all gone to as through they never existed. I realized I no longer had any feelings about both the good and the bad in my life. All the things I loved in this world no longer mattered or meant anything to me. My family, my wife, our pets, everything and anything of this world that I loved or had ever loved or cared about, along with all the things hated, was no longer part of my existence. All my experiences and anything that was part of me and my life, including everything that was not part of my life, was gone and had no meaning to me. I was now completely seperated from this world and no longer part of the world. Everything that was part of this world no longer had any meaning to me. The good and the bad of life was no longer relevant and I was no longer connected in anyway, shape, or form to this world. I was physically here but that was the extent of my connection to this world. I was no longer emotionally, mentally, or even spiritually connected to this world. As I stated before, I was actually seperated from everything that existed in this world and it no longer meant anything because of God’s presence. His presence had completely seperated me from this world and anything that related to this world. I was totally and absolutely free from this world. Beyond any doubt, this was the most intense, strange and unbelievable surprise (gift or blessing) I had ever experienced in my life. At least until what happened next.
What I then noticed or felt next was the most pure, the most precious, perfect and complete, intense and fulfilling love that could ever be imagined. This love literally penetrated every part of my body, every cell and every atom. It penetrated the essence of my being. I felt God’s love down to my very soul. It was so intense and fulfilling I realized that this love could and would give me absolutely and unequivocally everything I would ever need, want or desire. I relealized I would not required food to live as this love could give me the all the nutrition I needed. I realized I would no longer require air to breathe as this love could supply the very air I needed to live. This love gave me absolutely everything I could ever need or want. Plus, I discovered there was nothing else outside of this warm, exquisite, wonderful, beautiful, magnificent, precious, perfect and Divine Godly love. All my perceptions, all my senses, everything was consumed by this love. There are really no word I have or words I know of that can fully express God’s love. The Bible states that you can have anything you desire in Heaven. If Heaven gives you everything you need, want or desire, I know that God’s love is all I would ever want. So for that brief period I think I was expecting a small part of Heaven. Even after +12 years, I cannot image anything greater than that warm embrace of God’s love that I briefly had.
I do not know how long this experience lasted as time seemed to have stopped. Or at least, my perception of time. I think it only lasted for a few seconds to maybe a minute or two. I am not sure because I was disconnected from this world briefly. I do not think anyone here on earth could handled a love that powerful and intense for any longer period of time. I believe if it lasted for any great length of time I would of quit existing as the person I was. If I had continued to experience God’s love, I would not had left that chair or room. I would of sat there until the end of time. The love from God gave me everything I needed or would ever need and nothing else mattered to me.
One of the lasting effect of God’s love is related death and dying. I had very little concern about death and dying once I became a Christian and understood God’s word. Since I have experienced God’s love I know no longer have any fear or reservations concerning death and dying. I can say with a doubt that I look forward to my death because I know what is waiting for me once I am in Heaven.
I apologize for the parts were I rambled attempting to explain how I felt and how God’s love felt. No matter how many times I have attempted to tell my experience, my words always fall short of the actual experience I experienced.
I hope I was able to give you an inkling of the overwhelming magnitude and the sheer intensity of the pure, perfect and divine love from God that I experienced. I still wonder why God allowed me to experience His presence and His love. I do not know if it was an answer to what I was thinking or some other reason. Maybe there will be a time when it is fully clear to me why God touched my life is this way!!
Lord, we cannot make it in this world today without You,
You give us the strength we all need to make it through.
Only fools have hope for a better life by going at it alone,
You give us strength to have no fear facing the unknown.
Now each day closes with us nearer to the final end,
Soon we will hear Your Son calling on us all to ascend.
We will avoid the suffering coming to those who denied,
The truth that You raised Your Son 3 days after He died.
To many are foolish by refusing the power of Your Grace,
The only chance they have to accept Your saving embrace.
Is it pride or foolishness when they give Satan the power,
To decide how they will live and die in their remaing hours.
It was God our Father who created us & all that does exists,
Who then offered his only Son for all our sins by the crucifix.
Never has there been a greater sacrifice by given by anyone,
His death paid all our debts so our salvation could be won!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle
02/18/2017
I often wonder what most people are going to say,
When they realize it’s time for their Judgement Day.
Will they tell their Judge that they really didn’t see,
The sins they committed had a cost and were not free.
That all the suffering they caused others in their life,
Was just part of surviving their own pain and strife.
That life was only bearable when they had some fun,
So they should not be judged to harshly by Your Son.
Each of us always has a choice in life before we finally die,
To accept salvation that is from the Son of the Most High.
Remember to stay in God’s light & on the path He planned,
So on that day we will all be together in the Promised Land!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle
10/16/2016
My life is out of control, Lord can you truly see,
I am no longer whole, please show me Your mercy.
Lost in the noise each day, I am seeking direction,
How did life become this way, I need Your protection.
What hope is there for me, all alone in living life,
I know I’m really not free, burden by all the strife.
How can I feel more empty, having no real purpose,
All around me there’s plenty, but it’s only on the surface.
I need to find some hope, but only through the truth,
Showing me the way to cope, discovery of the sooth.
I’m told there is a way, if you truly have an open mind,
I will not wait one more day, for the answers I must find.
They say God is waiting for me, every day and each night,
Only He can set us free, simply by walking in His light.
God has made plans for each, easy to find and to follow,
His salvation is within reach, giving freedom from all sorrow.
God please hear my plea, have mercy & answer my call,
I know now You are the key, for Your Grace is essential.
I accept I have been a sinner, I want to change my ways,
Make me one of Your winners, I am ready to start today.
Thank you for Your Son, plus the gift of Your saving grace,
I can see You truly are the One, with you I always had a place.
I know I will never be alone, including this life and the next one,
God has given me a home, together forever with Him & His Son.
If you are lost and alone, looking for answers to get through life,
God’s Grace is your way home, to ovecome all your pain & strife.
God’s gift of salvation is free to everyone, nothing to do but accept,
So please call on His Son, then you can truly be one of the elect!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle
04/14/2017
There are days when I wonder just what God wants from me,
Is there something I am missing or something I cannot see.
Have I overlooked a kindness or failed to lend a hand in need,
Possible I forgot to confess a past sin or to pray on my knees.
Because just when I feel I’m on the path & walking in His light,
Problems come from all around with many more just in sight.
Then I suddenly realized that the reason I have much more to bear,
Is Satan cannot stand that I’m closer to my God & that He truly cares.
So the more that Satan throws in my way gives me great joy & delight,
Then I’m sure I’m doing right following God’s way & staying in His light!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle
04/12/2017
In my last hours as I lie here on my bed slowly dying,
I am surrounded by my family & friends sad and crying.
I wish in my final hours I could make them understand,
They should rejoice as I’m headed to the Promised Land.
The life I lived was difficult & hard but allowed me to see,
There was a choice that was designed especially just for me.
The One true living God wanted me to see that He truly cared,
And that by choosing His Son I would be one of His heirs.
God offers us a gift greater than we could ever conceive,
One that is free to all by having faith and is easy to receive.
We each have a decision in our life that we must all make,
To decide our final eternity is a chore we must all undetake!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle
04/2017
When I was young I always believed there would be a day,
My life would come together because I had found my way.
To have security and never have to be concerned or worry,
To live life at my pace each day and never to be in a hurry.
That was just one dream of a completely material being,
One who measured life by others & them never agreeing.
Seeing only what was directly in front & that I could touch,
Never realizing all I saw and all I wanted was just a crutch.
Only when I was alone surrounded by my own shattered dreams,
I was finally able to see that I lived my life only by others schemes.
I could clearly understand now what I knew in my heart was true,
That life had a purpose create by the One who truly loves me too.
God showed me the answer to living my life was always in His book,
I just need to take the time with an open mind and have a good look.
I finally understood this life is to show our faith in God and His Son,
That true rewards only began after our life here is finished and done!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle#
04/2017
I see the distortion growing with each day,
More misery is showing but what can I say.
Confusion is all that I seem to now know,
Delusions in my life all continue to grow .
Darkness fills all the empty spaces I find,
Sadness grows unrestrained in my mind.
What hope is there for someone like me,
Tangled in my problems trying to get free.
Looking for help I find unreasonable replies,
Saying I am selfish for feeling I want to die.
The compassion I need only angers others,
Those who claim to be my sisters & brothers.
What I know to be true I learned from God,
Living life is difficult and will often be hard.
God’s word shows the way to find true hope,
All we need to survive and to be able to cope.
His love gives us all the strength that we need,
To make sure that in the end we will succeed.
Never let any others who say they care distract you,
Remember to keep God first in all that you may do.
The closer we are to God and to following His way,
The harder Satan works to steal our souls each day.
So never forget with Jesus we have nothing to fear,
His promise of Salvation and Heaven is almost here!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle
August 31, 2017
One of the repeated problems I contantly see,
Is not recognizing the spiritual war around me.
We need to be aware and be ready to react quickly,
To the attacks Satan’s demons instigated decisively.
Their desire is to prevent any that they can persuade,
From receiving God’s Grace with their evil charade.
For those true Christians who have accepted God,
Satan focuses all the evil he can to make life hard.
Through lies he distorts Gods word so some believe,
Happiness and success on earth is God’s guarantee.
The truth is that whenever we accept God into our life,
We can count on Satan to cause us more pain & strife.
Satan’s demons will attack at any chance they find,
From the physical to our emotional state of mind.
Demons try to destroy our relationship with Him,
By using our weaknesses and tempting us to sin.
But God has a plan for all so we have already won,
Our final reward is in Heaven with God & His Son!!
By Larry Shawn Cagle
September 6, 2017
Please enjoy and share with any of you family, friends, sisters and brothers. I hope you have a blessed day!! Shawn
Draw Near and Hear 