Tuesday 6 September 2016

A Good Thing




(Lamentations 3) ...words spoken right from within my very own soul. He knows... "I gave up on life altogether. I’ve forgotten what the good life is like. I said to myself, “This is it. I’m finished. God is a lost cause.”



It’s a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God

19-21 I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
    the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
    the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
    and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
22-24 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
    his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
    How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
    He’s all I’ve got left.
25-27 God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
    to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
    quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young
    to stick it out through the hard times.
28-30 When life is heavy and hard to take,
    go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions:
    Wait for hope to appear.
Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face.
    The “worst” is never the worst.
31-33 Why? Because the Master won’t ever
    walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
    His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
    in throwing roadblocks in the way:
34-36 Stomping down hard
    on luckless prisoners,
Refusing justice to victims
    in the court of High God,
Tampering with evidence—
    the Master does not approve of such things.

Wednesday 13 July 2016

The Last Say

1 Peter 5 verse 8-11: - 

Keep a cool head. 

Stay alert. 

The Devil is poised to pounce, 
and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. 
Keep your guard up. 
You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. 
It’s the same with Christians all over the world. 

So keep a firm grip on the faith. 
The suffering won’t last forever. 

It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—
eternal and glorious plans they are!
will have you put together and on your feet for good. 
He gets the last word; yes, He does.

Tuesday 12 July 2016

The Beginning of the End

Job 11 v 13-20: 

"Still, if you set your heart on God and reach out to him, 
if you scrub your hands of sin and refuse to entertain evil in your home, 
you'll be able to face the world unashamed and keep a firm grip on life, 
guiltless and fearless. 

You'll forget your troubles; 
they'll be like old, faded photographs. 
Your world will be washed in sunshine, 
every shadow dispersed by dayspring. 

Full of hope, you'll relax, confident again
you'll look around, sit back, and take it easy. 
Expansive, without a care in the world, 
you'll be hunted out by many for your blessing. 

(Daybreak over quiet waters)

But the wicked will see none of this. 
They're headed down a dead-end road with nothing to look forward to - nothing."

Monday 25 April 2016

The Time Is Coming...

I started reading through Obadiah last night. A small, seemingly irrelevant little book. But there is a reason for each and every single book in the bible. And although the New Covenant was made so that we will be changed forever, God himself has remained the same.

And as I read about Edom and their day of judgement drawing near, I get a sense that my day is coming too. Yes, God's mercies are new every day, but His love for me is constant. A reality I still need to fathom.

He has heard my cries. I smile a doubtful smile and page to Joel. Again, like a chorus repeating itself I read about how God will "restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, [He] will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehospaphat. There [He] will put them on trail for what they did to [His] inheritance,, [His] people..." 

This might not be a side of God anybody wants to see, but I needed to hear this. I needed to know that He hears me. Can it be His word for me tonight? God if this is you, tell me again. Once more...

...and He leads me to Ezekiel - where AGAIN I read about His judgement. May this be the final nail in my coffin of doubt.

Thursday 14 April 2016

End of Story


Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray
Pray...
...NEVER.STOP.

Ask And You Shall Receive

Like a mantra I keep repeating to myself:

I WILL believe.
God IS good. He DOES care.
A Miracle WILL happen.

A fraction of that hit home through all the fear and nervousness and I feel slightly excited at the prospect of what God can do. I think the nervousness is due to the boldness in my belief that God can do ANYTHING. More over: that He WILL.

I will recklessly believe. 
Stubbornly hold on. 
Waiting on His technicolor miracle.


Monday 14 March 2016

By Your Spirit


It took a while for me to internalise this one. To realise what it means to not remain standing by might or power, but by spirit. His spirit. 
God let me hear you roar!

I AM the storm


Wednesday 2 March 2016

Manna - Conversations of Hope

A mumbled conversation starting somewhere with Psalm 5 and continues...

Psalm 6: "...treat me nice for a change; I'm so starved for affection. Can't you see I'm black-and-blue, beat up badly in bones and soul? God, how long will it take for you to let up?...if you love me at all, get me out of here. I'm no good to you dead, am I?...I'm tired of all of this - so tired...my mattress is soaked, soggy with tears."

Psalm 7: "...wake up  God. My accusers have packed the courtroom; it's judgement time. Take your place on the bench, reach for your gravel, throw out the false charges against me. I'm ready, confident in your verdict: "Innocent". Close the book on evil, God, but publish your mandate for us."

Psalm 10: "...I dare to believe that the luckless will get lucky someday in you...The victim's faint pulse picks up; the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood as you put your ear to their lips...the reign of terror is over, the rule of the gang lords is ended."

Psalm 11: "...but God hasn't moved to the mountains; his holy address hasn't changed. He's in charge, as always....God's business is putting things right; he loves getting the lines straight, setting us straight. Once we're standing tall, we can look him straight in the eye."

And "in the dark streets where the homeless groans, God speaks". Psalm 12: "...I've had enough; I'm on my way to heal the ache in the heart of the wretched".

Psalm 13 David said: "Long enough I've carried this ton of trouble" and my biggest heart's desire to be able to say: "I'm so full of answered prayers". With him I feel: "night is coming for them, and nightmares, for God takes the side of victims. Do you think you can mess with the dreams of the poor? You can't, for God makes their dreams come true."

Psalm 18 speaks of your Justice as the Master Avenger and I dare to hope: "...but me he caught - reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out of the ocean of hate, the enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning. They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved - surprised to be loved!"

Oh, how we ebb and flow:

Psalm 31: "...you God, I trust. But give me room to breathe...save me because you love me. Don't embarrass me by not showing up...what a stack of blessing you have piled up for those who worship you, ready and waiting for all who run to you to escape an unkind world. You hide them safely away from the opposition."

Ah... and I can go on and on and on - yearning for more conversations with you.

Psalm 35; 36; 40; 46; 55; 56; 57; 63; 85; 91; 92; 102; 103; 107...

David, you and I are birds of a feather...

God...flexing...

If you had to tell me this verse is in the Bible I would probably not have believed you until I saw it myself. I love it:

 
"...God has rolled up his sleeves.
All the nation can see His holy, muscled arm."
(Isaiah 52)
 
I love the image.
I love the meaning even more...
 


It's been a while

A year of silence speaking volumes about my state of mind. Barrels full of emotion that mixes and forms nothing but a dark mushy colour. I need to separate these to see the rainbow again.
 
I don't think all is bad.
I don't think I have changed for the worst or that I will ever give up.
 
But I can't take this thing I call my life and cover it with a mere coat of white paint to start all over again. The canvas is tainted. The edges are worn. I can't say that I am ready to begin again. At this point in time I do not think I will ever be. But being ready is a luxury of the naïve.
And at this point in time I can only hold on, quietly:
 
Isaiah 57 - A Message from the high and towering God, who lives in Eternity, whose name is Holy:I live in the high and holy placesbut also with the low-spirited, the spirit-crushed, and what I do is put new spirit in them, get them up and on their feet again. For I’m not going to haul people into court endlessly... Otherwise, people would lose heart. These souls I created would tire out and give up."
 
Promises. Promises.
 
Show me.