Joining our words with His heart

By Wendy Parker

It's a fact that when you're a writer, you fall in love with words. I’m reading the book of Psalms in The Passion Translation at the moment. They’re so filled with emotion and passion for God’s goodness and faithfulness, that I find myself re-reading the same lines over and over again. 

Take a line from Psalm 103, ‘You kissed my heart with forgiveness, in spite of all I’ve done.’ 

 Or, Psalm 26:3 ‘I will never lose sight of your love for me. Your faithfulness has steadied my steps.’ 

Or how about Psalm 111:9 ‘His forever-love paid a full ransom for his people so that now we’re free to come before Jehovah to worship his holy and awesome name!’

Believers who are joining their words with God’s heart. They are the poetry of Christ in all its fullness. Each Psalm points to Jesus and leads you to discover more about Him and His heart. 

The Gospel never changes, but the way in which the story of redemption is told should change so it stirs people’s hearts to want to respond to it. What worked five years ago probably won’t have the same impact today. 

Isaiah 43:19 is one of my favourite scriptures, ‘Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?’ God is always wanting to do something fresh and exciting, and as Christian writers we have been given the gift of words to trigger something inside each and every person who wants to discover more.  

Joining our words with His heart is the mirror that reflects His love from us onto other people. Something happens when we write with the help and power of the Holy Spirit. It’s like Heaven meets earth when we join our words with His. 

Every artist, musician and writer has the potential to change people’s view point of a God who relentlessly pursues them with His extravagant love by creating something unique and inspiring for people to stop and take notice.  

As writers, we need to listen and draw near to his heartbeat with an open mind and let His love fill our own hearts until it spills out onto the blank pages before us. 

So, if you think your writing doesn’t make a difference, it does. You’ll probably never know who it impacted until you get to heaven and someone hugs you tightly and whispers in your ear, “I’m here because of you. Thank you for joining your words with His heart.” 

Wendy xo      

     

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Just three words...

JUST THREE WORDS...

I had a rare day off work the other week and I vowed to myself that I wasn’t going to procrastinate and waste the precious few hours I had all to myself. I had plans. Big plans. I decided to hop in my car with my dog, and drive to one of my favourite spots. I was going to get me some uninterrupted, indulgent writing time. I promised myself that I would stay totally focused and amaze myself of how much writing I would actually get done.   

Procrastination goals - 0    Writing goals - 100

Heck yaasss!

8.20am - Arrive at my destination. Really cold. Hmmm, won’t be sitting outside at my favourite picnic bench then. So, first things first — coffee.

8.32am - After a stretch of all six legs through the park, we arrive at the coffee shop. The sign says it would be open at 9.00am.  Okay, so I have to wait 28 minutes for my large full cream latte, no dramas.  

8.45am - Sitting in my car with my laptop open and ready to write. My dog comfortably settled on the back seat with me. 

8.52am - Watch a police car pull someone over and book them for speeding. 

8.53am - Need to stop watching the red and blue lights of the police car and start writing.

9.02am - Yay! Coffee shop is now open, but it’s raining and I’ll get soaked walking to the coffee shop.  

9.07am - Decide to get coffee when rain has stopped. Just keep writing.

9.20am - Rain is not stopping. Thunder claps in the sky above. Ask myself questions like,  Why am I sitting in my car when it’s pouring with rain? I could be at my desk, writing, in the warmth of my house. 

9.57am - Arrive home. Open laptop and carry on writing. 

10.08am - Re-read what I’ve written. It kinda sucks. 

10.11am - Think to myself that my writing isn’t good enough. 

10.16am - What makes me think that I can actually write?

10.17am - Everyone’s writing is so much better than mine. Am I just fooling myself that I can live my dream and make a difference in this world? 

10.20am - 300 words and I’ve lost my creative flow already. I SO NEED A COFFEE!!

As writers, if we told everyone that yes, the words flow all the time and yes, we can knock out a full manuscript by morning tea, we’d be lying. 

Those moments when we’re staring wide-eyed at the blank page on our computer, wondering if the words will ever come is a real struggle. We fight the fear of thinking that no one will care whether we write or not and wrestle with our procrastination, telling ourselves that if we tick off our “to do” list before actually sitting down to write then at least we have achieved something in the 24 hours God has given us.  

The more we beat ourselves up, the more the enemy fans the flames of our insecurities. He'll make sure you stop writing all together. Because here's the truth, he couldn’t care less if you wrote 10,000 words every day or 10 words, as long as you don’t write the three words he doesn’t want anyone to read. 

  JESUS LOVE ME 

  Just three words, but they say so much.

 JESUS LOVES ME

 These three words remind me of how faithful and kind Jesus is. They let me know that even in my worse moments, Jesus still loves me, He’s still for me and He wants me to know that in my weakness, He is strong. 

“I delight to fulfil your will, my God, for your living words are written upon the pages of my heart.” Psalm 40:8 (The Passion Translation) 

The words we carry in our hearts my friend, are His words. We as Christian writers have a responsibly to tell the world that Jesus loves them. The greatest tragedy is to let the enemy quench our words that have the potential to speak into a persons heart and let them know how much they are loved by a God who created the whole universe and named each one of the stars, but still wants to have a relationship with us.   

So, let’s not beat ourselves up because we haven’t fulfilled our writing goals for the day. You don’t need to write 30,000 words. You don’t even need to write 300 words. Just write three words…

JESUS LOVES ME 

And watch the enemy flee. 

Wendy xo

You can find Wendy's blog page here:   http://www.thebigvoiceonline.com

Failure is not an 'F' word

By Wendy Parker | @ACWriters

Failure is not an ‘F’ word

Come again?

I said, failure is not an ‘F’ word

You may feel like a failure when you stand in the bookshop

Browsing through those endless copies of other people’s books

Feeling that familiar sense of hopelessness creeping over you like a well-worn overcoat

As you stand there, wondering if you’ll ever actually find those, “two steps forward”

In the publishing world, instead of, “three steps back.”

But take heart!

There is a reader out there, just waiting for you to stop throwing your own pity parties

And start writing that story that’s been buzzing around in the recesses of your mind

For what feels like an eternity

It’s time to have some faith and act on that dream that’s burning in your soul

If you’re 100% sure it’s what God wants you to

Go for it!

Never compare your writing to someone else’s, or you’ll start to question and doubt

And you’ll be asking yourself, “Is this really what I’m meant to be doing?”

Writing isn’t about grammar, punctuation or brilliant prose (although, it does help)

It’s about the sheer guts and determination of a person

Who is willing to bare their soul, for all the world to see

But, what if I try and fail?

I’ll feel like a failure…

…And then what?

Well, that thought alone will send fear into the fingers of any budding author

And bring to a halt any imaginative flow you have

Quicker than you can sharpen your pencil

Stop doing that to yourself!

Remember, failure is not an ‘F’ word, my friend

Ed Catmull, founder of Pixar and author of Creativity Inc. book

Talks about trusting the process of creativity

He says, “When we trust the process, we remember that we are resilient, that we’ve experienced discouragement before, only to come out the other side.”

Failure means you’ve actually gone further than all those other aspiring talents

Who, one day, maybe, if they find the time and energy

They will, perhaps, eventually get around to writing that book in their heads

Failure means you’re committed to your work

And you don’t care how many failures come your way

You’re not going to give up – ever, until you see success!

You showed a willingness to step out in faith

And take the next steps toward your dream of becoming a published author

And God will honour that

Writing takes work, it takes commitment and it takes courage

1 Chronicles 29:20 reminds us to

‘Be strong, courageous, and effective. Do not fear or be dismayed, I know that the Eternal God, who is my God, is with you.” (The Voice Bible)

Write something that will make those agents and publishers have no choice

But to sign you up

Failure is not an ‘F’ word

It’s the paving stones that make the path to your success

You are not a failure because you’ve failed a few times

O.K?

Come on kid, this is your dream

Take the leap of faith

And see what God can do!

Wendy xo

Wendy is a member of the Australasian Christian Writers Group and Christian Writers Downunder. When she isn’t shouting from the rooftops on how to discover the real you through listening to God’s voice, she lives in a quite village in the Southern Highlands in Australia. Along with her wonderful husband of 23 years, her incredible adult son, her beautiful teenage daughter and one spoilt chocolate Labrador, named Rose.

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