Sunday, 26 September 2010

Love (uncovered)

Writing, is her only release.
Ink to paper, flowing
like her thoughts, spilling
onto the sheet, like blood,
as her heart falls onto the page.
In a million pieces.
"They tore out my heart and
stomped that sucker flat"
How true were his words?
Bashed and bruised,
is the poor little bloody mass,
As she picks it up, to be returned
to the empty chamber,
that was once full of
Love.

Naïve and foolish she was then,
to trust and believe in what she
thought would always be true.
Lasting for eternity, like the
sun that shines, filling the vacuum
with hope and happiness.
Mending the foolish lump and soothing
it's scars.
Only to be torn apart
again, by empty promises
"Love is blind"
Caused by the shields and barricades,
protecting her heart from the spitefulness of
others. Eventually it is unarmed, to
reveal the fool's paradise of
infinite, eternal
Love.
Shattered. Exposing the disconcerted object
to reality.

"Revenge is sweet"
And doesn't she know it.
Transformed, into a seething mass of
hatred, her heart recklessly wreaks
distress, on the unfortunate,
exposed and foolish.
Bursting bubbles, causing their emotions and innermost
desires to come,
crashing to the ground.
Pieced back together,
morphed and twisted, a bitter distortion. Stunned
by the harsh truth.

Only to return to that viscous circle, riding
forever, on the emotional roller-coaster.
Aka
Love.


I wrote this poem when I was 15/16 and I have to say that it was the story of my life for almost a decade. It's about someone who gives her heart away too easily. Someone who looks for a saviour in a partner. Someone that puts her trust in unstable situations, believing false promises. Someone who tries to be worthy only to let herself down.
Living life this way leads to heartache and misery. The love of a partner is not steadfast, pure and faithful like the love of God. Our only saviour is Jesus Christ not Joe Bloggs.
This girl, sad, bitter, crazy from heartache and failure ends up taking it out on other people, causing them the same pain that she received and so it continues.

I don't live in this cycle any more.
Two years ago, I realised that God loves me. I realised that I didn't need to live that way, that He doesn't want me to live like that any more. That He has amazing plans for me, to give me a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11) And so I accepted Jesus into my heart. And from that day he has mended it, moulded it and made it beautiful again.(psalm 34:18)

See, God has always loved me, and he loves you.  He created us out of love, to be in relationship with Him. He wanted to walk and talk with us freely and for us to be like that with each other too. Loving, comfortable, easy. But then sin entered the world. You know the story of Adam and Eve, when they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge? That was the first sin and from then on we are all sinners. He told them not to, and they did. We've all lied, cheated, lusted, whatever. Even little sins are sins. (And I sinned too, BIG style!) But the consequence of sin is death, hell. Separation from God. And sin has a consequence on earth too; sadness, hopelessness, worry, guilt... (Separation from God)
Recognising this problem, God, out of love, has offered us a way out. Jesus.
He lived on earth, as a man but without sin, a perfect example of how we should be. Then he offered up His own life as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. Not just death but separation from God, the only time Jesus had ever been completely separated from His father. 
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him" (The Message).
You have a choice. You can ignore this and carry on as you were before in that awful cycle I wrote about above. Or you can accept this truth, and start living with God, for God and let Him heal your heart and your mind, see Him working in marvellous ways in your life and experience love, joy, peace and hope like you never have before!

Let me know, if you want to know more!!

Where do you sow?

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption,
but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:8

Often, the mere suggestion of sowing and reaping brings about a lot of wincing, foot shuffling and fingernail inspecting but I'm not about to talk about money, reading this won't cost you a thing, so sit back and relax.

Sowing isn't just about what you do with your money, it's also about what you do with your time, your thoughts, your speech, your focus. Where do you cast your eyes, who do you listen to, where do you go for fulfilment?
We are in a battle against 3 enemies, the devil (and his minions), the flesh and the world. We all know that the devil's bad (if you think he's just misunderstood then you're crazy).  But who likes to admit that their flesh is evil and craves sin? (FYI sin is anything that separates us from God, not jut sex)
This verse is a warning against selfishness, you may not even recognise it happening in your life, but you'll definitely notice the consequences. I know that whenever my focus has strayed from God to me, when I have lived by myself, for myself that I have ended up a pretty unhappy bunny. And in this state, I'm not exactly spreading joy and love to those around me. Looking far back to before I was a Christian I remember, clearly, the corruption that I reaped, that I spread to others for my own fulfilment. But that could lead onto a whole other story, entirely.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:
immorality, impurity, sensuality,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these...
Galatians 5:19-21
 
But there's good news. The one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.
Focus on God, put your hope in God, Trust Him, have praise on your lips and a thankful heart, know His grace, love and mercy. Read the word, listen to Him! Live for Jesus and you will reap eternal life. When you live for Him you bear spiritual fruit.

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self control;
Galatians 5:22-23

I know I'd much rather be the fruitful person than the former. Who do you think is happier and does more for God's kingdom? Following the deeds of the flesh may give temporary gratification but our hope in God is eternal. He is solid, loving and faithful.

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay.
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to out God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust the Lord.
Psalm 40:1-3