Coming and Going- Sonnet (by Fenny West)

Coming and going just searching for you

Ravished then famished, taken breath away

I went to heaven and then hell for you

Why summer and winter on the same day?

My joy, my jewel, you’re my reason for being

Your smile is the sun that will dry my tears

Come take my arms, I will give anything

Why do you run? What, my love are your fears?

A new leaf I will turn, eyes just for you

A new song I will sing, ’Just two of us’

O, come home, come home, I badly need you

Without you, I will be at a great loss

Come into my fold, O love that’s gone cold.

Truly, to me, you will ever be gold.

The apple of my eyes, that’s what you are -Sonnet ( by Fenny West)

The apple of my eyes, that’s what you are.

My treasured one, the best bird I can have.

Ruined and marred by the fall that kept you far.

Yet, I longed daily for you, my first love.

Wondering and pondering which day you will come.

Waiting and looking for my broken dream

To come into my garden and bosom.

I looked here and there even in the stream.

Prepared a sumptuous meal for you and I.

But there, vacant remained your seat and place.

Gone for so long, I kept asking, ‘Why, Why?’

When will you return and show me your face.

No one, nothing! can take your place, beloved.

For you, any mountain I would have moved.

Seek Him Dearly and Daily ( by C.H. Spurgeon)

Seek Him Dearly and Daily

“I sought him, but I found him not.” Song of Solomon 3:1

Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell you the most likely place to find him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by restraining prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find him. Did you lose Christ by sin? You will find Christ in no other way but by the giving up of the sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in which the lust doth dwell. Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? You must find Christ in the Scriptures. It is a true proverb, “Look for a thing where you dropped it, it is there.” So look for Christ where you lost him, for he has not gone away. But it is hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan tells us, the pilgrim found the piece of the road back to the Arbour of Ease, where he lost his roll, the hardest he had ever travelled. Twenty miles onward is easier than to go one mile back for the lost evidence.

Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close to him. But how is it you have lost him? One would have thought you would never have parted with such a precious friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so comforting, and whose company is so dear to you! How is it that you did not watch him every moment for fear of losing sight of him? Yet, since you have let him go, what a mercy that you are seeking him, even though you mournfully groan, “O that I knew where I might find him!” Go on seeking, for it is dangerous to be without thy Lord. Without Christ you are like a sheep without its shepherd; like a tree without water at its roots; like a sere leaf in the tempest–not bound to the tree of life. With thine whole heart seek him, and he will be found of thee: only give thyself thoroughly up to the search, and verily, thou shalt yet discover him to thy joy and gladness.

Going by Faith and Love (by Fenny West)

Going by Faith and Love

You can be a major player

On the mission field

Just with your heart-felt prayers.

Your resources can go

Where your feet cannot go.

You can sing many songs

By connecting with the singer

By just being a partner

Assisting in whatever way you can.

God will reward you greatly.

You can write many books

Even without lifting a pen

You can preach many sermons

Without being a pastor or a teacher

An evangelist, prophet or apostle.

By just being a rope-holder, armour-bearer.

We need each other; we’re a unit.

We belong to the body of Christ.

Like the black and white keys on a keyboard.

⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 1Cor3:9

⁴There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.⁵There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.⁶And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.⁷But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:⁸for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.¹¹But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

¹²For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.¹³For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.¹⁴For in fact the body is not one member but many.

¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?¹⁸But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.¹⁹And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

²⁰But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.²¹And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”²²No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.²³And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty 1Cor12:4-23

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ —¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Eph4:11-16

¹⁵Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only.¹⁶For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.¹⁷Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.¹⁸Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.¹⁹And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.²⁰Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Phil4:15-20

⁴¹He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.⁴²And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

Matt10:41-42

Liquid Love Lavished On You

Liquid Love Lavished on You

Liquid love lavished on You

By the Father through Jesus

Was not because you were so good

But because God is so good.

Not because you were righteous

Not because you were virtuous.

Yet God thought you were valuable

And so He gave you His best -Jesus.

He even loved you like He loved Jesus

How mind-blowing, O what love!

That love is liquid like water

Flowing from God the Father

To all humanity, you and I .

That love is meant to flow

To others from you and I

Reach every nook and cranny.

That love should break every barrier.

That love should know no nationality

Race, creed or colour or language

That love should ooze like an aroma

Like a river that has burst its banks

That love should reach out and touch

Those lost and in the cold

That love should reach out and snatch

Those who are going to hell.

So let the liquid love flow.

Let us go in the Spirit’s flow

And rescue the perishing

Comfort those in distress

Give hope to the hopeless

Give life to the lifeless.

Let that love cause us to live for Him

Let that love cause us to live His dream.

Live to the full, full our reason for being

And give glory to Him who gave the liquid love.

⁸But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.⁹Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.¹⁰For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Ro5:8-10

Jesus’ Christmas List ( by Rick Warren)

Jesus’ Christmas List
by Rick Warren

“They bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11 NCV)

For more than 50 years my family has kept a tradition of holding a birthday party for Jesus. It started when I was 3 years old and asked my mom, “What is Christmas?” My mom told me it was Jesus’ birthday. With terrific 3-year-old logic, I said, “We should have a birthday party!” And we did, complete with a birthday cake, Kool-Aid, songs, cake, and candles.

We’ve kept that tradition going for four generations now. The birthday party for Jesus has become a sacred time where we read the Christmas story and share what we’re grateful for and what we’re giving Jesus, which is one of the most memorable parts of the celebration.

Often, Jesus gets shut out during Christmas. Imagine I planned a party for you and invited many people. Everyone brings lots of gifts, and the invitees trade presents with one another — and you get nothing.

That’s Christmas. We give gifts to everyone but Jesus. But let’s be honest — what do you give the God who has everything?

Actually, Jesus doesn’t have everything. There are four things he doesn’t have unless you give them to him this Christmas:

Give him your trust. Faith is a voluntary matter. Jesus doesn’t have your trust unless you give it to him. He will never force it.

Make Jesus first place in your life. If anything or anyone other than Jesus holds first place in your life, it’s an idol. This Christmas, choose to make Jesus first in your finances, interests, relationships, schedule — and even in your troubles.

Give Jesus your heart. Your heart is what you love, what you value, and what you care about most. Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34 NIV). One important way you give Jesus your heart this Christmas is by giving your resources to his work. Jesus doesn’t need your money, but he wants what it represents — your heart.

Bring other people to Jesus. God wants a family more than anything else this Christmas. He wants children who choose to love and trust him. It is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Invite someone to Jesus this Christmas. Tell someone about what Jesus has done in your life.

The Bible tells us that the Wise Men didn’t give Jesus their leftovers when they visited him on the first Christmas but instead gave three very significant and valuable gifts: “They bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11 NCV).

As you give Jesus your trust, make him first in your life, give what you value to his work, and bring other people to him, you’re giving him gifts far more valuable than the ones the Wise Men brought.

So tell Jesus “happy birthday” this Christmas. Give him your best.

Talk It Over

Why do you think giving a gift to Jesus is thought of so rarely during the Christmas season?
What do you think it means to put Jesus first in your troubles?
Which of the gifts mentioned in the devotional today do you want to commit to giving to Jesus this Christmas?

Loved to Love ( by Fenny West)

Loved to Love

Loved to love
Blessed to bless
Accepted to accept
Freed to free
Tried to triumph
Separated for sainthood
Opportune to give opportunity
Tested to have a testimony
Suffering to have an offering
Saved to behave and serve
Enlightened to enlighten
Graced to grace
Adorned to adorn
Increased to increase
Fuelled to have a fire
Promoted to promote
Restored to restore
Forgiven to forgive

©Fenny West2014

He Made Me Marvellously (by Fenny West)

He Made Me Marvellously

¹³For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

¹⁷How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

¹⁸If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.

Ps139:13-18 NKJV

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 139:13-18

¹³For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
¹⁷How precious to me are your thoughts,God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

New living Translation

The Message

Psalm 139:13-18

The Message (MSG)

^13-16Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

^17-18Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!