In Pain

In pain You are sovereign still
Your watchful hand keeps me until
You know the battle is all but won
And seeking You in trials means seeking the Son
And seeking the Son
Results in strength and peace
In due time the pain will cease
Not God's fault but He has allowed
Us to lean on Him and not the why or the how
But to praise in all seasons,
Never to blame
When our righteous God is yesterday today and forever the same.
With every breath we praise Him without ceasing
And in our pain we never stop believing
That He is our Healer,
And our supreme health
In mind, body and spirit
He has given us His wealth
So we look to Him instead of our pain
And know that He's with us
In sunshine
And in rain.

Enough!

Enough.
Enough of dragging up the past.
Life's disasters,
Love's misguided mistakes.
I am your resting place.
Enough of the broken dreams,
Impatience busting at the seams
Because you believe
You've got to hurry up
And be better,
Stronger,
More holy,
More grounded
In what you think is 'right'.

You are my delight!
You make Me break out in song.
I've loved you so long!
Can you not see my heart for you?
I'm smiling.
I can see joy residing in those broken faces,
Those tear soaked faces,
I am smiling,
I am the bottler of your tears.
If you just cast your cares,
I'll catch them.
I'll catch you.

Jump,
I'm waiting,
I'll see you through.
I am streams in the desert,
I am your resting place.
Can you see My face now?
Can you feel My embrace?
I am the warm sun that greets you when you wake.
You are not a mistake.
You are cherished and alive.
Not a half life.
Not here just to survive.

In My Grace you have wandered nearer still
But then you ran and hid until,
Until,
Until what?
You felt you weren't good enough for Me?
I set you free!
Come and dance with Me.

I am waiting for that woman,
For that girl.
Come broken,
Come closer,
My love for you will unfurl.

It is not enough to think I'll wait forever,
Though I will.
It is not enough to run and hide
Until...
Until...

Come now, come closer,
Come and understand.
My will for you
Is loving you and your life is in My Hands.

I Am Redeemed

I am Redeemed.
Let no sin place its mark upon me,
I am free.
At liberty to speak about
The dark turned into light,
To shout about my freedom
And Christ's fight,
When once in death
I could not know another way,
He came to me
And loved me
And I stayed.
I am Redeemed,
Beyond my fears and shame,
He takes my doubt
And brings His healing rain,
I am spared from a fate
Worse than death -
To be separated from love - its length,
                                             its breadth?
Christ is love
And in love He took my place.
He took my mess
So I might seek His face.
When I believe in Him
He transforms my world
And as I hope in Him
His life for me unfurls.

I am Redeemed because I'm His
And He is mine.
I am Redeemed because I seek His love divine.
I am Redeemed because
He has called my name.
And as I follow Him I'll never be the same.

Let Me Be Lovely

Let me be lovely
And pleasing to You,
Let my beauty
Be pure and true,
Let my countenance
Be peaceful and at rest,
If I know I've sinned,
Let me confess.
Let me be lovely
In Your eyes,
Let me do more
Than just survive,
But praise You
And love You
And receive Your love.
Let Your acceptance of me
Fit me like a glove.
Let me not get caught up
In affairs of the past,
And think that cancelled sin
Can actually last,
Rather, teach me to believe in
How lovely I am
Because You hold me in Your hand.
Because You measure with a heart of love,
Because Your care for me is enough,
Because Your Grace redefines who I am,
Because You are Sovereign,
When I don't understand.
Am I lovely?
Yes, because You adore me so.
Am I special?
Yes, because You make me grow.
Am I worthy?
Yes, because of my worth in You.
So I accept Your love,
Because I know that it's true.

Hope In Him

My hope is in Him.
He knows my needs.
In His Love I'll abide,
From His Word I'll receive.
Man may fail
And circumstances change
But my hope is in Him -
My heart rearranged.
He is the source of all comfort,
The Grace to recover
From all of life's troubles,
He is my heart's Lover.
He will never leave
And my future is sealed,
In Him I will rise,
The Hope of Glory revealed.

Hash Tag Love

Bite sized moments
Filling quickly
In our busy lives,
We hold the emotion
In an instant bubble:
"This Is What It Means To Me."
And in a second it is gone,
Busyness awaits.
Hashtag moments.

A minute to rest our madness,
Rushing through,
Stopping briefly,
Do you ever hear Him speaking,
Do you ever stop and wait?

Surrender in the slowness.
Stop the mind in motion.
Rest in this promise:
#You are loved.

#Pierced for your transgressions
#Crucified for you
#Love in the darkness
#His Promises are true.
He'll never leave you nor forsake you,
He guards all that is yours.
For this moment,
In life's madness
He comes for one cause.

Tell them that I love them,
Says the Father,
So He sent His only Son
So that those who believe in Him
Would lead new lives,
Just begun.

Lives of knowing who they are in Him
And knowing that they're loved.
Knowing that God adores them intimately
And sends them help from above.
Knowing that there is always hope,
And their future is assured,
Embracing all God has for them
And the power of His Word;

You see it's not about the moment,
That fleeting emotion that makes you feel,
Hash tag this or that will fade
But His Love for you is real!

He wants you to know how important you are
And how He made you to see
That He's your Father and He cares for you
And He wants you to be free.

Free from hopelessness,
Despair,
Unforgiveness,
Hate.
He wants you to know His Son
Before it's too late.

Jesus came in Love,
And to prove that He is real.
He died and rose again
So you would do more than just "feel."

He wants you to pass on His great Love,
The #Pay It Forward of our era
So that lives are restored
And what's broken is mended
And our hearts are His forever.

#Love.
It's not easy.
Jesus showed us how much it cost.
But what's more important
Than getting caught in the moment
Where you bring love to the lost?

I Declare

I declare the Glory of God!
I declare His goodness over my life.
In my comings and goings,
He is with me.
He will never leave me nor forsake me!
I declare His goodness over my life.
He will not lead me astray,
I will not fear for He is with me.
He is wonderful and beautiful to behold!
His Grace cannot be used up.
His kindness will not run dry.
His Glory will never end.
His covenant with His people lasts forever.
His judgement is fair
And His justice is right.
He cannot be defeated,
He cannot be overestimated,
His Promises never disappoint,
His Yes is always on time,
His No is always fair,
His Wait is always justified.
His reach is never limited.
His Power will never be diminished.
His Dominion has no end.
His Son has no sin.
His Truth will never lie,
His timing is always perfect.
His Word is always true,
His Majesty is never disputed.
His Love is all-secure.
His heart never changes.
His job remains the same:
To love,
To care,
To keep,
To preserve,
To protect,
To save,
To adopt us as His very own.

Thousand Tiny Lights

Your arms around me
As I navigate this loss,
Your love surrounds me
When I realise the cost;
In the finite, fragile sorrows that unfold
You gather all the pieces, the stories untold.
When I break down
Your heart comes near and sits with me,
As I sit and weep in blindness
You can see
The thousand tiny lights shot through with Grace.
As I grieve You touch me in this place.
For every tear, every memory and strain,
You light my darkness and start to heal my pain,
As I expose to You the darkest threads in me
You light my way
And slowly set me free.

Your arms around me,
Hurry, as this sorrow lingers,
You come to me with healing in Your fingers,
You paint the stars
That once were chaos and distress,
Light slowly shines inside as I confess.

Oh, God!
How I thank You for those lights!
You found me in the darkest of my nights.
All I had to do was show You one small thread,
And this,
My grief,
You turned to life instead.

The Fullness of God's Reign

Restore to me what was broken.
The things left unspoken.
But not my will but Yours, Lord.
Only Your plan can afford
To succeed,
It is only in our need
That we cry out to You.
What can we do but usher in Your greatness,
Expect the full completion
Of all You want to do,
All you'll see us through?
Through Your divine protection,
Your recompense,
Your abundance of restoration
We sit in contemplation
At the fullness of Your ways.
Come and rule and reign today.
Take me as You find me,
Restore what was broken.
Yet Your Word means more than recompense.
Your presence more than judgement.
Come and sit with us
And tell us what it will be like
When we see the fullness of Your Reign.