My inspiration to write this came from a book I read, 'Formed By The Desert' by Joyce Huggett (I've already mentioned about this in my previous note) and Psalm 84v4-7.
Valley Of Baca
I’ve got a story of what my Saviour taught me,
When I found myself in the dry and barren place,
In the years of wondering, in the years of learning,
I grew tired of surviving,
I grew weary of the emptiness inside me,
All my strength was stripped away,
I asked my Saviour, “Why?”
He told me, “In time to come, you will understand.”
I then came to a place where I realised,
I am nothing, and have nothing without Him.
Dig a well in the valley of Baca, O make it a well,
For Jesus is the Fountain of living waters,
Dig a well in the valley of Baca, dig a well deep in your heart,
For He waters the soul and makes it like a watered garden,
Bringing times of refreshing, times of refreshing,
Dig a well in the valley of Baca, O make it a well.
My Saviour taught me this secret I learnt,
The blessing upon those whose strength is in Him,
No pilgrim has their strength in God, until they’ve lost all their own,
Until they had been weaned and emptied through life,
I then came to a place where I realised,
It was time to let go of my self-sufficiency and lean on His sufficiency.
My Saviour taught me this sacred truth I learnt,
I have laid help upon One that is Mighty,
God is the strength of my heart and portion forever,
On Him you can lean, in Him you can trust,
And upon Him can rely to bring you safely through all.
Don’t focus on the life that is, but of the abundant entrance,
Where there’ll be no more tears in Zion,
Washed in the Saviour’s blood,
Clothed in the Redeemer’s Righteousness,
Safe in Zion, safe in the Saviour’s bosom,
Safe in the Husband’s arms, safe before the throne,
Appearing before God in glory,
And praising His Majesty for all eternity!
© 2012
Monday, 11 August 2008
Friday, 8 August 2008
Formed By The Desert
I've just finished reading a book called 'Formed By The Desert' by Joyce Huggett. A heart-to-heart encounter with God. It's an often forgotten fact that God frequently leads His loved ones into the desert, but when we read the Bible we find this is a recurrent theme running through the Scripture, and that some of the finest stalwarts of the faith were shaped by the desert.
Joyce Huggett draws upon the stories of these spiritual giants - Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Elijah, the psalmist, Hosea and his wife, John the Baptist and Jesus Himself - to explore how God works mightily through them and how their experiences can be an inspiration for our lives. Our wilderness need not be a physical desert - few of us have spent time in the deserts of Africa or the Middle East - but we may nevertheless experience its solitude, silence and struggle.
As we wait, listen and surrender, we find that it is also a place of formation and transition - a place of revelation and new beginnings, of miracles and grace. Far from a place of abandonment (admittedly, it doesn't half feel like this sometimes!), it's a place of spiritual growth and encounter with God as He draws us closer to Himself, strengthens and empowers us, wooing us away from the props and luxuries that camouflage our thirst and need for Him. The book beautifully unravels and illustrates the richness that lies in the desert experience and helps us to discover that the desert does indeed hide a well.
We can be sure that, if we are serious about following Christ, we, too, will be led into the desert. James Houston puts the situation well: There is not one kind of desert experience, but as many as there are differing personalities and personal stories, yours and mine. For the 'perfectionist' there is the desert of imperfection, where we have to face up to our own weaknesses and let God alone give us the humility to face and work through them. For the 'giver' there is the desert of inadequacy, where we face the flight from our own sinfulness. We are too in need of help from others and, above all, from our God.
The 'doer' is lured into the desert of uselessness where we seem to get nowhere and where we face up to the need to become a powerless 'child' of God. The 'idealist' who has assumed romantically that life will be interpreted and identity given merely by artistic creativity is placed in the desert of ordinariness. The 'observer' or 'scholar' is placed in the desert of solitude until the inner loneliness that substituted 'ideas' for relationships has been confronted...
The 'rigid' or 'loyal' maintainer of the status quo, afraid of change, is placed in a desert of flux that appears as disorienting as sand flying in the desert winds. The 'fun-lover' who fears suffering and pain will wander in the desert of desolation, where for a time life is dominated by pain. Similarly, the 'controller' ends up in the desert of weakness, and is made vulnerable to the treat of the chaotic in a wholly new way. The 'pleaser' or 'peace-maker' needs freedom in the desert storms where survival requires confrontation with reality, and refuge lies only with God - learning to speak the truth becomes a terrible risk that has to be taken.
In the light of this challenging claim, the stories that sojourns in the wilderness challenged me to ask, "Which of the deserts mentioned have I encountered? How did God use this particular desert experience to transform or remould me?"
© 2012
Joyce Huggett draws upon the stories of these spiritual giants - Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Elijah, the psalmist, Hosea and his wife, John the Baptist and Jesus Himself - to explore how God works mightily through them and how their experiences can be an inspiration for our lives. Our wilderness need not be a physical desert - few of us have spent time in the deserts of Africa or the Middle East - but we may nevertheless experience its solitude, silence and struggle.
As we wait, listen and surrender, we find that it is also a place of formation and transition - a place of revelation and new beginnings, of miracles and grace. Far from a place of abandonment (admittedly, it doesn't half feel like this sometimes!), it's a place of spiritual growth and encounter with God as He draws us closer to Himself, strengthens and empowers us, wooing us away from the props and luxuries that camouflage our thirst and need for Him. The book beautifully unravels and illustrates the richness that lies in the desert experience and helps us to discover that the desert does indeed hide a well.
We can be sure that, if we are serious about following Christ, we, too, will be led into the desert. James Houston puts the situation well: There is not one kind of desert experience, but as many as there are differing personalities and personal stories, yours and mine. For the 'perfectionist' there is the desert of imperfection, where we have to face up to our own weaknesses and let God alone give us the humility to face and work through them. For the 'giver' there is the desert of inadequacy, where we face the flight from our own sinfulness. We are too in need of help from others and, above all, from our God.
The 'doer' is lured into the desert of uselessness where we seem to get nowhere and where we face up to the need to become a powerless 'child' of God. The 'idealist' who has assumed romantically that life will be interpreted and identity given merely by artistic creativity is placed in the desert of ordinariness. The 'observer' or 'scholar' is placed in the desert of solitude until the inner loneliness that substituted 'ideas' for relationships has been confronted...
The 'rigid' or 'loyal' maintainer of the status quo, afraid of change, is placed in a desert of flux that appears as disorienting as sand flying in the desert winds. The 'fun-lover' who fears suffering and pain will wander in the desert of desolation, where for a time life is dominated by pain. Similarly, the 'controller' ends up in the desert of weakness, and is made vulnerable to the treat of the chaotic in a wholly new way. The 'pleaser' or 'peace-maker' needs freedom in the desert storms where survival requires confrontation with reality, and refuge lies only with God - learning to speak the truth becomes a terrible risk that has to be taken.
In the light of this challenging claim, the stories that sojourns in the wilderness challenged me to ask, "Which of the deserts mentioned have I encountered? How did God use this particular desert experience to transform or remould me?"
© 2012
Friday, 1 August 2008
What Is Darkness?
What is darkness? Is it an abyss?
A relentless and unknown force, that grips you?
It depends on the soul that lies within,
It is one who is afraid, by the fear of unknown,
Has no desire for higher things, their mind veiled,
Believes logic intellect will make all things prevail,
Emotionless, their hearts hardened,
Wrapped up in the world of superficiality,
Ever hearing, but not listening,
Ever seeing, but not perceiving,
Believes it’s the beginning of the end,
Is this the soul that lies within you?
What is darkness? Is it an enigma?
A tranquillity and enlightenment, that guides you?
It depends on the soul that lies within,
It is one who is not afraid, and all shadows disappears,
Seeks for higher things, and the veil is lifted,
Bonding with Jesus Christ, secrets revealed,
Liberated, treasured in their hearts,
Knows in this world, nothing is what it seems,
Ears opened, knows it not madness but sheer genius,
Eyes opened, can see a new reality,
Believes it’s not the end but the beginning,
Is this the soul that lies within you?
© 2012
A relentless and unknown force, that grips you?
It depends on the soul that lies within,
It is one who is afraid, by the fear of unknown,
Has no desire for higher things, their mind veiled,
Believes logic intellect will make all things prevail,
Emotionless, their hearts hardened,
Wrapped up in the world of superficiality,
Ever hearing, but not listening,
Ever seeing, but not perceiving,
Believes it’s the beginning of the end,
Is this the soul that lies within you?
What is darkness? Is it an enigma?
A tranquillity and enlightenment, that guides you?
It depends on the soul that lies within,
It is one who is not afraid, and all shadows disappears,
Seeks for higher things, and the veil is lifted,
Bonding with Jesus Christ, secrets revealed,
Liberated, treasured in their hearts,
Knows in this world, nothing is what it seems,
Ears opened, knows it not madness but sheer genius,
Eyes opened, can see a new reality,
Believes it’s not the end but the beginning,
Is this the soul that lies within you?
© 2012
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Perspectives
"To preach the gospel - not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." (1Cor1v17b).
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." (1Cor1v18-19).
"We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling - block to Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1Cor1v23-24).
"We have not received the spirit of the world but the spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words." (1Cor2v12-13).
"But we have the mind of Christ" (1Cor2v16b).
I have been reading 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and 2. Above is some verses that stood out for me today, the word that kept appearing in my mind was "Perspectives". I've also been pondering on this and its meaning.
The perspectives summary: Perspectives is primarily designed to exchange ideas, broaden knowledge, vision and stimulate thinking. Meaning cannot be given with words. Only words can be communicated; meaning has to be supplied by the listener. I say a word. I mean one thing, but if ten thousand people are listening there will be ten thousand meanings, because each one will listen from his/her mind, from his/her prejudices, from his/her concept, philosophy and religion. He/she will listen from his/her conditioning, and his/her conditioning will supply the meaning.
Praise the Lord for the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit power makes the "The perspective summary" NULL and VOID! Why? Because of the power that's in the Cross of Christ, we have the freedom to choose to have the mind of Christ. If we let Him - He CAN and WILL radically change our minds, prejudices, concepts, philosophies, religion and conditioning - to HIS perspectives. The impossible CAN be done - us being transformed into Christ's Image - God's plan and purpose. And NOTHING can stop us from having a personal relationship with God - from God's perspective!
This is exactly what I've been trying to get across in one of my prose, "What Is Darkness?" (Well, I hope I did!).
"Our job is waking up." Aldous Huxley.
© 2012
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." (1Cor1v18-19).
"We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling - block to Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1Cor1v23-24).
"We have not received the spirit of the world but the spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words." (1Cor2v12-13).
"But we have the mind of Christ" (1Cor2v16b).
I have been reading 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and 2. Above is some verses that stood out for me today, the word that kept appearing in my mind was "Perspectives". I've also been pondering on this and its meaning.
The perspectives summary: Perspectives is primarily designed to exchange ideas, broaden knowledge, vision and stimulate thinking. Meaning cannot be given with words. Only words can be communicated; meaning has to be supplied by the listener. I say a word. I mean one thing, but if ten thousand people are listening there will be ten thousand meanings, because each one will listen from his/her mind, from his/her prejudices, from his/her concept, philosophy and religion. He/she will listen from his/her conditioning, and his/her conditioning will supply the meaning.
Praise the Lord for the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit power makes the "The perspective summary" NULL and VOID! Why? Because of the power that's in the Cross of Christ, we have the freedom to choose to have the mind of Christ. If we let Him - He CAN and WILL radically change our minds, prejudices, concepts, philosophies, religion and conditioning - to HIS perspectives. The impossible CAN be done - us being transformed into Christ's Image - God's plan and purpose. And NOTHING can stop us from having a personal relationship with God - from God's perspective!
This is exactly what I've been trying to get across in one of my prose, "What Is Darkness?" (Well, I hope I did!).
"Our job is waking up." Aldous Huxley.
© 2012
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Is Rationality Politically Incorrect?
Check out this article: http://news.scotsman.com/latest_uk.cfm?id=8562006
Here is something that irks me immensely. Why should I use words that "satisfy everyone" instead of telling the truth? Why sugar coat it, just to spare someone from hearing that which is factually correct? I haven't got the time nor patience for such triviality. I wish people would quit trying to please everyone and just say what is their honest opinion.
Political correctness for me, has become a form of "soft totalitarianism" which has led to "moral cowardice" and "intellectual dishonesty". I have noticed increasingly over the years people are too afraid to ask me about my deafness because it's deemed too politically incorrect - ridiculous! Don't get me wrong I am against discrimination, it's the mere lack of rationality that I find to be a tortuous interference.
For instance, I can remember one occasion at work, when we were overworked and understaffed. One of the staff had not being doing her allocated workload and kept "disappearing" amongst other things. To cut the long story short no one would confront her with this issue incase of any accusation regarding racism. Well, by this time I had enough, I confronted this issue with the member of staff in the nicest possible terms. What happened? She accused me of racism...I mean, since when has the association been made between skin colour and laziness??
It's the principle of it, that annoys me. Taking advantage of the Discrimination Act to suit their own agendas and hiding behind it. I mean, I could have easily reverted to the Disability Act, should I wish not to do my work. But I respect myself and others too much to do this, because if these Acts hadn't been in place, I wouldn't be in a job. Now that is a fact.
© 2012
Here is something that irks me immensely. Why should I use words that "satisfy everyone" instead of telling the truth? Why sugar coat it, just to spare someone from hearing that which is factually correct? I haven't got the time nor patience for such triviality. I wish people would quit trying to please everyone and just say what is their honest opinion.
Political correctness for me, has become a form of "soft totalitarianism" which has led to "moral cowardice" and "intellectual dishonesty". I have noticed increasingly over the years people are too afraid to ask me about my deafness because it's deemed too politically incorrect - ridiculous! Don't get me wrong I am against discrimination, it's the mere lack of rationality that I find to be a tortuous interference.
For instance, I can remember one occasion at work, when we were overworked and understaffed. One of the staff had not being doing her allocated workload and kept "disappearing" amongst other things. To cut the long story short no one would confront her with this issue incase of any accusation regarding racism. Well, by this time I had enough, I confronted this issue with the member of staff in the nicest possible terms. What happened? She accused me of racism...I mean, since when has the association been made between skin colour and laziness??
It's the principle of it, that annoys me. Taking advantage of the Discrimination Act to suit their own agendas and hiding behind it. I mean, I could have easily reverted to the Disability Act, should I wish not to do my work. But I respect myself and others too much to do this, because if these Acts hadn't been in place, I wouldn't be in a job. Now that is a fact.
© 2012
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Workers
As I was walking along a path with the Lord,
I saw before me, lots of workers in a harvest field,
The Lord said, “The harvest is ripe, but the workers are few.”
Seeing my confusion, He lovingly went on to explain,
Come, look closer at their hearts,
Man looks at the outward appearance,
But the Lord looks at the heart,
Can you see what type of workers they are?
It is not Danites or Jonahs I need,
But good and faithful servants.
I will tell you about the Danites of past,
I gave them a part of My Promised Land, Israel,
Instead they settled for a city at the north point of Israel,
They chose not to follow My revealed plan,
Why? Because they did not listen or obey Me,
Nor did they persevere, instead they chose to give up the fight,
They did not seek for Me, to get to know Me,
Instead, forsaken all My ways and sacrificed to idols,
The first tribe to fall into idol worship,
This is not the type of worker I am looking for.
I will tell you about Jonah of past,
He disobeyed and ran away from My call,
My message to his enemies, for fear they would repent,
He was unconcerned about My coming wrath against this nation,
My people perishing spiritually, through the storms of life,
Granted, he did eventually obey My calling,
When they repented, he was angry at Me, for saving them,
He did not want Me to have mercy on his enemies,
He was not dedicated first and foremost to My will,
This is not the type of worker I am looking for.
I will tell you about My good and faithful servants of past,
They sought Me and knew Me, this I esteem!
They sought first My Kingdom and My Righteousness,
Obeying My will was their pleasure, My delight!
They loved My people, including their enemies,
My name they wanted glorified, just for Me!
They loved Me with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength,
More of Me they wanted, I was so loved by them!
In holiness they walked, because I am holy,
This is the type of worker I am looking for!
© 2012
I saw before me, lots of workers in a harvest field,
The Lord said, “The harvest is ripe, but the workers are few.”
Seeing my confusion, He lovingly went on to explain,
Come, look closer at their hearts,
Man looks at the outward appearance,
But the Lord looks at the heart,
Can you see what type of workers they are?
It is not Danites or Jonahs I need,
But good and faithful servants.
I will tell you about the Danites of past,
I gave them a part of My Promised Land, Israel,
Instead they settled for a city at the north point of Israel,
They chose not to follow My revealed plan,
Why? Because they did not listen or obey Me,
Nor did they persevere, instead they chose to give up the fight,
They did not seek for Me, to get to know Me,
Instead, forsaken all My ways and sacrificed to idols,
The first tribe to fall into idol worship,
This is not the type of worker I am looking for.
I will tell you about Jonah of past,
He disobeyed and ran away from My call,
My message to his enemies, for fear they would repent,
He was unconcerned about My coming wrath against this nation,
My people perishing spiritually, through the storms of life,
Granted, he did eventually obey My calling,
When they repented, he was angry at Me, for saving them,
He did not want Me to have mercy on his enemies,
He was not dedicated first and foremost to My will,
This is not the type of worker I am looking for.
I will tell you about My good and faithful servants of past,
They sought Me and knew Me, this I esteem!
They sought first My Kingdom and My Righteousness,
Obeying My will was their pleasure, My delight!
They loved My people, including their enemies,
My name they wanted glorified, just for Me!
They loved Me with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength,
More of Me they wanted, I was so loved by them!
In holiness they walked, because I am holy,
This is the type of worker I am looking for!
© 2012
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Minister's Microphone Causes A Wee Splash At Church!
Check this hilarious article out : http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=609&id=743222006
Ah, now this brings fond childhood memories for me, (or a fascination with morbidity to those whom are more conservative!) of when I was at primary school. I went to a mainstream school and was the only deaf person there. I wore an equipment called a phonic ear which basically "tuned in" to the sound of my teacher 's voice aided by a microphone that he used to wear. What he didn't know was that I could hear him from outside my classroom i.e. when he was in the staffroom and yup, you guessed it, his um, "toilet habits".
I've got to say, his "toilet habits" was an eyeopener for me, he comes under what I call, the "newspaper guy" category. Quite. It was so comical, as I didn't think it happened in real life - a bloke goes to the bathroom with a newspaper to read? (I could hear the rustling). What's all that about? What I can remember most clearly was that I had this little secret no one knew about, and I used to sometimes just burst out in fits of giggles in the playground, even now and again I still have a giggle about it!
© 2012
Ah, now this brings fond childhood memories for me, (or a fascination with morbidity to those whom are more conservative!) of when I was at primary school. I went to a mainstream school and was the only deaf person there. I wore an equipment called a phonic ear which basically "tuned in" to the sound of my teacher 's voice aided by a microphone that he used to wear. What he didn't know was that I could hear him from outside my classroom i.e. when he was in the staffroom and yup, you guessed it, his um, "toilet habits".
I've got to say, his "toilet habits" was an eyeopener for me, he comes under what I call, the "newspaper guy" category. Quite. It was so comical, as I didn't think it happened in real life - a bloke goes to the bathroom with a newspaper to read? (I could hear the rustling). What's all that about? What I can remember most clearly was that I had this little secret no one knew about, and I used to sometimes just burst out in fits of giggles in the playground, even now and again I still have a giggle about it!
© 2012
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
What Have They Done To This Poor Cat???
Have you seen this? What have they done to this poor cat??? I have to say, it looks pretty convincing for an airbrushed photo - I just LOVE it! I've been asking myself as a qualified hairstylist (Human hair only!), what would one have to do, to actually achieve this desired result, hypothectically speaking? Tie - dye perhaps? It doesn't even bear to contemplate! *Laughs*
Imagine if one was tempted to try and dye a cat! One would be left in quite a mess, no doubt. And no, I'm not referring to only the hair dye! Hmmm, I wonder if there is an actual method in existence, one could use?...
© 2012
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