Poem:Love Stories

I used to love writing love stories and plotting them out in my mind
Star-crossed lovers or long-lost brothers, stories of every kind
Tales of legendary deeds performed by ordinary men
I used to think I was the author, now I'm finding I'm the pen.

The greatest Poet ever known has taken hold of me
And dipped my heart in His liquid love so that every eye can see
The way He moves my life across the pages that I meet
Enabling me to demonstrate the love that poured from His hands and feet.

His hands, his hands, that heal the sick and bind up the broken-hearted
That stretch out so warmly to embrace those whose loved ones have departed.
As His life pumps within my veins I get to feel His pleasure
Each time I come face to face with another who is His treasure.

He places me right where I need to be with extreme precision and skill
To see Earth just like Heaven perfectly reflecting His will
Re-writing people's history, His light banishes the dark
Signing each situation with love He always leaves His mark.

Holy Spirit help me to submit to the Author and Perfecter
The Cameraman, the Leading Role, the Producer and Director.
Jesus live Your life in me, I'll keep my eyes fixed above
And look forward to the next person I meet who's written into Your story of love.


Jesus loves you, that's why you met me :-)

Real People, Real Relationships - Honesty

John 1:14 - "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Proverbs 16:24 - "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body."

I'm trying to think of a better opening line than "They say honesty is the best policy" but I really can't so just imagine I said something really profound and slightly amusing. Truth is, it is!! So much of what goes wrong in our relationships with each other comes from an inability to be honest and open about what's going on with us. When people hurt us or annoy us we have a tendency to do one of two things: conceal it and ignore it or express it through our behaviour instead of communicating it through words. I've been listening to a series called "People Helping People" by a man called Danny Silk and his wife Sheri. He really emphasises the need to be honest about our thoughts and feelings with those around us and especially those close to us through words instead of actions that are confusing and easily misunderstood. It can be hard to find the right words to bring correction or a challenge to someone and so changing your behaviour is often the easy option. I don't actually think that what we say is the issue. I think it's more about what's going on in our hearts. The mouth says what fills the heart right? (Luke 6:45)

I love the way John describes Jesus as being full of grace and truth. He brought truth which is honesty but he wasn't just filled with truth. The word grace there is also the word for kindness and I think this where we can learn a lot about how to be honest with another. Sometimes we decide to be harsh and "honest" with people who've crossed us and we call it honesty or enough "tough love". I do think love needs to be the starting place for everything we do including our honesty so the way we deal in honesty needs to be intentional and not flippant. If honesty comes out of us from a place of frustration it can miss the mark and do damage. Proverbs 27:6 says that wounds from a friend are better than kisses from an enemy so if we're wielding the sword of truth it needs to be tempered and guided by love. If friends are opening their hearts to us we can't afford to bring truth to them out of our frustration. Kingdom honesty is not the constant display of internal emotions. Our emotions need be kept in check and we've been given the power, love and self-control we need to do that (2Tim 1:7).

Before we decide to be "honest" with someone that we have an issue with I think checking the state of our hearts is pretty important. Being honest for honesty's sake is not nearly as good as being honest for the sake of love. I often find I want to be "honest" with someone to get them off my back about something or simply because they're bothering me. In such cases my desire for honesty isn't for the development of that person's life but rather for my own selfishness and comfort. My "honesty" therefore is more likely to come out sharply and with little thought or consideration of the feelings of others and it doesn't bring peace to the person I'm sharing with.

I really believe that the principle of honesty does not negate our personal responsibility to exercise self-control to temper what we say with love and with wisdom. In Romans 12:18 Paul says "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." so there comes a point where we can't be responsible for the reactions of others but we have plenty of power to present our honesty fully and completely but with grace to bring peace instead of conflict. Honesty should always be allowed to marinate in love before it is served. It tastes better, it goes down easier and it leaves people wanting more. Although we may sometimes have the right to rebuke people or command them to do something, I think we can all learn a lesson from Philemon who said "Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love." (Philemon 1:8-9)

Kingdom honesty is an act of love and a means of grace for spiritual growth and relational development. Let's figure out how to do it right and build each other up.

Thanks for reading.

Poem: Meekness

Meekness isn’t weakness but its strength under control

It’s the power of the spirit to rule the body through the soul

Even though it’s able it’s not compelled to react

To any single situation that will take it off its goal.

Meekness isn’t weakness it’s a gun in its holster

It doesn’t need recognition for self-esteem to be bolstered

When the time comes for a sacrifice of self

Meekness brings it altogether and just lays it on the altar.

If you think being meek is weak, try being meek for a week.

Build Me Up Buttercup, Don't Break My Heart...

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."
1Thessalonians 5:11

"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification."
Romans 14:19

"What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up."
1Corinthians 14:26

     Have you ever had a friend or known a person who just goes on and on and on about how great they are at something? In every conversation they will find a way to talk about how they're better at something than everyone else who's every tried it. At first you humour them and maybe give them a pat on the back. Over time the pat on the back gets harder and harder in the hopes of knocking them off their high horse and into the mud to learn some humility! You find yourself picking out their flaws and showing them. "You're good at that but you suck at this!" You take every available opportunity to take them down a peg. You might even justify it by labelling it Tough Love and telling yourself it's for their own good. I'd like to challenge that way of thinking a bit.

     Steve Thompson, an American Christian teacher talks about Jesus' disciples and the way they always seemed to be arguing about which of them was the greatest. (Matt 18:1; Mark 9:33-34; Luke 9:46; Luke 22:24) He points out that Jesus doesn't rebuke his disciples as they bare their pride and arrogance but instead tells them how to become great! He doesn't tear them down and start pointing out their flaws to humble them but instead gives them the keys to true greatness! On the night of Jesus' arrest they all got a rude awakening as to how great they really were. I think in this area we may have gotten our job descriptions mixed up with God.Steve's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWhZpaooOTM

     We as believers, brothers and sisters are the ones who are called to build one another up, with our words and our actions. This can be easier said than done when we believe that someone thinks far too highly of themselves. In Matthew 7:1-6 Jesus guides us to think of our own sin as a plank in our eye and our brother's sin as a speck and so the first place we turn should be ourselves! It's easy to think "Aha! I've spotted some sin there! Better jump on that dear brother and put my fingers in his eyes for his own sake!" How often do you get a positive response from cutting someone down? If someone really is getting ahead of themselves, chances are they don't know it and they're not going to appreciaite you raining on their parade. But imagine if instead we took time with the Lord to consider how we got this plank in our own eye, ask him how to remove it and then stay close to him to make sure it's not going to get in there again. Wow! If our brother actually sees us doing that successfully, how much more willing will they be to listen and receive our God-given wisdom and love? 

It's not unlikely that we'd find once our plank is gone that their speck was never actually there but rather our vision was obscured by our whopping great plank! Sometimes insecurity causes us to not want others to celebrate their triumphs because we don't get to. This makes room for the spirit of jealousy in our lives and as long as jealousy is present in our lives, no one close to us gets to grow because we'll try to keep them at our level, we may cut them down with our words, we may withhold positions of honour or responsibility from them, we may take people's opinion of them down with gossip...snip, snip, snip. STOP!! 

     Jesus tells us that pruning is the Father's job (John 15:2). He's the one with the shearers, not us. I think we find it easier to cut people down than build them up because we recognise that their character still needs work and that they need breaking down somehow in order to grow properly (it's also just easier to find nasty things to say). I reckon this exposes in us either a lack of understanding or a lack of faith in God's ability to prune. To prune you must allow something to grow and bear fruit and then cut it so that it bears better fruit. God lets us grow in our character for a while and sometimes all that growth isn't positive but it's necessary. After some time he cuts off the bad stuff so we can keep the good stuff and grow in it. For example God may want a young man to grow in his love and compassion for people. As this happens the young man's love and compassion may grow a little too close to young ladies and so at that point the shearers come out for pruning. The young man retains his retains his new-found love and compassion but the dangerous aspect is removed.

     The gift of prophecy is given to the Church to encourage us and build us up (1Cor 14:31) so the Body functions best when we encourage (not flatter) each other and spur one another on while trusting God to highlight the areas for improvement. Paul reminds us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to but rather in accordance with the level of faith we have (Rom 12:3). This doesn't say don't let others think more highly of themselves. Hmm here's a thought: "Is it possible that someone we think is arrogant actually just has more faith in the work God has done in them than we do?"

Father help us to put down our shearers and pick up our tools for building and to go to work putting strength into each other's hearts. Help us trust you to do your job of pruning us so that we can be fully committed to building one another up in love. Holy Spirit please teach us how to use the spiritual gifts you've given us to draw out the best in each other so that the worst gets pushed out. Give us your eyes to see each other as we truly are in Christ instead of simply seeing each others' sin. We love you Lord.
Amen.

Go find a brother or sister and tells them what you love about them!
    

Big Time Daddy Issues

     I was blown away by this statement Dave Emmett one of the leaders in my church made while preaching:

"God has placed so much honour on Jesus that when someone accepts Jesus, they get the Father too."

That's crazy! Check out Matthew 10:40 where Jesus is talking to his disciples: “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me."

     I've been thinking lots about the Father since I heard Dave's comment and the importance of us having a relationship with him as well as with Christ since Jesus said that no one can even come to him unless the Father draws them first (John 6:44). He also said that no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). I think that's pretty interesting. Why would the Father draw people to Jesus only to have Jesus lead them back to him? Why not just lead them straight to him? I think that at least in part it's because the Father wants to be introduced to us by the One who knows him best! So clearly Jesus is the best man for the job! (John 1:18 + John 6:46) I think it's vital for us to get that being in Christ is supposed to start us on a journey of relationship with the Father and if we focus solely on Jesus we can miss some of what he died to lead us into. Don't get me wrong, It's all about Jesus but he makes it clear that while he is God, he is not the Father.

     Where does the Holy Spirit come in? His role as God is to make us more like Jesus right? So the Father draws us by his Spirit to Jesus. Our union with Christ in salvation and our cooperation with the Holy Spirit's work in our lives makes us more like Jesus. So what is he like? His relationship to the Father is essential to Jesus' identity. Jesus' relationship with his Father while on Earth is massively important for us if we are to understand the Holy Spirit's work in us. He'd always make room to spend time with him, he'd only do what he saw his Father doing, only say what he heard his Father saying and his communion with him was so close that when the Father spoke publicly biggin  him up to everyone Jesus was actually able to say "This voice was for your benefit not mine." (John 12:30) He was so secure in his identity already because he'd already heard the inward affirmation of the Father's voice for years. Imagine being so solid in how God your Father feels about you that when he shouts from heaven "I'm behind this one!" you don't even blush!

     Jesus is so secure in his relationship as a son that he happily brings in more sons and shares his inheritance! (Heb 2:11) I so would not have done that!! Imagine it! Jesus who sat on the throne of heaven with all power and glory being continually worshipped and adored put it all aside to come to Earth and be bound by time and space to suffer and die at the hands of people who would reject his outrageous love so that he could defeat death and tear down the walls of sin that separated God and Man so that he could offer people the right to live their lives inside his eternal life and so become sons of God as well sharing in all of his rights and privileges and sit on his throne?!?!? WHAT???!!! (John 1:9-13 says it's true!) As new sons (male and female) we therefore have a blueprint laid out by the model Son. The more we become like Jesus and the more he reveals himself to us in worship, the more time we want to spend with his Dad getting to know him because he just shows us what the Father is like (John 14:9)! 
     I believe there's a spiritual maturity that comes only from hearing the Father's voice to us as individuals. The Father's voice puts something in us that we can't get anywhere else! It gives us the power to become whatever he says about us because it's the same voice that formed the universe. When he spoke the words "Let there be light" there wasn't an awkward pause in heaven because God got it wrong and light didn't exist. It received its existence from his voice, just like we do. (that's why God can't lie, whatever he says becomes true haha) The Father's voice makes us more like Jesus because it was the Father's voice that formed Jesus' identity. When the Pharisees would try to make him prove his sonship, Jesus refused to perform for them. When satan tempted him in the wilderness to prove his sonship Jesus refused again. He had nothing to prove. Hearing the Father's voice internally keeps us from performing to meet the standards of others. Whatever he names us becomes who we are even if we weren't what he said 1 second before.

     Holy Spirit, continually lead us to Jesus and his finished work on the cross that removed everything that could keep us out of relationship with the Father. Lord Jesus, thank you for opening the way to the Father where we can find healing for our hearts and the strength to walk as you did. Father we open our hearts to receive your love and your affirmation, to be named by you so that we can reject the labels of others.

Clearly I'm not the first or the only person to be talking about the God the Father at the moment. If this is a topic you'd like to read more about, here's a link to my friend Mark's blog where you'll find a ton of insight and revelation to help you on your journey. Enjoy!
http://lovedfreeandpowerful.com/

Intimacy and Growing Closer

12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:12-17

     Often it seems that we want to be involved with perfect people. "You're too..." or "You're not...enough" we say. We may not always verbalise it but we can easily give that impression. Maybe we think "I just can't deal with you and your issues now!" Funny thing is, if these people did become perfect we'd want to spend even less time with them because their lives would reflect badly on us! Haha

     I've been thinking about intimacy and closeness lately and I reckon we miss out on the opportunity to grow and develop in real genuine closeness with people because we distance ourselves from them waiting until they become "better" (or even until we become better!). If we look at the closest people to us in our lives, I think that we'll find that they are that close to us because we were together during difficult times and came out stronger on the other side. We have a deep and special love for the people in our lives who've stuck by us even when we  were being stupid! There's a warmth in our hearts for people that we've seen grow through tough situations and come out on the other side!

     Let's look at our relationship with God (for those of us who have one). We develop a deep sense of trust and vulnerability with Him not because He waited till we were perfect to speak to us but because He walks with us while we struggle. We can look at areas of our lives that would be in tatters without Him. Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Over the years He's shown Himself faithful even when we've been faithless and this has caused us to grow in intimacy with Him. Intimacy with Him leads us to greater vulnerability as trust is developed which then leads into greater intimacy and so on. Intimacy is developed through process. Intimacy is developed on the road.

     Those same people that we love because of hard times we shared, we probably also love because we remember incredibly fun adventures we've had together as well! We've shared jokes that no-one else understands! We've laughed until our faces hurt! The passage from Colossians talks about bearing with one another and this leading us to greater unity and bringing us peace. This means getting involved in the nitty gritty of each others' lives even when it's not so convenient. You can probably think of people in your life who've sacrificed time to spend it with you. You love them! Admit it!

The most fantastic husbands and wives that I know have a deep intimacy that is impenetrable by anyone else because they've basically grown together as close as two people can without becoming one person. I once read a quote that said some thing like "God help the man who won't marry until he finds the perfect woman, and God help him still if he finds her!" I think sometimes searching for perfection in the people we associate with robs us of the glory of growing together and being the ones to draw greatness out of each other.  The Bible says "as iron sharperns iron, so one man sharpens another." Let's look deeper than the surface for what can be sharpened by love.

Read through the Colossians passage again and plan with God how you can grow in intimacy with others and with Him.

Thanks for reading.

Poem: Her Face

This is a poem about girls whose insecurity causes them to cover themselves up with make-up. It's not a judgement on girls who wear make-up but it is a challenge to why make-up is worn and an encouragement for all of us to see ourselves as God does. Please enjoy and leave your comments. If you're a girl/woman I'd particularly like to hear your thoughts on this. I'm aware that I'm a guy and have no experience in the area and so all I have said, I say from my perspective as a man of God wanting to see young people live in the fulness and freedom of their identity.

Her Face

The very concept of make-up is a tragedy

An idea that in some ways can border on blasphemy
The audacity that we human beings think we can "make-up" for what we perceive to be God's mistakes is a fallacy.

In not all but some cases a compact mirror becomes a reflective prison for the true identity of the young woman.

She's locked in a cell staring at the ones on her face
Everyday the jailer opens the gates to paint her with insecurity before slamming them shut again.

Her foundation was once on Christ the Rock, who freely gave her grace when He bled for her and died

But now her foundation is on a dusty brush and it's manually applied.
On this foundation she builds a fortress, an impenetrable disguise
Her natural skin gives way to an outer wall of lies.

“Concealer” lacks the subtlety to require exposure making onlookers blind

While lipstick can do its job of sticking lips together to keep her from speaking her mind
No one cares that she doesn't know who she is as long as she can paint on a new face everyday and decide.
She sleeps at night hoping to keep the identity she stuck to her face
But the stained pillow of the morning-after brings her back to reality.

The role of the models on the TV is to make her wonder why she doesn't look as good as them.

"Maybe she's born with it, maybe she can develop it... maybe it's" ...maybe it's make-up!
Maybe it's something else but one thing's for sure, there's no self-esteem being sold at that shop.

She just wants someone to tell her she's pretty.

She met a girl who told her she once had the same desire

But she found a book that made her set her standards even higher
As she dropped the Compact she found this book was an Impact mirror, transforming the way she saw herself
Seeing through the flaming eyes of Deity her blemishes melted away in the intensity of His love
His purpose spun her perspective

He looked past the prison bars of her ma-scarred eyelashes and she came out to meet Him

A chokehold was broken along with the Alabaster
Face to face with her Creator for the first time in the pages of a book!
The staring contest continued on, the make-up bag? Forsook.

She still wears make-up to this day but there's nothing to hide

Her face now bears the outward grace of the beauty that is inside.