Poems

Jesus

His Name is Jesus –

God, who was present from the beginning,

the eternal Word of the Father

who sits with the Almighty and reigns as King.

He is the precious Saviour,

the Lamb who was slain for the sins of sinners

who did not know nor love Him.

They despised Him,

yet He tore muscle and flesh,

and subjected Himself to the excruciation and agony of the cross –

to bear the weightiness and wickedness of their sin.

Jesus, whose compassion and mercy shine throughout all the earth:

In the beginning, He created us in His image,

granting us the honour of resembling even a glimpse of His glory.

He chose to love us in our unworthiness,

and removed the barrier between us and the Father –

through His death and life, we now have direct access to God Almighty.

We lift up the Name of Jesus –

the wonderful and awesome God:

who had the power to still a relentless storm, yet the lowliness to accept death,

whose holiness set Him apart from man, but was found sitting with sinners and close to the hurting,

who was the radiance of God’s glory, yet appeared not majestic or desirable in the flesh,

and who shared equality with God, yet made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant.

This is Jesus,

of whom the elders testify to His honour, glory and power,

which is deserving of all praise forever and ever!

The Lord, Jesus Christ, Beloved of God, who alone is the worthy Lamb who purchased men for God from every tribe and nation!

The holy Jesus who was and is and will be to the very end of age!

Great and marvellous are His deeds and true are His ways!

Glory be to Jesus,

God, who chose to become man,

for our sake,

to save us from ourselves,

give us eternal life,

and invite us into holy communion with Him and the Father.

Isn’t He beautiful?

Is He not worthy of all our affection?

I AM A CHRISTIAN

People think that Christianity is merely a set of rules,

formalities,

how to go about things in the right way,

what to do, what not to do,

doing enough good to earn your way into heaven.

They think that Christianity is not spiritual.

It does not scratch beyond the surface.

So, to dissociate themselves from it,

or turn their noses up at those who follow it,

they would often say, too swiftly,

“I’m not religious, I’m spiritual”,

not knowing that spirituality is the essence of Christianity.

God exists in the triune state,

as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Son, after having died and resurrected on the cross,

gifted Christians with His Spirit,

who is a seal guaranteeing their redemption.

This redemption is of the soul,

and it leads Christians to walk in the spirit and not the flesh,

thus, disregarding its pleasures and lusts –

not only those of drunkenness and fornication,

but those of pride and self-righteousness,

which is the act of feeling holy, justified, and safe from eternal damnation for doing enough good things and not sinning –

how people think Christians live.

But Christianity is a journey, a unique way of life.

And, yes, it is a religion, in the sense that there is order –

it is neither unruly nor chaotic,

nor led by bursts of emotion or subjective intuition.

Yet, it is a breaking down of the soul,

revealing what rot has been residing within.

It is a cleansing, a renewal of the heart and mind.

It is a battle against the flesh,

and against principalities and powers behind our physical realities.

It is a humbling, a realisation that we are but mere man,

and are most often than not lost and confused –

still seeking and searching.

It is a walk, however imperfect it may be,

embracing all seasons, even those of stumbling and even falling.

And it is a freedom from burdens far too weighty,

and a joy and peace amid storms.

Christianity is not a passive religion,

consisting of habitual Sunday worship practices,

morning and evening prayers,

and memorisations and recitations of Bible verses –

without any passion or love,

or an ache in your heart,

and a deep yearning for true communion with God the Father and Jesus Christ.

No, it is a pathway of light.

And, in it, is the gift of eternal life.

I have never been more fulfilled,

more steadfast and more alive.

I am a Christian.

And that means more to me than people could ever comprehend.

We must face the darkness

The darkness will find us,

it is the natural order of things,

established after man decided to take the first bite of sin.

It is everywhere we go.

And in times we do not see it near us,

it is sitting beside someone dear to us,

causing them sorrow, frustration and pain.

We cannot escape the darkness forever;

we cannot run away from suffering.

The more we fear it, the darker it will appear to us.

And the more we try to fight it with our own strength,

the more the darkness will weaken us.

I have learnt to rest in the suffering,

not to submit to it, but to accept its presence

and welcome God’s providence in it.

The God of all creation and mysteries does not panic at the sight of suffering,

but instead, is the One who permits it for His divine purpose.

There is not a sparrow that falls to the ground without God knowing,

and not a shadow cast over our lives outside His control.

Thus, knowing this:

We rest.

We rest because our God is sovereign,

and although our lives may feel like they are spinning out of control,

our God remains seated as King on His throne.

We rest in His love and protection,

that He is with us in the darkness,

and will never leave nor forsake us.

And we rest in His strength,

knowing that it is sufficient for us in our weakness

and, soon, He will deliver us and honour us,

and show us His salvation.

So, the darkness will come,

and it will be challenging and painful.

But, in God, we have true Light –

which cannot be overcome by even the deepest darkness.

And that is why we rest:

before the darkness casts its first shadow,

the Lord has already lit up a pathway beyond it.

not in our own strength

We were never meant to carry the weight of the world,

even if that world contained only one person in it

and that one person was you.

Similar to the trees and flowers,

we do not have it within ourselves to stand upright,

let alone bloom.

For we too were made

and are thus deeply dependent, as intended from the beginning.

Thus, when we have, for a time, acted independently

and sought strength within ourselves,

more so to be a pillar for others,

we begin to weaken under the weight of their sorrows and circumstances,

and our own,

for the burden was never ours to carry,

it was always Christ’s.

Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

- Matthew 11:28-30

As Long as I Have Breath

There is another chance as long as I have breath,

to meet God again where I had left Him

while following the insecurities, fears and pressures to be perfect.

There is another chance to learn and learn again,

to pick up the book I once read,

to walk in the familiar path

and gain the wisdom I once failed to absorb.

I have fallen many times,

sometimes over the same rock,

or in the same street,

but my God knew I was still striving for Him,

even though my efforts at times pulled me away from His path.

But I still had breath,

thus, He was not yet finished with me.

Will He not present me holy and blameless before His sight?

And, for that reason, I will always have hope.

Do you not hunger? Do you not thirst?

Do you not sometimes ask yourself:

‘Is this it? Is this all there is to life – waking up feeling exhausted, working, sleeping and repeating it all over again?’

When you lay down your head to rest and think of your day,

and the one ahead,

do you not search through the darkness of your room for more,

for something deeper and more satisfactory?

Perhaps some greater meaning and purpose to your life

than attaining grades, degrees, positions and titles?

Is there not more to you than what you achieve?

Can your purpose not be linked to what gives you comfort and security in this world –

this world, which is slowly fading,

this world, that we were brought into and will leave at any appointed time?

What if there were no jobs to attain in this world?

What if there was no such thing as a doctor, accountant, engineer or musician?

What if money was no longer a universal problem, and we all carried it in abundance?

What would then be your purpose,

your motivation to wake up every morning?

Would you even have one?

Would you have a will to live? And for what

...or whom?

“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done

And on the labour in which I had toiled:

And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.

There was no profit under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

Do not lose yourself in the rapid and mundane pace of this world –

wake up, work, sleep, and so it goes on,

adding, here and there, a few colourful weekend and holiday moments

to hopefully make you forget about the familiar mundanity of your life.

Instead, be still and think,

and seek God, the Creator of all we see.

For who knows purpose but the One who spoke meaning into the darkness?

Who can fulfil your soul more than the One who created you in His very own image,

and nursed you in your mother’s womb?

Be still and think,

and seek Jesus,

to reveal to you something deeper and more worthwhile to live for,

that will satisfy the hunger and thirst of your soul.

“Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:27)

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)