12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
I don’t know what the weather’s like where you are but where I am it’s raining and miserable but we have always got to remember there are countries worse of than the UK at this time of year, such as Russia and Canada.
On the spiritual note if we have or seek to have Christ in our lives WE WILL have ‘Sunshine in our Heart’
There is sunshine in my soul today,
More glorious and bright
Than glows in any earthly sky,
For Jesus is my light.
O there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine,
While the peaceful, happy moments roll;
When Jesus shows His smiling face
There is sunshine in my soul.
There is music in my soul today,
A carol to my King;
And Jesus, listening, can hear
The song I cannot sing.
There is springtime in my soul today,
For when the Lord is near
The dove of peace sings in my heart,
The flowers of grace appear.
There is gladness in my soul today,
And hope, and praise, and love,
For blessings which He gives me now,
For joys laid up above.
3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b]7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
From beginning to the end All my life is in Your hands This whole world may hold me down But it can never drown You out I’m not merely flesh and bone I was made for something more
You are God, You’re the Great “I Am” Breath of life I breathe You in Even in the fire, I’m alive in You! You are strong in my brokenness Sovereign over every step Even in the fire, I’m alive I’m alive in You!
Through the dark I hear Your voice Rising up I will rejoice For I was lost but now I’m found ‘Cause even death can’t hold You down
You are God, You’re the Great “I Am” Breath of life I breathe You in Even in the fire, I’m alive in You! You are strong in my brokenness Sovereign over every step Even in the fire, I’m alive I’m alive in You!
It’s no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives within me, Christ who lives within me From beginning to the end You deserve the glory You deserve the glory It’s no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives within me, Christ who lives within me From beginning to the end You deserve the glory You deserve the glory
You are God, You’re the Great “I Am” Breath of life I breathe You in Even in the fire, I’m alive in You! You are strong in my brokenness Sovereign over every step Even in the fire, I’m alive I’m alive in You! You are God, You’re the Great “I Am” Breath of life I breathe You in Even in the fire, I’m alive in You! You are strong in my brokenness Sovereign over every step Even in the fire, I’m alive I’m alive in You!
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b]boast in the hope of the glory of God.3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
2 I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.’ 3 I say of the holy people who are in the land, ‘They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.’ 4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. 7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful[b] one see decay. 11 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
He leadeth me: O blessed thought! O words with heavenly comfort fraught! Whate’er I do, where’er I be, Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
“He Leadeth Me” by American Joseph Gilmore (1834-1918) was birthed out of a particular struggle in American history. This hymn was composed in 1862 during the Civil War, a time of upheaval and insecurity. The author was preaching at First Baptist Church in Philadelphia soon after his ordination.
Dr. Carlton R. Young, The United Methodist Hymnal editor, cites Gilmore’s recollections on the hymn’s formation: “I set out to give the people an exposition of the 23rd Psalm, which I had given before on three or four occasions, but this time I did not get further than the words ‘He Leadeth Me.’ Psalm 23:2, ‘he leadeth me beside the still waters,’ became the theme of the song” (Young, 1993, 390).
Subsequently, upon the initiative of Glimore’s wife and without the author’s knowledge, the text appeared in the Boston newspaper Watchman and Reflector (Dec. 4, 1862) under the rather unusual and unexplained pseudonym “Contoocook.” The famous gospel song composer William Bradbury (1816-1868) included these words anonymously with his own tune in his collection The Golden Censer (1864). Bradbury is credited with adding the third line to the famous refrain (in bold italics):
He leadeth me! He leadeth me! By his own hand he leadeth me; His faithful follower I would be, For by his hand he leadeth me.
Joseph H. Gilmore, the son of Joseph A. Gilmore, governor of New Hampshire, received his education from Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1858), and Newton Theological Seminary (1861) where he taught Hebrew. An ordained Baptist minister (1862), Gilmore became a professor after serving churches in Philadelphia, New Hampshire, and New York. He was also a professor of English at the University of Rochester from 1868-1911. A prolific writer for newspapers and periodicals, Gilmore also authored three books in his academic field: The Art of Expression (1876) and Outlines of English and American Literature (1905), as well as a book of poetry, He Leadeth Me, and Other Religious Poems (1877).
Working as his father’s private secretary during the Civil War, he also edited the Concord, New Hampshire Daily Monitor. Gilmore provided further information on the historical context of this hymn:
It was the darkest hour of the Civil War. I did not refer to that fact—that is, I don’t think I did—but it may subconsciously have led me to realize that God’s leadership is the one significant fact in human experience, that it makes no difference how we are led, or whither we are led, so long as we are sure God is leading us. http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/h/l/e/hleademe.htm
Stanza 2 of the hymn may suggest the ethos of the national crisis. Drawing on Psalm 23:4a; “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (KJV), Gilmore begins: “Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom…”
In stanza 3, the poet offers a particular theological interpretation of Psalm 23:4b: ”thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” In doing so, he reflects on the concept of complete submission to God’s will found in many gospel songs of this era:
Lord I would place my hand in Thine, nor ever murmur nor repine; content, whatever lot I see, since ‘tis my God that leadeth me.
Consider the similarity between this sentiment and the first stanza of “When Peace Like a River” (1873) by Horatio Spafford (1828-1888): “… whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, / ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’”
Or note “Blessed Assurance” (1873) by Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), in which the poet says: “Perfect submission, all is at rest, / I in my Savior am happy and blest…“ (stanza 3).
Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (KJV), provides a basis for the final stanza of the hymn, drawing upon the familiar image of the Jordan River cited throughout Scripture, especially as the place of Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 2:13) and a place where Jesus often conducted his ministry (Matthew 4:25; Mark 3:7-8), and ultimately the passageway from this life to the next:
And when my task on earth is done, When by thy grace the victory’s won, E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee, Since God through Jordan leadeth me.
As is the case with so many gospel songs, the rhetorical strength of this hymn lies in the almost incessant repetition of a single thought: “He/God leadeth me.” When the five quotations of this idea in the four stanzas are added to the three references in the refrain, the singer will have sung “He/God leadeth me” a total of seventeen times by the time the hymn is concluded!
Gilmore seems to have had a humble nature as a poet and lacked ambition in promoting his own work. After handing the draft of the poem to his wife who sent it to The Watchman and Reflector under a pseudonym, Gilmore thought no more about it. Gilmore notes, “Three years later I went to Rochester, New York, to preach as a candidate before the Second Baptist Church. Upon entering the chapel, I took up a hymnbook, thinking, ‘I wonder what they sing.’ The book opened up at “’He Leadeth Me,’ and that was the first time I knew that my hymn had found a place among the songs of the church” (Osbeck, 1982, 87).
When the famous musical evangelist Ira D. Sankey (1840-1908), the musician for renowned evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899), included Bradbury’s version of the hymn in several editions of Sacred Songs and Solos, its fame was assured. The Salvation Army spread its use throughout Britain when they included it in several of their collections.
Though Gilmore wrote other hymns, it is this hurriedly penned text written at age 28 for which he is remembered. The First Baptist Church of Philadelphia was demolished in 1926. Kenneth Osbeck notes, however, that the words to the first stanza of Gilmore’s hymn appear on a bronze tablet on the large office building that replaced the church with the inscription, “in recognition of the beauty and fame of this beloved hymn, and in remembrance of its distinguished author” (Osbeck, 1982, 88).
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
God has given to us a new, forgiven life in him. We have no need, therefore to be anxious if we Turn our eyes upon Jesus as it says in the song. The past cannot make us afraid, for we know that that our sins are forgiven.
The present need not trouble us, for we know that the whole world is in God’s hands.
“Do everything in the name of Jesus Giving Thanks“. A thankful spirit will triumph over many difficulties, and will save us from many more
7
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
Most of us have Busy lives and it can be quite easy to set aside that quiet time in the day for our time with God, and before you know it the day is over. I have to admit I’ve done that several times, which in a sense is one of the reasons for starting the blogs.
We must remember to spend time with God each day.
The words associated with this tune are below: which is an arrangement of the American folk tune Shenandoah.
‘Mid all the traffic of the ways,
Turmoils without, within,
Make in thy heart a quiet place,
And come and dwell therein
A little shrine of quietness,
All sacred to Thyself,
Where Thou shalt all my soul possess,
And I may find myself.
Come, occupy my silent place,
And make thy dwelling there!
More gracious is wrought in quietness
Than any is aware
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. 26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29″Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
I thought I would share something on mother’s today (as it is Mother’s day in the UK yesterday).
The bond between a daughter/son is very special, she is there for us when we need someone to talk to she speaks to us with wise words, She is also there when we need to be loved and comforted. The words of the song ‘When Mothers of Salem’ come to mind.
When mothers of Salem their children brought to Jesus,
The stern disciples drove them back and bade them to depart:
But Jesus saw them ere they fled and sweetly smiled and kindly said,
“Suffer little children to come unto Me.”
“For I will receive them and fold them to My bosom:
I’ll be a shepherd to these lambs, O drive them not away;
For if their hearts to Me they give, they shall with Me in glory live:
Suffer little children to come unto Me.”
How kind was our Saviour to bid these children welcome!
But there are many thousands who have never heard His Name;
The Bible they have never read, they know not that the Saviour said,
“Suffer little children to come unto Me.”
O soon may the heathen of every tribe and nation
Fulfil Thy blessed Word and cast their idols all away!
O shine upon them from above and show Thyself a God of love,
Teach the little children to come unto Thee!
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.
As we listen to the tune for this hymn play everso beautifully on the piano let us soak in the words of this wonderful hymn with the emphasis on verse three. ‘Send Me, Lord, Where Thou Wilt Send Me, Only Do Thou Guide My Way; May Thy Grace Through Life Attend Me, Gladly Then Shall I Obey.’
Saviour, While My Heart Is Tender, I Would Yield That Heart To Thee; All My Powers To Thee Surrender, Thine And Only Thine To Be.
Take Me Now, Lord Jesus, Take Me; Let My Youthful Heart Be Thine; Thy Devoted Servant Make Me; Fill My Soul With Love Divine.
Send Me, Lord, Where Thou Wilt Send Me, Only Do Thou Guide My Way; May Thy Grace Through Life Attend Me, Gladly Then Shall I Obey.
Let Me Do Thy Will Or Bear It; I Would Know No Will But Thine; Shouldst Thou Take My Life Or Spare It, I That Life To Thee Resign.
May This Solemn Consecration Never Once Forgotten Be; Let It Know No Revocation, Registered And Confirmed By Thee.
Thine I Am, O Lord, For Ever To Thy Service Set Apart; Suffer Me To Leave Thee Never, Seal Thine Image On My Heart.
Christian Devotions, Health and General issues of the day 