3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly madev complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
Once again another song I came across on you tube last night and thought what a testimony.
When we walk with the Lord in the light of his Word
What a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will, he abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But his smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh nor a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil he doth richly repay;
Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey.
But we never can prove the delights of his love
Until all on the altar w66.e lay;
For the favour he shows, and the joy he bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet,
Or we will walk by his side in the way;
What he says we will do, where he sends we will go,
Never fear, only trust and obey.
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 h
e 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 Saviour 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.
John 3:16-17King James Version (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswerving to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Two people collaborated to write “I Am Thine, O Lord”—a song that quickly became a favorite in Christian circles, and remains so in many places today. Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) wrote the words and William Doane (1832-1915) composed the music.
Doane was a successful businessman who served as the president of a Cincinnati company that produced woodworking machines. He also held a number of patents for the machines that they produced.
While he enjoyed his business, Doane enjoyed Christian music even more. During his lifetime, he composed the music for hundreds of hymns, and edited a number of hymn collections.
Crosby’s story was even more dramatic. Blinded in infancy, she had the good fortune to have a grandmother and a caretaker who dedicated themselves to helping her memorize the Bible. They assigned weekly goals for memorization, and drilled Crosby to help her reach those goals. As an adult, Crosby tapped that rich reservoir of memorized Bible verses to write her hymns.
And write hymns she did—8000 hymns and Gospel songs total—to include many of the old favorites that are still found in many hymnals a century after her death.
“I Am Thine, O Lord” grew out of a conversation that Crosby had with Doane while visiting his home. They were talking about the nearness of God when Crosby was seized by inspiration. Soon she was reciting the verses and choruses—very much as we find them in hymnals today. Doane set her words to music, and the song that they produced has blessed generations of Christians.
The song is a prayer, celebrating the joy of faith—and the desire for an even deeper faith. The chorus asks:
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious bleeding side.
I can personally testify to the power of this song, having sung it often as I was growing up. If sung at a spirited tempo, it had an upbeat mood. But often the chorus—in particular the last chorus—was sung more slowly and deliberately, inspiring an introspective mood. I don’t often hear it sung today, but would be happy to have the opportunity to sing it again.
1. I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice, and it told thy love to me; but I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee. Refrain: Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious, bleeding side.
2. Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine; let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and my will be lost in thine. (Refrain)
3. O the pure delight of a single hour that before thy throne I spend, when I kneel in prayer, and with thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend! (Refrain)
4. There are depths of love that I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea; there are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with thee.
11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.[a] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
1 There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Saviour above.
[Chorus]
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy drops ’round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
2 There shall be showers of blessing–
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.
3 There shall be showers of blessing:
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing;
Come and now honour Thy word.
4 There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call! [Chorus]
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
As the varied way of life we journey, Come the plains and then the mountainside, Come the days of joy when birds are singing, And the world is fair and sweet and wide; Then a deeper joy comes, overfilling, From the everlasting throne of love, And all other joy is but an echo From the ever-blessèd heights above.
There are shadows on the earthly pathway Where, at times uncertainly, we tread; In perplexity we halt and linger Till our faith again is upward led. For the heights of truth are ever calling, And celestial radiance from afar On our pilgrim way is gently falling For our comfort where the shadows are.
In the days of peace and golden sunshine, In the days of joy, or days of woe, There is confidence in Him who holds us; There is light to guide us here below. And beyond await the heights of rapture, Where all earthly joys, transcended, fade In the glory of the Saviour’s presence, In the Home eternal He has made.
24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Patience is a virtue as they say. As humans some of us are more patient than others, the more patient of us having time for other people and to be more understanding but for others it’s the opposite way around, no patience and very little time for others.
Another saying is ‘Everything comes to those who wait’ this also requires a little patience as it may not happen straight away.
At time when we are being a little impatient we need to ask for God’s guidance for more patience
You called out my name
Knew my past, covered my shame
This amazing grace
You’ve shown, so patiently
You’ve shown, so patiently
And You, waited for me
Just for me
For me
You, waited for me
Just for me
For me
Where would I be? If You left me God
Where would I be? If You left me God
Where would I be? If You left me God
Where would I be? If You left me God
You waited, waited
You waited, waited
You waited, waited
You waited, waited
Where would I be? If You left me God
Where would I be? If You left me God
Where would I be? If You left me God
Where would I be? If You left
You waited, waited
You waited, waited
You waited, waited
You waited, waited
You waited, waited
You waited, waited
(Where would I be?) Where would I be? If You left me God
(Where would I be?) Where would I be? If You left me God
(Where would I be?) Where would I be?
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Some of you might recogise this as a golden oldie
Come, every soul by sin oppressed, there’s mercy with the Lord, and He will surely give you rest by trusting in His word.
Refrain: Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now; He will save you, He will save you. He will save you now.
For Jesus shed His precious blood rich blessings to bestow; plunge now into the crimson flood that washes white as snow. [Refrain]
Yes, Jesus is the truth, the way, that leads you into rest; believe in Him without delay, and you are fully blest. [Refrain]
Come, then, and join this holy band, and on to glory go, to dwell in that celestial land where joys immortal flow.
Christian Devotions, Health and General issues of the day 