Under a Tree

 Come with me with brain a buzz

Sit under this tree. Breathe, look, and feel.

Watch the ant climb the roots. 

Listen to the leaves that provide shade.

Feel the earth beneath and the bark at your back, so firm.

Hear the words of the Lord within you.

Peaceful is faith as firm as this tree in the ground. 

Knowledge

Knowledge learnt

Knowledge felt

Knowledge understood

Knowledge taken for granted 

Knowledge of listening and asking questions

Knowledge of what is to come 

Knowledge linked with hope

Knowledge linked with empathy 

Knowledge linked with faith

As a Christian I have learnt and feel the knowledge. 

I know that Jesus will come back a restored and heal.

He will welcome in all that recognise and rejoice in his call.

Romans 10:13-15 (NLV) 

"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved from the punishment of sin.

But how can they call on him if they have not put their trust in him? And how can they put their trust in him if they have not heard of him? And how can they hear of him unless someone tells them.

To me, this knowledge is a blessing that should be shared to the ends of the earth. 

What knowledge is a blessing to you? 

Faith

Faith can be all sorts of things.

Faith is trusting that it’ll be okay.

Faith. Even though it’s hard…

In the end what you have Faith in will remain.

A relationship. A career. A belief.

Ask yourself why you fight for it.

Our faith may undergo seasons and change shape.

I have faith, and I pray it will remain.

Faith to others may not make sense.

Faith is more than vague hope.

Faith looks different from one person to another.

We all have faith in something.

Me, I have faith in God.

That even when I miss my turn.

He’ll always be there.

Waiting to guide me home.

What do you have faith in?

What keeps you going?

Faith, even when small, we still have it.

Me, I hold on tight, I don’t want to let go.

Hold me

Hold me now, I am weary.
Hold me now, you are dear.
Hold me now, I'm not okay.

You listen, I cry.
Hold me now.
You understand, I relax.
Hold me now.
You accept, I settle.

Hold you now.
I see your long day.
Hold you now.
I sense your pain.
I hear your voice my love.

"Hold me now."
Say it out loud. 
"Hold me now."
Come to embrace.

"Hold me now."
I already am.
"Hold me now."
Here you are safe.

Your love is like Christ's.
You seek me when I am lost.
In my dark days you don't let go.
When I forget, you remember.

Thank-you Father God for the people,
that love me as you love.

An Entreaty

Mark 9:23-25 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Sometimes I wonder if I'm just going through the motions.

If the way I think and what I say and how I act is just a facade. 

Do I really believe that God sent his son to die and rise again, to save not only me, 

but everyone else too? 

I want to. But It's not easy. I question if I really do believe, or do I just want to believe?

I'm influenced by those around me to keep hold of what I refer to as my faith. 

Is it really my faith, or is it their faith projected onto me so I may perceive it to be mine? 

Are we just encouraging one another to believe in the world's biggest lie? 

Yet how can a lie go undetected? The gospel has spread like wildfire across the centuries. Surely it would have been totally disproved, and its followers disbanded by now if it were of man's invention.
But time and again academics who began as atheists, become not only Christians, but evangelists.
Fulfilling what Gamaliel the Pharisee said, when the gospel first began its spread:

"Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." (Acts 5:38-39)

Those whom I care about I who care about me...

People whom I trust and value their options...

Most of these people are Christians...

But some have turned away, slowly giving up their faith.

It was no longer precious, but instead turned into something that they resented and rejected.

Dear God, I don't know what kind of person I would be without you living with me.

Directing my heart, soul and mind every day.

I am guided by you for give up the God who is just yet whose love surpasses all understanding.

Please my Heavenly Father, remind me every day where I stand.

Let me remain supported by Christ, the solid rock, and not give in and tread down upon the sinking sand. When you call me home, may I then in Him be found. 

Shared...

'It is not good for man to be alone'
Genesis 2:18

So many things are better when shared.
Shared, experienced and treasured by two. 

When you stand still in awe and wonder there is no one there to hear your exclamation.
When you stand together you share your thoughts, conjectures, and perceptions.

Trees need a Xylem and a Phloem to function.
To be healthy, to grow, and support one another as each day passes.
They are together as one.

Good relationships are like trees.

When two people are devoted to caring for one another.
When two people can share faith, values, goals, beliefs...
slowly becoming of the same heart, soul and mind.

Of course, due to the presentence of sin, this isn't always the case.
We let each other down sometimes, forget the needs of the other and want things done our way.
Yet with God's help and intervention repairing the damage is possible.
If only we are willing and humble enough, to ask for his guidance and his aid.

I pray that my relationship will grow to be like a tree one of these days...

Words of Faith

“My soul thrusts for you as a parched land thrusts for rain’ Palam 143:6

My soul was parched. My thought was dry. I was out of words. Deflated. Had lost confidence in my beloved God. I was afraid to speak in case, he was indeed, a tyrant.

Then came a sprinkling of hope… It occurred to me that I was not alone. “Others have experienced this before me”, I said to myself. Unlike me they were more objective and logical. Not overcome by emotion, but willing to grapple with the historical and science evidence. Challenging God on uncomfortably raw moral questions. After reading and listening to podcasts, Audiobooks, and talking openly to Atheists I made a discovery. It was this; the fact that intelligent people have done so for centuries. Beginning and continuing to read the book of Job and seeing his words. Words such as these:

“O earth do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf. Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high. My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God.” Job 16:18-20 (NLT)

I’m glad that God gave us doubt. Without it I would not have questioned. If you want to truly understand someone you need to ask them questions. It demonstrates that you value that relationship. I want to better know my Father; therefore, I question. That I may see him more clearly, love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly, day by day (God Spell).

Not to do so would make us complacent. We would not then be restored. Nourished and reassured by his words each day. Comprehending and gratefully accepting Jesus’ death and resurrection.

I once saw engraved on a young women’s gravestone the words;

“I have redeemed thee, I have called the by thy name, thou art mine.”

Conveying to the Atheist: Injustice, imprisonment, despair, anger, scorn and scoffing.

Yet to the Christian…

These words mean hope, joy, and a deep sense of peace.

The question is…

What do these words mean to you?

Rain

I've been learning to fully appreciate moments.

In all the chaos, I pause, experiencing the calm in the midst of the storm.

Noticing the breeze and how it moves through everything.

The trees sway and their leaves rustle. 

The clouds float across the sky and shapes form, change and dissipate. 

The birds are guided by the pressure and direction of the wind. 

Time ticks on , yet still I sit, absorbing and valuing each moment.

My eyes continue to scan the landscape. 

The colours of the grass, fading from vivid green to dusty brown.

The varying colours of  tree trunks
-grey, red, blue, silver, merging with the brown. 

The shade, making colours darker and richer.

The sun, making colours brighter and lighter.

Making dappled sunlight fascinating.

Looking up at the sun as it sets,

It draws the eye along with the blues, purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows.

It eventually gives way to deep purple, blue of the sky, and silver of the moon and stars. 

To think that God created all things, just using words.

But I know my words cannot truly express what the eye can see and the heart can feel.

So I would urge everyone to pause and fully appreciate moments.

To find the calm in the midst of the storm. 

The Eye of the Storm

I've been learning to fully appreciate moments.

In all the chaos, I pause, experiencing the calm in the midst of the storm.

Noticing the breeze and how it moves through everything.

The trees sway and their leaves rustle. 

The clouds float across the sky and shapes form, change and dissipate. 

The birds are guided by the pressure and direction of the wind. 

Time ticks on , yet still I sit, absorbing and valuing each moment.

My eyes continue to scan the landscape. 

The colours of the grass, fading from vivid green to dusty brown.

The varying colours of  tree trunks
-grey, red, blue, silver, merging with the brown. 

The shade, making colours darker and richer.

The sun, making colours brighter and lighter.

Making dappled sunlight fascinating.

Looking up at the sun as it sets,

It draws the eye along with the blues, purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows.

It eventually gives way to deep purple, blue of the sky, and silver of the moon and stars. 

To think that God created all things, just using words.

But I know my words cannot truly express what the eye can see and the heart can feel.

So I would urge everyone to pause and fully appreciate moments.

To find the calm in the midst of the storm. 

  

Easter

Jesus went to Jerusalem to die for us.

He didn’t have to save us.

He knew that his death would be agonisingly painful.

He died in our place.

We did nothing.

We are  weak and helpless.

He came in strength, mercy and love.

He came to save us from the curse of sin.

On the cross his body was broken and his blood was shed to make us whole.

Consider him.

A madman? A liar? A saviour?

Jesus is my  saviour.

Jesus the Messiah has saved us from condemnation.

We do not deserve his compassion.

We deserved death.

Jesus gave us life and hope.

God our  Father loved us.

He watched his children reject him, turn away and ignore him.

Again, and again, and again.

But… God still loves us.

God planned to bring us back to him.

God planned to send his son to repair what sin has broken.

God sent his one and only  son so that whoever believes in him will not die,

But have eternal life.

Jesus’ blood, his death and his return from death

Made us free from sin and clean before God

He made us right with God.

Able to be in his presence.

To love him.

To serve him.

To honour him.

To be his children.

Will you come to rejoice in him?

I rejoice in him with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I have taken up my cross and I follow him.

It’s not always easy, but it’s always worth it.

This is the greatest story ever told.

This is the story of how God loved man.

This is the story of Easter.