(C) Cheryl Howard 2009

All about you things are crumbling, uncertainty and fear

Anxiety encroaches swallowing you, it’s a hole, you can’t go there

The things that you once trusted, Gone!

In shreds, an economy now busted, not strong!

 

 

You face a dark horizon, stormy clouds are all about

Your reference points have disappeared, so scared you want to shout

Frozen and immobilised, you don’t know what to do

Panic squeezes and grips your mind, in prison it’s holding you

 

 

O hear the voice of your great GOD as HE speaks to you HIS plan

Your safety and security are not in this world but in HIS SON’s hands

Don’t by your mountains be overshadowed and dismayed

But by HIS protection be held, as you nestle close and obey

 

 

There is not a thing you are facing HE hasn’t known

If you trust in HIS goodness by this howling wind you’ll not be blown

Your life HE would cover in HIS shielding grace

HE offers power and provision for those who seek HIS face

 

 

Your life must be built on foundations immovable

HE’s our Fortress and Rock, strong and unassailable

HIS care for you is constant, mighty and true

HE knows what you need and your good will HE do!

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

The best way to find out ‘who’ or ‘what’ we are leaning on is to have the rug ripped out from underneath our feet - only then can we see what foundation we have been building our lives upon. What are you trusting in? What, or who makes you feel safe, secure and held?

 

Hebrews 12:26b-29 “‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve GOD acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our GOD is a consuming fire.”

 

The removal of those things that are being shaken..things that are made …. things which cannot be shaken may remain…we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken ….

There is only One safe foundation for us to be built upon - CHRIST, The Stone which ‘the builders’ rejected Who is The Chief Cornerstone! Our economy may be tottering, ready to fall headlong into an abyss, the things we have known and comfortably shared our lives with may be all sliding down the proverbial gurgler … in truth we are facing a very uncertain future, uncertain to us that is - but not to our LORD and SAVIOR. When HE has finished ’shaking’ us, let us pray that HE finds an unshakable, strong foundation of trust and confidence in HIM - in HIS power and ability to ‘keep’ us!

Psalm 81:7 “You called in trouble and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah(Strife or Contention). Selah.” 

GOD desires to know our hearts - and more importantly, for us to know our hearts. How easy it is to profess trust in HIM when the sun is shining and all is right in our world - we don’t know the truth about ourselves until all contenders for our trust and faith are stripped from us and we stand naked before our GOD, either crying out to HIM in hope and desperation, or railing at HIM for taking away the comforts and securities we have been trusting in.

 

Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For HE HIMSELF has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The LORD is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me!’”

 

So let’s hold tight to our GOD, let’s trust in HIS word, and trust HIM to keep HIS word - for HE is TRUE! HE will keep us, come what may if we choose to depend upon HIM above all else and we put our confidence in HIM and HIS trustworthiness and goodness, and we make HIM our ‘Hiding Place’ - HE is YHWH Yireh ‘The-LORD-Will-Provide’ (Genesis 22:14).  Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.”

 

Psalm 84:11 “For The LORD is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will HE withhold from those who walk uprightly!”

HE is our ROCK! Don’t build your life on anyone or anything else, but be built upon The CHRIST Alone!

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

The onslaught comes relentless, attacked on every front,

The pain and sadness burgeons, in weariness I’m sunk.

Yet still YOU remain unchanging, faithful, loving, true,

Though my world looks clothed in darkness, YOUR light it still shines through.

 

 

YOU hold me in the bleakness, the smothering of night,

Armed in YOUR glory for battle, YOU shelter me and fight.

I cannot see the end, the tunnel surrounds me still,

But in YOUR arms I settle, encased within YOUR will.

 

 

YOU promised me YOUR Presence, YOUR wondrous heart so pure,

But first YOU said, “MY child, in this world you must endure.”

The night tis always darkest right before the dawn,

In the desperate place of sorrow, YOUR hope within reborn.

 

 

The path is ever winding, unknowable and steep,

Tis YOU who takes my hand, my life in safety do YOU keep.

When I can’t breathe for fear of drowning in the pain,

Tis YOUR constant goodness LORD, unchanging that remains.

 

 

So in trust do I reach out my frail hand,

Lean on YOU, rest in YOUR love and then I stand.

YOU are The One on whom my life it stands secure,

My Rock of endless ages, for YOU was I born for!

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

Psalm 18:1-3 “I will love YOU, O LORD my strength. The LORD is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer; my GOD, my Strength, in Whom I will trust; my Shield and the Horn of my Salvation, my Stronghold. I will call upon The LORD, Who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies!”

 

How can our courage truly fail us, how can our hearts really shatter when we have a GOD like this to protect and defend us? Yes we may struggle, at times we may stagger and stumble, even fall flat and remain so for a time - but nothing can keep us down; we will arise, we will overcome, we will be ultimately victorious; if we but make it our practise to always run, or crawl, or drag ourselves to HIM Who is our Fortress, our Stronghold, our Deliverer and our Salvation! 

Let us determine to praise our Heavenly FATHER, let us purpose to worship our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS - no matter what trials, testings or mountains we may face; by keeping our trust in HIM regardless! Yes we may be staring into the face of a mountain that dwarfs Mt Everest, but lets keep our trust in The GOD Who told Zerubbabel that mountains would become flattened plains before him, if he trusted not in his own might or power, but in GOD’s HOLY SPIRIT!

 

Zechariah 4:6-7 “…’This is the word of The LORD to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by MY SPIRIT,” says The LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it.”‘”

Not by our own ‘might, strength, army, valor, force or wealth’ and not by our own ‘power, vigor, ability, capacity or substance’ but by HIS SPIRIT - HIS enabling, HIS unction, anointing and power. Those who yield, learn to wait for GOD to come through with deliverance and victory; and who only go forward led by HIM, obeying HIS voice, trusting in HIS Grace and strength - it is these ones who will experience true success, true victory, flattened mountains - GOD’s victory!

 

The good news is that you and I can be that person - no one can stop us if we choose to hold on to our trust in our GOD, our Shield and our Strength; believing the truth - that HE is the Horn of our Salvation! 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

When weighted by an oppressive gloom

That sits in your soul like a lump of doom

The sun’s arising it comes far too soon

You feel endlessly trapped in an internal room

 

You struggle to see beyond the now

Each second it stretches as if an hour

You face a future that tastes bitter and sour

Your mind like a sloth you have no power

 

It all feels pointless as if you’re just treading time

How can you look to tomorrow when your soul is blind?

So tired don’t care, the will to live you can’t find

It’s a maze of confusion in your dark, troubled mind

 

You’ve sunk somehow into a grey tomorrow

Joy has long gone, all that’s left is endless sorrow

Despair and hopelessness from you the world could borrow

Can’t see a way of escape from this interminable horror

 

Try to find reason to wake every morn

Can’t think anymore why you were even born

Long to slip away - feel tired, old and worn

Thought of ending life - but others left to mourn

 

You are trapped in a lie – don’t let it be!

Cry out to GOD your SAVIOR, to HIS loving side do flee

Go to the Cross, there HIS SON will set you forever free

It is HE gives true hope, the reason for life to you and me!

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey ….

 

Helpless, hopeless - dread and despair. Have these become your familiar companions? Are they there when you fall into a restless sleep? Awaiting you the moment your eyes begin to flicker in wakefulness? Do you dread the days ending - then dread a new one dawning?

JESUS said “I AM the LIGHT of the world, he who follows ME shall not walk in darkness.” (John 8:12). 

HE not only gives us hope when life seems hopeless - HE is our Hope, HE is The HOPE of the world!

There is nothing we can experience that our compassionate, merciful SAVIOR doesn’t understand - when we think we’ve reached the end of the road in our struggles, our suffering, our weary sorrows; that we can go no further, endure no more, that it is all too much - we need to take comfort in the knowledge that when JESUS hung upon The Cross in our stead HE went further, HE endured more. HE went to the end of every road of suffering and sorrow in our place, HE experienced the bottom of the deepest pit humanity could ever stumble into. And this HE did in HIS perfect innocence, justice and sinlessness - this HE did for love of us.

 

Your life does have meaning, value and purpose - you were created by an Awesome Loving GOD; to know HIM in intimate relationship, to walk with HIM in adoration and obedience. You were made for HIS glory and only in HIS Presence will you discover “fullness of joy.” Psalm 16:11 “YOU will show me the path of life; in YOUR Presence is fullness of joy; at YOUR right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Set your desires, your longings, your heart upon HIS heart, and not upon yourself, material possessions, ’success’, power …. this world is not your permanent home, we are here for such a brief moment in time - eternity beckons. Live your life built upon The ROCK of Ages and nothing will move you, for HE HIMSELF will guard and keep you, guiding you safely home to HIMSELF.

 

JESUS The CHRIST came and died in your stead upon a brutal Cross, taking your sin and its deserved punishment in HIS own body - so that HE could save you! 

John 3:17 “For GOD did not send HIS SON into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through HIM might be saved.”

 

The choice is yours - HE  who came to give you “abundant life” (John 10:10) sets before you life and death - heed HIS heart’s cry to you, ”Choose life that you might live!” (Dueteronomy 30:19)  

 

 

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

Martha welcomed & received JESUS into her home, & opened her arms wide in hospitality to HIM; she took HIM under her roof & opened her home to HIM – her home & her heart.

  Her sister Mary sat down near, she got as close as she could, she sat beside & at the feet of JESUS as HE took refuge & rest in their welcoming home. Mary sat & eagerly listened to every word HE spoke, she hung off HIS words, she hearkened to them & she gave HIM her full, undivided attention; she heard & she received, taking all HE said to heart where she treasured & stored HIS life-giving words.

  Martha was left with all the menial tasks of serving – all the chores involved in making their Special Guest feel welcome, cared for & pampered, but she was not happy with this. She was distracted, dragging herself around, her mind consumed with all the work she had to do while her sister just sat at JESUS’ feet & didn’t lift a finger to help.

  Finally she became so agitated & cumbered by her load that she could keep silent no longer. “LORD,” she accused, “Don’t YOU care about me, don’t YOU notice, aren’t YOU concerned, doesn’t it matter to YOU that I alone am serving YOU? That it’s only me ministering to YOUR needs? What about Mary? Look at her, she’s not doing anything – it isn’t fair. Make her get up & help me – if YOU really cared about me then YOU would make her!”

  JESUS looked into Martha’s eyes, He saw her heart & HE lovingly corrected her – teaching her a very important lesson. HE didn’t get defensive, HE didn’t berate her; HE unveiled her heart in love, & HE showed her HIS heart in return. “Oh Martha, dearest Martha. You are full of anxiety, stress & pressure, you are preoccupied & distracted; your mind is consumed & you are disturbed & troubled, you are confused & in a muddle about so many things. You’ve lost sight of what is truly important, of what really matters – what matters to ME - & I know it is ME you are trying to please. But I don’t need you to be ‘doing’ all these things for ME – if you truly want to please ME, then there is only one thing that I require, yes even that I demand of you; only one thing that I want of you, that I need you to do. One thing that I want you to be concerned about & busy with – to fill your mind, your thoughts, to consume your energies. Child that one thing your sister Mary has discerned; she has chosen it, out of all she too could ‘do’ for ME, she has made the one choice that I long for, demand & want from MY children – to ‘draw near to ME’. To get as close to ME as possible – to ‘sit at MY feet’ with a humble, open, receptive heart, & to hunger for MY words; to receive them & cherish them & take them in; to hear from ME. To ‘select’ ME as the object of love & devotion. This one thing is truly good, it’s beneficial to you, it’s ‘essentially good’ & it’s pleasing to ME. You will be truly blessed if you do this thing – for it is what I desire of you. Those who do this, like Mary has, will never lose out; what they receive will never be taken from them, removed from them or cut off from them. This is of lasting value – this one, so important, thing – not all that you ‘do’ for ME, good though that may be, but that you learn to draw near to ME in intimacy & to hear MY voice & to hearken to ME.”

 

 

thought for the journey …

Oh can you hear the longing, the cry of FATHER GOD’s heart, in the words of HIS SON - it is for you, for your heart! Yes we need a life full of good works - but they should follow us as we follow our SAVIOR - and not we them! 

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are HIS workmanship, created in CHRIST JESUS for good works, which GOD prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” How do we walk in them? We follow JESUS, walk in HIS ways, and we will naturally fulfil the good works HE has laid out for us to do! As we walk in HIS footsteps we will find ourselves walking a life that is rich in good works - but HE is first; our focus, desire and goal!

John 15:4-5 “Abide in ME, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in ME. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in ME and I in him, bears much fruit; for without ME you can do nothing.” Occupy ourselves with HIM, with learning to ‘be’ with HIM, with bringing joy and pleasure to HIS amazing heart - and as we do this we will find our heart beginning to beat with what is on HIS heart; with HIS concerns and burdens, with HIS passions and longings …

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2009

 

 

As an eager bride impatiently waits her much loved groom

So BELOVED does my heart, with ardent desire for YOU

Each day I rise in readiness, searching past the sun and moon

My eyes they scan the far horizons, I whisper ‘LORD come soon!’

 

 

What longing bride would not await her suitor’s swift return?

Impatient with the distractions of life, SAVIOR I yearn for YOU

In my heart tis YOU Alone, to be forever joined to YOU I burn

So as I tarry in this place my constant desire is YOUR pleasure to earn!

 

 

YOUR heart of longing for all mankind, BELOVED YOU’ve shown to me

I ache that those I know and love, would share this passion for YOU

YOU yearn with constant, unfailing grace that their darkened eyes would see

The gift YOU offer upon the Cross, reconciled to YOU would all humanity be!

 

 

The days I count, as YOUR coming draws near

Each one in joy brings me ever closer to YOU

O let me never in this life be entwined, wrapped up in its cares

But may YOU find me ready my LORD, YOUR heart to mine held dear!

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

 

Zechariah 8:21b “.. ‘Let us continue to go and pray before The LORD, and seek The LORD of hosts. I myself will go also.’”

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek The LORD while HE may be found, call upon HIM while HE is near.”

 

Does your heart yearn after the heart of ALMIGHTY GOD? Do you long for HIS face? Does the company and Presence of CHRIST The SAVIOR excite you more than any others company? Do you seek HIM before and above ALL others? It is you who makes this choice and no other.

 

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

What we treasure, what we guard, protect, long for and think about reveals where our heart is, what we truly love and what is of utmost value and importance to us!

 

You have only one life to live, one chance to pursue the heart of your CREATOR, one opportunity to hear HIS voice, HIS call, HIS commanding invitation and to respond ‘Yes LORD, I hear and I come to YOU in yieldedness, abandon and gratitude for YOUR redeeming grace upon The Cross’. For once this life is over - it is over! And you face an eternity with The SAVIOR or without.

Will HE say ‘Well done good and faithful servant’ to you, or will you hear ‘Depart from ME, I never knew you.’?

HE is The Way, The Truth, The Life and The Door - will you be found in HIM or found outside of HIM - take no chances, do not fritter away this life and HIS grace. Choose Life -  hear the call of The Cross (John 15:16 “You did not choose ME but I chose you,”) and “choose” CHRIST The LIFE!

 

 

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

 

I belong to YOU BELOVED, I am held in YOUR embrace

It is YOU who lights my dark, keeps me longing for YOUR face

How beautiful it is, to know that I am YOURS

And that there is no other, for tis YOUR heart mine adores

 

 

In the place of deep despair, I find BELOVED, YOU are there

And when the water rises high, YOU lift me higher in YOUR care

At the bottom of the pit, YOU wrap me in YOUR Love

With a roar of victory, YOU set me by YOUR side above!

 

 

YOUR comfort tis unparalleled, YOU don’t just wish, but do me well

For tis only YOU that can redeem, all that we lost when in sin we fell

So no matter how obscure my view, as the road I walk leads home to YOU

I know that never do I tread alone; tis YOUR hand holds me, and brings me through!

 

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

 

Belonging!

What heart does not secretly yearn for this - to belong, somewhere, to someone? It is hardwired into our innermost being - this desire to be wanted, needed, valued and cherished. We were created to belong - to our CREATOR! We need HIM and HE yearns for us!

 

What privilege, what joy, what wonder to belong to The KING of Kings and The LORD of Lords. This life is so brief in its duration, before we know it, twill be over and we will stand before this Great GOD to whom we belong (if we have yielded our lives to The SON of GOD at the foot of HIS Cross and received HIS forgiveness for our wretched rebellion) - let’s make it count for HIS glory, let’s make it a life that brings HIS heart joy and pleasure. Let’s make it a life that out of devotion to our SAVIOR, is sown in loving and serving others, in sharing the hope that we have in CHRIST, in sharing HIS loving-kindness and goodness, in sharing the Truth - JESUS!

 

1 Peter 1:17-19 “And if you call on The FATHER, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of CHRIST, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.”

 

We do belong - to ALMIGHTY GOD!

Our lives have purpose, significance, meaning; to HIM, for HIM and in HIM. So let’s live our lives for the glory of HIS Matchless NAME! The NAME that is above every other name!

 

James 4:13-15 “Come now you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If The LORD wills, we shall live and do this or that.’”

1 Peter 1:22-25 “Since you have purified your souls in obeying The Truth through The SPIRIT in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through The Word of GOD which lives and abides forever, because ‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away, but The word of The LORD endures forever.’”

 

Let us give to HIM our absolute devotion, for truly does HE deserve it; and let us serve HIm out of our debt of gratitude for HIS grace, a debt we could never repay. And let us not forget that The GOD we serve and are enslaved to with bonds of love owns the fields we labor in - they all belong to HIM - and the treasures we unearth as we plow and dig are HIS. They are not ours by this world’s axiom of finders keepers - and we must take each precious gem we find and lay them in adoration and servitude at the feet of our Holy GOD. HE lets us share in their beauty, and show them in wonder to others - but they always were, and always will be, HIS treasures!

 

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

Thank YOU dearest Lord, that to me YOU do draw near

Thank YOU that YOU hold me in YOUR love and in YOUR care

I lay all at YOUR feet, my FATHER and my KING

My anguish and my sorrow, my pain and suffering

 

 

There is naught that I can do to make it all set right

So I yield to YOU my brokenness, knowing YOU keep me in YOUR sight

For YOU are my Hope when I am hopeless, my Peace when in despair

Though at times I feel alone, I know that YOU are there

 

 

When life it disappoints, and things they turn out wrong

And I’m crushed by a sense of failure; into my heart YOU put YOUR song

I hear YOUR voice, it whispers, “Your heart MY child I see,

And to ME you are most treasured, cherished will you always be!”

 

 

Thank YOU for such grace, for undeserved goodness

Thank YOU for YOUR mercy, YOUR faithful loving-kindness

Thank YOU JESUS for The Cross, the victory it shouts

How on it YOU crushed sin and gave us redemption to sing about!

 

 

Only YOU can take a life, from sin disfigured, maimed and marred

And set it free to live in YOU, by YOUR Body that yet bears scars

YOU do not need our righteousness; for this LORD is YOUR own

Instead YOU seek our humbleness; tis these YOU make YOUR own!

 

 

So though my life may look miserable, a failed, desperate mess

It is YOU I choose to see and YOUR constant goodness I confess

For I am not held ransom by the choices of another

And none can they imprison me, for in YOUR freedom I am covered.

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey ….

 

How often do we find ourselves in messes of our own making - or if not ours, then of those nearest and dearest to us? And we find ourselves overwhelmed, dismayed, depressed, confused, wondering how on earth we got here!

 

So often our Loving Heavenly FATHER sets before us a choice - two paths; HE says, “We can do this the ‘easy’ way (HIS way) or the ‘hard’ way (our way)”, and we, in our ‘wisdom’ choose the harder path thinking it the easier and best for us.

We so desperately need a revelation of how truly Wise, Good, Powerful and Loving our LORD is - we need to trust in GOD, in HIS will and purpose for us, in HIS goodness towards us and in HIS power and ability to perform HIS word.

HE knows what HE is doing, HE knows what is best for us - in the long view! HE knows our beginning from our end - HE knows ‘the‘ beginning from ‘the‘ end! As GOD challenged the Israelites, so HE challenges us this day - Deuteronomy 30:19-20a “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love The LORD your GOD, that you may obey HIS voice, and that you may cling to HIM, for HE is your life and the length of your days;”

Hear HIS heart - ‘choose life!’

 

If you find yourself on that ‘easy’  (hard) path of your own will and way and you recognise it by the bondage with which it is enslaving you, by the pain and sorrow it is delivering, the dissatisfaction, the hunger, want and lack - then hear HIS voice calling out to you ‘choose life that you may live - I AM your life - love ME, obey ME, cling to ME’

Get back on that ‘hard‘ path - that in truth is the easier; for it is the path of freedom and liberty, of blessing, protection, provision, the path of the promises of GOD in CHRIST JESUS; it is the path that does us great eternal good. Yes it is the path of laying down of self, of dying to self - but that is the path of newness of Life, of resurrection Life, of true, eternal Life! Of life that is only found in CHRIST and HIS Cross - HE Who is The Way, The Truth and The LIFE!

 

Matthew 16:24-27 “Then JESUS said to HIS disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after ME, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow ME. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for MY sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For The SON of Man will come in the Glory of HIS FATHER with HIS angels, and then HE will reward each one according to his works.”

The paradox of the Kingdom of GOD - it is in living we die and in dying we live! As we lay down our will and embrace HIS Perfect will, that is where we find true life.

 

‘Choose life that you may live!’

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2006

The beauty of YOUR Word it steals my breath from me

It opens wondrous vistas that my soul can see

I stand before YOU wordless, in awe of all YOU say

YOUR Word is full of power, bringing life from day to day

 

 

YOU have lifted high YOUR Word, above even YOUR Name

Those who embrace YOUR Word will never be the same

YOU spoke and out of nothingness created all we see

YOU Alone are GOD, who ever was and ever more will be

 

 

EMMANUEL, MESSIAH, The WORD in flesh are YOU

YOUR Word goes forth in power, YOUR will O LORD to do

Be it a whisper or a roar how YOUR Voice makes my heart soar

I thrill to hear YOU speak and I yearn to hear YOU more

 

 

YOUR Word reveals YOUR heart, the thoughts upon YOUR mind

The wonder of YOUR being, to those who it to their hearts bind

How I cherish every single syllable that YOU my LORD do utter

Falling from YOUR lips and melts me like a hot sun does to butter

 

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey ….

 

John 6:63 “It is The SPIRIT who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are SPIRIT, and they are life.”

The transforming power of The Word of our GOD and SAVIOR - You can find yourself in impossible situations, with no way out and no way through, situations that threaten to swamp and swallow you whole - then HE speaks, and light invades the darkness, a way is made where there was no way, and life replaces death!

 

HIS word alone has the inherent power to wash us. HIS words can actually change us, and our lives. For the words ALMIGHTY GOD speaks are life - they not only contain life, they are life!   Hebrews 1:3 talks of CHRIST upholding all things by the word of HIS power. When HE speaks power and life erupt - HE is unparallelled and unsurpassed; SON of GOD, SON of Man, REDEEMER, SAVIOR, The WORD, EMMANUEL - GOD in flesh is HE!

 

Ephesians 5:26-27 “that HE might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that HE might present her to HIMSELF a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

 

CHRIST - The WORD made flesh, “HE who lives, and was dead, and behold I AM alive forevermore! Amen.” (Revelation 1:18). Notice that HE is not “HE who was dead and lives” but HE who lives and was dead - for HE is Eternal GOD, WHO laid down HIS life and died for our sins and arose to give us HIS Eternal Life!

Revelation 19:13,16 “HE was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and HIS Name is called The WORD of GOD.” “And HE has on HIS robe and on HIS thigh a Name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

John 1:1,14a “In the beginning was The WORD and The WORD was with GOD, and The WORD was GOD.” “And The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us….”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

 

You awaken in deepest night overwhelmed and daunted

From a sleep by troubled dreams disturbed and haunted

Pursued by failures and inadequacies you are hunted

Long to grow in love and truth, yet feel so poor and stunted

 

You lay there in the suffocating quiet of pre-dawn

No tears escape your open eyes as your heart it mourns

Cannot evade the purpose of your rescued life reborn

So yearn to please this SAVIOR, to Whom your love you’ve sworn

 

Frustration and despair groan loudly deep within,

“How can you fall so ripe into weakness and to sin?”

You know every word of GOD is sure and true,

And how to rise in overcoming what you must do!

 

Yet so often do you find your footsteps stumble

You determine to choose life yet fail and fumble.

Can you not see it is your weakness can keep you humble,

If you depend wholly on HIS grace and do not amble?

 

Each time you slip and falter, run resolute into HIS arms

Choose daily to seek HIS heart, HE Who keeps your life from harm

O never hide in shame but in HIS warm embrace

You will find in mercy, every accusation you can face

 

HE knows your every weakness, your selfish frailty

Your soul it is HE longs for, not your animosity

A broken, contrite heart, yielded to HIM is the key

So come in your utter hopelessness and choose This Deity!

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

 

Do you sleep easy at night, or are your nighttime hours troubled and tormented? Do you languish under a heavy weight of nameless failure and guilt? Do you walk confident in the Light of GOD’s close Presence? Or do you stagger in dim darkness, banging into one obstacle after another and find yourself reeling and disoriented? Do you feel like you walk alone? Or do you sense the warm hand of your Loving Heavenly FATHER holding yours tight as HE leads you?

We all fail, we all sin (I’m not talking about wilfull, intentional sin and rebellion - that’s a completely different scenario), and the Apostle Paul so eloquently captured our struggle in Romans chapter 7 …..verse 18-19 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” verse 24-25a “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank GOD - through JESUS CHRIST our LORD!”

 

Do you let your failures devour your faith?

 

Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a HIGH PRIEST who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

It is not how many times we stumble and fall that matters - it is how many times we get back up and run confessing our failure, into the arms of our Loving, Merciful, Forgiving SAVIOR!

 

Pride keeps us away from GOD when we fall, shame at our our own failure - we should know better, we should be able to do better, be better… humility sends us running to HIS throne of grace, throwing ourselves upon HIS mercy, crying out for HIS help, HIS strength - for HIM to change us….

GOD is not like some medicine we take once and we are immune to the pull of sin and failure, nor is HE Someone distant who has stamped our passport to heaven in JESUS and pretty much leaves us to ourselves until HE calls us home; we don’t just check in occasionally with HIM … we need to walk close with GOD every single day, every minute of every day. HE is not a program we signed up to - HE is A Person and we are saved and called into an intimate relationship with HIM. We need HIM, HIS Presence, HIS voice, HIS forgiveness, HIS guiding always and all ways!

 

Imagine walking down a severely pot-holed road, in the dark, with a blind-fold on - and trying to avoid falling into one of those pot-holes!  That is life without the intimate Presence of GOD by our side, for it is HE, in CHRIST, who removes our blind-fold and lights the road in front of us, HE who then takes us by the hand and leads us along the path of ‘Life’ safely!

 

Let HIM be your closest Friend and Companion - lay your heart and soul bare before HIM. Let CHRIST in, don’t shut HIM out; trust implicitly in the complete work of HIS Cross. Trust in HIM - in HIS LORDSHIP - let HIM lead; try doing life ‘HIS way’ 

 

HIS grace is sufficient for you!

(2 Corinthians 12:9 “And HE said to me, ‘MY grace is sufficient for you, for MY strength is made perfect in weakness.’ …”)

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

I love sitting at the feet of my LORD

Hanging with joy on HIS every word

There is no other place I would rather be

Than spending time, BELOVED - just YOU and me

 

Oh HIS Presence lights my gloomiest hour

HIS Radiance washes over me – refreshing power

Such tenderness and patience I can’t describe

Oh YOUR Splendour has my heart mesmerised

 

HE speaks and my soul explodes with HIS Life

HE floods me with HIS Peace and takes away my strife

As HE wraps me in HIS Love, a warm embrace

It is YOU who are my Refuge – my Safe Eternal Place

 

I never want to be apart from YOU

Not even a breath to be between we two

Could not bear the thought of a moment without YOU

Want YOU forever BELOVED – by YOUR side in all I do

 

YOU are the Lover of my soul from tender years

YOU are my Hero and YOU conquer all my fears

My heart forever held within YOUR own

YOU wipe my tears and YOUR arms will bring me Home

 

How I long and sigh so deeply for that Day

When this world by sin will no more be held sway

Oh my Champion, come in YOUR Power and YOUR Light

And bring YOUR loved ones home in YOUR Matchless Might

 

We YOUR Bride await with oiled lamps, watching and ready

Follow YOU Alone through life, unerring and steady

Our eyes are fixed on YOU and no one else

For YOU are our Reward and our heart’s Wealth!

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey ….

 

Live one day at a time - not careless over tomorrow, but free from the ‘cares’ of tomorrow!

 

We have all heard that worry is the opposite of trust - yet for many the challenge to let go of the worries and concerns of an unsure and unknown tomorrow is a hurdle they find almost insurmountable.

How do I stop worrying and move from anxiety to trust?

The key is found in the very character and nature of our GOD and SAVIOR. It is as we grow in our knowledge of HIM, and our intimacy with HIM, that we learn we have nothing to fear - because HE is greater and more powerful than anything we could face. Genuine trust comes out of relationship. It is almost impossible to trust The LORD if you haven’t discovered, and therefore don’t know, that HE is trustworthy! It is beyond us to stop fearing ‘giants’ if we haven’t learnt that GOD is OMNIPOTENT - All Powerful! It is unbelievably difficult to cease from dreading devastation and harm if we don’t truly know that ALMIGHTY GOD is good and desires wholeheartedly to do us good!

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love GOD, to those who are called according to HIS purpose.”

 

Our SAVIOR does understand our tendancy to worry, anxiety and fearfulness - that is why HIS Word to us is so full of counsel and instruction to ‘not worry’, to ‘not fear’, to ‘be anxious for nothing…..’ But HE doesn’t stop there - HE tells us why we must not worry, and in the telling HE shows us how.

Philipians 4:6-8“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to GOD; and the peace of GOD, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through CHRIST JESUS. Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things.”

 

Fear, anxiety and worry will not vacate on their own - they must be banished, and the surest way of banishing their nasty little presence is to follow the counsel of GOD’s Word. Take your burdens to your Loving Heavenly FATHER in prayer - release them into HIS caring and capable hands. Fill your mind with praise and thanksgiving, fill your thoughts with HIS Word - meditate on it, and as you do you will discover HIM, HIS goodness, faithfulness, mercy, long-suffering, kindness, patience, compassion, power, purity, holiness, righteousness…

 

HE has promised HIS own in Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For HE Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The LORD is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” and that is why JESUS commanded us in Matthew 6:33-34 “But seek first the Kingdom of GOD and HIS righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”