Child of God

Don’t you know who you are?

I’ve seen you, I’ve heard you spend your mental energy battling with negative attitudes about yourself

The words that slip off your tongue without you even realising

The labels that have been printed out onto your mind, revolving round and around

Your hurting heart projecting those tainted thoughts into your daily life

 

Oh don’t you know who you are?

If you knew, you wouldn’t speak such things over yourself

It doesn’t matter what walk of life you’ve traversed, dripping in gold or dripping in dirt

The choices that you may have made or had others force on you, that doesn’t define you

The consequences of those choices don’t define you

Trust me when I say, God does not see you as a set of circumstances, he doesn’t define you by good or bad choices

He sees you accepting his enemies taunts over you and all he longs for, the only thing he desires is your whole heart

He is jealous for you, raging with fire for you to know your true value

Because he knows, apart from him we misspend our worth, we throw it away with cultural trends, with unattainable expectations, with idols of money and perfection and comparison, on things that are constantly shifting and changing

 

God is steadfast, he doesn’t change with the seasons

It’s only when you step into your true identity that you will strip away the influence of the world to cut you down, because underneath it all, the unseen rulers know that if you rise as a child of God, the light in you will push back the boundaries of darkness because darkness is as light to Jesus

God has never wanted to reduce you, he has always wanted to adopt you

Sons and daughters of pure love, pure grace, pure peace

Jesus didn’t willingly reduce himself to an unrecognisable mess of human flesh and then rise from death, so that we have no way out of our own mess

In his name, you have inherited the entire Kingdom of heaven, you have power and authority to dismiss the voices that tell you you’re not worthy

My sisters, my brothers, walk with your heads held high, don’t cower beneath your fears

You are not just a human being, you are a child of God

Bad Dreams

Don’t wake in the night and cry out in terror

You are never abandoned

I am here

Whatever sights vexed your mind’s eye

Peace

I am near

Don’t close your eyes to love and let in fear

Seeds

a seed cannot live unless it dies

perishing to self

do not be afraid little one

in darkness sown to reach for light

darkness conquered

light welcomes new life

born again to embrace the son

We Can Trust Him

I’ve come to loathe negative “I am” statements…

I am where I am

I’ve been where I’ve been

No amount of striving is going to rewrite my history or quick fix my flaws

My mind has succumbed too many times to the visible and invisible taunts of worthlessness

Inflicted by self, by careless words in well meaning mouths or downright spat out with spite by people also lost inside their own mental health plights

Mine is a life potholed by moments of rejection which have so often threatened to incapacitate my person

But greater than any rejection is my confidence that I am accepted, by God no less, and who would argue with him?!

The devil is who and he’ll make you believe that God hates you, but there is absolutely no foundation or slither of truth there

So I’ve started asking a different question, not who do I say I am

But I ask who does God say I am and I choose to believe it, regardless of feelings

The power in truth is no hippy notion of filling our lives with physical satisfactions which are only fleeting distractions

I have found the power in truth, is that, spoken out loud and chosen inside it begins to uproot the lies that degrade our lives and in its place grows a tree of life

Irrevocable value takes root

It forms a system in my heart that holds together the banks that previously threatened to fall apart

Each root a whisper from heaven writing a love song in the depths of my soul

You are forgiven, you are loved, you are accepted, you are protected, you are redeemed, you are worthy of love, you were seen before you were conceived, you were held in the womb, you are treasured, you have a purpose and that purpose is to be known and loved and to know and love your Creator, you have a God given right to be alive just as you are right now

Because His love isn’t forceful but it is a force, His grace takes you on a journey to freedom without guilt

He celebrates you in the light of Jesus

He, the Holy Spirit, is the greatest of counsellors leading us alongside gentle waters and green pastures, even when storms are raging overhead he’ll help us find rest amidst the maelstrom and give us power to command its stillness

God knows we’re not perfect and doesn’t expect it, but he also knows that being in his presence will help us navigate the mines in our mind fields

Fear cannot exist where perfect love is

So I choose to see myself through the lense of his love

I am not lost, I’m found and this pavement of peace that I walk on is hedged in by grace

No one is lost in the light of his love, we can trust him

Unforced Journey

I’m no longer in a hurry to prove myself to anybody

When I thought as a child, negative opinions would have cut me down

But I’m learning the unforced journey

Reaching for the “well done” from the one who knows my name and everything that my heart contains

You may not see it, my outward appearance isn’t always attractive

I fumble and stumble and make awkward advances for the kingdom

But I’m learning the unforced journey

Reaching for the “well done” from the one who knows my name and everything that my heart contains

Sing Out My Soul

God you pursued me with your love

When my life depended on it, you took on my pain

Jesus, I was weak at your feet

My heart couldn’t contain it so I laid it at your feet

If it weren’t for your mercy, it would have completely overwhelmed me

But your heart was for me and I felt your arms around me

So I declared your kingdom has come

Jesus you took on death for the joy set before you

Thank you!

My heart was dead but you saved me

I’m your inheritance

I will pursue you because you love me

Because you know all of me and still you died for me

Jesus I want to know you like you know me

I lay my life down for the joy set before me

To walk beside my King, my friend

So take courage my soul in your unwavering God

From the deepest of depths, His love resurrects

When the night’s at its darkest, sing out my soul

Jesus has conquered death

Jesus has opened the door

Separated no longer

I am yours and you are mine

I revel in the wonder of walking with my Creator

Heavenward

You may think I am delusional, to believe God cares about every detail

But if he knows the number of hairs on my head, then I know that he’s my author and creator

If he writes my name on the palm of his hand, then I know that I am visible to him

If he knitted me together in my mother’s womb, then not one strand of my DNA is a mystery to him

If he’s held my life in his heart, before it even started, then I am assured it matters to him

If he sent his son to die on a cross so that I could be near to him, then I know my presence delights him

If he raised Jesus up from the grave, I am confident that I will be raised with him

If he sent his Holy Spirit in his son’s place, then I am promised his everlasting presence

So you may think I’m delusional, but my heart has been altered by too many sweet encounters

Despite the pain of this life, I am born of hope, washed in the mindset of eternity to see just a spec of how utterly vast and incomprehensible his love is for me

Not just for me and not just for those who call him father, even though we have the mind blowing privilege to walk with our Papa

For every human soul, of every religion and creed is loved with an almighty love and so I cannot stay silent

Whether you know it or not

You were born to know the creator of star dust, of science, of seasons, of harvests, of music, of beauty, of secrets and stillness

You were born to receive the love of our father expressed in the life of a servant we call saviour, Jesus Christ

You were born with a singular purpose, to love and be loved by God, who wills all goodness to pour into you through his relationship

You are his favourite creation, you and billions of others…

If you don’t believe me, stop and ask him

You never know, you might come face to face with Jesus

You might just hear a whisper and an unexpected nudge to look heavenward

Light to the Darkness

Sowing seeds in the desert may seem insane

When the drought hits, some may say

“what’s the point of working the land”

In your seasons of dryness, don’t stay silent

These are the seasons to declare God’s promises

When your carpet is worn and your knees dented from labouring into what feels like deadness

Raise your voice, plant your prayers

God hears every word uttered in the name of Jesus

And there will be a crop, there will be a harvest

Turn from your disappointments and look to the gardener

He can make water flow from solid rock

Bring life to dry bones, bring joy where there’s none

His love brings abundance, even from emptiness

Holy Spirit come and bring light to the darkness

Apple Tree

My single apple tree

Pokes out behind the out building

A shy little creature

Buds popping pink and white

Like popcorn in the spring light

So much beauty in a space smaller than a pin prick in its place in the universe

But still, small as she may be

She brings such joy to me

Which Voice

The devil shouts

Even his whispers are loud

The taunting sounds of all our fears.

But quieten, still now

Listen for the gentle voice

The unforced voice

The outstretched arms voice

Perfect love making a way.

The devil tempts you

Into smaller and smaller spaces

But God’s gentle guidance 

Leads you into wide open places