Author: Kenneth

Compelling Love

1 Corinthians 8 11-13

For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.

I really don’t think i have to say much in this blog today because I think the words and especially the video speak for themselves. As we look at the video we thank not just The Salvation Army for the work they do in the poorer countries but also organisations such as Christian Aid, Oxfam Bernardos etc, the list is endless. Finally I would ask you to pray for the families affected in these

countries. See the source image

Compelled by love,
Called to serve
Wherever there are souls in need.
Compelled by love,
Called to find the lonely
And the lost.
Touched by God’s grace,
I’ll love where hearts are hurting.
How can I offer less than all
When I am born again by his forgiving?
I’m compelled by love.

Compelled by love,
Called to toil
Wherever there are mouths to feed.
Compelled by love,
Called to work where life is at its worst.
Moved by God’s grace,
I’ll prove that I am willing.
How can I offer less than all
When his love fills my heart,
My spirit thrilling?
I’m compelled by love.

Compelled by love,
Called to follow Christ
No matter where he leads.
Compelled by love,
Called to give and not to count the cost.
Filled with God’s grace,
I’ll lead a life worth living.
How can I offer less than all
When I am made anew by his infilling?
His love calls me, his love claims me,
I’m compelled by love.

Light and Understanding

Psalm 119 New International Version

פ Pe

¹²⁹Your statutes are wonderful;
therefore I obey them.
¹³⁰The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple.

¹³¹I open my mouth and pant,
    longing for your commands.
¹³²Turn to me and have mercy on me,
    as you always do to those who love your name.
¹³³Direct my footsteps according to your word;
    let no sin rule over me.
¹³⁴Redeem me from human oppression,
    that I may obey your precepts.
¹³⁵Make your face shine on your servant
    and teach me your decrees.
¹³⁶Streams of tears flow from my eyes,
    for your law is not obeyed.

Unconditional Love

1 Corinthians 13 New International Version

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹²For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

1.
Though in declaring Christ to the sinner,
I may all men surpass,
If love impassioned seal not the message,
I am naught but sounding brass.

Chorus
Love suffereth patiently;
Love worketh silently;
Love seeketh not her own.
Love never faileth;
Love still prevaileth;
Lord, in me thy love enthrone!

2.
Though I have wisdom lighting all mysteries;
Though I may all things know;
Though great my faith be, removing mountains,
Without love ’tis empty show.

3.
Though I distribute all my possessions;
Though as a martyr die;
My sacrifices profit me nothing.
Unless love doth sanctify.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

My Vaccine Experience

Saved from Troubles

Psalm 138

Of David.

¹I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
    before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
²I will bow down toward your holy temple
    and will praise your name
    for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
    that it surpasses your fame.
³When I called, you answered me;
    you greatly emboldened me.

⁴May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
when they hear what you have decreed.
⁵May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
for the glory of the Lord is great.

⁶Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
    though lofty, he sees them from afar.
⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
    with your right hand you save me.
⁸The Lord will vindicate me;
    your love, Lord, endures forever—
    do not abandon the works of your hands.

GOD CAN DO ANYTHING

The Promised Land

Deuteronomy 6 New International Version

Love the Lord Your God

6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ²so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ³Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

⁴Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] ⁵Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. Image result for bound for the promised land

¹⁰When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, ¹¹houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied,¹²be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

¹³Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. ¹⁴Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you;¹⁵for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. ¹⁶Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. ¹⁷Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. ¹⁸Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, ¹⁹thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.

²⁰In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?”²¹tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²²Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. ²³But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God,so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.²⁵And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”

Homeless in the cold weather

Image result for homeless in the cold weather

Isaiah 58: 6-8 6″Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Although I poked a little fun on the British weather in yesterday’s blog we mustn’t forget how it’s affecting the homeless. We hear on the news about the good work the homeless shelters are doing but unfortunately they fill up pretty quick in this weather which means some people are still sleeping rough.

We pay a particular thanks to those who are prepared to go out at night and look for these people.

I would also like to pay tribute to those who did or still may be doing the neighbourly /friendly thing by bringing food and drink to those stranded in vehicles and lorries through out the country.

Spring

Proverbs 16:15

In the light of a king’s face there is life,
and his favour is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.

Yes folks it’s that time of year when we loose an hours sleep because on the last weekend in March the clocks go FORWARD for Spring.

We need God to bless us with refreshing seasons don’t we all four of them in fact (even if one of them is Winter) Verse two even refers to the ‘ Sound of abundance of rain’

I think we all need some ‘Showers of Blessing’ from God at some point in our lifes.

To be Cleansed

Ezekiel 36 New International Version

Israel’s Restoration Assured

¹⁶Again the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷“Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight. ¹⁸So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. ¹⁹I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. ²⁰And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ ²¹I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.

²²“Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. ²³I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

²⁴“‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁸Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. ³⁰I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. ³¹Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. ³²I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!

³³“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. ³⁴The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. ³⁵They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” ³⁶Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’

³⁷“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, ³⁸as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”