(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

Don’t let another rob your worth,

For it is the gift of GOD to you at birth.

Don’t let other’s words frame your future nor trap you in the past,

Let the only words that form your life be GOD’s both first and last.

Don’t be seduced by shallow values, changing and afloat,

From mouths of men deceived by pride, in self-interest do they gloat.

For you are rare and more unique than you would dare to dream,

Yet you are not the centre of the universe – life is not what it seems!

You live encased within a shell, a body – flesh and blood,

And your spirit it awakens when GOD breathes in HIS love.

To Life HIS call it resonates, deep within your soul,

Only when you yield to HIM will you be free and whole.

The limitless CREATOR, of more than we see and grasp,

Has chosen you to lavish love – for your heart does HE ask.

In you HE’s grounded deepest truth, a sense of destined greatness

That only can be realized when you acknowledge tis HIS innateness!

thought for the journey ….

The LORD has a very personal love for each & every one of us who has entrusted our lives to HIM in HIS SON JESUS - it is HE who makes us ‘worthy’, imbuing us with value that comes from HIS heart.

HE chose you!

Don’t shut yourself off from the security & confidence (grounded in HIM - in WHO He is!) that the revelatory knowledge of HIS powerful love for you provides. When we truly accept HIS love & adoration of us, that same love will pour out of us for others - for we will see their value & worth through HIS eyes.

The love of ABBA FATHER, poured out to us in the life, death & resurrection of JESUS our SAVIOR, is the only love that can make us whole! HIS love is constant, true & unchanging - & we are each of us unique, special & irreplacable to HIM.

Malachi 3:6a “For I am The LORD, I do not change;”

Numbers 23:19 “GOD is not a man, that HE should lie, nor a son of man that HE should repent. Has HE said & will HE not do? Or has HE spoken & will HE not make it good?”

GOD loves all humanity - HIS call goes out to each one of us, but it is we who determine what we will do with HIS great love: will we ‘accept’ it, yielding our lives to HIM in faith? Or, will we reject it, cutting ourselves off from HIS provision of rescue, of redemption in CHRIST upon the Cross?

It is how we look that determines what we see! It is past time we started living as if we actually believed what GOD says about our value & worth. That we started truly believing how greatly HE cherishes us. And it is time we stopped listening to our enemy & foe - satan, the father of lies, who whispers insidiously in our all too willing ears that we are worthless  & unlovable! (JOHN 8: 44b “…. he was a murderer from the beginning, & does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar & the father of it.”)

CHRIST showed us the true value of our lives - when HE gave up HIS own in our stead!

1 John 4:9 “In this the love of GOD was manifested toward us, that GOD has sent HIS Only Begotten SON into the world, that we might live through HIM.”

Jude v21 “keep yourselves in the love of GOD, looking for the merecy of our LORD JESUS CHRIST unto eternal life.”

(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

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 2008

Upon this earth we strike and turn,

Ungoverned hate in man’s heart burns.

With guns and knives, fists and words,

We wound and kill, no mercy heard.

Our hearts we close in capricious abandon,

We turn our backs, our disdain tis random.

In pride we judge our brother near,

Our own cold heart devoid of care.

“Oh I would never harm that way,

To rape and slaughter is crime,” we say.

Yet daily we turn callously, indifferent to other’s cries and pleas,

We spurn the need, claim pain is earned, with hardened hearts that give no ease.

Our arrogance it is the same,

But we use words to play our game.

We seek to grind our brother down,

Our ears are closed to their anguished sound.

Infested with the same sporn evil,

We shove and jostle for our own self will.

We stop at nothing to have our way, we use whatever’s in our hands,

We do not care on whom we trample, as long as it is we who stands.

Automatics and machetes, vicious words and hearts that spurn,

To fight and destroy, our common goal, to kill our brother we plot and yearn.

The sickness it runs deep within,

We’re all infected, the blight of sin.

Instead of help we offer harm,

“You lean on me, I’ll break your arm.”

We brutalize, desensitise,

Rip out their heart, and silence their cries.

In all the world we are as one,

We will not stop till death has come.

In Africa or South East Asia, America or Australia,

Our desperate need is our hearts SAVIOR.

In the west we think we’re fine,

We don’t use weapons – we use our minds.

We strike and wound with same intent,

On hellish paths our hearts are bent.

Tis only CHRIST upon the cross,

Can rescue desperate man so lost.

Our hearts are stone, must be reborn,

The love of GOD in us needs formed.

We cannot do it on our own.

If we would reap what we have sown,

To oblivion hurtles this earth our home.

Can you not hear all creation groan?

That we would treasure our brother’s heart,

From selfish desire we would stand apart.

Instead of wounding and lashing out,

We would hear with compassion the whisper, the shout.

We need a GOD so rich in love,

That HE would reach down from above,

And redeem us from our cruel heart’s self,

And change us with HIS life – true wealth!

thought for the journey …

We all of us suffer from the insidious stain of pride - its stench is pervasive amongst humanity. It is the root of all our sin and rebellion against our CREATOR and LORD. It is pride that whispers ‘we can be as GOD’ - but we can’t claim original ownership of it, it came to us via a once beautiful angel who once worshipped The ALMIGHTY; before he became enamoured with his own beauty, before he began to whisper aloud the deception that had taken up residence in his innermost being - ‘that he could be GOD”!

His plot to overthrow The LORD began then, and vanity took the place of beauty, and his lies began their cancerous spread - to one third of the angels, and then to humanity; to Adam and Eve, living in innocence in paradise. They were willing sponges for lucifer’s brand of ‘truth’ - and we today are not so different.

Power                      …..  over GOD or another …. that leads to

Rejection               ….. of GOD or another …. which in turn leads to

Independance “I”   ….. from GOD or others (elevation of ’self’)… and leads to

Denial                    ….. of fault to GOD or another … that finally leads to

Enmity                     …..  between us and GOD or one another - ’separation’!

How earnestly we need the washing of GOD’s words in our lives, how desperately we need the truth of all HE is, and says, to permeate our beings - to set us free from our own propensity towards self deception and lies; for we cannot trust in ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, The LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” ALMIGHTY GOD alone truly knows us - and we will shout HIS praise for all eternity, that knowing us fully, HE still chose us to be HIS own special people! 

We are not so ‘good’ as we think we are - but nor are we worthless, as so many of us believe. We need CHRIST, The Living WORD, to live as LORD and SAVIOR in our lives, for if we search for truth within ourselves, apart from HIM Who is TRUTH, then we will fall into the same hole lucifer fell into, the one he dragged Eve into! The pit of pride, rebellion and separation! There is no Truth apart from JESUS CHRIST.

We must receive from our Hevenly FATHER, and then diligently nurture and cultivate, a love for the Truth in our lives! (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

HIS Word is Truth - it is a sword that will divide and expose; revealing what needs ‘cutting out’ and showing us where and when we need to throw ourselves upon HIS mercy and grace, to receive HIS empowering to transform us - to “Create in us a clean heart and renew in us a right spirit!”(Psalm 51:10) 

Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of GOD is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from HIS sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of HIM to whom we must give account.” What a sobering thought - our SAVIOR knows us better than we know ourselves, and to HIM alone must we give an account of our lives; hallelujah that HE took on the task of redeeming us and of transforming us into HIS likeness - and praise HIS goodness that we can’t hide the true state of our hearts from HIM and that HE will not rest until HIS ‘good work’ in us is completed - so let’s choose a humble, obedient, transparent and yielded life!

Psalm 119:9-11 “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to YOUR word. With my whole heart I have sought YOU; oh let me not wander from YOUR commandments! YOUR word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against YOU.”

John 8: 31-32,36 “… ‘If you abide in MY word, you are MY disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and The Truth shall make you free!’” “Therefore if The SON makes you free, you shall be free indeed!’” To abide is to stay, to remain - so let us abide, abide, abide - in HIM; our Safety, our Deliverer, our Redeemer … in HE Who is The TRUTH!

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

You watch the choices that they make,

A weight of sadness does your heart ache.

If you could open up their eyes,

You’d rip away the devil’s disguise.

You’d show them where their future leads,

How he robs, destroys, their soul to bleed.

You see the trouble they are storing up,

That one day will be the cup they sup.

But choices are our gift from GOD,

Each one has chosen the path they trod.

Yet mercy bound in grace HE offers,

Forgiveness poured from HIS endless coffers.

So seeming helpless must you stand by,

And call out for them, your prayer a cry.

The arm of man it cannot save,

Nor persuasive words their deception assuage.

Yet hope is bound upon the Cross,

Only CHRIST can give Life for our loss.

So take your loved ones to HIS feet,

And watch with joy as their need does HE meet!

Yield your grief into HIS grasp,

Don’t buckle in sorrow but for them ask,

That HE would draw them home to HIM,

Would wash them clean, remove their sin!

From the deepest hole and the darkest place,

Can HE snatch them up into HIS embrace.

HE redeems most wretched of souls,

Gives them HIS heart, and restores them whole!

thought for the journey ….

Aren’t you forever grateful that ALMIGHTY GOD loves our loved ones immeasurably more than we ever could? Aren’t you glad beyond expression that salvation was HIS idea, and that The SON of GOD came into the world to save sinners - not the ‘righteous’ but sinners! (And that category encompasses every last one of us - all humanity! Romans 3:10 “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not even one;’”)

No matter how wretched, how hopeless things may look to us, remember that HE is The GOD of hope - and as long as we draw breath lets pray, getting in line with HIS will, HIS desire for our lost loved ones. For we know that when we pray in agreement with HIS will - HE answers!

We serve a SAVIOR who lives beyond eternity, who created this thing called time, who is above, outside, its limitations - and our faithful & faith filled prayers will go on even beyond our life, should HE take us home before we see our prayers answered! We do not pray in vain - to a GOD who is deaf or helpless, or unmoved by the plight of our wayward kin - we pray to a Living GOD, a merciful GOD, a powerful GOD, a SAVIOR who demonstrated the lengths HE would go to to rescue us - even the most ‘hopeless’ are not beyond the reach of HIS Glorious redemption, the Power of the Cross of JESUS CHRIST!

Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of HIS goodness, forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of GOD leads you to repentance?”

2 Peter 3:9 “The LORD is not slack concerning HIS promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

James 5:16b “…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

Even in the midst of anguish and pain

Tis YOUR love O LORD steadfast remains

When sorrow brings me to my knees

Tis YOUR heart I seek and long to please

When heavy weighs my heart a stone

Consoled am I that I am YOUR own

For bereft YOU promise me never to leave

YOUR arms they comfort me as I grieve

Such patience and kindness do I find in YOU

YOU let me weep then in me breathe life anew

The most faithful of friends YOU prove to be

Stand fast by my side as YOUR love it holds me

YOU understand our deep suffering and sorrow

YOU are the only ONE can give hope for tomorrow

My hand YOU take, secure in YOUR unwavering grip

YOU lead out into joy, guide my steps so they don’t slip

YOUR tenderness is a balm to my soul

YOUR gentleness it makes me whole

YOUR power and strength, on them I depend

My towering KING Whom my life does defend!

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.”

Hear the power of CHRIST’s declaration to us:  In ME you will find peace! Yes, you will have tribulation - pressure, stress, adversity, distress, crushing, anguish, oppression, affliction … (life will not be easy for us in this world!) but cheer up, because I have overcome everything you will face! And because of that fact you can experience MY peace, no matter what you ’suffer’ …

These were not idle words from The SON of GOD, He had just told HIS closest followers that they would desert HIM & leave HIM to suffer alone - HE knew what HE was about to face, and HE knew The FATHER was, & would be, with HIM. But HE knew something even greater - HE was about to endure ‘hell’ to secure our victory, our overcoming, our liberty - from sin & death! HE lived a life of overcoming & HE was about to die & rise from the dead to overcome!

Hear the victory in this reality - we can be misunderstood (as HE was), subject to other’s agendas & desires to control us (as HE was), neglected & even deserted (as HE was) - with no one who cares enough to stay by our side & love us unconditionally & to put our needs ahead of their own desires; we can endure all these sorrows, pains, sufferings & privations and still experience the overcoming love, companionship, power & fellowship of GOD Himself to such a degree that our anguish & distress is neutered, nullified & powerless to truly touch or harm us! Our ‘life’ is in HIM - in HIS Presence there is joyous overcoming victory! A place where not only are we NOT robbed, but we are benefited, blessed & living in HIS abundance! Truly HE is all we need! 

Psalm 27:14 “Wait on The LORD; be of good courage, and HE will strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on The LORD!” Bind ourselves together with HIM, look expectantly for HIM; take hold of courage & prevail - and GOD will strengthen our heart (our ‘feelings’, ‘will’ & ‘intellect’)!

Don’t look at your mountains - look to your SAVIOR who sits enthroned above every mountain! May our BELOVED SAVIOR enlarge our vision of ALMIGHTY GOD! ( Psalm 121:1“I will lift up my eyes to the hills - from whence comes my help? My help comes from The LORD, Who made heaven and earth!”)

(C) Cheryl Howard

O Glorious GOD, YOU make my heart to melt,

So much love and gratitude, to YOU has my soul felt.

In my bones for YOU burns a raging fire,

It is YOU above all others I desire.

Without the breath of GOD upon my days,

This world is but a barren land, desolate its ways,

A lonely, howling wilderness,

A bottomless, yawning, dark abyss.

One smile from YOUR Light-filled eyes,

And my heart soars, in bliss it sighs.

To bring YOU joy, delight YOUR soul,

Is my purpose, pleasure and goal.

Nearer to my heart than kin,

Beloved SAVIOR who atoned my sin.

Dearer to me, than my life’s breath,

Without YOUR Presence I am lost, bereft.

As each day draws unto its end,

To YOU my heart in praise I send,

And as the dawn awakens me,

It is YOUR face I yearn to see.

thought for the journey …

We were created for GOD - to know HIm, to be loved by HIM; and to love HIM in return.

We spend our lives searching for meaning, for significance - for love, and yet so heartbreakingly often we miss the ’secret’ of life, the purpose of living - GOD our SAVIOR! It is not that HE hides this truth from us - it is we who so readily self deceive, who chase after so many poor substitutes, who bullishly refuse to face the truth. We try so desperately to find answers ourselves, outside of The ANSWER - and wonder why we feel hollow, empty; knowing deep inside that something is missing - SOMEONE is missing, The SON of GOD, our Redeemer!

Isaiah 44:2a ”Thus says The LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you …”

Psalm 139:15-18 “My frame was not hidden from YOU, when I was made in secret, & skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. YOUR eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in YOUR book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are YOUR thoughts to me O GOD! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with YOU.”

We may think we don’t need GOD - O how foolish and destructive is that false thought! HE is Love, Life, Light, Truth, Hope, Peace, Goodness, Joy …. to be separated from HIM is to be cut off from the Source of all these things - things we can’t truly ‘live’ without. We need HIM more than the air we breathe, the food and water we consume, the companionship of one another - what blessings we do enjoy are simply the overflow of HIS Presence upon this earth.

Draw near to CHRIST and we will discover the fullness of true life - the joy of HIS PRESENCE! 

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!”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

“And HE said to me, ‘MY favor, MY gifts, benefits and joy, MY liberality, MY pleasure, and MY grace are sufficient for you; they are enough, be content for they are satisfactory to avail you, they will defend you and ward off harm and make you strong. For MY miraculous power, MY virtue, might, force and strength, MY abundant ability fills up and completes your lack of strength, it makes perfect and is made perfect in your weakness, it consecrates and sets you apart and it fulfils your frailty, finishes your infirmity and feebleness. It is MY strength and power that accomplishes this! What you lack I have and I give to you all you need when you depend upon ME, when you realize I am enough for you – ALL that you need!’

  Therefore, because of this truth, most gladly, most delightedly, with great relish and great pleasure will I rejoice in, vaunt, make a boast of and glory in my weakness and frailty, my feebleness and infirmity – in my own lack of strength; so that the miraculous power and might of CHRIST - HIS abundance, ability, virtue and strength may rest upon me, abide with me and spread a ‘tent’, a ‘tabernacle’ over me, covering me, over my life!”

thought for the journey ….

2 Corinthians 12:10 goes on to tell us that not only does Paul ’boast’ in his weakness, but he has learnt to take pleasure in distresses, infirmities, reproaches, persecutions & needs because he has learnt the truth - that when he is weak then he is strong in CHRIST’s strength & enabling!

How desperately we need to learn to focus on our SAVIOR’s strength and wholeness and not on our brokenness and weakness! There are two truths here that we need to have seared on our innermost being: 1/ We are weak, frail & feeble …

            BUT  …..                            2/ HE is miraculously strong & powerful …..!

HE fills up our lack - if we let our lack show us our utter helplessness, our total need of HIM - if this lack is the impetus that drives us to HIS embrace, to throwing ourselves completely upon HIS grace; knowing that HE alone is all we will ever need! Yield to HIM, put our trust & hope in Him, depend upon HIM and let HIM flood us with HIS ‘in powering’. The more we lack, the more place for HIM to fill with HIS sufficiency!

It is all about JESUS - keep our hearts & minds steadfastly set upon HIM, rest in HIS strength. HIS grace & favor are all we need. It is HE who enables us, by HIS HOLY SPIRIT, to overcome,to be victorious! Faith - the heart that trust in GOD, in HIS sufficiency.

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me.”

Romans 8:26a “Likewise The SPIRIT also helps us in our weaknesses.”

Romans 8:37 “yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through HIM who loved us!”

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

When dark clouds obscure HIS Face,

Hold HIS hand, HE’s in that place.

When HIS voice can not be heard,

Over the roar of trouble stirred,

Don’t let go, don’t give up – HE is GOD, HE keeps HIS Word!

When mountains loom before you,

And your feet feel shackled too,

Lift your weary arms in praise,

And your wavering voice do raise,

HE sits enthroned upon those mountains and your grief will HE erase!

When the thunder and the lightning pursue you on your way,

Remember HE is LORD of night and KING of every day,

HE will fulfil HIS promise – HE honours every Word HE says!

Every tear that’s cried, every heart that breaks,

HE bore upon HIS shoulders, for your sorrow HIS heart aches.

Do not forget HIS greatness in the face of suffering,

This GOD who is your SAVIOR, FATHER and your SOVEREIGN,

Let your aching heart adore HIM – joy to HIS heart bring!

For HE will make a way where no ways to be found,

HE will bring you through – victorious your sound!

thought for the journey …..

Job 23:8-11 “Look, I go forward, but HE is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive HIM; when HE works on the left hand, I cannot behold HIM; when HE turns to the right hand I cannot see HIM. But HE knows the way that I take; when HE has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to HIS steps; I have kept HIS way and not turned aside.”

…..“but HE knows”…. what words of comfort, what words of hope - HE knows!

Just because we don’t always know what is going on, what is happening, or even ‘why’, does not mean our Glorious LORD is in the dark, taken by surprise or overwhelmed by what we may be facing - quite the reverse! HE knows ALL, HE sees ALL - and HE is working to HIS master plan, to bring us forth as gold!

Trust does not mean we know all the answers, but it does mean we know HIM who is The Answer! We know HIS power and HIS goodness - HE is in control!

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.”

 Like Job, let us cling to our SAVIOR, holding fast to HIS steps & refusing to turn away, aside - regardless of the trials & challenges life and people may hurl at us, trusting in HIM, in WHO HE is! GOD! Good! Omnipotent, Omniscient & Omnipresent!

(c) Cheryl Howard 2008

I know I’m passing through this earth,

A pilgrim on my way.

Each step I take I’m closer,

To that great and longed for day.

When YOU roll back this world’s curtain,

And I rest in YOUR embrace,

At last I’ll finally see YOU, unveiled in that place.

Each day I hear YOUR call,

“Give ME your heart, your all,

This place is not your home, its treasures not your own.”

I live for YOU, YOUR kingdom,

YOUR life flows through my veins.

YOU are my LORD and Master and over me YOU reign,

Most Beloved SAVIOR, on me YOU’ve staked YOUR claim.

I rejoice within YOUR Presence,

Constrained, compelled, yet free.

A son, a slave, a servant,

A bride has HE made me.

I seek a place beyond these shores,

A world beyond my sight.

A wondrous kingdom full of love,

Where Light has banished night.

My goal it is to tell to all,

For you HE weeps, HE cries, HE calls.

HE rescued you, HE took your place,

Hear HIS voice, “Come seek MY face.”

To snatch from fire, from death, despair,

HE died for you, O see HIS care.

To tell the lost, the blind, the worn,

Receive HIS life and be reborn!

thought for the journey…..

GOD’s love in us is never given to be ‘kept’ - it is poured in to be received, embraced and to be ‘given out’, poured through - uncontainable!

GOD’s grace, HIS power - poured in and given out to all and sundry. To every lost, hurting, needy child of GOD - for CHRIST would reconcile us all to HIS FATHER! This is HIS heart, HIS longing - and if we truly love HIM, it should likewise be ours.

GOD will never leave us depleted or emptied of HIS love - HE tells us in Romans 5:5 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of GOD has been poured out in our hearts by The HOLY SPIRIT Who was given to us!” The secret is to always ‘draw near’; keep close and keep receiving - for HIS supply has no end ….to wait upon The LORD…..

We are called to live this life as ‘aliens, pilgrims, sojourners’ - a people whose hearts are set upon The SAVIOR, who are living for a Kingdom that is not of this world, who know this place is not their home, they are passing through. A people whose treasure is above… whose treasure is a Person - The SON of GOD!

1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war aginst the soul,”

Hebrews 11:13-16 “……. confessed that they were strangers & pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland …….. But now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore GOD is not ashamed to be called their GOD, for HE has prepared a city for them.”

Matthew 6:19-21,33 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth & rust destroy and where thieves break in & steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven … for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”   “But seek first The Kingdom of GOD & HIS righteousness, & all these things shall be added to you.”

John 18:36 “Jesus answered, ‘MY Kingdom is not of this world …..”

Colossians 3:1-4 “If then you were raised with CHRIST, seek those things which are above …..”