(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

“Come hither, come to ME every one of you who feels fatigued & wearied from your hard work & toil, you who labour with wearisome effort; & you who have grown weary, tired & are exhausted with the burdens & grief you are carrying. Come all of you who are overburdened, loaded up & weighed down, who are carrying too much; & also you who are heavy laden with ‘ceremony’ & spiritual anxiety!

I will refresh you, give you rest, an intermission from your labour; I will cause you to cease from any labour or movement & give you ease & repose from your cares - & you can remain, exempt & resting, until you have recovered strength!

Be yoked together with ME & take upon yourself MY yoke; joined, connected & coupled together with ME. Come under MY yoke & pull together with ME; watch ME, learn & do as I do!

For I was humiliated, of low degree & low estate; & in the eyes of men I was not valued or regarded. Yet I endured this undeserved treatment with humility, gentleness of Spirit, a mild disposition & meekness. I was not occupied with ‘self’, & I refused to be self-assertive & to defend MYSELF. I endured this selflessly, without considering MYSELF, because I trusted in MY FATHER’s goodness & defence of ME! I relied solely & wholly upon HIM & would not think of MYSELF & retaliation. So learn from MY behaviour & MY response; be tied together with ME, understand, be united with ME – I am right here by your side, joined to you. Don’t fight, dispute, resist & strain, but understand & trust the goodness & justice of GOD. Leave your concerns in MY FATHER’s hands & let MY SPIRIT develop MY heart, MY mind, MY thoughts & feelings within you!

Then, as you learn & do this, you will truly find, you will see & perceive, you will obtain & get rest & refreshing for your souls. I will give you intermission from your labours & cares, I will cause your spirit – your ‘breath of life’ to recover, to find strength. In ME you will obtain ease & repose for your overburdened souls – you will be rested, refreshed & strengthened right to the very heart of you, to the very breath of your life.

For when you are joined together & coupled with ME, when you serve by MY side, side by side with ME; when you are yoked together with ME – then you will see & perceive how much better it is for you. You will find how easy MY yoke is; how good & kind & gracious, & how useful in every way it is for you to be coupled & pulling together with ME.

For whatever it is that I give you to carry; whatever tasks or service I give you as a burden to bear, they are so light, & easy to bear – for MY burden is light in weight, not at all heavy for you to carry!”

thought for the journey ….

 We all experience times, even seasons, of weariness, where we feel like we’ve been ‘fighting the good fight of faith’ for so long we are at the end of ourselves! We’ve lost sight of the ‘light’ at the end of the tunnel - and we may even be tempted to just sit down, close our eyes, and ‘give up!’ Where The LORD’s command in Ephesians 6:10-17 to ’stand against …stand …& stand therefore’, in other words to - stand, stand, stand seems impossible to obey. For those days our Loving GOD has already told us what we must do - come to HIM; roll our cares and concerns into HIS all-powerful arms and let HIM carry them, and us!

JESUS asks nothing of us HE didn’t walk HIMSELF - and the worst we can ever endure pales against the load HE bore in HIS humanity, upon HIS frail human shoulders as EMMANUEL, GOD with us, for our sakes! HE modelled perfectly a life that knew how to ‘go to The FATHER’ - an example for us to follow!

Isaiah 40:28-31“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Everlasting GOD, The LORD, The CREATOR of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. HIS understanding is unsearchable. HE gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might HE increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait upon The LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint!”

What an incredible promise The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY gives to HIS children - HIS Divine exchange; strength for our weakness! But first we must learn the art of ‘waiting’ upon HIM - make no mistake though, this is no ‘passive’ waiting HE is talking about, it is an ‘expectant’ waiting. To wait upon HIM is ‘to bind ourselves together with HIM, to entwine our lives with HIS!’

All that we need HE has, all that we lack HE is - all that we yearn for is found in HIM - HE is ALL we require! The Answer to the deepest cry and longing, the fiercest hunger and desire of the human heart is CHRIST The SAVIOR - truly we were formed for HIM!

We must ever keep our vision steadfast upon HIM, our hearts tied to HIS, seeking HIM afresh each new day - for HE is our ‘Bread of Life’, come down from heaven to feed us! We must look to HIM and no other - HE must be The One we run to first, and foremost, when we find ourselves staggering under our load, struggling to see the path ahead. To CHRIST we must flee and hie for refuge! HE is our Fortress, our Safe Haven - our Strength.

Isaiah 26:3-4 “YOU will keep him in perfect peace whose mind (imagination and purpose) is stayed on YOU, because he trusts in YOU. Trust in The LORD forever; for in YAH The LORD, is everlasting strength.”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

This world holds me lightly, the thinnest of threads,

For YOUR hands they grasp me, YOUR love o’er me spread.

YOUR breath is my life, YOUR heart in me beats

Every longing and yearning only YOUR Presence meets.

Beauty so wondrous it steals breath away

YOU are the Pearl of great price I pursue every day.

O GOD full of mystery, of Majesty, of truth.

I am blessed beyond measure, YOU have opened my eyes,

And I know that to love YOU is to live and not die.

I dance on the inside, rejoice deep within,

For YOU called me by name, my heart YOU did win,

YOU ransomed my life from the death grip of sin,

Flooded me with YOUR Light, when I let YOU in.

YOU are Glorious and Gracious, Awesome within,

And to YOU each day my worship I’ll bring.

thought for the journey …

How amazing is it that we human beings are the cherished apple of Great GOD ALMIGHTY’s eye!

Psalm 17:8 “Keep me as the apple of YOUR eye; hide me under the shadow of YOUR wings.” 

How infinitely blessed are we that we can know The HOLY CREATOR of the whole (seemingly endless) universe - HE who spans the heavens/universe with HIS very hand (our endless, limitless Triune GOD!); and not only do we have the enviable and unique opportunity and privilege of knowing this Great GOD, but HE also offers us HIS heart.

Isaiah 40:12a “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of HIS hand, measured heaven with a span/the width of HIS hand…?”

If we could truly grasp the wonder of this gift our Heavenly FATHER offers us through the Cross of JESUS CHRIST - GOD Incarnate, it would change our lives. Transform us, revolutionize the way we live!

May we live lives that demonstrate the depth of gratitude and adoration we ought to feel that Glorious, Perfect, Holy GOD has chosen us.

Psalm 8:3-4 “When I consider YOUR heavens, the work of YOUR fingers, the moon and the stars which YOU have ordained, what is man that YOU are mindful of him, and the son of man that YOU visit him?”

In truth - who are we that Mighty GOD would desire us? What is in us that would commend us? All we like sheep have gone astray …. Our ‘righteousness’ is as filthy rags ….. YET - HE chose us to pour HIS love upon, HE has imbued us with worth and value that cannot be counted; for it comes from HIS Great and Glorious, and endless heart of love! Oh how infinitely blessed are we!

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

Lost in a harrowing hole with towering sides,

Overwhelmed and frightened you cower and hide.

The sun’s light overhead you can not see,

You drown in darkness, longing to be free.

It is dense and cloying, the silence it suffocates,

Though you howl for help, no hand offers escape.

Engulfed in despair, convinced no one cares,

You slump in defeat, no comfort you hear.

How long have you toiled in this pit so deep?

A prisoner of hopelessness, your soul does it keep.

You have clawed and you’ve climbed to escape its grip,

Your only reward, a heart ripped as you’ve slipped.

It is cold and it’s lonely, no solace do you find,

Though you long to feel loved and for words that are kind.

Pity turned inward, it smothers all else,

It renders you deaf, blind - full of self.

SON of GOD, He cries out, “O lost child grasp MY hands.

I scaled the bottomless abyss to set you free, make you stand!”

This pit you drown in is walled with lies and deception,

SON of Man took your death, gives you HIS resurrection!

Trapped you are not, though you’re sure it is so,

For you HE went deeper than you ever could go.

There exists no abyss that’s too deep for HIS reach,

HE will snatch you to freedom, if HIM you’ll beseech.

It matters not to HIM if you fell in or chose,

To rescue your shackled life HE died and arose.

One cry from your heart is all it will take,

HE will pour in HIS light, HIS love darkness will break!

thought for the journey …

Pits come in all different shapes and sizes - they are holes of bondage and darkness that humanity finds themselves trapped in. But - The Resurrected SON of GOD is breathtaking in HIS power and ability to lift those who are drowning in pits out of their darkness and into the light of HIS Presence!

There is no pit deep enough that it is beyond the reach of HIS loving, rescuing hands. There is no pit dark enough that HIS light can’t penetrate and illuminate it with the blazing light of HIS Presence as HE triumphantly lifts you free. There is no pit so hopeless that He can’t come and flood it with HIS hope. There is no pit so suffocating and cloying that HE can’t demolish it with the power of HIS life that HE yearns to breathe into you. There is no pit beyond the reach of HIS mercy, grace and forgiveness - no pit is beyond the power of HIS redemption!

This is The Good News - this is The Gospel of The LORD JESUS CHRIST! HE went deeper than we could ever go, HE went further than we could dare imagine - HE endured more, suffered more. HE drank the dregs of all humanities sin and suffering - HE bore our guilt and our just punishment. Why? So that we could be free from the burden and chain of sin and its constant companion, death. So that we could live in forgiveness, in freedom in CHRIST, in true, eternal life, in peace, in joy, in hope - by faith in HIM. So that we could become the righteousness of ALMIGHTY GOD in HIM!

Isaiah 44:6,22 “Thus says The LORD, The KING of Israel, and HIS REDEEMER, The LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First, and I am the Last; besides ME there is no GOD.’” “I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a thick cloud your sins. Return to ME, for I have redeemed you.”

Acts 2:21 “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the Name of The LORD shall be saved.”

So what do you choose - the pit or the Prince Of PEACE? The darkness or the LIGHT? Hopelessness or The HOPE of the world? HE awaits your decision - one heartcry, no matter how feeble, is all it takes and like a Mighty Whirlwind of Deliverance, The Risen SON of GOD will rush in and sweep your life to safety, catching you up in HIS everlasting arms, whisking you to eternal safety. That is the unsurpassed Power of HIS Cross!

Will you fight it, and HIM, or will you yield, laying your ’self’ down in surrender to HIM, HIS will, wisdom and HIS ways?

Deuteronomy 33:27 “The Eternal GOD is your Refuge, and underneath are the Everlasting Arms: HE will thrust out the enemy from before you and will say, ‘Destroy!’”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

When to my GOD in desire I draw near

It is the wonder of HIS heart that HE does share

Forsaking all and laying down my every care

As I seek to know HIM deeper in my prayer

I hear HIS secrets whispered deep inside

As I wait upon HIS voice, in HIM abide

As I lay my true self bare and do not hide

As HE clothes me in HIS love and shelters me at HIS side

HE aches and longs to pour into HIS own

HIS love and intimacy in those who HIM have known

When the glory of HIS heart to us in trust HE’s shown

If we treasure it more than life, into HIS likeness we’ll have grown

There is nothing that can stand between HIS nearness

Save rebellion, pride and hidden sins of falseness

If in obedience, love and truth we turn again, we’ll know HIS closeness

For HIS heart for us is full of kindness, grace and unending faithfulness.

thought for the journey …

Psalm 105:1-4 “Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon HIS Name, make known HIS deeds among the peoples! Sing to HIM, sing psalms to HIM; talk of all HIS wondrous works! Glory in HIS Holy Name; let the heart of those rejoice who seek the LORD. Seek the LORD and HIS strength; seek HIS Face evermore!”

Do you ever struggle to believe that GOD ALMIGHTY adores you with all of HIS heart? Do you ever find yourself doubting HIS love for you - because you know how selfish, flawed and fickle you can be?

It is mind boggling that YAHWEH, CREATOR, CHRIST The SAVIOR - LORD of this vast and seemingly boundless universe, could love and desire tiny, ‘insignificant’ you, me - each one of us. It is too marvellous for words that this Amazing, Awesome and Infinite GOD would call us HIS treasure - but it is true. Do you realise that when you lift your heart in adoration of HIS, that HE is taking notice of you, that HIS heart is towards you as you worship HIM?

In the words of the psalmist, “What is man that YOU are mindful of him, or the son of man that you would visit him?” (Psalm 8:4), we too wonder ‘Why would YOU take note of me?’ How often we think ‘I get why I am besotted with YOU - YOU are Glorious, Captivating, Exciting, Desirable, Altogether Lovely …. there is soooo much to love and adore in YOU; but me? I’m small in every sense, ugly in so many ways and so very limited - how could someone so finite and boring as me hold YOUR attention? I am no match for SOMEONE as breathtakingly wondrous as YOU - YOU surpass me by universes in every respect.’

YET - HE does desire you! HE longs for you and loves to be with you.

Hear HIS voice whisper HIS response “Yes MY beloved, you are marred by sin, damaged and crippled and deformed by rebellion, but I created you to be exquisite, captivating, breathtaking in your beauty - to bear MY image and to be the beautiful, matchless creation I made you to be!” Oh hear HIS voice reminding you to grasp the work of The Cross that HE by HIS SPIRIT is doing in your life - HE is conforming you throughout this brief life into the likeness of CHRIST our SAVIOR!

As GOD made Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed into him HIS breath, HIS life, so CHRIST when HE arose victorious over sin and death on our behalf, breathed on HIS disciples - HIS breath, HIS life, and said “Receive The HOLY SPIRIT!” (John 20:22). You and I are born again by HOLY SPIRIT - the breath of GOD upon and within us - HIS life, HIS beauty in you and on you!

HE sees us not as we are at present, but as we will be when HE has finished HIS transforming labor of love within us, and we are truly vessels fit for The KING of kings and LORD of lords - to bring HIM eternal glory. So let’s take our eyes off ourselves and keep them where they belong - set adoringly upon our BELOVED SAVIOR and LORD, and let us trust HIM when HE says HE has loved us with an everlasting love, and drawn us with lovingkindness (Jeremiah 31:3).

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the LORD is the SPIRIT; and where the SPIRIT of the LORD is there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the LORD, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the SPIRIT of the LORD.”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2010

I glimpse a lost, a dying world encased in deepest darkness

I heed a desperate longing sigh of humanity in its starkness

Like rushing ants without a purpose, scurrying to and fro

They do not grasp their own life’s purpose, or to where they go

In earnestness they grab at life yet find they’re holding emptiness

They search for meaning in varied endeavours yet attain to only futileness

Their breaking hearts pierce the heart of CHRIST as they are left bereft

HE aches to rush in and rescue them, giving HIS life in exchange for death

How mindlessly we tread the same old well worn path

Not learning from history’s long legacy the destruction in its aftermath

We make for ourselves so many gods from wood or stone or thought

And do not comprehend that in their forming our souls were bought

We boast that truth will set us free while denying The Truth Bringer

We perceive about us HIS song in creation, while not heeding the call of The Singer

Claiming we will steer our own course we hurtle into storms

Denying the right to rule of our CREATOR SAVIOR, for whom our lives were formed

And angry souls they turn on CHRIST and blame GOD for their plight

All the while deriding HIS goodness, accusing HIM whose redemption they fight

Wanting all the blessings that come from HIS hand, as they stab with pride HIS heart

Thinking they can have HIS life while from The Life-Giver staying apart

thought for the journey …..

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the Truth, that they might be saved.”

GOD of Love, of Mercy and of Grace offers to us the infinite gift of the love of the Truth - it is we who choose to receive and cherish this priceless Gift, or to reject it at our own peril. The greek word for ’saved’ in this verse is ’sozo’ and it means to be safe or saved. HIS Truth saves us and keeps us safe!

There is only one Truth and One TruthGiver - JESUS The CHRIST “The Way, The Truth and The Life!” We cannot know or walk in Light and Truth apart from HIM. There is only One CHRIST - though many come in HIS Name, claiming to be HIM, and HE was born in Bethlehem 2000 odd years ago, at 33 years of age HE gave up HIS life, dying in innocence upon a brutal Roman Cross for the sins of humanity. HE took our place, took our punishment, paid our debt before A HOLY GOD, and HE arose in triumph 3 days later having secured our redemption, our rescue, our forgiveness - offering us Eternal Life - HIS Life - Life only found in HIM!

Luke 21:8 “And HE said: ‘Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in MY Name, saying ‘I am He’, and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them.’”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

To please YOU my Beloved is the purpose of my life,

To keep a heart set on YOU full of purity, that brings YOU great delight,

To bring YOU joy every moment that I draw breath,

To pour my life to YOU in love till none of self is left.

I want a heart so deep imprinted by YOUR love,

That I reflect my wondrous LORD who reigns above,

For my hands to be the hands of The SON of Man,

To love YOU and love my brother and do all for YOU I can.

I know that I could never earn YOUR grace,

It is a gift that burns in me such yearning for YOUR face,

I have naught within myself for me to commend

In glad surrender to YOUR will do I mine bend.

The greatest joy that I have known is knowing YOU,

I love everything about YOU and all that YOU would do.

Eternity could not contain YOUR great and awesome heart,

Beloved clasp me to YOU, do not ever let me depart.

thought for the journey …

Oh the Grace of our Awesome SAVIOR! That HE has called us to HIMSELF, that HE has chosen us - that HE loves us. How profound that is - how it defies our comprehension; HE is utterly HOLY, sinless in ever atom of HIS being, so full of purity and goodness, so blazing with light and righteousness that were we to gaze upon HIS uncloaked glory in our fallen humanity it would annihilate us, sear the very flesh from our bones. As Isaiah cried out when he glimpsed HIS glory and radiance, so would we …. Isaiah 6:1-5 “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw The LORD sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of HIS robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said; ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is The LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of HIS glory!’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said; ‘Woe is me, for I am undone(destroyed, cut off)! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen The KING, The LORD of hosts.’“

As Moses discovered in the desert at Horeb, the mountain of GOD, even a glimpse of HIS ‘cloaked’ glory was terrifying … Exodus 3:2 -6 “And The ANGEL of The LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush ….. So when The LORD saw that he turned aside to look, GOD called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then HE said, ‘Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’ … And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon GOD.”

This is our HOLY, Awesome, terrifying, gracious SAVIOR - HE who bids us … “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16.

Through the Blood of CHRIST - the unfathomable act of SELF sacrifice that had GOD The SON lay down and offer up HIS own life in exchange for ours, that took our place in the Righteous judgment of A HOLY GOD against sin, so that HE could make a place for us to dwell eternally with HIM - we have unfettered access to the very throne of our HOLY GOD.

How amazing is that! How blessed beyond compare are we! The tender love of a sinless GOD reaching down to pluck us from the prison of our own making, from the captivity and bondage of our sins that kept us blind, deaf, bound and lost - HE stretched out HIS hands of rescue before we asked or sought HIS help; because of the value and worth HE saw in us, because of the great love with which HE yet loves us; how Great is GOD our Redeemer!

So let us choose a life that is abandoned to HIS will, yielded to HIS desires; let us live life as an unending expression of our eternal gratitude - that HE did not leave us on the hell bent path of our own choosing, but HE stepped in and rescued us upon The Cross in the ultimate act of Atonement! For truly HE is worthy!

Hebrews 12:28 “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!”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

There are days when my sight of YOU, tis clouded

When the closeness of YOUR Presence emerges shrouded

Days a weighty fog upon me rests

Seasons when my constancy YOU test

What is not of faith YOU said is sin

Will I choose to trust and to YOU cling?

When the path I walk is grey and fraught with gloom?

Under my feet lay obstacles and I feel trapped in confined room?

The work of Grace YOU told me true, it comes from YOU

So in patient suffering I choose to yield, as it YOU lovingly do

I may not know the way YOU lead, but of YOU I can be sure

The journey that I take YOU choose, so to YOU keep my heart pure

For YOU I long to please, more than any other thing

To fill YOUR Precious heart with joy – and to YOU glory bring!

So upon myself I dare not trust, not even for a minute

On YOU Alone I do depend, and have no life unless YOU’re in it!

I love YOU in my frailty, and my failing, feeble ways

Long for YOU more than any other O BELOVED Ancient of Days

Even in my fears and doubts YOUR goodness I know is true

In YOUR heart of Love I stand secure, anchored SAVIOR in YOU!

thought for the journey ….

It is so important that we know and understand the heart, the character, and the nature of our Loving Heavenly FATHER, of our SAVIOR JESUS and of HOLY SPIRIT - our Comforter, Counsellor, Guide and Teacher. If we don’t we can fall prey to believing the lies of our accusers - be they harsh and challenging circumstances, disappointment, disillusionment, despair, or the enemy of our souls - the devourer.

Contrary to popular belief our GOD doesn’t promise us an easy, trouble free life - HE does promise us HIS peace in the midst of life’s challenges, and ultimate victory; HE does tell us to be of good cheer (in spite of tribulations) because  HE has overcome the world! (John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in ME you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!”) 

And HE does promise to work all things together for the good of those who love HIM and are called according to HIS purposes (not our own purposes and agendas but HIS - we need to yield our own and trust in HIM!) (Romans 8:28).

If our expectations of GOD are not grounded in truth then we can become embittered, accusational and angry at HIM when HE appears to fail in the delivery of them! Our SAVIOR JESUS is actually more interested in our holiness than our happiness (1 Peter 1:15-16 “But as HE who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy for I am Holy.’”). HE did not create us common, for ‘common’ use, but HE is making of our lives something of exceptional ‘uncommon’ beauty, set apart for HIM.

Yes, HE promises us joy, HIS joy, in HIS Presence (Psalm 16:11). In other words we can’t experience true joy unless we keep close to HIM, in an open, trusting, obedient and intimate relationship. We need to know and understand HIS patient purposes within us - what HE is doing in our lives and what HE is fashioning of us! And we need to yield to HIS Potter’s hands, resting trustingly in HIS goodness towards us. We were made for HIM! 

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.”

HE yearns to make of our lives such a thing of beauty that it will endure for all eternity; so pure and selfless that it will be radiant with HIS glory, and will delight HIS heart.

HE is working to restore in us the beauty of HIS image that our sin has marred and destroyed beyond recognition.

And just as intense heat purifies gold, stripping it of mixture and dross, and as almost unbearable pressure and heat turns common carbon atoms into diamonds, so HE uses difficulties, pressures, challenges and trials to bring forth in us exquisite, pure, radiant and lasting beauty!

(c) Cheryl Howard 2008

HIS heart it is steady, pure and true,

HIS love is enduring and HE won’t betray you.

HE is goodness and kindness, gentleness too,

HIS patience unending, for your good does HE do!

HE is the Bastion of all ages, safe and secure,

A bulwark of hope in a world so hope poor.

HE is LORD of Eternity, Ancient of Days,

In HIM you can trust all of your ways.

In a world always shifting, failing and flawed,

HE alone is The One to be safely adored.

A heart that is Love, it beats in HIS breast,

Only in HIS embrace can you truly find rest.

HE is FATHER and SON, SPIRIT, yet One,

Creator of all, and to us did HE come!

HE has proved beyond doubt in the death of HIS SON,

That HE gives us HIS Life - if to HIM we will run!

thought for the journey …

What foundation is your life built upon?

How you honestly answer this question will have great bearing on how you navigate a dramatically shifting future. The world is changing (whether you like it or not, whether you admit it or not) - and in many ways it is becoming incresingly hostile to a faith that is based on The CHRIST of the Bible. HE who claimed (in a pluralistic society) to be The Only WAY, TRUTH and LIFE!

Do you truly believe HIM?

Is HE your ROCK of endless ages? Or is your faith built upon shifting sands?

Sobering questions, but ones we need to address, and to settle within our own hearts. We need to know WHOM we have believed in. For only HE can carry us safely through the stormy seas that lie before us, as we navigate the journey from this life into eternity.

Some people are already in the midst of wild seas and churning waters, others are still sailing in relatively calm waters - but all the evidence is screaming at all of us, Storms ahead!

Matthew 7:21-27 “Not everyone who says to ME, ‘LORD, LORD,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of MY FATHER in heaven. Many will say to ME in that day, ‘LORD, LORD, have we not prophesied in YOUR Name, cast out demons in yOUR Name, and done many wonders in YOUR Name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from ME, you who practice lawlessness!’ Therefore whoever hears these sayings of MINE, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of MINE, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

The best time to make ready and to prepare for difficult, challenging and stormy times ahead is before they hit - when things are still relatively calm. Learn to run to our GOD and SAVIOR - HE will not fail us, in fact HE has promised to never leave nor forsake us! (Hebrews 13:5) Spend time with HIM, in HIS word, getting to intimately know HIM, to recognise HIS voice, HIS guiding and leading of you. The more you learn of HIM - HIS heart, HIS character, the more secure you will be, for you will discover the truth; HE is faithful, good, merciful, powerful, holy, real and true…..

Proverbs 22:3 “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”

Let’s not suffer needlessly; let’s learn Where our help comes from, and WHO to run to in times of need! Let’s develop the habit of running to HIM so frequently that it becomes our default setting - so that when we find ourselves in the midst of overwhelming, towering waves; we instinctively run to HIM - our VERY PRESENT HELP! 

Psalm 121:2 ”MY help comes from The LORD Who made heaven and earth.” 

Psalm 46:1 “… GOD is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2006

How subtle is that thing called doubt,

That clouds your mind and mutes your shout.

Embraced by it you tarry long,

In that nothing place where right seems wrong.

There days they blend, in quick succession,

A life poor spent – awaiting heaven,

Not knowing if to move, or be still,

You fritter time and avoid HIS will.

For doubt it robs the soul of faith and hope,

Instead of eyes on CHRIST it vacillates and mopes.

The purposes of GOD will never come to pass,

Unless you’re willing to obey, HIS bidding, when you ask.

For trust it rests in the Goodness of GOD’s Great Heart,

All obstacles it resolutely sweeps apart,

Believing what HE says, HE will surely do

Running joyfully beside HIM and labouring with HIM too!

thought for the journey …

Doubt accuses GOD - of neglect, of lack of care, of powerlessness; of being unwilling or unable to come to our aid , to meet us at our point of need, to carry us through….

Doubt at its’ heart is lack of faith and trust in Who GOD is; in HIS Love and HIS goodness.

Doubt is an assault on the character and integrity of our Heavenly FATHER.

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please HIM, for he who comes to GOD must believe that HE is, and that HE is a rewarder of those who diligently seek HIM.”

To believe that HE is! WHO He is, what makes HIM HIM; HIS character, nature, integrity.

Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and HE knows those who trust in HIM.”

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am GOD; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 

To be still means to let go, to let drop, to cease, to relax, to be quiet, to leave off your own attempts, to abandon, forsake and refrain - it is a picture of ceasing from our own worrying, striving, resisting and doubting. Be still and know that I am GOD - to know is a relational word, not only head knowledge, but heart knowledge. It means to consider and experience GOD, to perceive and see HIM, to be instructed and to acquire knowledge by experiencing and understanding Who GOD is! It is a picture of intimate relationship with, and confident trust in The Ancient of Days, The Alpha and The Omega - GOD who is Omniscient (HE knows everything, past, present and future), who is Omnipresent (not ‘in’ everything, but unlimited by time or space), and who is Omnipotent (HE truly is All Powerful)!

To diligently, hungrily, earnestly seek and pursue HIM!  It is this kind of a people whom GOD is looking for, this kind of a people who thrill HIS heart and delight HIM - a people who not only believe him, but believe in HIM and who are willing to cast off every obstacle in their resolute determination to seek after HIS heart. A people who are so hungry for HIS Presence, so longing to know HIM - for intimacy with HIM, that no price is too high in their pursuit of JESUS. 

Phillipians 3:8-9a “Yet indeed I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of CHRIST JESUS my LORD, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain CHRIST and be found in HIM,”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2009

This is what I pray for you: That your love, affection, benevolence and goodwill may increase and excel, and be great in quantity and degree; that your ‘love-feast’ will overflow and be pre-eminent because it will be so abundant, and it will exceed all measure! That it will be like a flower that goes from a little bud to a full bloom! And that it will do this readily and willingly, more and more – and that it will happen sooner rather than later, in a larger measure and to a greater degree through the precise and correct knowledge of things ethical and divine, and in the knowledge of GOD’s holy will. And also in all manner of judgment and moral discernment in everything; with all cognition and through perception.

I offer up this prayer for you - that you will test, try, examine - scrutinising for genuineness, and that you will discern, prove and approve those things that are excellent; that you can differentiate between good and evil, distinguishing between what is lawful and unlawful, and recognising those things which are better and of more value, that you test and prove the things that excel and are good!

My prayer is that you would be sincere and without offence, that you would be pure and unsullied, not led into sin and not leading others into sin. That your life would be found to be pure if it were unfolded and exposed to the sun’s examining light! That you would be blameless, not stumbling nor causing others to stumble, in the time and till the Day of CHRIST.

Oh that you would abound in, so that you are full to the brim, and there is nothing wanting in you, of the fruits and deeds of righteousness. That you would perform acts and deeds that reveal you have a full measure of virtue and integrity. And that the crop that is gathered of your life, and its effect and result, will be as it ought to be, in rightness and justice – acceptable to GOD, and being liberally supplied and complete in purity of life, and in correctness of thinking, feeling and acting, because of JESUS CHRIST!

For it is on account of HIM, through HIM and by reason of HIM, and it is for the worship and glory of GOD – for HIS Majesty, HIS excellence, splendour, and in honour of HIS magnificence, brightness and pre-eminence; for HIS commendation and praise!

thought for the journey …

Of our lives will one day be reaped a harvest - the question is: ‘Will it be a rich and abundant harvest?’ or ‘Will it be a meager, shrivelled and inedible harvest?’ Will it be sweet and delightful, fragrant and joyous, or will it be bitter and disappointing, malodorous and repulsive?’

The heart and desire of CHRIST, our LORD and SAVIOR, is that HE could present us as a truly sweet and aromatic offering to HIMSELF and our Heavenly FATHER!

It is we, and we alone who determine the type of fruit our lives produce - we cannot make ourselves bear good fruit, but we can choose to abide in The True VINE and to let HIS Life flow through ours and produce HIS fruit. Or we can choose to live for ’self’, to seek to please ourselves, and consequently to stem the flow of HIS Life in our lives and to become barren branches, or branches that bear sour, under-ripe and wizened fruit.

Ephesians 5:27 ”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.”

John 15:8 “By this MY FATHER is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be MY disciples.

John 15:4-6 “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. If anyone does not abide in ME he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is JESUS CHRIST. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Oh that we would choose to live all out for JESUS, totally abandoned to HIM and HIS will - HIS good pleasure being the driving force that motivates our every thought and action - that we could stand before HIS Throne with NO REGRETS!