When the world comes crashing in And chaos rules my mind, I turn my heart to you, Lord, And pure, sweet peace I find.
You lift me out of trouble You comfort me in pain; You nourish, heal and cleanse me, Like cool, refreshing rain.
In times of joy and bliss, When things are going right, You lift me even higher, And fill me with delight. You listen to my prayers; You hear my every plea; I’m safe because I know You’re always there for me. Joanna Fuchs
As the sky breaks into a beautiful sunrise, may God open the windows of heaven to shower you with his blessings.
I pray that happiness be at your door. May it knock early, stay late and leave the gift of God’s peace, love, joy, and good health behind.
Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. ~ G.K. Chesterton.
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
The Authority of Jesus
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
In this passage of scripture we are obviously reminded of the Sunday school chorus ‘The wise man built his house upon the Rock’
Love is the glue That holds us together Faith and believing is the key This door of forever Baby, you and I We’re every reason on earth Now and again it’s always us Against the world, against the world
When the rain fell and the flood came And the wind blew hard like a hammer on these walls We didn’t crack or break or fall We built this house on a rock, on a rock This house on a rock, on a rock
There is a time To face stormy weather But we are always standing strong A lifetime together Baby, you and I We don’t regret anything Now it’s the two of us again Against the wind, against the wind
When the rain fell and the flood came And the wind blew hard like a hammer on these walls We didn’t crack or break or fall We built this house on a rock, on a rock This house on a rock, on a rock
Brick by brick we have set it up Oh man, if these walls could talk Bit by bit, based it on trust We gave it all we got
When the rain fell and the flood came And the wind blew hard like a hammer on these walls We didn’t crack or break or fall We built this house on a rock, on a rock This house on a rock, on a rock
We built this house on a rock, on a rock We built this house on a rock, on a rock
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
The story of the illness, death, and resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1-45) provides the context for this hymn for those who are grieving deeply over the death of a loved one. Lazarus’ sisters Martha and Mary had sent word for their friend Jesus to come when Lazarus was ill. But Jesus took his time, finally arriving “too late,” and joining the grieving sisters who said, “If only you had been here…..” Jesus also grieved; he loved all three of them. The text ends with a prayer that the risen Christ still speak to those whose grief is raw and to assure us all “from your empty tomb…that life never dies.” This text is the first of sixteen hymn-like choral pieces in the collection The Last Journey: Songs for the time of grieving (GIA), with texts and music prepared by John Bell of the Iona Community. Each piece is also available separately from GIA. Some texts, like this one, were co-written with Graham Maule. The tunes were composed or arranged by John Bell, usually for organ, and often with a descant instrument. Bell’s original tune published with this text was named PALMER, but a note at the end says that “other tunes, such as ROCKINGHAM, may be used if the text is to be sung by a congregation.” That old beloved tune is well suited to this text, and in Lift Up Your Hearts, there is even a link to a psalm often sung at funerals: ROCKINGHAM is used again with a setting of Psalm 116 that includes the line, “His saints the LORD delights to save; their death is precious in his sight.”
O Christ, you wept when grief was raw, and felt for those who mourned a friend; come close to where we would not be and hold us numbed by this life’s end
The well-loved voice is silent now and we have much we meant to say; collect our lost and wandering words and keep them till the endless day.
We try to hold what is not here and fear for what we do not know. Oh, take our hands in yours, good Lord, and free us to let our friend go.
In all our loneliness and doubt, beyond what we can realize, address us from your empty tomb and tell us that life never ends.
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
O perfect Love, all human thought transcending, Lowly we kneel in prayer before Thy throne, That theirs may be the love that knows no ending, Whom Thou forevermore dost join in one.
O perfect Life, be Thou their full assurance Of tender charity and steadfast faith, Of patient hope, and quiet, brave endurance, With childlike trust that fears nor pain nor death.
Grant them the joy which brightens earthly sorrow; Grant them the peace which calms all earthly strife, And to life’s day the glorious unknown morrow That dawns upon eternal love and life.
Often when I can’t get to church I watch a service online and this service always has a children’s spot.
In the last online service I watched the person doing the children’s spot spoke on ‘Transformers’ and how they could ‘change’ into something different.
We as Christians can be like the Transformers and witness to those who don’t know Christ as their Saviour with the hope and prayers that they ‘Change’ and let him into our hearts.
Perhaps you once knew him but have wandered from the path, you can always invite him back in again if you let him.
With the exception of the weekly ‘Sunday posts’ it has been a while since posting weekly.
It all started with me catching Covid -19 back in June 13/14th were I had absolutely no energy on those days. After that I was just like a heavy cold and I didn’t test negative until Sunday 26th, so you could say I tested positive for 13 days, unlucky for some.
Railway museum on holiday
I was getting concerned for our holiday on 1st July but as I tested negative on 26th June we were able to go our holiday and have a relaxing time.
I always like to include a piece of music to my blogs an recently on you tube I have been listening to Bach-Gounod – Ave Maria played on pipe organ which I have found very peaceful to listen to.
Image by Stefan Schweihofer from Pixabay Global warming is definitely a thing, and with a heat wave happening in the UK, I thought I’d do a quick post about ways to cope with extreme heat. Windows & blinds When it’s really hot outside, air coming in from outside through open windows is not a good […]
25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28″And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
I think the video (and bible reading) above sums it all up don’t you!
It could result in catastrophic life-threatening illness for women of childbearing age.
Simply put, the abortion ban may mean denial of effective drugs for women with MS, Migraines and Epilepsy.
“The dissolution of Roe v. Wade is expected to lead to abortion bans or severe restrictions in as many as 28 states. These new restrictions may have life-changing and even life-threatening consequences in these states for women of childbearing age with conditions like migraine, multiple sclerosis (MS) and epilepsy.“
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Christian Devotions 