Higher

I delight in delighting God
I rejoice in He rejoicing in me
A sweet repose, such lovely prose
My heart, a frame, His Spirit to abode
His Name, a whisper, a vow, a plea
a hope, a need, met indeed
Higher, O God but not in my own strength
Higher,
as I am lifted up I lift not myself
without Your breath I am low I am dust
I trust You O God to do O God
What You have inspired me to strive for –
This dream it seems to fade with wear upon me
but it can be still. Because You are I am.
Amen.






Luk:14:10
Jam:4:10

Break me and make me Your own
Call me to worship before Your Throne
Embrace me and hold me close
This one thing I’m beginning to know –
My God You are in love with me
It’s with me that You desire to be
and nothing in Heaven
nothing in Earth can come between us
You will never leave me
You will never deceive me
You will never forsake me
O Your Love, Your Love will take me
From here to Eternity
To forever be with Thee
This is my Destiny this I see
O God - You are in love with me!

When You draw near You banish all fear
You hold me close , You don’t let go
And I am beginning to see I am beginning to know
O God You are passionately, deeply, in love with me
Hallelujah! Oh!
All men have rejected You - You have rejected no one
It is not Your Will that any should perish
The fellowship of all mankind You cherish
You have resisted no one - all are welcome in
No one was left out when You died from all sin
You’ve embraced us - with Truth You’ve Graced us
And I’m beginning to realize deep inside
You are madly in love with me Your Bride
For You I sigh….


2 Pet:3:9

Oh it’s such a sweet contradiction
hesitant, undeniably lovely composition
that when we’re born we must die
that we must die to be born
It’s such a sacred rendition
As we dance through life
To the leading of Your Spirit
From our minds unclean thoughts are shorn
Oh to be born to be reborn
Not from the Will or seed of man
but from the Will and Love and Passion and Hand
and Heart of The Spirit of God above
Behold, oh behold the Love of God
That we should be called His Sons!
The blue print, the plan
The finger prints of God
Found within man

Can we fulfil the dreams of God?
Can we give Him the desires of His heart?
Can we love Him as He loves us?
Can we open our hearts and Trust?

Our life is not our own
We’ve been bought with a great price
even the very blood
even the very life

of God



Zep:3:17

Sometimes a doctor must rebreak a bone that did not heal properly in order to reset it the right way. Sometimes a shepherd will break his lamb’s leg in order to keep it from habitually straying into danger, away from his safe pasture. So must The Lord do with our hearts, with my heart – rebreak it to remake it right. Oh how it hurts but the pain is far less than it would be if we continue in life with a heart that isn’t right In His sight.
Rebreak my heart, Lord, rebreak my heart
Forsake not a brand new start
Let me be broken again and again
Till I can fight no more the Love that You send
Till I resist no more my God, my friend
Who mends
I’ve been “acting the goat”
I’ve been so full of Pride
I’m blind without even knowing
I could not see clearly me
I’ve been quick to offend, slow to repent
Often doing the opposite of the Love that You sent
Till my heart is rent, till my flesh is shaken
I can’t rise out of this grave of my makin’

Thank God You are the Resurrection then the Life
So keep me on the operating table under Your surgeon’s knife
Until You’ve completely removed
My pre-eminence over You




Joh:11:25&26
PS: "Acting the Goat" is an Irish expression for acting like a fool. I recently spent almost four years in Ireland as a missionary with my wife Sheryl and our daughters Tiffany and Karianna. What an experience that was!

Hold me Jesus, for I cannot understand
How to become like a child in order to be a man

Hold me Jesus, for I need You desperately
For I cannot make this journey without You inside of me

My heart beats faster, thinking of You now
I get so excited knowing You are near
All I have to do is think of You
And You pour on me the generosity
Of Your Holy Spirit of Love and Mercy!

So hold me Jesus, hold me now
May Your Word dig up my heart like a plow
Breaking up the fallow ground

Reducing me to the simplicity
Of the wisdom that comes
Only from Thee



Mar:10:15

Thank You Lord, for
You’re the Maker of eyelids
With which the evil can remain hid
You gave a way to protect us each day
From seeing what we shouldn’t see


And You gave us a mouth to shut
And keep us from saying what
We shouldn’t say

O Guard these pots of clay!


May we shut our eyes and ears
To anything we shouldn’t see or hear
And every time we open our mouths
May Your Words of Spirit and Life come out!




Joh:6:63

Homesick

Lord, this world is nice enough, I suppose
Seen some beautiful sights, as far as that goes
but as I ponder this Life I’m in the midst of
One thought stands out and really sticks –
Lord, I’m getting Homesick.

Sure I appreciate Creation’s Glory
Sometimes I think I can almost taste Your Majesty
But the greatest thing about this life that I can see
Is that each day brings me one step closer to You for Eternity

Lord, I’m not complainin’ but if I had to pick –
Lord, I’m getting Homesick
I know I’m a soldier stationed far from home
I must fulfil my service, surrounded by many or all alone
I must obey my Commander-in-Chief
Till one day to my great relief
In the blink of an eye
Yes, just that quick –
I’ll no longer be
Homesick




1 Cor:15:52

We don’t want to have Church anymore
Jesus we want to have You
We don’t want another empty service
Without Your presence, no
From here on out only You will do
We will openly release to You all we do and say
And that which is chaff may Holy Spirit drive away
Far away
No longer will we allow the traditions of man
To prevent us from obeying whatever You command
We’ll not just honour You with our lips
But our hearts together with Yours will be knit
We’ll remain with You in relationship
You, oh God will be in control of our meetings
You lead and we will follow
No more a powerless people (who are we reflecting?)
The thoughts and intents of man we’ll no longer swallow
Nothing else, absolutely no one but Your very Presence in our midst will do For Lord, we are desperately, passionately,
Deeply in life with You



Dan:11:32

The rain falls from the sky
because God loves you and I
The sun rises once again
because God cares for man
The moon is set to give light by night
so men in darkness might have sight
Just as the moon reflects the sun’s glory
This is an example of the Christian’s story
For we reflect the Glory of the Son
in a darkened world that’s come undone
We reflect His Light that men may see
The Light of the Son’s Eternal Glory
We have no light in and of ourselves
It is only Jesus that makes men well
God is faithful and always will be
The provider of all we will ever need
And He has chosen to touch humanity
Through you, through me.



Gen:1:14-19

There’s a rhythm and a flow
To our lives don’t you know
Like skipping stones on a quiet pond
The ripples of our days go on and on
And set in motion something fond

I can still bathe myself in the warm memories of my childhood
Memories grazing gently in the deep valleys of my mind
Where good thoughts grow, gentle sheep-thoughts
That wouldn’t hurt a soul, meek and kind
I can still feel the sun on the back of my neck
I look up to see the sky thick with sunbeams
That reveal the woodland pasture air alive with living things
Zipping and buzzing and busily going about their pre-ordained routes
Alive! Alive! The crunchy ground underfoot
The joy of discovery! A dead thing or a naked bug under a root
I love my childhood memories of discovery
(get Tiffy to the woods ASAP!)

Life is worth living,
Even a bug will strive to stay alive
From some deep urge it has inside



Psalm 8

Caterpillars and lady bugs and noisy bull frogs
Sunlight through the leaves of trees and moss covered logs
Tadpoles and minnows, crunchy stuff underfoot
To go exploring as a child – wonders everywhere I look!

The feel of the warmth of the sun on my skin
And a pond bottom’s mushiness as my toes start sinkin’ in
Crawdads and fire flies and the smell of a musty wood
Being out doors , Man, it’s just plain good!

There’s a swishy sound you make when you slide your feet
on the forest floor
Daddy long legs used to scare me but he don’t no more
I used to just love to lay out and watch the stars
And wonder how anything could be so beautiful and yet so far


Some memories of childhood
Remind me life can be full and good
I want my child’s child years
Filled with laughter and far away fears




Psa:19:1-3

Mahon Falls

My lungs they fill with this mountain breeze
My ears hear this brook babbling incessantly
My eyes are consumed with Magnificent Beauty
Oh God thank You for creating all that I see
But most of all Father, Abba,
Thank You for creating Me!

I declare with my voice how wondrous You are!
For all I behold both near and far
Causes me now to fall to my knees
And thank You God for creating me!

I sing aloud to the birds and the Trees –
Thank You Lord for creating me!
I can’t help but sing as my spirit soars free –
Thank You, precious God, thank You for creating me!

It’s for You and others that I’ve come to be
It’s to dwell with You so very intimately
It’s to know You and behold You in all of Your Glory
Oh there is no end to Your creativity!
Oh thank You Dad for creating me!
All my fears and doubts, all my unbelief
You’ve banished from my presence – far away I decree!
As I rejoice, as my heart cries joyfully –
Thank You God for creating me!
The hastening of my chastening will not make me flee,
But draw nearer to You in humility,
Thank You Father for breaking me!


1 Tim:1:12

So when you hear that wild bird tweet
He's saying to you "Our God is sweet!"
"Our God is Grand!"
"Our God's to be praised throughout the land!"
"All creatures great and small
Are to hear and obey the Spirit's call
To worship and Praise
Through all our days
This God of ours
Who died and was raised"

So when you hear that song bird sing
listen carefully
For he's saying
"Come and praise your God with me"

Rainfall or Sunshine
Deep forest Glades
Country sides with new cut hay
Morning lawns wet with dew
Oh my God they all speak of You!

The Star’s shine
A spider’s web caught in the setting sun’s light
The taste of salt in the sea side’s air
All bear witness of Your loving care.

The greens of Trees (such variety!)
The patterns frost makes on frozen leaves
The stillness of dawn or just before the Sun sets
Or the joy of jumping in a Florida natural spring
And gettin’ all wet,

All give respite
From the harshness of life
All say to us that what You do is right
All are but a shadow of
A reflection of
The Glory to come

All bear the signature of You, our Glorious One!





Rom:1:19&20