“ Self on the cross, and Christ upon the throne.”
I cannot ever be on the throne in this life. I dare not anticipate it. I cannot bear the light of a Holy God who shines his pure light on that throne. I continually and constantly must nail sinful self, it’s will, desires, deeds, words and thoughts on the cross of Christ. It belongs there.
Only as I pass the vale of death into eternal glory can I take my place on the throne, perfect, incorruptible and eternally like Christ.
This side of eternity is a fight to the death, of sin and selfishness, which continues each day whether I work or rest; in health or sickness. We can never overcome this battle without the power and strength of our Saviour Jesus, who has fought it before and knows all the moves.
My earnest desire is to be like Him, in all I say and do, my intentions and attitudes. I know I cannot do this without a mighty sword in my hand, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. I must lay down my own will each day and walk obediently and faithfully with Him, who my soul loves.
To know him is the souls true rest, and complete fulfillment. In the midst of war, we know peace, a peace that cannot be explained by this worlds philosophies and transcends all pain and sorrow, and bring us safely to the fathers side.
Only then will the throne be ours, when we have learned to walk the narrow way and all pride and self-seeking are gone forever.

This is a Fortnum & Masons coffee
For those whos noses are toffee.
I drank it very slowly
It made me feel quite lowly.
The bill said three pounds fifty
Today I wasn’t being thrifty.
It’ll probably never happen again
A one-off coffee Zen.

In the end, frankly, it wasn’t worth it
It all went towards a hefty profit.
Supporting the facade of a wealthy Britain
Who, in reality, is bankrupt and selfish.
It took ten minutes for the drink to arrive
With milk, water and a mini ice-cream on the side.
Missing a spoon, another had to be lent
Just before the bill was sent.

I paid for two cups of coffee with a card
Leaving the shop wasn’t in any way hard.
An experience to add up under my belt
In an environment, an outsider I felt.
I continue to wonder how we spend our profit
On things that have no value or benefit.
Supporting a system where greed is rewarded
And the disadvantaged continually ignored.

The things of true value, by this world side-lined
We catch the glitter of it’s passing fripperies inclined
To undercut this layer of society in deep malase
Is the purpose of those who differently appraise.
It’s just a cup of coffee, I hear you say
Sold to all sorts of people everyday.
The realisation that coffee isn’t the end
Makes me think again and my position defend.

The old covenant: This was weak and bound to fail, because it was between fallen mankind and a Holy God. The fallen man could not, nor ever could keep the covenant. The covenant broke down almost straight away and mankind fell into ruin.
The new covenant actually existed before the old covenant: This was a strong and Holy bond, because it was between the three persons of the Holy Trinity, and depended on them only to keep it and sustain it.
The first covenant was then the one made between the persons of the Godhead, so that sinful man could be redeemed and sanctified and brought safely into heaven itself. The covenant made with man, was seen to be useless, as it could not be upheld by the weak (dead) party.
God therefore demonstrated the weakness of sinful man and the glory of His own Holy strength and power to buy back for slavery and death a people for his name.
God the father willed this event, the Son gave himself as a ransom for many and the Spirit calls those who are being saved and indwelling them and keeping them until the day of final redemption. Thus the Holy covenant is fulfilled and sinful man can now enter in with true confidence that God is able to save to the uttermost, those that come to God through Him.

If you saw him, he was completely unremarkable. There was nothing about his outward appearance that marked him out for any other regular man. He was not handsome, or striking and your eyes would not linger on his form, or pick him out in a crowd, nor return to have another look.
He gave up his job as a handyman, to become a hobo, wandering the countryside, living rough, without home or employment. Some would say, irresponsible and a drifter without ties or troubles. He wore the same shirt every day and slept under hedgerows or caves in the hills; got food from fields and fruiting shrubs along the paths and roads that crossed the landscape; stayed the odd night with good friends, who understood his way and loved him nevertheless.
Until he opened his mouth, and you would realise after just a few words, that this was no ordinary, ordinary man. His speech was laced with deep thought and teaching that had never been heard before, except maybe from the old prophets from the past, who no one listened to anymore. There was no apology for his ideas and he spoke authoritatively about his father, who he totally obeyed and reflected his purity in all he did and said.
His stamina to work from dawn to dusk, was out of this world and he never turned a single needy person away, no matter how he felt. The folk of the countryside loved him and couldn’t get enough of his speech, it filled them with a hope beyond the grave and that their wrongdoing could be completely forgiven and wiped out. His heart wept for those who remained hardened and cold, and longed for them to see their folly and bend their knees to him. Few of them did in the end.
He spoke to everyone in a way they could understand and relate to. He was not embarrassed to talk to deep-dyed sinners, and readily drew their attention to the difficulty that kept them away from him. Some gave it up and shed the ragged clothes of unbelief and the cloying ties to this world’s commitments. A few could not give up what they held most dear and kept it, losing the freedom of this man’s forgiving heart.

His formal education was limited and stretched no further than teenage years. The local synagogue school taught him to read the Old Testament scriptures, which he understood way beyond any of his teachers. His ability to know and understand was complete and his application to wisdom, and total obedience to God, made him a perfect man.

He was a Jew, born of a middle-Eastern mother and a father with whom he is equal, this unrecognizable God of heaven and earth, made so fragile and dependant on a mere mortal to sustain him. He is still the reader of hearts and the searcher of intentions and attitudes his outward form not of note nor obviously strong. He speaks through the words of weak human voices, in many ways to all of us, and touches us in the hands and lips of the meek.
The fragile, lonesome man is Lord of the Universe, who never sleeps and who’s understanding no one can fathom, yet he was tired and needed to sleep and rest, just like us and suffered pain when he did not get the rest his body needed. From tiny baby in the manger to criminal dying in agony on a Roman gibbet, this true God, without beginning and end, spends a lifetime on the planet he made, to save it’s worthless inhabitants.
This is no ordinary man, nor ordinary life. This life is perfect in every way, strong in every regard, loving to the utmost extent and worthy only of a true God. As we look on his weakness in human flesh and hear his voice calling us to follow, who will not listen and obey? This voice echoes through the history of human events and repeatedly speaks of another way, which will lead us to put our hand in the hands that were nailed to a wooden cross and to forsake our sin.
You may be an ordinary man or woman, but you too can be like this man, and become heirs of his fathers throne, with all your faults and failings dealt with, so that the ordinary becomes extra-ordinary and human flesh can put on immortality and incorruption.
This ordinary man still lives and calls to us again in these days of pain and apathy. He knows all your troubles, he has felt them too, and can give the strength to overcome and make you the person he intended you to be.

Let children’s voices be heard
Cascading over the absurd
Singing songs of joy
With praises their tongues employ.

The hope of the future singing
Evil to the depths flinging
Renewed in heart and voice
To eternity they rejoice.

A true and happy band
Kept by His mighty hand
Forgiven redeemed and taken
By Christ and never forsaken.

To their home with Him in heaven
We with glad comprehension
May follow them with bended knee
And listen in eternity.

be kind
be good
be gentle
be honest
be fair
be faithful
be loving
be generous
be satisfied
be peaceable
be ready

What is it about sweets that draws us in?
Chewing and sucking until the enamel wears thin
The dentist has never been so busy filling correction
In the teeth of those in love with sugary confection.

The tasty jewels jostle for attention in the jars
From humans who will simply dissolve them for hours
You can’t get enough – they’re truly delicious
And trouble breeds on your molars delicate surfaces.

To choose which one you will buy – just a quarter
Depends on how many ways you want to be led to slaughter
This is the decision of the decade – on all this rests
Which superb, delicious sweety is going to turn out the best.

The deadliest place on earth is the old fashioned variety
Wall to wall jars of ecstatic flavours for a society
Completely besotted with the sugar cane and beet
Not getting nearly enough of foodstuffs so sweet.

As the teeth are under attack, so is the waist
We need to ween ourselves of the delightful taste
Or end up piling on the inches filled with fat
And without teeth and figure we’re left thereat.

Still, as we enter the door of delight, our fears flee away
Diets and hygiene to be contemplated another day
Is it heaven? Is it hell? Does it really matter?
Those jars of pure, nectarous ambrosia are all we are after.

Without a Saviour, the soul is at the mercy of the storms
That batter every heart and bring about wild alarms
Running into the deep recesses of the cleft in the mighty rock
Your life is safe from every fear and wave of earthquake shock.

The place of comfort and fortitude is easy to miss
It is narrow and deep and will keep  you in it’s tryst
No evil there will hurt  you or from your lover part
And refuge from the certian path of Satan’s deadly dart.

That fissure was made for you by one who holds you in his palm
Indeed it is his secret hiding place beyond the reach of harm
The furious winds that blow apace, the rain and hail that chide
Can never smash your weary bark on the wild and swelling tide.

Solid rock is below your feet, strong stratum hem you in above
Treasure to strengthen- is in the deepest part of the cove
Secure in the refuge you will forever be, and never lost in the fury
Of this world treacherous and deadly sea of trouble made continualy.

The rock stands firm and always will despite the blows
Of a stream of weather that against each weary sailor flows
Your bark will not survive the battering of the unstoppable tempest
And your craft sink and die in the briney waves of the wildness.

It stands there to rescue every weary mariner and his vessel
Power unsurpassed that can save each victim of the sinful
A Saviour that loves and guides, and shelters to the journeys end
Your life brought safely in to the harbour’s eternal godsend.

All who knew us said we would end up together
So similar in outlook and loving our Lord so vehemently
Our early years apart, studying on different land masses
Me in Ireland, our homeland, and you on the mainland, as time passes.

Our wedding day, with much gladness, the happiest we had known
To London took us, to settle and make our home
Children, jobs and many opportunities to build our lives with trust
Have filled our days with joy and hope between us.

Through trouble and heart ache we have been daily kept
And in the darkest hours, bitter tears have wept
As through the dark night of the soul our craft had almost sank
In the murky depths of uncertainty and the promise left pointblank.

Now, twenty five years on, we are still together
And happy and at rest with each others endeavour
To walk the Pilgrim pathway, as fellow travellers and to others show
The love of Christ and free salvation to every soul we know.

Some think of this as an achievement, but really it’s not
The road of life is filled with failure and wishing you had not
We do not overcome by effort, talent or purpose of our will
The battle was won for each of us on Calvary’s lonely hill.

Without you I would be nothing and struggling on alone
You, without me, lonely and long days with toil left forlorn
Our God providing and planning our lives in tandem
As lovers, friends and workers in his heavenly kingdom.

Workers together we labour in this world’s harvest field
Until together our troubles and trials to his love will yield
The next generation we pray to our God will cleave
Before this worlds weary treadmill we finally leave.

Marriage lasts only for life, we must someday part
Minds separated and love a divided heart
But one day at the marriage supper of the Lamb
We as one will live with our Saviour and in freedom stand.

People don’t want to hear about mental illness in case they might find out something they don’t already know. Perhaps they might find out something about their own psyche that would disturb, challenge and cause anxiety and pain. Welcome to the world of a manic depressive.