My heart leaps with joy again this morning,
God’s love has shattered death’s downward spiral,
His great act of mercy completed by forgiveness,
I want to declare loudly heaven’s celebration,
Of life that is waiting for me to join in the dance,
I trust my every breath to the honesty of praise,
Thankfulness wells up and tears form out of gratitude,
Every part of me paying attention to where my home is,
Yearning to participate fully in the place created for me,
Praise is what has found the source of love in my life,
Praise is the legacy that I wish to leave in my words,
Praise rings out again today, Praise the Lord!

Where does my God song begin?
What is the song I sing with his saints?
Out of obedience His gifts are formed,
New words searching the truth for this moment,
Finding that one thing that I must do today,
Seeking it above everything else.

Gratitude is my first gift of the day,
Life given that is formed out of love,
Learning the path forged by past pilgrims,
Mutual delight shared with created and Creator,
The day ahead planned as a Holy space,
Humbly accepting the path chosen for his beloved.

My praise today will search out what is right,
I will not be content with the halfhearted choices,
Living wholeheartedly keeps me in good company,
Following those who share God’s passionate love,
Leaving behind the deceit of self declared might,
I will tear down their pretences of goodness,
Overcoming their stupidity with love and grace,
My purpose found in gratitude and praise again,
Not giving up in the midst of opposition,
Praise finding its home in my pilgrim path.

I am surrounded with opportunities to be thankful,
I look left and right and to my future’s hope,
Finding more and more to be grateful for,
Everything finds its source in Creation’s voice,
He begins a conversation that is etched in my heart,
Love is what forms all truth in this life,
Life doesn’t exist without this love,
The rhythm of creation’s work every day,
All the scurrying activity that happens below,
Will find the words that acknowledge God’s plans,
Nothing is missed from the detail of Creation’s care.

We have not been left alone, God doesn’t miss anything,
My feeble attempts at loving will discover trust,
God will honour what is lived out of lovingkindness,
Coming close so that not even a whisper is missed.
Joining in the shout of creation that cries out,
Praise the Lord!

I love finding where joy begins in life,
I have found the truth about happiness,
It’s been shouted out since a Eden’s foundation,
The open secret that is shared freely,
Begin the day with knowing your creator.
End each day with a celebration of your gifts,
Give a shout of appreciation that you are known,
Breath a sigh of thankfulness that justice is coming,
Never forget that God is making the decisions,
Arrogant power mongers will tremble before him,
Their day of reckoning will come soon enough,
The day of glory where humiliation is transformed.

Find something to beat that makes praise louder,
Sing it out pilgrim and learn to love today’s path,
If you have enough to eat and drink today,
And a voice to praise, then you have enough,
Know your place in this world, you are not God,
Your gift is that God gave you life and he shared it with you,
Take time to delight in that you can worship your Creator,
Love that only knows how to persevere and forgive.

From the shelter of finding where you belong,
Declare the gift of knowing what safe is,
Your searching and longings have found their answers,
The careless foolish insults flung out by stupidity,
Bounce off the protective arms that are trusted,
The best is reserved for the obedient child,
Their appetites are completely satisfied,
God decides when the seasons will shift,
Foolish pride thinks that we can change what God decides,
All this is obvious to a moment given to common sense,
Love has focussed his attention on blessing his children,
Kindness is showered on them day after day,
This is his gift that sharing the heart of praise again and again.

I love finding where joy begins in life,
I have found the truth about happiness,
It’s been shouted out since a Eden’s foundation,
The open secret that is shared freely,
Begin the day with knowing your creator.
End each day with a celebration of your gifts,
Give a shout of appreciation that you are known,
Breath a sigh of thankfulness that justice is coming,
Never forget that God is making the decisions,
Arrogant power mongers will tremble before him,
Their day of reckoning will come soon enough,
The day of glory where humiliation is transformed.

Find something to beat that makes praise louder,
Sing it out pilgrim and learn to love today’s path,
If you have enough to eat and drink today,
And a voice to praise, then you have enough,
Know your place in this world, you are not God,
Your gift is that God gave you life and he shared it with you,
Take time to delight in that you can worship your Creator,
Love that only knows how to persevere and forgive.

From the shelter of finding where you belong,
Declare the gift of knowing what safe is,
Your searching and longings have found their answers,
The careless foolish insults flung out by stupidity,
Bounce off the protective arms that are trusted,
The best is reserved for the obedient child,
Their appetites are completely satisfied,
God decides when the seasons will shift,
Foolish pride thinks that we can change what God decides,
All this is obvious to a moment given to common sense,
Love has focussed his attention on blessing his children,
Kindness is showered on them day after day,
This is his gift that sharing the heart of praise again and again.

Love for God is where life begins and ends,
This is what I want my life to declare forever,
My desire to to stay faithful to my calling,
To whisper in my dying breath, “thank you Lord”.

Life brings lots of grandiose plans and possibilities,
They flood in day after day wanting to find their home,
The hard learned lessons of failure has taught me –
To not trust the easily made choices of others,
Who live in the shifting sands of human ambition,
The best of advice is to follow God wholeheartedly,
Then nothing else can distract from my heartfelt joy,
I can leave being the easily made plans of distraction,
Instead I will commit to what lies closest to Eternity’s heart –
I will seek to see more of Eternity in everyone,
I will open my ears more to cry of the poor,
I will weep with those who know sadness,
I will love deeply my neighbour,
I will stand up when truth is distorted,
I will find beauty in everyone.

God’s got it all in hand,
I should know this by now,
This morning I remember with joy,
I will not return to worry,
No, I will find the gift of praise,
And, declare it every day.

 

The language of eternity begins and ends with praise,
The gift given to God’s children is we can praise now,
Starting with simple baby word responses to love,
Growing into a hallelujah chorus of celebration,
God’s greatness stretching my vocabulary,
There aren’t enough words to complete the praise he is due,
But, I discover joy every day in finding new ways to praise.

My view broadened by the saints that loved me,
The vista of hope is spread out before me,
All I do is step forward with simple faith,
Faith that is the key to the gift of courage,
My life open to every offering of possibility,
Wrong turns taken in the past leave me undaunted,
Nothing can hold back the the blessings God plans.

Mercy’s kind hand is evident everywhere,
When hatred rages around with petulant anger,
Finding fault in everything that I do,
God continues to seek out what is beautiful in me,
Ignoring my obvious faults, the tally set to zero again,
I live with the freedom of the forgiven wayward son.

I know the temptations of the prodigal,
The bright city lights beckoning with glamour,
Drawing me to their dead end alleys,
This all quickly faded and I was left with nothing,
I rushed back to the Father’s waiting embrace,
I am the hard to teach child who thinks he knows better,
The one who needs to learn the hard way,
I was completely lost but God came near,
The mess I made of my life forgiven and hope restored.

I love the feeling of love’s gaze on me,
It’s not the knife in the back false smile,
No, its looking into the warmth of God’s approval,
Seeing loving compassion reflected in his tender eyes,
Blessing is the final word spoken to me today,
Blessings from Eternity the truth that I searched for,
Blessing to a child who desires to live in wholehearted love.

I wake this morning making prayer my preparation,
For a day that holds the wonder of mystery,
The risk of trying something completely new,
The adventure of launching out in obedience,
People change their mind very quickly,
Shifting with the weight of the loudest voice,
In all the confusion I seek my Lord’s guiding hand,
When I don’t know how to take the next step,
He is with me, quickly forgiving my mistakes,

Sad goodbyes are a constant reminder of life’s brevity,
Yet, you notice my fear covered prayer today,
My trembling voice that fears what could go wrong,
All of this is cupped softly with tender hands,
My life held in Grace’s grasp the centre of Holy attention.

There is a new path opening before your people,
The old song has been sung for too long,
It’s time for your praises to be heard again from my lips,
Take hold of my plans and let me trust you,
Opposition only seeks to find fault in the past,
Spending all their time picking out mistakes,
Instead you see me in the deep water, thrashing around,
And, you choose to rescue me from certain death,
Choosing words of encouragement that give hope,
Not the easily flung insults that say, “failed again!”

I trust my plans to the legacy of hope,
My children building on faith’s foundation,
Blessing multiplying my tentative steps of trust,
Witnesses to planting a mustard seed together,
Entering the life of adventure where faith grows,
This life of adventure is where real life begins,
No longer captive to the limits set by timidity,
Taking the step to allow the fun to be shared,
Letting God be Lord of all we plan to do.

 

My thoughts return to the carefree days of youth,
When faith stretched out before me,
An eternal horizon of never ending opportunity,
Nothing could daunt my eternal optimism,
But, endless hope found reality in my life,
The reminders of my flaws became obvious,
I have plenty of friends who remind me regularly,
My list of sins mounts up each day,
Tallied up by the false promise of the liar’s trust.
I know that my life never measures up,
I could despair when I think of all that could go wrong,
Instead I will end this day with prayer and trust.

Depression was the fogged out life,
The brightest colour was a the bleakest grey,
I thought death was only choice left for me,
This was when I thought life was finished,
Except God chose to show me forgiveness,
I listened to the words of Eternity’s love,
He spoke in the softest whisper about trust,
When I thought I was totally unlovable,
He called me by name with title “Beloved”,
The liar can keep incessantly yapping away,
His annoying bark no longer has any bite,
I am following the path laid out for Mercy,
It’s the sure path that is guided by Grace,
Every day beginning with a thankful prayer,
My life lost and then found by Eternity,
The voice I want to hear is found again,
The Spirit of God leading the way forward,
Sheltering me from the lies and deceit,
Me living the blessed life of service to God.

Temptation can quickly pile up its load of worries,
Everywhere I look is a wrong turn to take,
I am the easily overlooked person who has no voice,
The one who Is quickly forgotten by the false friend,
Promises that are formed easily on her tongue,
Are not followed through with any actions,
Always asking for help when it’s convenient,
But, running around chasing the highlights,
The sorrows of lost friendship sadden me,
My deep care for others is repaid by forgetful loyalty.

This morning I bring this to God,
Sadness reminds me to pray for strength,
Knowing I can’t do this alone,
There’s too much disappointment to face,
I desire freedom from betrayal’s prison,
To be surrounded by a merciful crowd,
Who won’t crumble when friendship costs,
When asked the question of, “Do you know me”?
Won’t follow Peter’s glib denial of ignorance,
Friends who stand with me when the chips are down,
My voice crying in the wilderness of the lost trust,
Heard again by Compassion who walks with me.

Why doesn’t God listen to me?
Doesn’t he know that when I call,
He should be ready to do my bidding,
I know that waiting is what completes faith,
It demands that I stop and be still,
Ensuring that I first ask, and then listen,
My impatience needs a lesson from stillness,
I have stopped and long to hear what God says,
Leaving my day’s worries to look after themselves,
Finding a sanctuary in the quiet rest of prayer.

I am tired of the disloyal loudmouth,
Spruiking endless friendship one day,
Then I am the worst person on earth,
He won’t hesitate for an instant to crucify me,
Quickly forgetting anything good said before,
Making me the purest saint then the worst sinner,
Instead of worrying what he thinks about me,
I will speak about what God is doing in my life,
Truth will find a home in the hearts seek it,

Save me from deceitful friends who lie to me,
Destroying hope and taking life whenever he can,
His web of lies will entangle him in his own misery,
I want the loving words of that bring me to prayer,
Leaving behind the confusion of lying word traps,
There is no rest for that life and it’s misery,
Instead I will develop a love for complete honesty,
Its cost hurting for a moment or two then gone,
I’ve found my solace for the hate thrown at me,
Kindness found in the words of salvation,
Gifts from true friends who nourish my life,
Sharing together the mercies of Grace and friendship.

Rumours spread like wildfire when doused with hate,
Duplicity loves the dissension when quarrels multiply,
Evil masquerading as caring for the misfortunate,
Their cover is too easily shown up by truth,
When what they claim to be is shown as a lie,
Keeping up the pretence is too much hard work,
The deceit rolling too easily off the deceiver’s tongue.

I was surrounded by the rumours,
Confused by the endless quarrels,
Fooled by the masquerade,
Till finally the veil fell off,
My eyes were opened wide,
Clarity came as the deceit was revealed,
The lies became obvious,
The web of deceit’s snare broken by truth.

My cries for help were heard in my dark night,
God was waiting for me to seek his light,
My stupidity repaid with Eternity’s mercy,
When I wanted to give up completely on life,
Thankfully Hatred’s evil threats didn’t come true,
God saved me from the worst conclusion,
Showing the true intentions of the hater’s heart,

My enemies will try to play act their pretence,
Using anything they can to feed their conceit,
There is no room for love where pride rules,
Hatred will find its own reward for the fool,
Judgement day is coming very quickly for contempt,
His sneering curled up lip will soon turn down,
When reality turns his sneer into a grimace,
Where justice shows what the poor really feel.

I will continue to seek to do what is right,
Trusting that hatred has met his match,
Worry is no longer my closest companion,
Instead my step is lightened and my load halved,
As God and I work out the way forward,
Trust deepening as we take each step forward,
My confidence growing in each promise fulfilled.

 

My heart’s desire is to be completely honest with God,
I will find rest when I have looked in every hidden part,
It is hard to hide anything in a broken heart,
Where everything is laid out in plain sight,
Every thought that I seek to claim as mine,
Is known completely and felt by God first,
But as my prayers touch Grace’s heart this morning,
I ask that my limited attempts at love will be heard,
My spirit searching for words of Eternity,
Are trusted to the blessing of Grace’s lovingkindness.

I love showing God my dreams and ideas,
Seeing my God hold them in holy awe,
Wonder the response at my human frailty,
Creation being blessed by my Creator’s response,
All this belongs to me as his chosen love one,
Brought out of a pit of hopeless darkness,
Fumbling around trying to make my own way,
The anxious pit in my stomach growing every day,
God saw all this confusion and still called me son,
I didn’t get what I deserved instead receiving life,

The most awkward embarrassment that I create,
Is looked on with a loving, knowing smile,
The smile that loves a child that is learning,
Silly mistakes are to become cherished memories,
Gentleness is expressing lovingkindness coming close,
What is this love? That can celebrate my weakness!

I want nothing to do with sinful behaviours,
Even in my middle age they still taunt me,
The words of hate are still flung in my direction,
But, my line in the sand is drawn by righteousness,
When enough is enough hatred is not too strong,
For the cruelty of what the arrogant bring to life
Opposition recognised for its hatred of God,
They need to be put in their place and know their fate

My heart is centred again this morning on Mercy,
The gifts that it brings to this anxious world,
That wants to suck my life into its death embrace,
Whereas the Spirit of God want to bring life,
Brought with the touch of blessedness,
That gives strength to move away from death’s clutch,
Find this prayer today God and bless it,
Know that my thoughts cannot find enough words,
To say how much my heart overflows with thanks,
Lord, may I trust today in love’s words,
May they be the only ones that escape my lips.

Worship quiets my anxiousness feelings,
It’s your foundation that builds on faith,
My fumbling words of praise are celebrated,
Not one of them is ever forgotten,
As each prayer is cherished by Grace,

Rich or poor doesn’t matter in love’s economy,
Love is what prepares us for this world and the next,
My capacity for love is tested by humility,
Accumulated pride counts for nothing in Eternity,
Forever is a long time to be alone – with only myself to talk about,
This is the fate of pride that has forgotten Truth,
Greatness is a gift that celebrates humility not pride.

The arrogant, self righteous angry heart,
Spews words that smell like a rotting corpse,
But, even when surrounded by anger’s stench,
I end up smelling like a beautiful rose,
Blessing accumulating more and more blessings,
Protected and forgiven for my worst sins,
My life a witness to the fortunes of a blessed life,
Continually discovering new ways that I am loved.

Tears have formed the words on my lips today,
Remembering when my song left my heart,
What looked like success on the outside,
Didn’t begin to understand the sadness I felt,
I was a long way from my home,
My heart knew this and wept every day,
The harshest taunt seeking to humiliate,
For a long time I had no song to sing.

History knows the truth of my desolations,
When my enemies gathered around me,
Shouting out their destructive words,
They knew the ones that would hurt the most,
All love had left my neighbour’s heart,
The one that I loved now prepared to take it all,
Showing no concern for my precious family,
His actions declaring his heart’s desire,
Please God never forget my sadness.

My promise today is to love God with all my heart,
I pray I will not forget to sing his song of praise,
I want worship to form the foundation of my joy,
Remembering always the desolation of forgetting.

The day dawns with gratitude on my lips,
God’s love never lets up,
Lord of my life and my protector,
God’s love never lets up,
Thanks you Lord for forgiving me,
God’s love never lets up.

Impossible is just a pause for my God,
My ever faithful God,
Creativity an expression of infinite imagination,
My ever faithful God,
His gifts to me are always celebrated,
My ever faithful God,
The moment the sun wakes me in the morning,
My ever faithful God,
Till tonight’s exquisite choice of colours.
My ever faithful God.

Slavery is a distant memory,
He loves me forever,
When I chose safety over following you,
He loves me forever,
When money enticed me to unfaithfulness,
He loves me forever,
Pride crept into the edges of my conversation,
He loves me forever.

In my darkest days when I chased the bright lights,
God continues to love me,
When contempt had his death wish for me,
God continues to love me,
When I had nothing left at all,
God continues to love me,
He provided in the midst of all this,
God continues to love me,
My humbled lips declare thankfulness to Him,
God continues to love me.

Praise is my response to each new day,
Praise is the prayer of every child of God,
Praise is the heartbeat of forgiveness’ blessing,
Praise is the voice of worthwhile work.

I love that God stands above my disasters,
He does what he needs to do each day,
Creating, sustaining, organising daily displays of beauty,
All of this work is going according to his plans.

Disasters come and go with alarming regularity,
Lives are destroyed in an instant every day,
The signs of the divine hand are obvious,
If only we can learn to ask the right questions,
All the gifts that I am given are miracles of grace.

The folly of worthless investments are obvious,
They don’t make me happy or satisfy at all,
They simply take from the love of my God-life,
God’s unlimited blessing is replaced with silence,
They are not worthy of any false hope promised,
Foolishness thinks that they can sustain life.

I long for my family to praise God with me,
That my home will be a place of mercy,
Where compassion invites forgiveness to arrive,
I will praise God when life is full of opportunities,
And, when I am not sure of the next step,
When I have learned again what it is to begin with praise,
Joining in the celebration that I am invited to join.

I love living and sharing the satisfied life,
I work with the dream team each bringing gifts,
Celebrated in laughter and knowing glances,
Treasuring the other’s contribution first,
All of us loving our version of the adventure,
Considering each other’s understanding in silence,
The beautiful questions asked are blessings given,
My work bringing refreshment to my heart,
Filling it with amazement at Eternity’s plans.

Reminders of the path walked by saints before me,
Tell me that the path to truth is never straight,
But, those heroes still speak from their graves,
They are saying to me and the other worshippers,
Passion must be directed to my God calling,
It must consume my thoughts and fill my dreams,
The essence of work is answered in the question:
“What was done for my Creator God?”

I have spent years searching out my spiritual heart,
It got lost in the rush of life’s’ demands,
They ruled over me and I forgot what gives joy,
Now I am finding again the blessedness of worship,
I love watching my enemies mill around aimlessly,
Viewing them from the safety of victory’s heart,
“Come Lord to me today, I long for your presence”.
Security is found in His loving promises,
That seek out a faithfulness and loyalty,
The heart that doesn’t give up when things are tough,
Eternity stretches to the silver lined horizon,
The gift that is promised to the obedient child.

I am finding the words today of the chosen one,
The place where peace is called to reign,
The non anxious life that loves this adventure,
Satisfaction that comes from a love of worship,
Each day consecrated to His purposes,
Looking out for the lost hungry souls,
Never overlooking the truth they bring to life,
In all of this I find myself singing happily,
Laughter the blessing of the pilgrims sharing this path,
Following the light held by those who walk before us.