Goodbye Old Friend

This is the end of the road, Jack.

It feels like the end of the world.

I can clearly remember that day, long ago;

You were snug in a basket, all curled

In a ball, fast asleep and you just looked so sweet

That I knew there and then it was you.

All your brothers were lovely, but just not my type,

So it turned out to be just us two.

We’ve had wonderful times, we’ve played ball in the park,

We’ve been to the beach and had fun.

And though we’ve both aged, we’ve still had our walks

And warmed our tired bones in the sun.

But I know you’re in pain and your eyes say it all.

What can I do for my dearest, best friend?

I don’t want you to go as I’ll be so alone,

But, Jack… I can make it all end.

We’ll go to the place where they’ve been full of care

And such kindness have shown, year on year.

It will be very hard, but I love you so much

It’s the best I can do now, my dear.

I’ll be with you, old friend, as your pain disappears

And the cares of the world fall away.

But I’ll never forget how you captured my heart

On that long distant, magical day.

The Conversation

What’s it all about then? It all seems rather weird.

I thought that Jesus was a bloke with long hair and a beard!

A sort of “hippy” teacher, in sandals and a frock

Who preached love and forgiveness but became a laughing stock.

Didn’t he have a party on top of some big hill?

It must have been a good one ‘cos they talk about it still!

But when the final crunch came, his mates all ran away;

Now, if he had been genuine, well, don’t you think they’d stay?

You ask me, who was Jesus? Well, he seemed a decent type

But the Son of God? You’re kidding! Don’t you know it’s all just hype?!!

Well, actually, Friend that isn’t quite a true account.

I think you’ll find the party was the Sermon on the Mount.

Another time, he had two fish and five small barley loaves –

They couldn’t get the caterers in to feed the hungry droves –

So Jesus blessed the food and asked his Father to provide,

And then he fed five thousand (with twelve baskets left aside!).

He fed the hungry, healed the sick and caused the blind to see,

And walked upon the water at the Sea of Galilee.

Quite clearly he was more than just a prophet or a preacher.

He wasn’t mad, or off his head, or just some “hippy teacher”!

No, Jesus said he was God’s Son, who’d come to pay the price

For sinful man, and let me say, it wasn’t very nice!

The price was death! It was the only way to set us free

From judgement, so upon the cross he paid the penalty.

The friends who took his body down had placed it in a tomb,

And rolled a massive boulder there to seal it in the room.

They rested on the Sabbath, but returned the following day

To find the body missing, and they ran out in dismay.

But then they heard the good news, that Jesus was alive –

Just as the prophets had foretold that death he would survive.

Eye witnesses support his resurrection from the grave,

Yet still he is rejected by the ones he came to save.

What else is there to say, my friend? He is the only way.

Perhaps you’d like to meet with him? You only have to say!

The elephant’s trunk

How the elephant got his trunk

Is a matter for debate.

Some say it was a crocodile;

Some think it was just fate.

But as he had no fingers,

The elephant, being no fool,

Found his trunk so long and bendy

Was a rather useful tool.

It reached up high for tasty leaves

And made a useful straw

For reaching into water holes –

Now who could ask for more?

How did the elephant get his trunk?

I wonder what he’d say.

I expect he’d answer “Well, you see,

God just made me this way.”

Look Again

Look up on a bright, sunny day
At the sky, a deep, clear blue.
Its depth is endless,
The vastness of it inconceivable.

Look carefully at the flowers
As they bloom in all their glory.
Such variety, such beauty;
Each one so simple, yet so complex,
But more exotic, more magnificent
Than the finest, most expensive clothes.
Many are the fragrances,
Memories of summers past;
Bringing a smile to the lips
And a warmth to the heart.

Look at the butterflies,
So delicate, so beautiful.
The rich colours hand-painted
With such care and precision.

Look at it all and be amazed,
Be breathless; be overawed!
Could this really have happened by chance?
Could all the magnificence and variety of nature,
The mountains, the forests, the vast deserts,
The oceans teeming with creatures,
All have been an accident?

Look again, with new eyes,
And be overwhelmed
By the love of the Creator.

The testimony of the tree

As the heat of Summer fades, the fire of Jesus’ ministry is made complete in the beauty of Autumn. The golden leaves reflect His Kingship and, as they turn to red, His blood, which was shed for all mankind. The trees, standing tall and firm, remind us of the cross, the crimson leaves falling, like splashes of blood, to the ground below.

As Autumn takes hold, the winds come and the leaves fall faster, forming a red carpet to the place of sacrifice. The storm reaches its peak, the veil is torn! Then, at last, when there are no more leaves to fall, no more drops to drip… death. The cold, still quietness of the tomb; mourning; darkness upon us. The trees, like the empty cross, stand desolate. Only the evergreen holly, with its jagged leaves with needle sharp spikes and its scarlet berries, serves to remind us of the crown of thorns that remained, still covered with drops of His blood, after His body was taken down.

Then, as we reach that darkest moment, the shortest day, we understand what the holly is telling us – that all is not lost. The light will come back. Death has been overcome – Jesus lives! Signs appear, just buds, but full of the promise of new life! Hope returns as the days grow longer and warmer. Shoots push up through the earth, which has lain as cold and barren as the grave throughout the winter. Clusters of beautiful blossom appear, reminding us that we are the Bride of Christ, waiting for our husband, the King, to come and take us to the wedding banquet. The sun shines, the earth is warm, gentle breezes blow and the leaves rustle their praise, branches stretched Heavenwards, giving glory to the One who created them.

If even the trees can tell the story of our Saviour and give Him glory, how much more should we, His children, who are made in His likeness, bear witness to His life and glorify His name…?

Lay the axe to the root…

We used to have a cherry tree in our garden. When we moved in it was a reasonably mature tree, quite tall and attractive. Sadly, the wood pigeons and blackbirds scoffed every single cherry before they were even ripe, but it provided welcome shade and was an attractive feature.

Over the years, it grew considerably broader and the branches stronger. We put a swing in it for the children to play on and it was almost part of the family – our tree. Then the path started to lift. It cracked right across and revealed a sinister space in the ground below it, which was being moved and unsettled by the growth and movement of the enormous root. One day I saw a rat, which had obviously made a nice little nest in this inaccessible-to-humans gap and was living there quite happily.

We’d already had the crown removed but it seemed there was no stopping it so, fearing for our foundations, as the roots could be seen stretching far and wide across the lawn, we decided it had to go.

Last November it was cut down to a stump. The wood was chopped and put in next door’s shed to be seasoned and used in their wood burner. We missed it very much, especially through this recent baking weather! We could see so much sky!

But now, we suddenly have about 20 baby cherry trees shooting up all over the lawn along the lines of the old roots! We’ve been mowing them but they keep reappearing, greener and stronger – and multiplying!

The trouble is, the stump and roots were not treated with stump killer. We now have to sort it once and for all or we’ll soon have a cherry orchard in our garden!

So many believers have “history”; stuff from our pre- Christian lives, right back to infancy, that we think is all in the past and no longer has a hold on us now we are saved. We cut the tree down when we said yes to Jesus. Job done!

Only it isn’t. Time goes by and little shoots begin to appear – we chop them down, but they come back, more and more of them. It’s because the spiritual root of the problem is still there!

It may take prayer ministry, counselling or even deliverance ministry to sort it out once and for all, but if we don’t lay the axe to the root of the problem, we leave a door open for the enemy and he WILL use it to attack us.

What is your Goliath?

“A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span (about 9 feet 9 inches). He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armour of bronze weighing five thousand shekels (about 125lbs); on his legs he wore bronze greaves (armour for the shins), and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed 600 shekels (about 15lbs). His shield bearer went ahead of him.” (1 Samuel 17:4-7)

Wow! This giant of a man carried over 10st of metal on his body – no wonder he got someone else to carry his shield! He was HUGE and formidable and seemingly invincible. Verse 16 says, “For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.” (Forty is representative of trial or testing. Jesus was forty days in the wilderness and the Israelites were 40 years in the desert.) So, every day, morning and evening, Goliath goaded them, showed them how big, strong and unbeatable he was. The Israelite army went out to meet the Philistines every day and shouted the war cry but, as soon as they SAW Goliath, they ran away in great fear!

Along comes annoying little David, boasting about how the Lord had kept him safe as he watched over the flock, battling lions and bears and saving the sheep from the jaws of the predator. He faced the giant and said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against YOU in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.”

David had selected five smooth stones from the stream; not even rocks or sharp stones. He’d already decided he wouldn’t wear armour as he could barely walk in it and, anyway, he wasn’t afraid because he knew that the battle was the Lord’s! Now, if you know anything about Hebrew, you’ll know that five (hei) is the number of grace. David didn’t pick his weapons to inflict maximum impact, he picked his weapons knowing that God uses the “weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Cor 1:27) David was not afraid because he knew his God! Even though Goliath looked upon him as just a boy, to be derided and despised – a pushover – David saw the enemy as already defeated.

God used the gifts he’d already given David as a shepherd, plus his skill with the slingshot, to provide one of the most unexpected victories in history. And David, knowing he could not beat Goliath in his own strength, gave all the glory to God, even before he set out. Finally, even though Goliath was dead, David cut off his head with Goliath’s own sword, the Philistines scattered and the Israelites then pursued them, killed them and plundered their camp. The enemy was totally defeated.

So, what Goliath are you facing today?

Is the battle yours, or the Lord’s?

But encourage one another daily…

as long as it is called “Today” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13)

Ok, so this is my first blog, my first venture onto the internet… but I really feel called to share my thoughts – and my writing, which I’ve been doing for years! So, excuse the rambling, but I’d better start somewhere!

It’s funny, we just have a rather dull break after what has been a searing heatwave of faintingly hot proportions that we’re just not used to in the UK! I do actually remember the drought of 1976, though I was quite young at the time (cough…)! And, of course, now it’s cloudy and windy, with bits of rain here and there, and it’s rather depressing! We want that blue sky back again! Last week it was getting so hard to live with the heat, day and night, that I prayed earnestly for rain to fall on this dry and thirsty land and I wondered if the physical climate matched the spiritual climate of these times.

I know for myself, I want to go deeper with the Lord, learn more, see more, do more, be more – and really walk with him and be used to minister to others. I am thirsty for more of the things of God and I see it in others around me too. But I also see fear.

I have to tell you, I’ve been talking about writing a blog or publishing some of my scribblings for years – literally – and, then I remembered, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” If I harden my heart because I’m afraid, where is my faith? Ok, so I haven’t got a clue about blogging, or how it all works, but HE does, and in all things God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes. (Romans 8) So here I am!

I guess we all have a fear of being judged. I’ve just led my first away day at church and, although I was a bit nervous as I ploughed my way through pages of bible verses and notes that I’d scribbled down at various times, trying to pull it all together, I was very aware that what the Lord wanted me to talk about was the finished work of Jesus – hence the title of this blog. We know he said, “It is finished!” yet we always seem to want to add something to it ourselves – a bit like having the last word! There is NOTHING more that needs to be done – and he IS the last Word! Here is an excerpt from the third and final talk of the day.

A few weeks ago at the evening prayer meeting, I had a picture of a warship. I was very conscious of the metallic solidity of the ship, grey paint, huge rivets. It was very dark and stormy and although the men manning the guns had waterproofs on, they were soaked to the skin and utterly exhausted, but still they battled on. Then I had a picture of the Captain’s cabin. It was at the heart of the ship and the noise of the battle could not be heard. It was warm and dry and peaceful. I felt the Lord was saying, “Come to the Captain’s cabin. Be at rest, have food and drink, renew your strength.”

We are in a spiritual battle on a daily basis. The enemy doesn’t like it when we step out in faith, when we take ground for the kingdom, when we put Jesus first. He will have his minions place obstacles in our way, try to make us fearful, weak, sick and snatch away our faith. The only way we can not be beaten down and defeated, is to rest in Jesus, draw from him, have our wounds healed and our strength renewed. He IS our Captain in this daily battle.

He has strategies that the enemy couldn’t even imagine. Just think of it… Jesus is betrayed, tortured, killed and buried… Bingo! Another victory for Satan.

Oh… wait… he’s alive…? ALIVE!!! And now they all KNOW that he’s God! Nooooo!!!

Not a good day for the powers of darkness, and now they refuse to admit defeat, but will exude every last drop of hatred towards mankind that they possibly can. And, as for His followers, well… there is a special team appointed to cause trouble!

But the battle is the Lord’s and what we have to do is stand. That doesn’t mean, stand still and do nothing, it means actively stand our ground. We stand on solid rock, our footing is firm, we are in our armour, we have the power of God through the Holy Spirit. If God is for us – who can be against us? That doesn’t mean it’s not tiring though. We can help each other by giving encouragement and praying. Back to Ephesians 6 verse 18 again…

^“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

So, I will be praying for you, dear readers, as I close this, my first entry into The Finished Work.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me! All the posts you will find here are my own original work unless otherwise credited. Some are old and some are new, but I hope you will find something to challenge or inspire you! If you copy or share my work in any way, please do not alter the content and please credit me as author. Be blessed!

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