Time, love and grace entwined

Time is precious so is love

Beating together,

Held forever,

Shared.

Time ticks minute by minute

Moments inspired,

Thoughts transpired,

Lived.

Love wrapped as a gift

Grace expressed,

Width, breadth,

Depth.

Time and love delicately held

Hand-in-hand,

Past, present,

Future.

Loved memories held in time 

Encapsulated heart

Felt emotion,

Love, pain... And grace entwined.

©revdjo 27/10/13

The Purple Teddy Bear

My purple teddy bear sat in his favourite place.

 A poem for Joyce...

 

I have a purple teddy bear
Who sits upon my dresser.
Head to toe in big white spots
He looks like he is poorly.
I wonder what's inside of him
But that's another story.

Should I take him to the hospital?
Should I wrap him in a blanket?

Today I simply say to him,
'You're lonely not forgotten.'
I gaze upon his smiling face
Remembering his warm embrace.
I say a silent prayer for him
And remind him he is loved.

Should I try and make him laugh?
Should I talk of days gone by?

I place him by the tissues
And mop his silent tears.
Endless hours he sits and stares
Days and months and years.
He doesn't say a word to me
But I hear him and his fears.


©revdjo 15/10/13
 

My heart is God's

My heart is God's

My life is his.

I will follow his call 

And entry in.

Where next God?

My spirit yields.

I seek a church 

With open doors.

I see a church

Within my soul

Without a roof

Without the walls.

I long to serve

My Saviour, King

To follow his lead

And set sail with him.

I've Got to Have Faith

I have been preaching on the subject of 'faith' over the last few weeks. I opened one such service with: George Michael once sang. 'Because I've got to have faith.' The song is a classic 1980s track and I couldn't resist singing it a little. It is a song of my youth in many ways. I could say miss-spent youth but that's another story. He is talking about relationships and that you have to trust and have faith in someone for a relationship to work. Being a Christian means having a personal relationship with Jesus - accepting him as Lord and Saviour and seeking to follow him. Being a Christian means putting our trust and faith in God. When everything in life is going well faith can either be strong or neglected. Why would we want to open our Bibles and search for God's heart and a word into our situation when life is so great? When life gets tough again we can go either way we can wallow in our own self pity and focus on the storms of life or we can seek God's face. I wonder if God gives us trials in life to focus our attention on him? People seem to be more likely to pray when the proverbial hits the fan.

Today we had a theatre company come to entertain us at church this afternoon. Burton Inclusive Performing Arts (BIPA) is an inclusive group who love to entertain, many of the group have learning difficulties and special needs, none are professional singers all had a smile on their faces and a song in their heart to share today. I felt so blessed by their presence. Having promoted the event as much as I could I woke up this morning with a stinking cold and in panic mode. Will anyone come? Will it just be me and a couple I send up one of those arrow prayer - help! At 2.39pm people I've never seen before started to come in through the doors and they kept coming inthrough the   doors. God is good! I went home with a smile on my face. As I drove into my road George Michael's voice came on the radio, 'I've got to have faith...' God's humour is never lost on me. As I write this I hit the Sky Plus planner button to watch Mount Pleasant that I recorded the other evening and in the opening scene they are listening to the radio and 'Jitter bug, Jitter bug, Jitter bug, Jitter bug you but the boom boom into my heart...' God has hit me with a Wham! - HAVE FAITH.

Have you met my Saviour?

He held out his hand

And whispered my name.

He smiled 

Wide as the earth

Holding my glaze.

He looked at my heart

It flipped a beat

Held in His hands.

Dust at my feet

I felt naked once more.

Nothing can be hid 

All is revealed.

Emotions contained

Spill out of my soul.

Touching his garment 

He heals and

Love is revealed.

One question remains 

I ask you my friend,

'Have you met my Savour

Who holds out his hand

And whispers your name?'

©Revdjo 4/10/13