(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

thought for the journey …

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

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

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

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2009

 

 

As an eager bride impatiently waits her much loved groom

So BELOVED does my heart, with ardent desire for YOU

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

The days I count, as YOUR coming draws near

Each one in joy brings me ever closer to YOU

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

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

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

 

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

 

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

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

How beautiful it is, to know that I am YOURS

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

 

Belonging!

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

 

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

 

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

 

We do belong - to ALMIGHTY GOD!

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

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

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

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

My anguish and my sorrow, my pain and suffering

 

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

When life it disappoints, and things they turn out wrong

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

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

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

 

 

Thank YOU for such grace, for undeserved goodness

Thank YOU for YOUR mercy, YOUR faithful loving-kindness

Thank YOU JESUS for The Cross, the victory it shouts

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

For I am not held ransom by the choices of another

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

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey ….

 

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

 

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

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

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

Hear HIS heart - ‘choose life!’

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

‘Choose life that you may live!’

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2006

The beauty of YOUR Word it steals my breath from me

It opens wondrous vistas that my soul can see

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

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

 

 

YOU have lifted high YOUR Word, above even YOUR Name

Those who embrace YOUR Word will never be the same

YOU spoke and out of nothingness created all we see

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

 

 

EMMANUEL, MESSIAH, The WORD in flesh are YOU

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

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

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

 

 

YOUR Word reveals YOUR heart, the thoughts upon YOUR mind

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey ….

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

 

You awaken in deepest night overwhelmed and daunted

From a sleep by troubled dreams disturbed and haunted

Pursued by failures and inadequacies you are hunted

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

 

You lay there in the suffocating quiet of pre-dawn

No tears escape your open eyes as your heart it mourns

Cannot evade the purpose of your rescued life reborn

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

 

Frustration and despair groan loudly deep within,

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

You know every word of GOD is sure and true,

And how to rise in overcoming what you must do!

 

Yet so often do you find your footsteps stumble

You determine to choose life yet fail and fumble.

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

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

 

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

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

O never hide in shame but in HIS warm embrace

You will find in mercy, every accusation you can face

 

HE knows your every weakness, your selfish frailty

Your soul it is HE longs for, not your animosity

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

So come in your utter hopelessness and choose This Deity!

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

 

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

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

 

Do you let your failures devour your faith?

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

HIS grace is sufficient for you!

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

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2008

I love sitting at the feet of my LORD

Hanging with joy on HIS every word

There is no other place I would rather be

Than spending time, BELOVED - just YOU and me

 

Oh HIS Presence lights my gloomiest hour

HIS Radiance washes over me – refreshing power

Such tenderness and patience I can’t describe

Oh YOUR Splendour has my heart mesmerised

 

HE speaks and my soul explodes with HIS Life

HE floods me with HIS Peace and takes away my strife

As HE wraps me in HIS Love, a warm embrace

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

 

I never want to be apart from YOU

Not even a breath to be between we two

Could not bear the thought of a moment without YOU

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

 

YOU are the Lover of my soul from tender years

YOU are my Hero and YOU conquer all my fears

My heart forever held within YOUR own

YOU wipe my tears and YOUR arms will bring me Home

 

How I long and sigh so deeply for that Day

When this world by sin will no more be held sway

Oh my Champion, come in YOUR Power and YOUR Light

And bring YOUR loved ones home in YOUR Matchless Might

 

We YOUR Bride await with oiled lamps, watching and ready

Follow YOU Alone through life, unerring and steady

Our eyes are fixed on YOU and no one else

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

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey ….

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

(C) Cheryl Howard 2006

Insidious those creeping sins

They steal your life if you let them in

They cloud the purity of your purpose and vision

And plunge you again onto the Valley of Indecision

 

 

A rigorous and vigilant call

HE gives to those who want HIS all

Where ‘Self’ is sacrificed each day

For those who choose HIS Great High Way

 

 

Where joy it flows unhindered for those who heed HIS voice

A mountain path festooned with peace awaits this godly choice

There is a way that offers ease for those it would deceive

A convoluted, deadly course; for such HIS heart does grieve

 

 

For we are called to follow the path that GOD first set

Where laying down your life matters more than your needs met

It rubs against our grain, so we resist it fearing pain

Hear HIS wondrous voice echoing through time – in dying do we gain!

 

 

So hurl aside those sins that so readily do beset

Take up the yoke of CHRIST, HIS enabling you will get

Set your eyes upon HIS Face, your hopes upon HIS Heart

You will walk within HIS Grace, and of HIS Richness have a part!

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

 

Paul talked about our wretched struggle in finding ourselves doing the things we don’t want to, and know we shouldn’t, and not doing the things we want to, and know we should. Sometimes we have used this as an excuse to justify our bad or disobedient behaviour. The truth is - if you read Romans chapters 7-8 where he addresses this lifelong battle in our flesh and our wills - that he is not saying we are powerless and doomed to failure, what he is laying out for us is the choice we make between two paths.

The path of ‘walking in the flesh’ and the path of ‘walking in The SPIRIT’.

 

If we walk in the flesh, dictated to by it’s selfish and wilfull demands then we will fail and fall - but if we choose to walk led by The HOLY SPIRIT of ALMIGHTY GOD, then we will actually be empowered to overcome the raging appetites of the flesh and walk in victory. That is why we are told in Romans 12:1-2  to “lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto JESUS, The Author and Finisher of our faith …”

 

So often we hear Romans 8:1 quoted “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in CHRIST JESUS!”

Yet many defeated christians walk and live feeling very condemned, and they try to rid themselves of this sense of condemnation by telling themselves they are ‘free of condemnation’ and these feelings are just lies from the pit of hell - an effort that produces pitiful results. Why?

 

The rest of the verse, so often left out, sheds much light on our dilemma “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in CHRIST JESUS, who do not walk (live) according to the flesh but according to The SPIRIT!” If we are walking and living in and by the demands of our flesh, our sinful nature, then the truth is we do feel guilt and its burden - it is like our conscience, warning us that we need to repent and confess.

That is not the time to silence its ‘condemning’ voice, that is the time to listen and to run to our Gracious and Merciful GOD Who has promised us in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins HE is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We should give no room to any voice that condemns us once we have confessed our sin and failure - for HE lavishes us with HIS cleansing grace; but it is futile and foolish to try to silence its warning if we are wilfully sinning without repentance.

 

Once we have repented and confessed, then we rest in the assurance of HIS cleansing, for that is the work of HIS Cross - HE is ‘The Justifier’ of us; it is because of HIS shed Blood, HIS Sacrifice on our behalf, that HE can justly declare us forgiven and guiltless. HE Who is Faithful and can be depended upon to wash us clean!

 

It is the Truth that sets us free - that is why it is imperative that we don’t mishandle the Word of GOD, that we ‘rightly divide the Word of Truth’ (2 Timothy 2:15), so that we can walk in liberty and freedom, in overcoming power and victory through our LORD JESUS CHRIST! Half truths and omissions are not The Truth that will set us free to walk in HIS footsteps and conform us to HIS likeness.

 

How often have you heard - “Draw near to GOD and HE will draw near to you.” James 4:6 actually says “Draw near to GOD and HE will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded.” Notice we don’t have to ‘clean up our act’ before we can draw near, but once we have drawn near, and if we wish to remain near, then we must ‘clean up our act.’

The good news is that though we do have a part to play it isn’t our efforts that produce clean hands and a pure heart - it is the empowering of GOD’s HOLY SPIRIT, as we abide in HIS purifying Presence, and yield to the continuing work of The Cross within our lives! You cannot stay ‘near’ to ALMIGHTY GOD, intimate with HIM, and continue to willfully sin - HIS Holy Presence would bring such a depth of conviction upon you that like the prophet Isaiah of old you would cry out, “Woe is me, for I am undone! 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.” Isaiah 6:5

We can walk victorious over the clamoring lusts of the flesh - by walking in and with The SPIRIT of GOD, close to and intimate with HIM; repenting and confessing whenever HE brings conviction, living in the forgiveness of our SAVIOR, and staying near!

 

(C) Cheryl Howard 2007

 

 

  “YOU O LORD will show me and will make me to know, and help me to recognise the course, conduct and manner of life. YOU will help me to understand and to perceive, as I observe and reflect and think upon, and as I experience and acknowledge it, the path of life, like a well-trodden road - the way of life!

Life that is fresh, alive, raw and strong! So that the manner in which I live, and the course of my life, is paved with this special quality of Life.

In YOUR Presence and in YOUR Sight, before YOUR Face - with YOU, is joy full of pleasure, mirth and glee; blithesome and overflowing with rejoicing.

In YOUR Person – Who YOU are, and all that makes YOU, YOU, is the fullness and the satisfaction of real joy and gladness!

At YOUR right hand, that place where YOU strengthen me, where YOU show me YOUR favour and where YOUR will is done there are pleasures continually. There I find sweet, pleasant and delightful things constantly, perpetually – in fact always and forevermore!

This is so true, and I can rest confident in this – in YOU, in YOUR splendour, for YOU are The Light of my life!

 

 

 

 

thought for the journey …

 

Life!

 

What a highly charged, emotive little word. We know that JESUS came to give us abundant life - life to the full, life that is overflowing. Life that is - alive! (John 10:10)

But GOD doesn’t just give us life - HE is our life, for HE is LIFE! It is not possible to experience true life apart from HIM, out of relationship with HIM, without genuine intimacy with The ALMIGHTY. And it is not possible to have a warm and close relationship with our CREATOR, our Heavenly FATHER, apart from The Cross. We must be reconciled to our GOD through the shed blood of our SAVIOR - JESUS is our Redeemer-Kinsman!

 

So often humanity tries to paint GOD in hues of lifeless grey - so many have swallowed the enemy of our soul’s lies that he is the life-giver and that our Great and Glorious CREATOR is life-taker. A sorrier pack of lies has never been sold and bought -  and swallowed hook, line and sinker, from the father of lies!

The truth is that life without CHRIST is dull, flat, grey, lifeless - and dead! It’s time we started listening to our Maker, HE knows what is best for us, HE knows what we need, and not one selfish thought is contained in HIS Omniscient mind!

 

Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says The LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon ME and go and pray to ME, and I will listen to you. And you will seek ME and find ME when you search for ME with all your heart.”

 

Humanity is searching for ‘life’, groping in the dark like a drunken blind man, when all the time The Giver of Life is shouting from eternity, from the beams of a Cross erected on a hill outside the city walls of Jerusalem - “Come to ME! I AM The Life!”

HE is our heart’s home! Home with GOD is not a ‘place’ on this earth, it’s a state of heart, of fellowship with HIM - it’s like being lost, desperate, dying of hunger and thirst, of nearly failing from the relentless heat of the ‘desert’, and then stumbling into HIS embrace, HIS grace, HIS fellowship and being flooded with peace, with joy, with the satisfying of the soul - of ‘coming home’ on the inside. Outside may appear the same, but all is changed for the one who finds GOD’s kingdom here on earth, and becomes part of it!

 

Romans 14:17 “for the kingdom of GOD is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace and joy in The HOLY SPIRIT.”

 

Let us set our hearts to seek HIS heart, earnestly - to seek the Face of this Awesome, Loving, Amazing GOD of grace and forgiveness. Joy, pleasure, life are to be found in HIS company! 

 

(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!