Daily Christian thoughts music, poems based around God
Category: Calvary
Gethsemane, Gethsemane,
Where Jesus knelt and prayed;
The soldiers came to capture Him,
By friends He was betrayed.
Where Jesus bled and died;
For me He bore the taunts and jeers,
For me was crucified.
Dark sepulchre, dark sepulchre,
Where Jesus’ body lay;
But Satan’s powers He overcame
O glorious Easter Day.
O victory, O victory,
Christ died to make men whole.
He gave me life by giving His;
The ransom for my soul.
In a world that’s ever spinning, midst the noise and ceaseless din, Christian life is but beginning, when we let the Savior in.
From the cross at Calvary’s hilltop, to the empty tomb so grand, Echoes love, forgiveness, mercy, reaching out to every land.
With each step upon the journey, through the valleys and the peaks, There’s a hand that gently guides us, even when His voice seems meek.
Faith, the cornerstone of ages, hope, the anchor for our soul, Love, the greatest of all virtues, makes the broken spirit whole.
In the trials and tribulations, in the joys and moments sweet, Christian life is not just living, but in Christ, we are complete.
Doubt may rear its head and tempt us, shadows creep and cause us strife, Yet the Light, forever shining, cuts the dark with a sacred knife.
Living water, bread of heaven, feed our souls and quench our thirst, In His word, we find our refuge, in His arms, we’re always first.
Cherished tales of saints and martyrs, testament to enduring grace, Speak of passion, faith, and purpose, and the promise we embrace.
Through the seasons, through the ages, with the cross as our true north, Christian life is not mere passage, but a beacon leading forth.
With a song of hallelujah, with a prayer in quiet night, We pursue the path of righteousness, ever towards His holy light.
In the end, as dawn is breaking, when the final race is run, Christian life’s true destination, is in union with the Son.
2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit,if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature<sup class=”footnote” style=”box-sizing:border-box;font-size:.625em;line-height:22px;position:relative;vertical-align:top;top:0;” data-fn=”#fen-NIV-29398a” data-link=”[a]”>[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature<sup class=”footnote” style=”box-sizing:border-box;font-size:.625em;line-height:22px;position:relative;vertical-align:top;top:0;” data-fn=”#fen-NIV-29399b” data-link=”[b]”>[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
This is one of my early videos I liked when I started watching video’s on You tube. Unfortunately I don’t know the exact words and there is an additional chorus been added to the song by the band as you will hear
)
Christ walked to Calvary alone,
Each bone-jarring, bruise bumping yard,
Every pain-plodded inch.
And wicked faces carved from stone
Made even Jesus flinch
And search for company to cheer
The garden-hammered promise, sealed
With blood soaked, bleeding tears.
Though gutsy – God – still longed to hear
The gratitude of those he’d healed
A drug to numb his fears.
Is my blood pumping heart a fool
To keenly fill my veins, and beat
The body on it’s way?
Perhaps the glands that coward cool
And chicken sweat away spare heat
Should early close today.
The body needs each tiny cell
Each worn out ear, each limping limb,
Each thinning greying hair.
And when I find myself in hell
And I need Christ and you are him,
I hope that you’ll be there.
I’m not afraid. Though service scares
The Christian in the garden
Who cries just like his Christ;
Who, though he doubts, the threat still dares
His God-lost heart to harden.
Thus, all is sacrificed!
Call him gutless? No! let him wear
His need for Christian prayers and friends
A medal on his chest;
And pray we learn like God to care
For those whom Satan gladly sends
Gethsemane to test.
(AB)
28″Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Having returned from holiday I thought I’d use the topic of rest as my blog for today
I can’t say our holiday got of to a good start as the cottage my wife and I booked had a cat in it when we arrived, not only that I broke the leg of my glasses and the leg slid under one of the chairs and when we pulled it out to retrieve the leg there was a lot of dirt on the floor so we had to send for the cleaner. All this was just on the day of arrival.
As we were at our favourite place Windermere in the lake district (UK) despite the upset on the day of arrival we did enjoy ourselves visiting our favourite places & resting at night in front of the telly.
You could also look out onto lake Windermere from the cottage where the water was calm and watch the steamers go up and down. It also reminded of the story of Jesus walking on water.
When Jesus looked o’er Galilee,
So blue and calm and fair,
Upon her bosom, could He see
A cross reflected there?
When sunrise dyed the lovely deeps
And sparkled in His hair,
O did the light rays seem to say:
A crown of thorns He’ll wear?
When in the hush of eventide
Cool waters touched His feet,
Was it a hymn of Calvary’s road
He heard the waves repeat?
But when the winds triumphantly
Swept from the open plain,
The Master surely heard the song:
The Lord shall live again!
26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
One of my favourite pieces in The Salvation Army brass band world is ‘Guardian of my Soul’ of where we hear two hymn tunes come through, the main one which is based on the piece itself.
I Worship You, God’s only Son,
Who took my sins to the cross,
So I could be completely free to follow where You lead.
Lord, Your wounds are now my healing
and I am wholly Yours.
You know my name and where I’m going,
Guardian of my soul.
O let me hear thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self‑will.
O speak to reassure me,
To chasten or control;
O speak to make me listen,
Thou Guardian of my soul.
I’ll follow You, God’s only Son,
Along the road to the cross,
No other place can I find grace
Unfathomed and unflawed.
And, as I reach the Hill of Calvary
And see Your open arms,
I’ll know my name and where I’m going,
Guardian of my soul.
The second is ‘O Jesus I have promised’
Strangely I have for yet another day found myself at the passage where Jesus predicts his death. I would also say this is a follow up from yesterdays blog ‘Serving Christ’ because as long as we continue to ‘serve Christ’ he will be our ‘Guardian of our Soul’
1.
O Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end,
Be thou for ever near me,
My Master and my friend.
I shall not fear the battle
If thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway,
If thou wilt be my guide.
2.
O let me feel thee near me;
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
The tempting sounds I hear.
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw thou nearer
And shield my soul from sin.
3.
O let me hear thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will.
O speak to reassure me,
To chasten or control;
O speak to make me listen,
Thou Guardian of my soul.
4.
O Jesus, thou hast promised
To all who follow thee,
That where thou art in Glory,
There shall thy servant be;
And, Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
My Master and my friend.
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
O Jesus, thou art standing, 
outside the fast closed door,
in lowly patience waiting
to pass the threshold o’er:
shame on us, Christian brothers,
his Name and sign who bear,
O shame, thrice shame upon us,
to keep him standing there!
O Jesus, thou art knocking;
and lo, that hand is scarred,
and thorns thy brow encircle,
and tears thy face have marred:
O love that passeth knowledge,
so patiently to wait!
O sin that hath no equal,
so fast to bar the gate!
O Jesus, thou art pleading
in accents meek and low,
“I died for you, my children,
and will you treat me so?”
O Lord, with shame and sorrow
we open now the door;
dear Savior, enter, enter,
and leave us never more.
One my favourite pieces of music is ‘The Light of the World’ which depicts Holman Hunts picture of Jesus standing outside a closed door and if you look closely at the door you will see there is no knob on the outside to open the door.
John 10 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[c]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
I just love the words written by Lewis Hartsough where verse one talks of thy cleansing blood flowing on Calvary.
Verse two we are called to perfect faith and love and hope, peace and trust. In verse three we are asked to be loyal for our promises to be fulfilled
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