For God so loved the world

 

                       The reason to celebrate CHRISTmas ?

                  

                         For God so loved the world,

        that He gave His only begotten Son,

          that whosoever believes in Him

             should not perish, but have

                      everlasting life.

                        John ch.3 v.16

Look and see

                                        

                      Look and see        

                All that look, that look on me 

               see only here a dying tree
               in brittle branch and withered wood 

               they find no beauty - see no good
               perceiving just what would have been 

               if You had not come on my scene
               But shoots of green they do not see 

               new budding leaves that struggle free
               from lifeless form that once was me
               For carnal mind and human eyes 

               both dwell and gaze on all that dies
               and in this chrysalis of tree 

               will fail to see eternity
               Oh all that look - look again at me

               look now through eyes of faith and see
               the hand of Jesus Christ, God's Son 

               gaze on the work that's being done
               See miracle of power to save 

               a soul once destined for the grave
               This Saviour, Whom my heart does love 

               has come from God on wings of a dove
               to change my destiny of strife 

               and bring to me eternal life
               So look again upon this tree 

               see everywhere new greenery
               Don't look upon the dying wood 

               see my Saviour's beauty, see my Saviour's good

                            

                         

Listening for God's voice

I feel led to repost what I wrote some time ago.

 How often do we truly listen for God's voice in our lives? We may listen to God's voice when we hear it being preached in church, or when we are reading our Bibles, but how often do we listen for His voice through our everyday experiences, and how much of God's instruction and encouragement  do we miss through not being finely tuned in to the way in which the Holy Spirit reveals things to us?

When I first became a Christian there were two scriptures that were highlighted to me very strongly.  They were 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don't lean on your own understanding.  Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He shall direct your path', and 'Take every thought into captivity to obey Christ' (2 Corinthians ch10 v5b.  Yet every day I am in danger of allowing my carnal mind and circumstance to create the world that I live in, and rob me of what God has in store for me, by believing what the small part of the picture that I am seeing is forecasting instead of trusting in the revealed word of the One who sees the whole picture.

Early last week we had high winds here in Llandybie.  My husband and I had painted the door in the front hall that leads out to the porch that contains the front door to our bungalow.  Merlyn had said that he wanted the door left open for two days in order to dry the paint.  On the second night he closed the painted door.  I looked across the road and noticed that a neighbour's up and over garage door was being blown open with the wind.  The next morning, as I opened the blinds in the back room, I noticed that our garage door was also wide open.  I shouted into the bedroom 'The garage door is open Merlyn', thinking it strange because he always locks it.  'I must have forgotten to close it yesterday' he said.  I then went into the front hall and opened the painted door to see how it had fared being closed all night.  It was very stiff because of the paint and the draught excluders around it, so I pushed it to without actually closing it to allow it to dry without sticking..  When I opened the blinds in the front lounge I noticed that the garage door across the road was still wide open.  Some time later I went into the front hall intending to pull the painted door open to go into the porch to see if there was any mail.  The painted door was side open.  There is no way it could have opened by itself because it had been very stiff to close to, and there were no windows open in the porch that could have allowed a strong wind to open it. 
I thought about the strangeness of all these open doors and it came into my mind also that the previous Sunday a man in the church had told me to leave the door open to the church on Tuesday after the internet session held there because someone was coming to check the fire extinguishers.  A scripture came into my mind from Revelation ch.3 v.8 'Behold I have set before you an open door', so I looked.it up.  In Revelation ch.3 the Lord is speaking those words to the angel of the church of Philadelphia for keeping His word and not denying His name.  The word 'Philadelphia' means 'brotherly love'.  Verse 7 reads 'And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write 'The words of the Holy One, the true One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens'.
A strange thing happened in Swansea on Friday.  I was handing out my scripture and poetry  leaflets and offered one to three Korean looking girls walking towards me.  I suddenly thought, looking at one of the girls, 'That girl is one of the girls that came to the church, the one who was so friendly'  I said 'Hello', but she looked at me as if she did not know me and appeared quite unfriendly.  I was completely baffled.  I told her my name and the church I attended, but got the same reaction.  As I turned from her a man in front of me dropped a key on the floor, almost as if he had thrown it down, then bent down and picked it up.
I have thought about all these things and as far as the girl is concerned I think maybe she was someone who looked exactly like someone else, but was she used as sign accompanying everything else, saying that there is an open door to those of God's people who show brotherly love, who keep God's word ( the word that the Holy Spirit is speaking to the individual at the time ) and do not deny His name.  Part of keeping  God's word is loving one another, and that includes loving those who don't love us.  The girl in the street appeared to be someone that I knew who appeared slightly hostile.  It is easy to love those who love us, but how do we fare if a brother or a sister, whether natural or spiritual, does not appear to love us?  Are we in danger of throwing away the key to that open door if we do not love as God wants us to love?  The love described in 1 Corinthians ch. 13 keeps no record of wrongs.  I started to see that there was a message for me in all that had happened.
I know now, looking back, that the Lord was bringing to my attention something that was happening, and about to happen, in my life which would test me as to whether or not I would react according to what my natural mind was telling me to do in the situation, or whether I would react according to what God's word to me was saying to do, to love even those who did not appear to love me.  The day after realizing this I went to look for my Bible concordence and came across a  daily devotional that I'd had for some years, but had not looked at for a while.  I opened it to the day and this was the heading. 'Love your way to success.'   One of the sentences in the article read 'Now you may know some people with whom you may not want to be knit together.  They may make some things a significant challenge for you.  But you are commanded to walk in love, so do it.'
God knew exactly what I was going through, and about to go through, at the time and not only instructed me what to do about it, love regardless, but also showed me that blessing would come from it.  I have had so many experiences like this in my life, and a peace that passes understanding come as a result of acting on what I am being shown that, for me, nothing on earth can surpass it.
                                                                                                                                                                             
Someone once said to me 'How can God allow horrible people to walk around the streets, people that have committed atrocities against others, and yet good people die before they are very old?  I reminded her that earlier that morning she had said that she still loved a man who had left her and their son for another woman, and still lived i the hope that he would return to her one day.  I went on to say that in the same way God carries on loving us even when we do sinful things which separate us from Him ( Isaiah ch.59 v.2 ), and wants us to return to Him.
the Bible tells us that only God is good, that we have all sinned, and that when we sin it is against God that we do so.  He wants us all to come to repentance and be saved and is not willing that any of us should perish
 In the parable of the prodigal son we see that although the father allows his son to go his own way, the father's desire is always that the son would return to him eventually.  It is only when the son ends up eating food that is fit for pigs that he grieves for his father and wants to return to him.
Whether we have truly known God's ways and gone away from them, or known little of God's ways at all, without Him and the guidance of the Holy Spirit we will inevitably at some stage end up in a mess.  Always after we have turned from the bad things we have got into, as the parable of the prodigal son demonstrates, God will run to meet us with forgiveness and bring us back to Himself and blessing.  Such is the love that God has for us, a love that motivated Him to send His only Son Jesus to earth as the graceful means for unholy people mankind to be reconciled back to their holy creator.

That kind of love

Lord I'll never know how a seed so small and insignificant
into a beautiful rose does grow
or why Your tender hands should form
a different face on each flake of snow
........ Could it be love?

Lord I'll never know what motivates a God so full of purity and light
to sacrifice the One most dear to Him
to save humanity from their deserv-ed plight
of dark despair brought on by sin
......... Could it be love?

Lord cause me to know that which I thought I would never know
......... Cause me to know that kind of love

I thank You Lord that You left the ninety nine and came looking for the lost one. Though there had been a wall between myself and my creator, You broke down that wall through Your crucifixion, making it possible for the unholy to have access to the holy. By grace I have been saved, and by grace I am kept.

Without Your sacrifice I would never be free
Without Your love for me my eyes could not see
How can I thank You Lord, what can I do
What can I say my Lord except 'I love You'

Sow What ?

People running everywhere 

except towards the truth

each generation right in their own eyes

The young ones hating everyone

the aged mistrusting youth

separated by the Devil's lies

Finding short lived happiness

yet knowing something's wrong

they seek delight through alcohol and dope

Protesting through rebellion

and speaking out in song

For them the world's tomorrow hold's no hope

'Why was I born' the poor man cries                                

'What kind of life is this?'                                                  

For him - to live is agony

To die is almost bliss

While the rich man turns his eyes away

from the beggar at his gate

as selfishness and greedy gain

begin to separate.

But is this as God planned it

when first the world began

Oh no my friend. God formed the earth

but the seeds were sown by man.

Be not deceived: God is not mocked: For whatever a  man sows

that shall he also reap.  For he that sows to the flesh shall of the 

flesh reap corruption. But he that sows to the Spirit shall of the 

Spirit reap life everlasting.

Galatians ch. 6 vs. 7 and 8.

God is Spirit

 God is Spirit, His Son is Spirit and the express image of His Father, and if we are born of that Spirit then we shall be in their image, and shall all be one, just as Jesus prayed in John ch. 17 v.21 'That they may all be one, as Thou art Father in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me.'  This imagery of all believers being a collective 'son' is a reflection of Exodus ch. 4 v. 22 where God refers to the whole nation of Israel as His Son and His firstborn. As believers in Jesus we are the Spiritual Israel of God. However, we are told that the reason we are to be one with Christ and the Father, and to have His Glory is that the world may believe that God has sent Jesus.  We have been given a mission and a commission by Jesus our Lord and some of us have been given gifts for building up the church and some have been given gifts of evangelising.  With the body of Christ is the ability, through the spiritual gifts, to do all the works that He did while He was in a physical body on Earth, both with the house of God and with the world.

Gracious Father

Gracious Father give me light                                 

to separate the wrong from right

cause Your face to shine on me

that in the darkness I might see

to bring my soul into subjection

lest I suffer Your rejection

Gracious Father grant me truth

to break the foolishness of youth

Inscribe Your Word upon my heart

lest from Your ways I might depart

May Christ Your Son renew my mind

restoring sight to eyes gone blind

Gracious Father give me peace

from chains of bondage bring release

My soul is longing for the day

when earthly things will pass away

when pain and tears and aching heart

will finally from me depart

Gracious Father lead me home

no longer let my spirit roam

guide me along that narrow way

using staff and rod each day

until this coat of skin and flesh

becomes a robe of righteousness

 

                   

From chrysalis to butterfly

This is a poem that I wrote some years ago, shortly after I had been born again. I just thought I would share it in case a newly born Christian comes over to my blog, or if someone is going through similar things :-

Lord when I'm being taunted

and mocked for loving You

cause me to remember

that You was taunted too

When I'm being laughed at

for calling on Your name

let me see You standing there 

and taking all that shame

And if I'm being tempted

to draw back into sin

tell me 'Turn away child

don't let the Devil win'

Lord sometimes it's difficult

to die to sinful man

when the Spirit says 'you can't'

and the flesh says 'yes you can'

I'm so afraid I'll fail You

the old man can be strong

sometimes it's hard to tell, Lord

what's right and what is wrong

The old man says 'Retaliate!'

to every harsh word said

The new says 'You've been born again

the old man is now dead'

So Lord teach me to listen

when I hear You speak

Create in me a spirit

that is lowly and meek

Take away the 'old man'

of anger, greed and lust

Form a new creation

inside this outer crust

Help me to forgive them

when the world abuses me

teach me how to show Your love

that I know can set them free

Lord help me go all the way

to that rugged cross

Show me that to lose this 'life'

is gain and not a loss

And then just like the chrysalis

that hangs upon it's thread

I'll become a 'butterfly'

and You'll have raised the 'dead'

To You, and You alone

 This is a song that I wrote some years ago - my words to my Lord Jesus

To You and You alone

will I come for peace and comfort

To You and You alone

will I come on bended knee

In You and You alone

have I found God's grace and mercy

In You and You alone

have I seen God's love for me

With You and You alone

can I walk back to the Father

With You and You alone

can eternal life be found

From You my loving Saviour

must I draw my strength and wisdom

for You and You alone

can place my feet on solid ground

I continue to sing these words to my Saviour

We can not be lukewarm

We can not be hot (the Lord) and cold (the world). Psalm 81 vs 13 and 14 says 'Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways. I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes.' Jesus says in John ch. 12 vs. 47 and 48 'If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who does not receive my sayings has a judge, the Word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.'         Neither does it matter by whom this word is spoken, for Jesus goes on to say in John ch. 13 v. 20 'Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives anyone whom I send receives me, and he who receives me receives Him Who sent me'

Hebrews ch.11 is full of people who obeyed the voice of God and did not lose out. Verse 7 says ' By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, took heed and constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith.'  Verse 8 says 'By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was to go.'

We need not be afraid of any Word which God speaks to us, whether it be to make us feel comfortable or uncomfortable.  Being human, we do not naturally like or want to feel uncomfortable. Sometimes it is actually taught amongst God's people that we should only prosper and be happy, and that anything else is 'of the devil'. It is a 'feel good' doctrine.  The church in Laodicea is spoken of as having self satisfaction physically but being spiritually poverty stricken (Rev. ch. 3 v. 17) However, the Lord goes on in v. 18 to advise them to buy from Him riches and garments and ointment, spiritual riches, garments and ointment, that they might spiritually prosper, spiritually be clothed, and spiritually see.  In v. 19 He says those whom He loves, He reproves and chastens. Chasten comes from the word chaste which means pure. 

When we, as born again believers, are 'chastened' by the Lord it is only the natural, carnal side of us which feels uncomfortable. The Spiritual creation within us rejoices and grows at the Lord's voice whatever His Word might speak to us. It does not matter what church we go to, or what man is claimed to be a 'great man of God' or a 'wonderful prophet'. If any person instructs us to do other than the Word of God in any situation ( for there is instruction for every situation) then it is not of God.  Deuteronomy chapter 13 vs. 1 - 4 tells us that even if a prophet arises amongst us and prophesies and it does come to pass, if he then instructs us to go after other gods to serve them, then we must not listen.  Other gods can be anything that we put above the Lord, and because the Lord is the Word, gods can be anything that we put above His Word. We are told in this passage of scripture that the Lord our God is testing us to know whether we love Him with all our heart and with all our soul.  We are told to walk after the Lord our God, to fear Him and keep His commandments and obey His voice, to serve Him and to cleave to Him.  Jesus echoes this in John ch. 14  v.15  where He says 'If you love me you will keep my commands.

Hybrid

 'What's a hybrid now?' I asked the shop owner, as I noticed the word on one of the products that he sold in his game shop.  I could not quite remember whether a hybrid was the original of something, or an original with something else grafted in.  'It's where something is grafted into something else to make a new species with the qualities of both donors.' he replied. ' Ah yes', I said.  I had been reading that morning from Colossians ch. 3, where Paul was reminding the church at Colossae how the old nature, the fleshly nature, was dead, and that we are alive to Christ.  I had thought, while reading, how careful we have to be not to resurrect that old nature .  This passage of scripture now drifted back into my mind, as I pondered on the word 'hybrid', and I thought about how Christians could become hybrid, our nature being produced by a mix of our old and new nature, or a mix of God's Word and man's doctrine, if we did not stay alert. 

That evening I was sat in my lounge with my husband.  He was watching a film on the television, which was set during the second world war.  I am not very interested in war films, and so my mind started to reflect on other things.  I was thinking about what I should take as a devotional for the writers' circle that I attend each month.  The Lord had been speaking to me about His commandment in John ch 13 to us, to love one another as He has loved us, and I was thinking that maybe I would share something on this theme.

In the midst of my thoughts, my husband said, 'That's a hybrid'.  Suddenly, my mind was alert, I had heard this word twice in the space of a few hours, and once again I was reminded of the subject of the two natures in the book of Colossians.  Turning to my husband, I asked 'What's a hybrid?'.  'That army vehicle' he said, looking towards the television screen.  'What do you mean, that vehicle is a hybrid?' I said.  'It can run on petrol or electricity' my husband replied.  How would you clarify a hybrid I asked.  'It's a mix of two' he said.  Two days later a friend rang me and said during our conversation  'My second nature's gone'.  I realized almost immediately that she was talking about a Katherine Jenkins music CD that she had, that she had told me a few days before might have fallen down the back of a unit in her flat.  The significance of what she said spoke spiritually to me, and I felt that the Lord was definitely bringing my attention to the carnal and the spiritual natures, and of how we can lose our new, spiritual nature if we do not allow the old, clay vessel to be broken and the new vessel to be moulded by heeding the Lord's teachings, and so it is on this theme that I have based the following thoughts.

If I, once I am born again of God's Holy Spirit, choose only to accept correction from God when it suits me by being a hearer of the Word and not a doer of the Word, or accept doctrine within a church when I know it is false doctrine, then my nature will be hybrid, a mixture of the carnal and the spiritual, and I will not be changed into the true image of Christ.  Hence the importance of obeying God's Word, and also checking the word of man to see if it aligns with scripture.

In Colossians ch. 3 we are encouraged to seek and set our minds on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth because if we have been raised with Christ then we have died to the flesh and our life is hidden with Christ in God.  Paul then goes on to instruct believers to put to death what is earthly in them:- fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry, on account of which, he says, the wrath of God is coming.  So we see that the wrath of God is activated through the corrupt carnal nature.  Paul further encourages us not to lie to one another, seeing that we have put off the old nature with it's practices, and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of it's creator.  Then he lists the beautiful characteristics of this new divine nature of God which is revealed in Christ, as we are told to put on compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another, forgiving each other.  As the Lord has forgiven us, he says so we also must forgive, and above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

If we look at the characteristics of love, as stated in 1 Corinthians ch. 13 we see that it is patient and kind, is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude.  Love does not insist on it's own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Jesus says in John ch. 13 vs.34 and 35 , 'A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, even so I have loved you that you also love one another.  By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.  Jesus does not say that He gives us a choice that we love one another, He says that He gives us a commandment to love one another.  So we see that this new nature is essential, not only to bind the body of Christ together in perfect harmony, but also that it will be evidence to the whole world that we are His disciples.  How important then that all of us be on our guard, and take every thought into captivity, recognising where these thoughts are coming from and if they are confessing Christ, and in line with the Word of God.

Proverbs ch. 7 vs. 1 to 5 says 'My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you, keep my commandments and live, keep my teachings  as the apple of your eye, bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart.  Say to wisdom, 'You are my sister,' and call insight your intimate friend, to preserve you from the loose woman, from the adventuress with her smooth words.'  We need to ask the Lord for His wisdom and insight to keep our divine nature from being adulterated by worldly values.

Recently, a neighbour's house was burgled.  The thief broke a kitchen window and entered the house in broad daylight, and in full view of neighbouring houses and passers by.  This neighbour had cut down all the trees in his back garden that would originally have hidden his kitchen window from view.  Whenever he went on holiday, there were three of his friends in the street that had keys to his house and looked around his property day and night.  The Lord has shown me a spiritual principal in what has happened to my neighbour.  It is that all the carnal wisdom and protection in the world may not spare us from the thief.

I recognise in my own life how I am having to put off my old nature by examining daily, even hourly, whether my thoughts and actions are in accordance with what I see in Jesus' teachings, and the following poem is the prayer that I have written to the Lord to help me in this task.

You and me

Increase the 'You' in me Lord increase the solid rock 
increase the strength the Father sent to protect from every knock
Increase the 'You' in me Lord when I try to stand alone
remind me that I'm still a child, that in You I'm not yet grown
Increase the 'You' in me Lord, take all my foolish pride
take the 'me' that still remains in me and place the 'You' inside
increase the 'You' in me Lord that when all is said and done
and people say 'Thank you, thank you' I'll say 'Not me...God's Son.

River of Life

One day last week I was looking at something I wrote some time ago called 'The river of life' and thought that I might share it in a post on my blog.   I had put it in a little booklet that I had put together called 'And by the word of their testimony' which contains testimonies of experiences I have had over the years after coming to know the Lord.  Then, the following morning, I was reading chapter twenty five of the book of Job.   I have felt led to read a chapter of the book of Job each day because I feel that I have been in a 'Job' situation, having the enemy inflict more sickness and pain on me since I believe the Lord has told me that He will heal me from something I have had for over twenty five years.

As I came to verse 6 of Job twenty five I noticed that it read 'how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!'.  The version of the Bible that I have is The New Oxford Annotated Bible.

I thought 'How strange, the article that I thought to put up as a post on my blog contains an incident concerning maggots and worms.'  So it has prompted me to share that article.

The River of Life

Jesus said 'If anyone thirst let him come to me and drink.  He who believes in me, as the scripture has said 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'  We are told that He spoke this of the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive after He was glorified.  We are also told in Ezekiel ch..47 that the river that flows from the temple brings life to every living thing where it goes and that there will be many fish in the waters that shall live because of it.  This indicates that the river of life is both in us and we in it.

I was on a photography course, and one of the women there had on a pink fleecy top with a zip up the front.  There was a tag on the zip shaped like a fish, it reminded me of the symbol that many people wear to identify themselves as Christian, and my first thought was 'Oh, I wonder if she is a  Christian?'  Then I noticed that the image was not really a fish but was actually the skeleton of a fish.  

When we went to lunch this lady bought some chocolate which, when she opened it, was found to have maggots in it.  When we returned to our lesson room, she told us of two fish she had bought which, when cut open, had tiny worms in them.  At the time we were also discussing Christianity and when I pointed out that it was strange that she had on her top a fish skeleton and she was experiencing finding worms and maggots in fish and chocolate, she said 'Maybe that's where I am going, down where the worms will get me.'



This incident made me think of how, as a Christian, I must be careful what I 'eat'.   I thought about how I could be robbed of spiritual growth, represented by the fish skeleton on the zip. The chocolate with the maggots in maybe representing allowing myself to just carry on 'eating' the goodies of this world, and what my carnal mind desires, and the two fish with the worms in them representing worldly doctrines within the Christian church (the fish being a symbol of Christianity).

However, it was not until I read the 6th verse from Job ch.25, relating man to maggots and worms that I could fully understand what the Lord was trying to show me through this incident, that I could wear the name of 'Christian', but still be 'carnal' depending on what I choose to feed upon.

When Daniel was taken to Babylon he refused to defile himself with the rich food and wine offered to him,  it was not permitted for the Jew to eat other than their own diet.  The word Babylon in the Hebrew language includes the word that means confusion, so Babylon in spiritual understanding can represent a place of confusion.  Babylon was particularly noted for being a place of pride and idolatry.   The church, as God's Israel, has its own spiritual diet in the form of God's word, and just as Daniel shone with physical health as a result of not eating what the Babylonian king offered, so too the church will shine in spiritual health as a result of eating Gods word revealed to us through Jesus, and not through doctrines fashioned to please the carnal mind.


If we try to be doers of the word spoken to us as individuals in Christ, then we can be likened spiritually to those fish that live in the sea where the river of life has gone.  They eat, drink and breathe the substance of that water in order to continue living.

Shortly after being on my photography course I was at a writers' meeting that I attended monthly, and I felt very strongly that I was to leave early to watch a television program on 'Time'.  One thing stood out to me in it.  Scientists have discovered, through research into the genes in our bodies, that there is no program for death in us.  There is a program in us for life and for maturity, but no program for death.  Right from creation we were meant to have eternal life with our creator.  It was only Adam's sin that induced a God given curse, which was fulfilled outside of the unique garden of blessing in which he had been placed after being formed from the dust of the ground.

The following is the poem that I wrote at the time.

River of Life

Oh river of life restore to me
the glory that was meant to be

Flow through this doubting, troubled heart
refreshing each and every part
that fails to recognize the name
of Holy Lamb that once was slain
for all I do to cause Him pain

Wash every evil carnal thought
with grace and love that Jesus bought

In waters of eternity
cause spirit lost to struggle free
to cast aside the filth and shame
that clings so tight to mortal frame
once more to wear the Father's name

Oh river of life restore to me
the glory that was meant to be

We are told that once he had sinned and felt convicted, Adam found himself 'naked'.    I believe this 'nakedness' also stands for the loss of eternal life and the being clothed with mortality.  In 2 Corinthians ch.5 v.4 we are told by Paul that 'we wait not to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.'  For two thousand years, because of our Lords wonderful sacrifice, the river of life in the form of the Holy Spirit has been flowing from the temple, enabling us to be no longer under that curse, and to be reconciled back to God.  If we swim in those waters of life, eating and drinking only what is provided in those waters, we shall truly live as we were meant to.

It broke all the rules

Obedience to God

Lord make me like Mary, so quick to believe

when the angel foretold what would be

Take doubt from my heart that my mind might perceive

that which You are preparing for me

Yes make me like Mary - God's Word to receive

with a heart and a mind that are meek

Unlike Zachariah who would not believe

and for months was unable to speak

Lord make me like Joseph, who thinking it right

would quietly put Mary away

but when visited by an angel one night

straightway at her side he did stay

Yes, make me like Joseph who simply obeyed

when instructed that night in a dream

to do what You ask Lord and not be afraid

how to others it might make me seem

Lord make me like Jesus - a babe in a womb

awaiting His birth in this world

though knowing one day He'd be sealed in that tomb

was obedient as God's plan unfurled

Yes make me like Jesus - a true child of God

who came into this world to serve

and was born in a barn where animals trod

not the palace that He would deserve

For God was not ordered by man's plan or choice

and it broke on that day all the rules

when He spoke to a maiden through angel's voice

in spite of religion and wisdom of fools

No God is not ordered by man's plan or choice

as He sends You Lord Jesus to Earth

and through riddle and parable echoes His voice

as He brings His great Kingdom to birth

Life is a gift

Life is a gift of precious time - a lease of years untold

do we realize this naked truth as our given days unfold

and should we not be listening each moment of the day

to the voice that's crying out to us to walk the narrow way

One life we have upon this earth to live just as we choose

a span of precious moments of time - time that we must use

We find ourselves within a space - there are others there as well

and why they're brought across our path God alone can tell

We're everyone each loved by Him, every woman, child and man

and the only thing He'll ask of us is to do the best we can

and the only thing remaining as we stand before God's Son

will be God's book of remembrance and the deeds that we have done

Prepare ye the way of the Lord (Introducing Jesus to the outside world)

 We both heard it! My friend and I had gone into the cafeteria in the garden centre to have a drink. As we walked through the area displaying the artificial flowers for sale we could hear a voice on the café radio saying 'Where is Jesus?'. If my friend had not heard it too I would have doubted hearing correctly. However, when we got into the café there was nothing on the radio to indicate that anything to do with religion was being spoken about.  It was hot and stuffy inside the café and my friend said ' Shall we sit outside?'. There was an outside area designated for customers, with chairs and tables, so we paid for our drinks and went and sat down at one of the tables. There was a lady sat at another table who had her leg in plaster, and beside our table was a large pond with lots of fish in it.

The Lord had been calling my attention to evangelism for some time. Shortly before I had gone on holiday to Lancashire a person I had not seen for a long time asked my friend and myself to visit a home for the elderly to sing the songs and read the poetry that we have been inspired to write since becoming Christians. I had felt a little apprehensive the day before we went there because I had not sung or played my guitar in public for some time.  That morning I was reversing out of my drive thinking about this. The CD player had started automatically when the engine had been turned on, and the first song that had began to play was 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord'.  After the Lord had spoken several other things to me from the scriptures I had been able to go to the home the next day with far more confidence, believing that it was indeed the Lord's will that I should do so.  How true the scripture 'We can do all things in Christ Jesus Who strengthens us'.

Sitting there in the café garden, I suddenly had a revelation that God was continuing to speak to me about evangelising to the outside world and was confirming it through hearing 'Where is Jesus', then moving outside to the garden to have our drinks.  I felt the woman with the plaster on her leg represented the spiritually lame outside, and the fish represented the catch that would be had because the Lord had made us 'fishers of men'.  This is the scripture that has been impressed on my heart for many years.

On the three occasions I had seen my friend while I was on holiday there had been much discussed and prayed about concerning evangelism to the world, and I felt that our last day spent together that week ended in such a beautiful way in the garden centre, with the Lord reminding me of the importance of introducing Him to the outside world.  The Lord speaks to us in many different ways, and He continued to speak to me about my part in spreading the gospel to the outside world.  

While I was in Lancashire my attention was brought to a poster advertising a movie called 'Two Brothers'.  It is about two tigers, and two tigers had been cropping up in my life for some time.  I had an unfinished painting of two tiger cubs which I had entitled 'future power'.  Also, before I went to Lancashire, I sketched out on a stretched canvas two tigers at a waterhole.  When I returned home and started to paint it, I noticed that the picture I was painting it from was a leaflet for the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and written across the front of the leaflet was 'Your gift of a legacy could make all the difference in the world'.  

That same morning I had noticed that , where I had been wearing my sandals on holiday, the sun had burned stripes on my feet between the straps and I thought 'Gosh, they remind me of the tiger'. It suddenly fell into place why tigers had been cropping up in my life for some time.  I felt it was to bring my attention to the words on the leaflet, that the Lord was saying through it all that whatever gift He has given me is part of His legacy and must be used to make a difference in the world, the marks on my feet emphasizing the fact that my feet must be shod with the gospel of salvation.

When I arrived home there was a letter from my brother in Australia in my mail, and in it he mentioned a book which he has acquired written by an American evangelist called Rick Warren.  It is called 'What on earth am I here for?'  For me this said it all.

As the scripture says:- 'Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.'  But how can they call to Him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message?  And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed?  

Romans ch.10 vs. 13, 14.

As I journey on in the Lord

Show me Your face Lord

show me Your face

a face full of mercy

compassion and grace

with lips that sing love songs

to a world filled with shame

You tell of salvation

through Your wonderful name

Show me Your face Lord

it's all that I seek

It's peace to the troubled

and strength to the weak

Your eyes see the pain Lord

that lies deep in a heart

Your ears hear the crying

of a soul torn apart

So show me Your face Lord

that I might have light

to guide my lame feet Lord

as I walk through the night

to brighten the path Lord

that I know I must take

the one that You took Lord

when You died for my sake

Now I see Your sweet face Lord

it's there in Your Word

and 'though for the moment

it's just a bit blurred

I know if I only

will trust and obey

I'll see You quite clearly

one beautiful day

'Jesus said 'Follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men' 

Matthew ch.4 v.19

JUST TO BE A DOORKEEPER

Father I'll never be highest

in the Kingdom of Your Son

but to be a doorkeeper in Your house

is an honour for anyone

Lord I don't need to be greatest

as You send down Your power from above

all I ask of You Jesus is teach me

to show this cold world Your great love

As I go out into the darkness

where there's danger in every street

let Your righteousness be my garment

let Your Word be the lamp at my feet

No Father - I'll never be highest

in the Kingdom of Your Son

but just to be a doorkeeper in Your house

is an honour for anyone

What will you do

 Oh what will you do when our Lord returns

if you've turned a deaf ear to His word

oh what can you say to the Son of God
can you say friend that you've never heard?



Can you say you've not known that we've all gone astray

in our sins it's as if we were dead

that the curse brought on Adam for turning away

we've inherited just as God said?

Even now God still loves us saying 'Turn and repent'
from all things that you know are sin
For the time now is short and the door soon will close
on this world........... so make sure that you're in

'For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive'
                                                           1 Corinthians ch. 15 v.22

Teach me my Father

This is a poem that I wrote shortly after becoming born again of the Holy Spirit.

Teach me my Father to be like Jesus

in everything I say and do

teach me my Father to love my neighbour

and not to abuse the things from You

Teach me to share the gifts You send me

of love and joy and peace of mind

teach me to see the soul reaching out

from eyes that Satan has made blind

Teach me to lean on Your love my Father

change this heart of doubt and fear

teach me to say to whoever You send

'Come inside, there's welcome here'

Teach me my Father to be like Jesus

and not to care for worldly things

teach me to tell the poor and the sick

'My Lord has healing in His wings'

Teach me to tell them of Your love

of how Your work is being done

simply because - my wonderful Father

I believed upon Your Son

'Jesus answered and said unto them 'This is the work

of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.'

                                                                             John ch.6 v.29