Category: Lord

Lord in you we find a welcome

That surpasses human warmth,

In the family of Jesus

Everyone can find their worth.

Here the silent unconnected

Find a melody and song,

Here the lonely and neglected

Find a place where they belong.

Lord in you we find such friendship

That surpasses human ties.

There’s a deep and sacred union

Held by love that never dies.

Harmony that’s born in heaven

Lives on earth in you and me

As we share the love of Jesus

In our Father’s family.

Lord in you we find protection

That surpasses human might,

In the darkness of division

Shines your unifying light.

There is safety in our numbers

And the love that now draws near

Like a golden chain of virtue

Holds us safe and drives out fear.

Lord in you we find a future

That outshines our wildest dreams

For together we are stronger

Than the devil’s darkest schemes.

And no power on earth or heaven

Can destroy or tear apart

This great love we find in Jesus

That unites us heart in heart.

Andrew J.Bale

His Prescence

In the secret of Thy presence,
Where the pure in heart may dwell,
Are the springs of sacred service
And a power that none can tell.
There my love must bring its offering,
There my heart must yield its praise,
And the Lord will come, revealing
All the secrets of His ways.

In the secret of Thy presence,
In the hiding of Thy power,
Let me love Thee, let me serve Thee,
Every consecrated hour.

More than all my lips may utter,
More than all I do or bring,
Is the depth of my devotion
To my Saviour, Lord and King.
Nothing less will keep me tender;
Nothing less will keep me true;
Nothing less will keep the fragrance
And the bloom on all I do!

Blessèd Lord, to see Thee truly,
Then to tell as I have seen –
This shall rule my life supremely;
This shall be the sacred gleam.
Sealed again is all the sealing,
Pledged again my willing heart,
First to know Thee, then to serve Thee,
Then to see Thee as Thou art.

How we all need to spend time being quiet and still in the Lord’s presence! This beautiful devotional song was written in 1920 by Albert Orsborn, the Salvation Army’s “Poet General”. He had been asked to write a song for a series of officers’ councils, but only made a start after the first session! For such a prolific hymnwriter, apparently the task would not be difficult! Orsborn is quoted as saying: “At about 5:30 (in the morning) I awoke with a very real sense of a Presence quite near me. Then slowly, but easily, these verses and the chorus came into my mind. All I had to do was to catch the inspiration and write down the words…by candlelight.” The song was used that evening but not published until 1923.

A Christian’s Heart

A Christian’s heart is like a flower

Where there is always room

For every lovely seed from God

Comes to perfect bloom

A Christian’s heart is like a Church

A room of peace and Love

Where Angels make their presence felt

With ideas from above

A Christian’s heart is like a fort

Of mighty rugged stone

Where sayings kept of our dear Lord

Rest upon its throne

A Christian’s heart is like a star

Reflecting light from God

Shining brightly in the night

On pathways deeply trod

A Christian’s heart is broken still

So God can build anew

A pathway closer to himself

Of purity and truth

A Christian’s Heart beats larger

When love is given free

Without condition or distrust

Our Hearts light up with glee

Joseph McTaggart

Grace, Mercy & Love

It is without fear (not dep respect or reverence, but fear) of the Lord, we shall never have the wisdom to understand His grace, mercy and love.

Strength and Power

Isaiah 40 New International Version

²⁵“To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
    not one of them is missing.

²⁷Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

“He Will Give The Weary Strength”

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength
They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint
And like a flight upon an eagle’s wings, He will give the weary strength

So lift your eyes up to the sky
To the one who hears you when you cry

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength
They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint
Like a flight upon an eagle’s wings, He will give, He will give
He will give the weary strength

The birth of Jesus

Matthew 1 New International Version

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[g] (which means “God with us”).

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

A while ago I was given a book of daily bible verses and the highlighted verse above is the one I read this morning. (Suppose I should of kept it for Christmas really).

Love and Respect

Proverbs 20 New International Version

¹⁹A gossip betrays a confidence;
so avoid anyone who talks too much.

²⁰If someone curses their father or mother,
their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.

²¹An inheritance claimed too soon
will not be blessed at the end.

²²Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!”
Wait for the Lord, and he will avenge you.

²³The Lord detests differing weights,
and dishonest scales do not please him.

²⁴A person’s steps are directed by the Lord.
How then can anyone understand their own way?

²⁵It is a trap to dedicate something rashly
and only later to consider one’s vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked;
he drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The human spirit is^[a] the lamp of the Lord
that sheds light on one’s inmost being.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep a king safe;
through love his throne is made secure.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength,
grey hair the splendour of the old.

³⁰Blows and wounds scrub away evil,
and beatings purge the inmost being.

Being led by God

Psalm 16 New International Version

Psalm 16

A miktam^[a] of David.

¹Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.

²I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    apart from you I have no good thing.”
³I say of the holy people who are in the land,
    “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
⁴Those 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.

⁵Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
⁶The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
⁷I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
¹⁰because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    nor will you let your faithful^[b] one see decay.
¹¹You 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 heav’nly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
1. Refrain:
  He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
  By His own hand He leadeth me;
  His faithful foll’wer I would be,
  For by His hand He leadeth me.
Sometimes ’mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
By waters still, o’er troubled sea,
Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.
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.
And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Psalm 126

A song of ascents.

¹When the Lord restored the fortunes of^[a] Zion,
    we were like those who dreamed.^[b]
²Our mouths were filled with laughter,
    our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
³The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we are filled with joy.

⁴Restore our fortunes,^[c] Lord,
    like streams in the Negev.
⁵Those who sow with tears
    will reap with songs of joy.
⁶Those who go out weeping,
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
    carrying sheaves with them.

MY TRIBUTE TO GOD BE THE GLORY

How can I say thanks for the things
You have done for me?
Things so undeserved yet You gave
To prove Your love for me
The voices of a million angels
Could not express my gratitude
All that I am, and ever hope to be
I owe it all to Thee

To God be the glory
To God be the glory
To God be the glory
For the things He has done
With His blood He has saved me
With His power He has raised me
To God be the glory
For the things He has done

Just let me live my life and
Let it be pleasing Lord to Thee
And if I gain any praise
Let it go to Calvary
With His blood He has saved me
With His power He has raised me
To God be the glory
For the things He has done

For the things He has done
For the things He has done

Giving Thanks

Psalm 138 New Living Translation

A psalm of David.

¹I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;
    I will sing your praises before the gods.
²I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
    I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed
    by all the honour of your name.
³As soon as I pray, you answer me;
    you encourage me by giving me strength.

⁴Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord,
    for all of them will hear your words.
⁵Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways,
    for the glory of the Lord is very great.
⁶Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble,
    but he keeps his distance from the proud.

⁷Though I am surrounded by troubles,
    you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
    and the power of your right hand saves me.
⁸The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
    for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

In verse eight we are told that the Lord has a plan for our lives, the thing we have to remember is when we as humans try to go a different way God has other plans for us and sometimes we may not like the route that God is taking us, but we have to accept that he is taking us that way for a reason.