When your dreams they lie dead,

And the heavens stretch like lead.

When your soul’s bruised and it’s broken,

Anguish so deep it remains unspoken.

HE is there in your suffering and in your despair,

HIS heart it does ache, HIS eyes awash with their tears.

HE knows what it is to suffer and die,

To feel so burdened your words turn to sighs.

If you trust in HIS goodness and do not let go,

One day you’ll reap joy from this harvest you sow.

A heart that is yielded in pressing and pain,

Will one day be crowned with glory their gain.

To follow HIS steps, the way of the Cross,

To live you must die, your ‘self’ life the loss.

And out of the ashes, out of the dust,

HE’ll raise you to glory if in HIM you’ll trust.

Lift up your eyes for eternity calls,

HE has brought your redemption out of the fall.

HE yielded HIS Life, became a mere Man,

To die in your place, HIS radical plan.

Out of death there came Life, for GOD’s way this is,

For GOD cannot fail, and victory it is HIS.

A love so profound HIS all HE did give,

It’s in living we die and in dying we live!

thought for the journey …

If we are going to not just ’survive’ this life as a follower of The CHRIST, but to be an overcomer, we need to view life, and to live life with an eternal perspective - only then can we see the bigger picture, the masterpiece that GOD is creating and fashioning, of us and within us!

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with CHRIST; it is no longer I who live, but CHRIST lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in The SON of GOD, Who loved me and gave HIMSELF for me.”

The paradox of The Cross - to live we must die, by dying we live! 

Luke 17:33 “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”

Matthew 16:24-26 “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 own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’”

The ‘economy’ of the Kingdom of GOD - it flies in the face of all ‘worldly’ kingdoms …. and it flies in the face of our all too demanding flesh! 

It’s about serving rather than be served, it’s about choosing to be last rather than grasping to be first… it’s about esteeming others more highly than ourselves, about valuing them and placing their needs before our own … it is about willingly, joyfully, laying down our lives as our LORD and SAVIOR laid down HIS for ours! It is about putting the will of our Heavenly FATHER before our own will and desires, about yielding control to HIM rather than fighting to maintain it - about ‘letting go’ … it is ‘hearkening’ to HIS words; hearing and obeying HIS voice!

It is in this place of true humility and reverential awe of GOD that we find the riches, the wonder, the joy of true, eternal Life! 

So, no matter how dark things may look, remember this: no one can take our trust in GOD away from us, we must relinquish it! Determine never to!

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.”

“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.”

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!

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!’”

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.”

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.’”

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!”

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!

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!