I rejoice in You

Compare the promise of the world

Know the truth of the lie

The succulent morsel that promises so much

That sucks you in to it’s vacuous lurid disillusionment

Leaving you stunned with incredulity

Gasping and struggling for breath as the realisation of folly

Descends upon you like a blanket that at first

Feels warm but

Cools and

Chills and

Begins to suffocate

As disbelief at your stupidity

Sets in

Freezes in

Frozen

Unable to believe

The gullible stupidity

Driven by immediate need seemingly unmet

Urgent need cried out for yet unmet.

Desolation.

Anger.

Who’s to blame?

Not me, I prayed

Cried out

Sought His face

Yet needs unmet

MY needs

Unmet

Betrayed

Forsaken

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”

But Truth presses in

His Truth

The One I tried from whom I tried to run

My Lover

My Lord

The One who sought me through the wilderness

Walked alongside me

Through the Darkness

For darkness is as light to you

Whilst I was charmed,

Then beguiled,

Then stunned,

Then numb

You walked along side

Waiting to catch me again

As I fell

Into Your arms

Into Your Love

Like no other

Your Truth is True

Real and

Deep and

Endless.

As I realised my imprisonment in the trap of beguiling sin

I came before you

Shameful and foolish

Yet You ran to me as You saw me approach in my shame

By Your Grace

By the strength of your arm

You preserved me

Although by my sin I was condemned to die.

My salvation is my strength

You O Lord are my redeemer

I rejoice in You

You alone.

Birdsong and the rain

Not a new one, but it still speaks of me and how birds often come to mind when self-pity tries to attack…

Think of the times in your life when the rain falls

Think of the days when it pours

Metaphorically

Think

Were you able to think on those rainy days?

Could you hear anything…

other than your own desperate thoughts…

your cries?

your pain?

Now wait for the day

The day it rains

The day it pours

And listen

The rain has a beat of it’s own

Around us and apart from us

Celebrate or mourn

Dance in the rain or run from it

but listen

Listen to the birds

They sing

In the rain they sing

After the rain they rejoice

What do they know?

Jesus said: Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26

Shade

O Lord, do I know You?

Not as You know me, that’s for sure.

 

Have I sought you as much as I might?

Not as much as You searched for me, that’s for sure.

 

O Jesus, I have met with You

Seen my sin die with You

Only for me to breathe in it’s stench of death again.

 

But you walk with me still

On this journey

Of light and shade

But never darkness

Never again

For you are with me

You told me so

Never to leave me

Never letting me go.

 

So here I am,

wrapped in White,

drenched in red,

beside You walking

even in the shade.

 

Walking with You

As You journey with me

where I sometimes lose sight of You,

but You are with me still.

 

You keep your promises…

 

…Father…

…I am glad You are not a man.

 

Why?

Why do I cry O Lord?

When the pain & suffering you have seen

Felt

Personally

Done to You

By man

By us

By me…

Why do I cry O Lord?

When it’s You who should

cry for what is done

that we lie

and so we die

word by word

lie by lie

to ourselves

to our friends

to You

and you cry

but so do I

cry…

And you cry, O Lord

as we turn away

hurt by hurt

by our neighbours

by each other

by ourselves

ears shut

from your Word

hurting us

hurting me

hurting you

and you cry

but so do I

cry…

Take me in, O Lord

by your cross

by your side

by your heart

by your grace

and I cry…

My Jesus ain’t no intellectual persuit…

Apart from the crowd

“Restless, knowing there is more.
Tired of being tired, pinned to the floor,
by organised religion telling me how to express
my love for Him who gave His all so I live each day afresh.
Bored with man’s religion of intellectual pursuit
as if knowledge equals power and being clever is good fruit
I want to know my Jesus, to sit with Him and eat,
to know that I’ll stand unafraid at the judgement seat.
So challenge me, my Jesus as you did on Peter’s beach
Refresh my call and show me, just how far my faith shall reach.”