Category: The Lord Jesus
Mother and child #WDYS
A hand, warm, a small, clinging thing. Eyes, searching, finding only her. A word, a clumsy sound, a world unfolding. The curve of a cheek, the scent of milk, the hum of a lullaby. Years melt, a river’s flow, yet the echo remains, of touch, of trust, of a love unwritten, unspoken, eternal. What do […]
Mother and child #WDYS
Following Jesus
Mathew 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me
A few months ago in our devotional period after Songster practice I based my thoughts on the song “I’ll follow Thee”
Bandmaster Richard Philips who plays the piano for The International Staff Songsters has a CD out with the original tune of ‘I’ll Follow Thee,
1.
I heard a voice so gently calling:
Take up thy cross and follow me.
A tempest on my heart was falling,
A living cross this was to be;
I struggled sore, I struggled vainly,
No other light my eyes could see.
Chorus
I’ll follow thee, of life the giver,
I’ll follow thee, suffering redeemer,
I’ll follow thee, deny thee never,
By thy grace I’ll follow thee.
2.
I heard his voice unto me saying:
Take up thy cross and follow me.
My heart is thine, now thee obeying,
Speak all thy will, dear Lord, to me.
Make weakness strength, thy power now give me,
And from this hour I’ll follow thee.
We are told in Mathew 16:24 that in order to be a follower of Jesus we must take up thy cross and it goes on to tell us in verse 2 that if we follow him he will give us strength and power.
Obedience
John 14:23
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
Yet again I was listening to a song of the same title on you tube last night which prompted me to write this blog.
It’s a song that invites us to listen and to respond to Jesus’s calling as he not only knocks at the door of our hearts and in doing so we may feel his presence, Help us to realise what you want us to be.
Here is the words for you to follow:
Lord I hear you knocking Hear your voice appealing Open the door of your heart Let me enter in and Take a centre of your life Controlling every part Come follow me on the way of the cross This is the moment you must start
Chorus: Lord I respond to your claims on my life With obedience to that you will ask
Lord, knowing you in the way of the cross This will be my task Lord I know you’re prompting Know your spirit surging Be my desire for today Make my will your choice and Meet no other voice That calls to walk another way Come follow me on the way of the cross This is the moment to obey
Lord, knowing you in the way of the cross This will be my task Lord I know your presence Be your call to service Be what you want me to be Serve and to your brothers Give your life for others As I do at Calvary Come follow me on the way of the cross This is the moment to be free
Chorus: Lord I respond to your claims on my life With obedience to that you will ask Lord, knowing you in the way of the cross This will be my task Your cross, my task
Jesus, our Forever Friend
John 15:12-15
12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
The first time I heard this song I got to admit I liked it, the laughable thing about it was it took me a few times to listen to it for the words to register with me.
Why I didn’t catch on the first time Heaven only knows. This is a brilliant testimony and invitation to get to know Christ
Everybody needs a little help sometime
No one stands alone
Makes no difference if you’re just a child like me
Or a king upon a throne
For there are no exceptions
We all stand in the line
Everybody needs a friend
Let me tell you of mine
——-
Chorus:
He’s my forever friend
My leave-me-never friend
From darkest night to rainbow’s end
He’s my forever friend
——-
Even when I turn away He cares for me
His love no one can shake
Even as I walk away He’s by my side
With every breath I take
And sometimes I forget Him
My halo fails to shine
Sometimes I’m not His friend
But He is always mine
——-
Repeat chorus:
If you still don’t know the one I’m talking of
I think it’s time you knew
Long ago and far away upon a cross
My friend died for you
So if you’d like to meet Him
And don’t know what to do
Ask my friend into you heart
And He’ll be your friend too
Gatwick Airport issues key update as UK braces for travel chaos after Heathrow shutdown
Benefits cuts are imminent
Those with “milder mental health” issues and “lower-level physical conditions” could see their disability benefits cut, as the government looks to shave £6bn off the welfare bill.
Reggae artist dies aged 65
Cocoa Tea, whose real name was Colvin George Scott, was a celebrated Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter. Born on September 3, 1959, in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, he became one of the most popular reggae artists from the 1980s onwards. Known for his smooth vocals and socially conscious lyrics, he created timeless hits like “Rocking Dolly,” “I Lost My Sonia,” and “Rikers Island.”
Sadly, Cocoa Tea passed away on March 11, 2025, at the age of 65 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He had been battling lymphoma since 2019 and faced complications from pneumonia in the last six months of his life. Despite his health struggles, he remained positive and hopeful until the end
People who impacted my Faith
Matthew 21:28-32
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29 “ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”“The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
I can think of six people who had or still have an impact on my Faith the immediate ones obviously being my mother and late father and of course both sets of grandparents.
Apart from my Mother and Father, though I loved my Grandparents very much Faith wise there are two that stuck out and that was my father’s father and my mother’s mother who was a very wise woman.
I think it would be safe to say I got more advise than i did my father’s father as he died before 80 where as my mother’s mother lived passed 100 years old.
Sins Forgiven
Luke 7:44-50
44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among[a] themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
The Bible has several references on the subject of Forgiveness. One of them being the above and I suppose one of the most common ones.
As humans for some of us the act of forgiveness is not easy, we can indeed find it very hard to forgive someone how has done wrong by us or upset us in some way.
Jesus speaks of a woman washing his feet with her tears and hair, he also mentions that she anointed his feet with ointment and because of this her sins were forgiven .
Let us learn to be as forgiving as humanly possible throughout the whole year. Forgiveness is not a something that comes easy to some people, these people need to find that inner strength from the Lord.
