I came back
you wouldn't believe me
Receive me as gods messenger
I saw crucifixes
You left me there on that cross
Not listening to a word I said
Left me for dead
Like the wisdom of ages
Shut in a books musty old pages.

You thought I said the kingdom of heaven was within you
It was mistranslated you are the kingdom
and this could have been heaven
If you'd worked together
But instead you sever
the ties and die
reincarnated as yourself
In a different body.

To all who have ears
and a mind which isn't blind
We are the rainbow and white light
All colours every shade
arrayed in splendour
a flame is still a flame away from the fire
It still burns and the light yearns
to burn in burning desire
We all burn for love.

As the redeemed of Jesus Christ, if we are ever to find true refreshment in our desert wanderings, it will be as we choose to dwell in God’s presence and in the newness of His daily mercies through faith. Our trials tend to force us, like pushy but invaluable friends, to learn hands-on what it is to live in the grace of the moment.

We live in the grace of the moment by continually recognizing both the immense need and the immense blessing of each moment (by developing a conscious and habitual attitude that says, “I am so desperately needy AND I am so abundantly blessed.”) and by relying on the Holy Spirit to teach us exactly how to reconcile the two. This happens as we first learn to live in the reality of the eternal, for it's an ever-present awareness of eternity that liberates us to receive every present moment with thankfulness and live it to the fullest, without setting up false expectations for it or worrying about the next.

When we are convinced that our life is hidden with Christ and He alone is the Prize, that this world is not our home and we are simply on assignment here, and that our pain and failures are only temporary but, with His redemption, the beauty and wisdom to be gained from them are eternal, we are set free from living in the regret of yesterday or in the fear of tomorrow. We can instead live in the blessing of the right now which fully meets the need of the right now because both need and blessing are gifts from the Father to get us ready for eternity and to meet our Bridegroom face to face. We have need of nothing but Him and His grace, and His fullness dwells in us.

The life lived in the grace of the moment is the life absolutely surrendered to the reality of God’s wisdom, God’s character and God’s sovereignty over it, for in entrusting ourselves to those, we acknowledge that He has a set and planned purpose for our lives, that it is good, and that He is powerful enough to carry it to completion. His wisdom assures us that He has always had in mind, down to the smallest details, exactly what He is doing with us; His character, that His heart is ever faithful toward us; and His sovereignty, that His directing arm cannot be shaken or thwarted. They reveal to us explicitly that He loves us with all of His mind and heart and strength, and in that knowledge we find perfect rest. As beloved children we know that we will be taken care of without having to know how it will happen or what it will look like.

In our helplessness we can simply look up to Him, reach out for Him and cry to Him in humility and thanksgiving, for our God cannot resist eyes and arms and hearts doing that. He always picks up and holds close to Himself those who long for Him. We may think that what we most desire are answers and perfectly successful plans and reasonable control over our lives, but what our souls crave is comfort and intimacy and love, and we can have those the instant we fully surrender to His embrace. He may sometimes hide His face from our “Why?”s but never from our “Hold me!” cries.

If we mistakenly suppose this life to be about this life, we will miss the present grace for fretting over and fighting for all the blessings we don’t have or fearing that those we do will be lost, until we find that they have become an unbearable millstone around our necks. If we pin our hope on anything in this temporary world it will be no stronger than that—a mere pin, easily pulled out and easily broken when life weighs too heavily upon it.

Enduring hope can only be based on God’s absolute promises given to us in His Word, not on our own expectations or wishes or impressions of how things ought to be. Enduring hope lets go of everything that can be lost to take hold of everything that cannot, and in doing so is actually able to squeeze the sweetest nectar out of those released and perishable blessings so that even their losses, though painful, do not leave a bitter aftertaste. For it’s often in the loss of a thing that its worth to us becomes most precious, and by letting it go with grace we can best savor its purest delights.

Realizing that the pain runs so deep only because the beauty ran so deep and that without it having once touched us we wouldn’t now know the emptiness of its loss, our grief will eventually turn to thankfulness that it ever touched us at all, and we will be left awed by the mystery of its haunting. There is a peculiar kind of beauty that can only be experienced with the innate knowledge that the moment is fleeting, and the most intense beauty can only be seen in the presence of both light and shadows.

The ability to enjoy our tangible blessings is surely heightened by the conviction that they are not ours to possess, by the acceptance that their loss is inevitable, and by the understanding that they were never meant to satisfy. For the enjoyment, then, will be absent the tainting dread, the taking for granted, and the twisted expectations which so easily and often mar our earthly pleasures. We will relish what we’ve been given today but recognize it may very well be gone tomorrow, and even in that uncertainty we will find a contented peace, for in every loss there lurks a hidden blessing, and all that really matters can never be lost to us. It is just as important to be a good steward of our losses as it is of our more obvious blessings, for the beauty that comes from nobly and graciously accepting loss far exceeds any tangible beauty that can be taken.

Knowing that we belong to another time and place and that this one is only meant to lead us there, like the charming towns one passes through on the way to a better destination, we will take in the sights with wonder and delight but keep traveling on toward our true home. For these sights, though tantalizing, are like mere slivers of light from a crack under the door compared to the glory to be found in God’s Presence. But when received as personal gifts of His grace, they become to us a stage precisely and delicately set by a Lover to attract the attention of His beloved, to show off His greatness and show forth His beauty to win her heart, and our hearts indeed are won.

To live in the grace of the moment is to keep looking to Jesus—to Jesus’ feet to lay our burdens down, to Jesus’ arms to be held securely, to Jesus’ hands to receive all we need, and to Jesus’ face to know our only sure hope and hearts’ true desire.


Lord Jesus, merciful and all-sufficient One, in every need, small or great, tangible or intangible, give me the discernment to discover Your extravagant gifts of grace, the wisdom to receive them, the eagerness to open them and the passion to cherish them well. Give me eyes to see and a heart to fully enjoy with gratitude each blessing You have prepared for me today, for this very moment, and may I thrill to Your every advance of love.

Jesus lived, and
Jesus died,
Jesus laughed, and
Jesus cried.

Jesus loved, and
Jesus felt.
Jesus stood, and
Jesus knelt.

Jesus heard, and
Jesus thought,
Jesus prayed, and
Jesus taught.

Jesus healed, and
Jesus fed,
Jesus preached, and
Jesus led.

Jesus lived, and
Jesus died,
Jesus is risen, and
He is alive.

Here's something you don't see everyday. Although I've seen it a few times before on my street... A homeless man pulling a bicycle which is attached to the most astounding construct! Made of bicycle wheels and plastic webbing, chicken wire and aluminum piping, this huge mobile container for tin cans, and whatever this homeless individual can scrounge to resell, is almost the size of a garbage truck! And carries probably hundreds of pounds of aluminum cans.

In constant danger from cars and trucks, this is an outstanding testament to human ingenuity and dogged determination. The man marches on, stopping occasionally to take a container to dumpsters looking for cans. Whatever he can find.

I asked him if he needed something to eat or drink. He just smiled and shook his head. "I need to move on." And I realized he probably takes advantage of the nighttime to do his searching, as it is too hot during the day to do so. I smile and wave and wish him blessings.

If I ever feel like I am put upon in this life, I should feel ashamed. This man has shamed me utterly. I've invited him up to my porch in the past. Giving him food and drink. He is a believer. And I've never met a more cheerful brother in the Lord Jesus Christ! But he doesn't take any credit for his outstanding ingenuity and Drive. He gives the glory to God. I have tears in my eyes as I write this. He was also an addict and finds it very difficult to find a place to live due to his past. So he sleeps on the streets and does what he needs to do to survive. And survive he does!

I say a prayer for this stalwart. His name is Ben. Will you join me in my prayers (good thoughts)? I think he deserves them, don't you?

♡ Catherine

They told me I couldn't make it,
That the reason I'm here is because of parents making love without being in love so they had to fake it,
They said I was a mistake,
And that the next time they see me would either be on TV as a criminal or on the death channel announcing the date of my wake,
Hateful lips cursed me out,
Judgemental minds and hands put me out,
I didn't fit in or belong to their circles because I'm a square,
For a while I thought it was unfair,
To be the only one that had to skip school because I didn't even have a bus fair,
Fitting on my pair of high top boots everywhere I go because I honestly had nothing else to wear,
Or Spending half an hour every morning plucking sponges out of my hair,
Turning my socks over on my feet since the heels had holes,
No microwave or gas so the food had to be cooked with coals,
Had a pain in my soul to watch my family suffer any more so I stole,
I started drinking like no tomorrow,
Thinking alcohol was the cure to sorrow,
Playing a real life game called pain and depression,
Losing points to an opposition called anger and aggression,
My mind was tortured,
My faith needed to be nurtured,
If my place in life was a woman then you know I was down to search her,
I started drifting from the people that loved me,
My philosophy was centred around my selfish desires and trusted nobody else but the Hennessey,
And I couldn't see,
I didn't see the sweat or the tears shed by my family for me,
I didn't hear the quiet prayers they said for me every night before they went to sleep,
Long story short, their prayers were answered when God Himself said to me He had bigger plans for me,
Yes He called me by name, chose me to use my life as a living testimony, my struggles and stories to minister to those youths who are just like me,
Born unruly but can't do nothing without the go ahead from the Almighty,
His name is Jesus and I say it unashamed,
He changed my life for the better and for you He can do the the same if you let him,
What do you really have to lose?
He lost his life just for you but the media doesn't like to promote that news,
He chose to die because He wanted you to live, came back alive so He can spend eternity with you and continuously give,
You peace of mind,
The piece of you that's been missing for a while,
He loves you like a father loves His child,
So just let him love you, He won't ever leave your side,
Run to Him if you need a safe place to hide,
Trust Him and He'll teach you how to trust yourself,
You're to die for and He wants you to know your wealth,
This is not a church people poem, I'm done with that religious mess,
Because the message I bring promotes a lifestyle like Jesus and nothing less,
Say I won't do it, put me to the test,
Luke 1:37 is stitched in my cardiac arrest,
Beats in my chest,
In the centre of why I do what I do,
I do because a lot of youths are too scared to stand up for truth,
So I'll stand out,
Open my mouth,
And declare from North to South,
I am different, don't try to figure me out.

... physical and emotional,
my constant companions,
cannot rival Jesus Christ
my eternal lover and

FRIEND


SøułSurvivør
(C) 7/15/2017