As Christmas 2024 approached, a family member asked me, “Have you ever written a poem from the perspective of, ‘What if Jesus had never been born?’” This idea reminded me of the famous film called, “It’s a Wonderful Life” which was released in 1946.
The story focuses on frustrated businessman, George Bailey who becomes so depressed he considers taking his own life. An angel from Heaven is sent to Bailey and in an effort to help him have a change of heart, the angel shows him what life would have been like had he never existed.
I felt the question posed a really unique and challenging position to write from but with prayer and by God’s grace, I wrote my poem, “A Wonderful Life.”
To conclude November, we take a look at the penultimate fruit listed in Galatians 5 which is "Gentleness."
Gentleness is surely a gift. A gentle response may not be a natural reaction for most people but this supernatural choice carries divine power. Gentleness moves and inspires hearts, it empowers our speech and helps restore those who’ve gone astray. Gentle words reveal wisdom, they empower godly leadership and are a precious thing in the sight of God. Gentleness helps us experience and reflect Jesus because He is gentle. Gentleness is godly.
I pray this little poem and the Food for thought section afterwards can bless you today. Much love, Lucy x x
The penultimate poem in my series, "When I Feel" covers the tricky and dangerous situation of, "When I Feel...Tempted To Sin."
Temptation is something every human faces on a daily basis and as the Scriptures make clear, even Jesus was tempted! Temptation in and of itself isn’t sinful, it’s acting upon temptation and giving in to the desires of the flesh that’s sinful.
Let’s guard our hearts and make no provision for the flesh as we fiercely protect the good gifts God has placed within our lives. I pray this poem, the Scriptures and meditation section can be really helpful for us today if we feel we're struggling in this area.
God bless you and lots of love, Lucy xx
To start us off for November, I thought it might be a good idea to record the whole poem from my "Ten Commandments" series. I've really enjoyed going through these verses this year and I hope the full poem can be a blessing to you today. Love Lucy x
We finish off October with my "Fruit Of The Spirit" series. This month we're looking at the fruit of "Faithfulness."
Those who know us and have spent time with us should be able to trust us and see from our behaviour that we say what we mean and we mean what we say. The weight of our word should be steadfast and secure on the solid ground of reliable conduct and a dependable character.
It might be helpful to ask ourselves some questions. Things such as: Would I describe myself as a faithful person? Can others rely on me to do the things I’ve said I’ll do? Have I considered that a lack of faithfulness may be seen as a poor reflection of God’s character?
I pray this poem and meditation can bless you today. Love Lucy x
We have an extra week this month so I decided to add in another chapter to my, "When I Feel..." series. This week, we take a look at the oh-so-common scenario of, "When I Feel...Like I'm Not In Control."
Some helpful questions might be: "Do I feel like I’m not in control in some area of my life right now? Do I feel stressed, upset, frustrated or fearful over a situation in which I feel I’m not in control? Have I brought these thoughts and feelings before God in prayer yet and asked Him to help me gain wisdom and guidance in these circumstances?"
If you feel like you're not in control of things right now, I pray this poem and meditation can bless, comfort and encourage you. Much love, Lucy x
Have I been allowing prideful thoughts to fill my mind recently? Have I become puffed up or self-righteous in my attitude or words? Do I consider myself to be better than others and superior in any way?
It's always healthy to remember that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. I pray this poem and meditation help us to keep a check on our heart's attitude today! Love Lucy x
I can't quite believe it but we're on the tenth and last commandment! This year I've been going through The Ten Commandments as one of my poetry series and I've found it so interesting to delve into these Scriptures.
The first nine commandments are based on the things we do, the last one deals with the heart and what it desires. I pray this little poem and meditation can be a blessing to you today. Much love, Lucy x
Welcome, Autumn and goodbye September! For our last week of this month, we take a look at the fruit of "Goodness" from my "Fruit Of The Spirit" series.
There are so many things in life that can leave us feeling confused. God is not the Author of confusion however so may we find guidance, wisdom and clarity as we bring our situations before His Throne. Love Lucy x
We're in the ninth month which means we're onto the penultimate Commandment in this series! Taking a look at, "You Shall Not Bear False Witness" for September's edition. God bless you, Lucy x
To conclude the month of August, my "Fruit Of The Spirit" series takes a look at the fruit of "Kindness." Goodness knows we need more of this trait in our lives! I pray these verses and meditation can bless you today. Love Lucy x
The next part of my, "When I Feel..." series covers the difficult situation of when we feel depressed. I really pray these verses and meditation can uplift and encourage anyone who may be struggling with this complex emotion right now. Much love, Lucy x
I can't believe we're on the 8th Commandment already but here we are in August! This month, we're taking a closer look at, "You Shall Not Steal."
This can be a very sneaky little thing that creeps into our day if we're not careful. We don't need to be masked bank robbers to be a thief and my Pastor has taught through this subject a few times with some very interesting observations.
Most of us would probably say, "No, I don't steal" but do we do things such as: waste time at work, take resources meant for the workplace home for personal use, bag an item in the supermarket which we know didn't scan properly or waste hours of precious time on useless scrolling instead of being productive? It seems stealing is more subtle and complex than we might first imagine!
I pray this little poem and meditation can be a blessing to us today as we continue on with our look at The Ten Commandments. Much love and have a great week, Lucy x
This month, we have an extra devotional from my series, "When I Feel..." as there is an extra week in July!
Last week we had a look at, "When I Feel...Content." This week I thought I would focus on the very common situation of, "When I Feel...Worried About Someone."
If you're worried or concerned about a loved one today, I pray this poem, the Scriptures and meditation can comfort and encourage you. God bless you and lots of love, Lucy x
So far in my series called, "When I Feel..." we've covered big emotions and tricky situations such as: When I feel overwhelmed, at odds with God's Word, lonely, angry, let down by others, let down by God, I let God down and filled with grief or broken-hearted.
To kick us off into the second half of the year, I thought I'd start on a cheery note and write a poem to acknowledge the happy and peaceful seasons we can enjoy in life! I pray my verses and meditation called, "When I Feel...Content" can be a blessing to you today.
Much love and praise God for the times of answered prayer and seasons of peace! Love Lucy x
I started the week with a silly ditty of a poem so thought I'd finish with one! This humorous and observational little poem has waited three years to be aired as I wrote it during the lockdowns!
It falls into the category I call, "Pointless Poems" and came from my pandemic musings of, "Is there a subject so boring you can't write a poem about it?"
I hope my poem called, "Cabbages" can bring you some sound advice and a little smile this Friday! Love Lucy x
I decided to write a short, crystal-themed poem to celebrate my fifteen year anniversary with my husband! I hope you enjoy this light-hearted little poem, written especially for our Crystal Anniversary. Love Lucy x
Our June edition of my, "Fruit Of The Spirit" series is taking a look at the fruit of Peace. May the Lord's peace rule and reign in our hearts today and every day this week.
God bless you, love Lucy x
Nothing in life can really prepare us for the death of a loved one, whether it came suddenly or was expected through illness for a while. The stark reality of the loss we’re now experiencing naturally leads to grief and we all deal with grief in a different way. The important thing is to allow ourselves time to process and not try to run from it or bottle it up.
We can also grieve the loss of our health, a career, a relationship or friendship. We may find ourselves in a season of grieving the death of a dream or hope we had for our lives. We may feel certain kinds of grief more keenly than others but grief in any form is a heartbreaking thing to feel.
I pray this little meditation and poem can help us today if we're struggling to deal with grief. May we take the space and time we need to be honest with our emotions and with the help of the Holy Spirit, process them in a biblical way. Love Lucy x
Welcome, June and we're straight in with The Sixth Commandment, "You Shall Not Murder." Murder is such a huge act which most of us have thankfully never committed and yet...have we ever hated another person in our heart?
Jesus had some very challenging words to say on this subject and so I hope this little poem and prayer can be edifying for us today. Much love, Lucy x
So far in this series, we've taken a closer look at some of the different kinds of Love mentioned or referenced within the Bible. From January to April we focused on Agape, Eros, Phileo and Storge. We now move on to the second thing mentioned in Galatians 5 which is Joy!
One commentary I was reading was saying that really, all the things listed after Love are just a further manifestation and by-product of it. Really, they all come under the banner of Love which is why it's "fruit" singular and not "fruits" plural. The "Fruit of the Spirit" is the same, singular work of God in every believer, manifesting itself in different ways.
To conclude May, we take a look at the fruit of Joy! How joyful it is to know the love of Christ and share that love with others! L x
Two weeks ago we had a look at "When I Feel... Let Down By God." For our extra week in May, I thought it might be helpful to take a look at the reverse of that statement and go through the process of, "When I Feel...I Let God Down."
If you feel like you've disappointed God with your words or actions, please know you're not alone. It's inevitable that we'll all feel like we've failed our Saviour or not represented Him well at some point in our walk with Him. Thankfully, nothing takes Him by surprise and He knew what He was getting when He called us by name into His family. Our Saviour is gracious and patient.
I pray these verses and points for reflection can encourage us today to draw close to His Throne and grow spiritually through these circumstances. God bless you, love Lucy x
Last month, I shared a poem called, "When I Feel....Let Down By Others" from my, "When I Feel..." series. This month, I thought I would tackle the difficult emotion, "When I Feel...Let Down By God."
This can be a challenging feeling to admit to or address. The comforting thing to consider is, nothing surprises God and He already knows if we're struggling in this way. He understands our struggles and is able to help us process these tricky thoughts and feelings.
If we feel let down by God today, I pray these verses can bring reassurance and guidance in our situation as we bring everything before His Throne of grace. May we choose, in this troubling time to not let these circumstances drive us away from the One who can help us but rather run into His arms of compassion.
At the beginning of 2024, I was approached by a lovely man called Michael Andrews who is the Senior Music Minister of All Souls Church in central London. He wanted to speak to me in regards to the Prom Praise event he would be leading and conducting later that year in May.
I had worked with Michael on a couple of productions in the past and he heard me share one of my poems at a Christmas concert in 2023 so asked if he could commission me to write a poem for Prom Praise. I was over the moon to receive this request as each year, Prom Praise is performed at the prestigious and world-famous venue called the Royal Albert Hall so I instantly knew this was quite the honour!
That particular year would mark the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell’s Olympic gold medal win for the 400 meter sprint in Paris. Liddell, who was a Scottish athlete and steadfast Christian, made a huge impact on those around him and the story of his unwavering faith was brought to the silver screen in 1981 with the Oscar-winning film, “Chariots Of Fire.” Michael went on to explain to me that the theme for Prom Praise 2024 would be centred on Liddell’s admirable Christian morals and how he used his God-given gifts to honour his Saviour throughout his life.
I was given a brief outline of Michael’s vision for what he wanted the poem to capture and a time limit of a minute and a half to say it in. Talk about a challenge! I started off by praying to the Author of all things for inspiration, before going on to watch the film to get some ideas. I was soon blown away by the beautifully written script and felt that the dialogue was poetry in itself. The superb performance from Ian Charleson, who played Liddell in the film, was completely breathtaking and I could see why he won an award for his portrayal of this role.
Within a couple of hours of watching “Chariots Of Fire” I had written my poem, “Made For A Purpose” and thank the Lord, Michael loved it! My husband Jan and I had the privilege of watching Prom Praise, live from our box seats that evening in May and it will certainly be a night I remember for the rest of my life.
I hope and pray that these words can help Liddell’s inspiring outlook on life continue to live on and motivate each of us to use our unique gifts to bring pleasure to our awesome Saviour. Praises to the One who made each of us for a purpose!
I'm taking a look at The Fifth Commandment to start us off in May! Having focused on Storge, familial love a couple of weeks ago as part of my "Fruit Of The Spirit" series, it seems a fitting continuation to look at God's commandment to honour our father and our mother.
This week I'm taking one last look at "Love" as part of my, "Fruit Of The Spirit" series. So far we've looked at Agape, Eros and Phileo love. This month we focus on Storge, familial love.
It's inevitable that at some point in life, we'll all feel disappointed by people close to us and that they've let us down. We may even go as far as to say we feel betrayed by a loved one.
Jesus understands these heartbreaking emotions better than we can ever imagine and so it's imperative that we take these feelings to the Throne of our compassionate Saviour and deal with them biblically.
I pray April's edition of my, "When I Feel..." series can be a blessing to our hearts today as we process the situation and navigate the choppy waters of, "When I Feel Let Down By Others." L x
This week, we're taking a look at The Fourth Commandment and what a wonderful reminder it is that the New Covenant has come and Jesus is our Sabbath!
Coming off the back of Easter when we've had the chance to celebrate the fact that the work is finished and we can now find peace and rest in Christ, what a great time to take a few minutes to focus on these verses. Praises to our Saviour who is the fulfilment of the law!
I pray this short poem and meditation can bless you today. Love Lucy x
I was listening to a sermon one Sunday morning when my Pastor asked the question, “How can we have peace in this world when it’s so full of chaos?” He then went on to offer an answer by saying, “Because Jesus is risen.” My heart instantly called out, “Praise the Lord!” and I started thinking about some of the challenges I’ve faced in my own life. The truth of those words has shone through in even the toughest seasons and before long, I was writing my poem called, “My Saviour Is Risen.”
I pray these words can encourage the child of God to stand fast on the unshakeable ground that is our Rock, Jesus Christ. Whatever troubles we may be facing right now, the truth remains that we are more than conquerors through our Saviour who has overcome this world. The momentary afflictions of this world do not compare to the glory that awaits us in Heaven, thanks to our Saviour who is risen!
To carry on with my "Fruit Of The Spirit" series, we take a third look at the fruit of "Love." So far we've looked at Agape and Eros so this month, we'll focus on brotherly/friendship love which in the Greek, is the word, Phileo.
I hope this little meditation can give us cause to praise God for the godly friendships He's placed within our lives and may we seek to be a godly friend in the lives of those around us! L x
Anger is an interesting emotion and we know from Scripture, specifically Matthew 21, that even Jesus felt angry when He saw how His Father's Temple had been turned into nothing more than a "den of thieves."
There are so many situations in life that can cause us to feel angry but it's important that we recognise whether our anger is a righteous or fleshly anger and process them both in a Biblical way.
I pray March's meditation from my, "When I Feel..." series can help us keep a Biblical check and perspective on any anger we may be feeling today. Love Lucy x
So far, in my Ten Commandments series we've looked at the first two. January focused on The First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” February took a closer look at The Second Commandment, “You shall not make idols.”
To kick us off for March, let's meditate on The Third Commandment, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”
This year, I'm taking a look at the list of the Fruit Of The Spirit, found in Galatians 5. The first fruit on this list is Love and last month, we focused specifically on Agape, unconditional love.
For my second instalment in this series, I decided to take a look at Eros Love. The Bible doesn't shy away from the concept of Eros, romantic love and gives us wise counsel for our hearts in this area.
I pray this little meditation can be a blessing to you today. Love Lucy x
February's instalment of my, "When I Feel..." series addresses the feeling of loneliness. I pray this short meditation and poem can bring us comfort this week. L x
Taking a look at the second commandment for the start of February and the continuation of my series, "The Ten Commandments."
This month's focus is, "You shall not make idols."
My third and final introduction to a new series for 2024 is my first, "Fruit Of The Spirit" poem! There are nine fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-25 and so I'll be taking a look at "Love" first and some of the different forms it comes in.
To start us off, I thought a focus on "Agape Love" would be a great way to begin the year and introduce us to this series! I pray we can draw closer to the Lord as we go through this list over the year and find amazing ways to cultivate and share these beautiful fruits within our own lives!
Seeing as there are five Mondays in January, I decided to add an extra meditation within my, "When I Feel..." series and I'll do this throughout the year with five-week months.
Last week, we started the series with, "When I Feel...Overwhelmed." This week, we continue on with, "When I Feel...At Odds With God's Word." I pray these words can be helpful, edifying and point us to the wonderful, unchanging truth of Jesus.
My series called, “When I Feel…” is not written with the intention of pandering to every fragile whim or fickle emotion. Rather, my prayer for these verses and meditations is that they can help us keep a check on the condition of our heart when experiencing real and sometimes raw emotions. I hope they can inspire us to view everything through the lens of Scripture as we navigate the different challenges and seasons of life.
There are many difficult and varied situations to face over the years and quite often, our circumstances can lead us down a path of feeling certain emotions.
What’s imperative to remember however, is our feelings are not constant and they’re not reliable, only God is. Feelings don’t define the truth, God’s Word defines the truth. Our emotions are merely a response to what our mind perceives and it’s important that we keep a check on how we are processing and handling these emotions.
Our feelings can have a great deal of influence over how we choose to speak and behave within our daily lives. They can lead to habits and lifestyle choices so if we’re not keeping our heart in check and in line with God’s heart then we can find ourselves getting out of step with His Word.
Of course, it can be really challenging to choose to take every thought captive and bring each emotion under the authority of Jesus Christ. Spending time reading God’s Word will help us filter our feelings however, as everything is sieved through the unchanging truth of Scripture. Time spent with our Saviour and spent meditating on His Word will highlight any lies we may have fallen afoul to and keep us rooted in the truth.
As Christians, we needn’t be tossed to and fro by the turbulent seas of our emotions. We stand on the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ who is always attentive to our prayers and able to guide us with Divine wisdom and understanding.
Of course, there are some wonderful, peaceful and happy times in life which I’ve also included in this series. It’s important we invite God into each season of life and remember to include Him in the good times as well as the bad.
Ultimately, I pray this series helps us address and process different emotions in a biblical way while shining the light of God’s Word on each scenario. May these verses help to purify our perceptions and sync our heart with the heart of Jesus.
Happy New Year and welcome, 2024! The first series I'm going to share throughout this year is my series on The Ten Commandments. I pray these poetry verses and prayers can help us not only familiarise ourselves with a very important section of Scripture but also give us insights into how these commandments apply to us today.
The Ten Commandments could be described as a "God-based moral code" which God spoke to the Israelites first as they assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai. They were addressed to the ordinary Israelite and were spoken in simple, easily understandable terms as they sought to deal with the temptations of the average person.
The Ten Commandments were never given with the idea that a person can earn heaven by obeying them but rather, the Law, given by God directly and then through Moses, would highlight to humanity their need for a Saviour. We know that Jesus Himself was the only one to ever keep the Law perfectly and while some of the Law of Moses is specific to Israel, the Ten Commandments are universal.
Jesus spoke of these commandments during His ministry and highlighted the fact that while mankind would go on to have a new covenant with God through Him, The Ten Commandments would remain a wonderful gaurdrail for keeping humanity on a good moral path. Often organised into two groups, the first four focus on our conduct towards God while the next six address our conduct towards one another. They continue to impart wisdom and show us God's heart and desire for His people.
I pray this series can be helpful and edifying as we take a look at these key verses in Exodus 20. May we grow ever closer to our wonderful Saviour who has freed us from the Law's condemnation yet inspires us to live holy lives that glorify Him!
