A Bridge between Heaven and Earth...

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Until He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope,

The weary world rejoices,

For yonder brings a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees,

Hear the Angels's voices!

Oh night divine,

Oh night when Christ was born.

The Word became flesh by way of a birth which was both completely supernatural and at the same time so natural. That God would choose to take on human flesh and live amongst us is astounding. The all powerful, all knowing Creator God stepping to down to take on the form of His creation; Choosing the fleshly restrictions of the human form simply because He loves us, to show us that He created us so that we might live life to the full in these bodies that He knitted together even before our own existence - He made us lovingly, beautifully, wonderfully. 

That He would arrive without pomp and ceremony in the dirt, a gift to the people who could never have even begun to comprehend what this encounter with something so small and lowly would signify for the entire human race and for the rest of time.

The King of Kings humbling Himself to become a helpless babe - a new life that would bring fullness of life to all those who believed in Him, forever and ever.

That His Kingdom come today on earth as it is in Heaven. That His will would be done in my life and yours. 

He is Awesome, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counsellor, Lover, Creator, Redeemer, Forgiver and Friend. 

He is the Bridge between Heaven and Earth, between the Light and the Darkness, between Death and Life and He has made a way for us to go cross and take others with us.

Glory be to Him whose name is above all names :) :)

Love Vast as the Ocean...

There is power in the name of Jesus washing over us, renewing us, setting us free, free to live life to the full! (abundant life as described in John 10:10)

Lovers of His Presence

Learning how essential this Key to the Kingdom is - spending time in love with the one who is Love. All Life comes from Him and through Him. When we drink from Him He fills us up to overflowing. He is calling us to be laid down Lovers - He is calling us to fall in love with Him all over again. To soak in Him is to lay down all burdens and strife; to know that He is Love and He is all we need. It is when we pour ourselves out at His feet that He fills us up.

Behold The Lamb

'What unutterable depths of love, tenderness and compassion one sees as they gaze upon that blessed face! Has not your poor heart often cried, 'Oh that I were more like Him?' Then, dear one, obey His word and 'Behold the Lamb!' It is a command. You may not see Him in an actual vision, but Jesus will be revealed to you as you obey, and beholding you will be changed (2 Corinthians 3:17). In these days there is such a tendency, even amongst God's dear children, to behold everything and everybody save the Lamb - meetings, people, an experience, a joy, a blessing, that will never truly satisfy them nor the Lord Jesus.

The very simplicity of the command stumbles us. He will reveal Himself to you in a way you have never dreamt of if you make this your constant occupation. Nothing must be held back if you would see His face and be conformed to His glorious image. First taking Him by faith in the fullness of the Holy Ghost to dwell within the secret hidden chambers of your soul; then, whether you walk, or stand, or eat, or drink, or sleep, or wake, He will be revealed in you...Beloved, worship, adore, live in His presence every moment'. 

                                                                                           -- Catherine Price 

(extract from Confidence October 1909 as used in Diana Chapman's 'Searching the Source of the River', p.15)

My Jericho...

'Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.'      ---- 2 Chronicles 16:8b-9a

Joshua listened and obeyed. He followed God's instructions to get his people across the Jordan. He ordered the priests carrying the ark to do what would naturally seem a crazy thing - to go into the middle of the Jordan - this river that was full to the brim of rushing water. All it took was for these men to carry God's presence into the middle of the situation and the flooding waters were held back.

All it takes is for us to carry God's presence and we walk through on dry ground.

Then there is Jericho. To walk round the walls of a city a certain number of times and then to shout until its walls fall is an impossible thing. Nevertheless, Joshua didn't impossibility defy the Word of God. When they obeyed and followed God's instructions they shouted and the walls crumbled. The city was delivered into their hands completely.

All it takes to defy impossibility is to follow God's instruction.

After the walls fell, it was up to them to consecrate the holy things that they found to God. They were to keep nothing that would doom them to destruction. They were to dedicate everything that belonged to God to Him and not to keep those things to themselves.

All it takes is to consecrate your heart and your mind and those things that God requires of you, to give glory to God and to live in His blessing.

God has been speaking to me about my Jericho - those obstacles in my life which are impossible or unfathomable. These issues can be practical and spiritual - finance, health, family conflict, spiritual warfare. God promises that if we keep to His words and obey His commands then He will lift us up, He will be our Provider, He will be our Healer, He will be our Hope. That when I march around this wall and act when He says, it will come tumbling down under His might.

'This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.' 
 --- 1 John 5:3-4

'My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.'

          ---- Song of Solomon 2:10-13 (KJV) 

Jars of Clay

Therefore we do not lose heart.

Thought outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. 

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

--- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

In The World But Not Of It...

A note I wrote on my recent trip to Sri Lanka :---

I am in Sri Lanka. A different world. Something new and suprising around every corner. I marvel at the colour, am stunned by the contrasts, am intrigued by the culture and drawn to the people. A different world.

And as I settle back here again I am reminded that I am not of this world and I am not of the world I've left back home. I'm of a different world, an entirely different reality. Because all of this is not an unshakeable reality but merely a shadow of where I belong. As I encounter the difference in culture between two countries, I must continually live in another culture altogether – the culture of the Kingdom.

After we are born again it seems that we spend our whole lives reminding ourselves that we are in the world but not of it. This is only a rehearsal. We are to be preparing for a supernatural reality and bringing it down on earth, wherever we are. Because here I may be just another statistic, but in His reality I am of a royal priesthood, an ark for His Presence. The Kingdom is not in one country or another. The Kingdom of God is found in Jesus. I invite Jesus in. The Kingdom is in me. We carry our home with us. We carry Him with us. We are just passing through. Don't get bogged down. Don't get entangled. Bring Love down on Earth as it is in Heaven. Today.

To take a risk...

The Israelites. Moses holds out his staff. God parts the waters.

The sea opens up in front of them. Towering walls of water on each side - thundering, powerful water that could wash them away any moment, but for God.

When I put myself in their shoes, walking down that corridor that God opened up before them, I wonder at the fear and awesomness of it all. When God parts the waters for me, am I willing to just walk on in faith or do I look at the raging water on either side of me and fear it will come crashing down on me? Do I listen to His call or do I let myself be overwhelmed by the noise?

Either way, the choice is either to be destroyed by the enemy or to take a risk - to risk being crushed by the circumstance and to persevere - to set my gaze towards the unknown on the other side.

The decision to take the risk is in the first step.

There is a Love hidden inside your borders just waiting to be Free...

Beautiful lyrics. St.Francis = San Fransisco. Letting love and hope break out of the darkness. You'll see the sun shine again. St. Francis can also be wherever I am and wherever you are. Wherever there is darkness and  wherever there is Light.

There is a love hidden inside your borders

Just waiting to be free, just waiting to be free.

There is a hope hidden inside your borders

Just waiting to be realized, just waiting to be realized.

So keep hoping Saint Francis, you'll be a free man yet,

You'll see the sun shine again over your city streets.

There is a love hidden inside your borders

Just waiting to be free, just waiting to be free.

There is a hope hidden inside your borders

Just waiting to be realized, just waiting to be realized.

So keep hoping Saint Francis, you'll be a free man yet,

You'll see the sun shine again over your city streets.

Keep hoping Saint Francis, you'll be a free man yet.

Though darkness covers your sleeping love, it won't last.

Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength,

I know, those who wait upon the Lord will not be put to shame.

Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength,

I know, I know, those who wait upon the Lord will not be put to shame.

And so we wait, so we wait for the sun to shine.

And so we wait, so we wait for You to come.

Keep hoping Saint Francis, you'll be a free man yet,

You'll see the sun shine again over your city streets.

Lyrics from: www.lyricsmode.com

This little light of mine...

In these dark times, Light is the only answer. Where there is hatred, Love can be the only way. Death is on the rampage but Life in all its fullness will prevail.

"The powers of darkness rage blatantly but because of that the love of God rages even more."

                                                                                                    --- Annie Dieselberg, Nightlight

Jesus came as the light of the world. We cannot afford to hide the Light He has put in us. We can only draw close to Him. As He fills us up all we can do is to be poured out as an offering of hope and healing to a hurting world. We can't do it in our own strength.

The war for this world rages on - disasters and destruction fill the earth. But the darkness has not overcome the Light.

Our hearts break for those who mourn. It is in that brokenness that healing can be poured out.

If we cling to Him we can stay in the Light. If we cling to Him we can overcome the darkness.

As a follower of Jesus, I must not hold back. I must do what I see my Father doing, which is simply to love. Though confusion and doubt may shadow our thoughts, they cannot overwhelm the Light of God in us.

There is a real urgency to stay alert in these times of trouble. To seek His face. To listen to His voice. To do what He tells us to do when He tells us to do it. To use the gifts He has given us for His glory. To pursue the destiny He has put in each one of us. To intercede. To be His body and to carry His heart for this fallen world.

As jars of clay in the hands of the potter, He has purposed us as His utensils to work out His will here on earth. If we desire to see healing and Life brought where there is destruction, we mustn't let ourselves be filled with anything else but His Love.

If we believe in a God of Light we must be light. If we believe in a God of Love we must love.

Where the adventure begins . . .

Oswald Chambers speaking about being obedient to the 'heavenly vision' (mentioned in Acts 26 : 19). . .This spoke to me of the vision and dreams of God in me. They won't come to full fruition if I don't put them in the right environment to grow, according to God's timing, His climate and His light.

Here is an excerpt from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers (March 11):

'The only way to be obedient to 'the heavenly vision' is to give our utmost for His highest - our best for His glory. This can be accomplished only when we make a determination to continually remember God's vision. But the acid test is obedience to the vision in the details of our everyday life - sixty seconds out of every minute, and sixty minutes out of every hour, not just during times of personal prayer or public meetings. 

''Though it tarries, wait for it...'' (Habbakkuk 2:3). We cannot bring the vision to fulfillment through our own efforts, but must live under its inspiration until it fulfills itself. [. . .]

Waiting for a vision that 'tarries' is the true test of our faithfulness to God. It is at the risk of our own soul's welfare that we get caught up in practical busy-work only to miss the fulfillment of the vision.

Watch for the storms of God. The only way God plants His saints is through the whirlwind of His storms. [. . .] Let God send you out through His storm, and don't go until He does. If you select your own spot to be planted, you will prove yourself to be an unproductive, empty pod. However, if you allow God to plant you, you will ''bear much fruit.'' (John 15 : 8)

It is essential that we live and ''walk in the light'' of God's vision for us (1 John 1 : 17).'

This is all part of a learning process - learning to let God rule and reign and not to let that very idea become blasé. I am aware of a tendency in myself to be eager to speak to God and present all my supplications to Him (which He loves and would encourage us to do) and in all my busy-ness to go about 'doing' this and that - tasks that God requires of me or otherwise - without letting Him speak into me, not just for five minutes at the beginning of the day, but in every minute of the day. He watches over me in my coming and my going. He is always with me. I am His beloved and He is mine. And I am learning that He wants me to work alongside Him, conferring with Him every step of the way. Because if I can learn to walk with Him every step of the way, then I am safe. I can go forth with boldness, knowing that I have a lion at my side.

Through the stories that He stitches into my journey it's becoming more and more clear to me that God's thoughts are far above ours - His timing, His design, His planning and His logic are all out of this world! Far different from our own thinking which has been chopped down, broken up and squeezed into a box. No matter what we believe about God, most of our thinking has been filtered through a framework which has been constructed according to the limitations of this world. We often foolishly try to put God in a box, to figure Him out and to 'explain' Him. But we can never understand Him from within this broken mindset. We were made to be children of God. To see the things that He does and to do them. Just as a child imitates their Father. Simple. 


It is only by the renewing of this mind that we can draw near to God, as we are made whole and restored to our real identity in Him. Our true identity and our reality are found only in Him.



And so I am on a journey and if I walk in the full awareness of this identity I will give my utmost for His highest, I will submit my thoughts and my plans to Him, I will surrender to His storms, I will ask for wisdom and gain it to use for His glory, I will focus and be determined 'to continually remember God's vision' for my life, all the while knowing that it's not through my own efforts that anything will come of it. Knowing that I am saved by Grace and Grace alone. I can't do it without Him. Learning to trust Him for nourishment and growth, knowing that it is Him who has planted me. The only effort required of me is to listen and be obedient, knowing that God is speaking to me all the time and all I need to do is listen and act upon what I hear. 


And while I know that I know that I know all this, I also know that I will forget at times and I will fall down and I will find it hard and I will get scared - because I am helpless without Him - but when I do I know that He will pick me up again and whisper to me to carry on, to practice listening to my heavenly Father and to learn to obey and see as He sees - to be who I was made to be. . .and that is where the adventure begins! : )


"Attempt something so great for God it's doomed for failure unless God be in it"  - John E. Haggai

Broken Things

This song really touches a chord in me...the rawness and vulnerability of a broken heart offered up to God in the light of His redemption and grace...

You can have my heart
Though it isn't new
It's been used and broken
And only comes in blue
It's been down a long road
And it got dirty on the way
If I give it to you will you make it clean
And wash the shame away

You can have my heart
If you don't mind broken things
You can have my life if you don't mind these tears
Well I heard that you make old things new
So I give these pieces all to you
If you want it you can have my heart

So beyond repair
Nothing I could do
I tried to fix it myself
But it was only worse when I got through
Then you walked into my darkness
And you speak words so sweet
And you hold me like a child
Till my frozen tears fall at your feet

Written and performed by Julie Miller, accompanied by Buddy Miller.

A New Song

A song I wrote this morning. Still needs guitar chords to be put to it. I'm learning!

Grow me with flowers in the desert
Heal me in your rain
Shower me with singing
Warm me with your breath

Feed me with your sunshine
Till I melt away
Let me drown in your beauty
Let me wash in your grace

Would you walk upon the shore
Would you stay with me

Torn up memories overflow
And silver tears they never go

Till I knock upon your door
And to you I cling

Love is...

Something broken made whole.

Something bitter made sweet.

Love raises from the dead and breathes in life.

Love clings on. Love always hopes. Love goes against the grain.

Love always loves.

God is love. He never lets go.

post 1.!

I decided to make a blog a while ago, but thinking it up and then actually getting round to doing it are two different things for me. I already made a blog for my trip to Sri Lanka last year, King Coconuts and Fireflies, but it seemed that that was for something more concrete than a general 'life' journey blog. I have a slight tendency to procrastinate, which I am trying to get rid of by learning to 'act' and 'do' now instead of tomorrow, to be proactive by investing in the kind of stuff that will grow dreams instead of in the kind of stuff that shrivels them up; to challenge myself by doing things outside of my comfort zone instead of just sitting in that cosy place with a cup of tea!

Part of this challenge is to do things like this - to expose and document my journey and what I am learning along the way. Because it's important to take heed of the setbacks and progresses - not pure navel-gazing but looking out and using these scraps of memories, inspirations and lessons as tools for what's to come.

After saying that about procrastination, I am now finishing post no.1 without having said much at all but having made a start at least :)