Does God Love Me?
By Harry Toye

He suffered and He died for you,
An agonising death on a rugged cross;
Tortured and crucified for you,
To save the sick, the lonely and the lost.

Black hearted Pilate washed his hands in a dish of delph,
It could have been in blood as much as in water.
He may as well have nailed Jesus to the cross himself,
For it was he who gave the fatal order.

They surrounded Him in the dark of night,
Armed guards with torches aglow;
The crowds milled expecting a fight,
But Jesus said, “It is I you seek, let the others go”.

On His Head a crown of black thorns they did add,
Their tips dipped in a deadly poison;
A practice that could drive ordinary men mad,
As the Blood of Christ turned those tips to crimson.

The mass of bleeding tissue was revealed,
As ruthless Romans scourged again and again;
Strips of skin were torn and peeled,
But not even once did Jesus complain.

They mocked and insulted,
They ripped the cloak from blood congealed;
They pierced His Hands and His feet,
His back was like a furrowed field.

When they nailed Him to that cross,
They nailed our sickness and our sin;
They nailed your pain and your loss,
So you would learn the Kingdom of God is within.

His friends who loved Him looked up and cried,
The sky darkened and clouds gathered as if nightfall;
When Jesus looked down at the mob, just before He died,
His Heart of Love still forgave them all.

He had created the very wood and also the nails,
And even the merciless men who drove them through;
Despite the leather whip with it’s leaded tails,
He pleaded, “Forgive them Father; they know not what they do”.

They took Him from the cross and gave Him to His Mother,
She cradled and she held this Blessed Fruit of her womb;
She cried for her baby that once she lay in a manger,
But now she prepared to lay her baby in a tomb.

However three days later the impossible happened,
And Mary’s pierced heart was healed;
She screamed with Joy as the tomb was opened,
Jesus had defeated death, to all it was revealed.

He had endured and He had triumphed, this story is true,
How He dispelled darkness with the light of love that day;
And He would suffer it all over again, even if for only you,
So that you too can live again in a most abundant way.

Who is this faithful man who now holds out His Hand?
This man who is always honest, always true.
Who speaks to pain and misery and it’s forever banned,
He is the one who will never leave or forsake you.

You may not know Him yet but He knew you before you were born,
He knows everything about you, your strength and your frailties;
He loved you in the womb, before you were even formed,
And He will love you forever, and through all eternities.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

©Harry Toye 2014.  http://www.fivefoldministryireland.com

Have you ever paused and stopped to think

What life would be like if we didn’t have a drink?

I don’t mean wine or beer, whisky or porter,

But the most precious of all, a drink of cold water.

                                          

Do we waste water, do we really think it’s free,

Perhaps because the real cost, we try not to see

Thousands of dead children, not as a result of ethnic slaughter

These kids died for want of a glass of clean drinking water

Not in long wars glorious, with armies victorious as the media would portray

But in stinking slums broken hearted mums watch their babies die, every single day.



The water crisis affects us all, this we know,

Not just in far off countries where the crops won’t grow.

In this matter we each share some blame

Collectively it’s a national, crying shame



If we only took on board that without water life would stop.

None of us would dare to waste a single, precious drop

But it’s always been the same concerning you and I

We never miss the water, till the well runs dry.



Recently in Ireland there was a cry and a hullabaloo.

There was a water shortage with a difference; this time it affected me and you.

Bad management and leaky pipes meant water was in short supply,

The councils cut everyone off; there was a tremendous outcry,



How dare you cut our water off, I roared and ranted and cried

I was about to boil my spuds, now I’ll have to have them fried.

Must I have a shallow bath or even a short shower?

Don’t worry mam he said, we’ll have it on within the hour.



That was a week a go, I haven’t seen hair nor hide,

Our personal hygiene habits are beginning to slide,

For we can’t clean our teeth or even flush the loo

I had to ring and ask, what ever will we do?



He said when water returns we will all have to ration,

It’s easy to save water if we take individual action.

As for our taps, turn them on just so

There’s no gushing water, only the required flow.



When having a shower and under that spray

Remember, that it’s not the time of day

To hum and sing, and ponder the meaning of life

For princes or paupers, from all walks of life



Seem to wash and rinse and then wash again

Oblivious to the deluge flowing down the drain.

A rub and a scrub and a few minutes in and out

Will suffice is my advice as there’s no time to hang about.



Don’t let your ablution mean even further pollution

By using chemicals to scour your baths and showers,

An alternative that is green is the easy solution

There are products that clean, made from plants and flowers

To protect our heritage for all our sons and daughters

Join the revolution against pollution of our streams and waters.



With towns expanding, populations are increasing,

Irelands thirst for water is desperately unceasing

Industry and commerce toil by day and by night

Its demand for more water, is an insatiable appetite

Its not that it’s wrong to try to prosper and thrive

It’s just if we continue to waste water, we’ll never survive.



In this big world we have a shameful distinction,

If everyone polluted like the Irish, we’d face extinction

How we seek success with our industrial drive,

Means we’d need three planets just to stay alive.



When we look at our country with its rivers and lakes,

It’s hard to believe, a little thought is all it takes,

To cherish and to relish this God-given creation

For the sake of the future and the next generation.



The moral of this story before I bid adieu

Is that there are a thousand ways to save water –

But they all begin with YOU

Did you know that into the last glass of water that you sipped?

A dinosaur one day, may have bent down and dipped

A scaly tongue to quench his thirst

Or even lumbered in feet first


As he and his primeval pal recreated

In the prehistoric stream of this life-giving liquid

Which revives the lives today of all women and of men

For it’s the very same water now, as it was way back then.
  

How can it be that you and me,

Drink the same water again, that they did back then?

Well it’s no fluke or chance of creation

Take a look at this cycle for a simple explanation


The sun warms the ocean and this causes evaporation

Vapours condense into clouds, this causes precipitation

That’s rain to you and me as it falls down from the sky,

But precipitation is not the only reason why


Our streams fill and sometimes overflow,

Becoming rivers as they grow,

Liquid life in poetry of motions

Rivers turn to seas, ebb and flow into the oceans.

  
For the sun doesn’t just affect the seas and the ocean,

It heats the leaves of our trees and this causes transpiration

Because vapour also rises from the trees,

Clouds form and may even freeze,


In these clouds tiny droplets bounce around,

Fun for them but not for us on the ground

For when they hit each other, they stick together

And this has repercussions for our weather



What goes up must come down

And soon rain or hail will fall on every town

With storm and sleet on every street and gutters overflowing.

Rains lash, puddles splash and before long it’s snowing.


The levels rise in all our lakes,

But then thank God, the cloud breaks

The sun warms the ocean this causes evaporation

And he begins his work again to feed a thirsty nation.

  
We survey the Earth, water end to end

But it’s the same ole water, recycled again and again

Water, water is everywhere but less than 2% is drinkable,

Preserve, conserve and do take care, because pollution really is unthinkable.

Where to begin to save our water, is plain to see, it all begins with you and me.

Sadness of the heart?

Each one of us one day must keep that final appointment  
Like everyone who has gone before
The meeting with death and more importantly judgement
For some it’s a destiny that they absolutely abhor

And so some should, it must be said
For God’s Word reveals a terrifying thing
Not for everyone who appears to be dead
But those appearing to live but are dying

When a loved one leaves this earthly station
Their release, to us, seems like disaster
Their departure, to us, is like annihilation
Despite soothing words from Priest or Pastor

But tears really are not necessary,
Now that life’s trials are a thing of the past,
Sickness and death may have been scary,
But they are at peace now, at last.

For them, Death was no terrifying leap into the dark
Not because of mans opinion or religious ethos
Mankind now has a living Ark,
That carries us from this pain and utter chaos

For the believer who has been to the cross,
Knows there is no need to despair,
Despite the agonising hurt of your personal loss,
Be glad they enjoy a peace beyond compare.

For they left this realm of sadness and strife
Where Men against men continually fight
For money and power and a decadent life
Oblivious that their time here to, is finite
Where on Earth, pride and selfishness rules
And the wisdom of men is the wisdom of fools.

Your loved one has finished their test
They now embrace eternal life
For they were worthy when assessed
To bathe forever in the warmth of everlasting light.

However do not obsess so with our final destination
That you forget to experience the journey,
Instead, rejoice each dawn at the revelation
That this can be your land of milk and honey

For you have friends and loved ones,
You can see and hear and taste and talk
Relish nature and all the beauty beneath His heavens
And enjoy each day of your earthly walk.