Family

Ideally, our family will be the one we were born into. But it might be a group of friends, people who have been through the same experiences as you, or people brought together by love.

The author Jane Howard wrote, “Call it a clan, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

As the actor Michael J Fox pointed out, “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything!”

Turn to Jesus

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Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

I think this is another one of these songs where the words speak for themselves, especially the chorus plus in verse one it tells us There’s a light for a look at the saviour And in verse three  we are told He will not fail you and as long  we believe him all is well

  1. O soul, are you weary and troubled?
    No light in the darkness you see?
    There’s light for a look at the Savior,
    And life more abundant and free!

    • Refrain:
      Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
      Look full in His wonderful face,
      And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
      In the light of His glory and grace.
  2. Through death into life everlasting
    He passed, and we follow Him there;
    O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
    For more than conqu’rors we are!
  3. His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
    Believe Him, and all will be well:
    Then go to a world that is dying,
    His perfect salvation to tell!

Compelling Love

1 Corinthians 8 11-13

For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.

I really don’t think i have to say much in this blog today because I think the words and especially the video speak for themselves. As we look at the video we thank not just The Salvation Army for the work they do in the poorer countries but also organisations such as Christian Aid, Oxfam Bernardos etc, the list is endless. Finally I would ask you to pray for the families affected in these

countries.See the source image

Compelled by love,
Called to serve
Wherever there are souls in need.
Compelled by love,
Called to find the lonely
And the lost.
Touched by God’s grace,
I’ll love where hearts are hurting.
How can I offer less than all
When I am born again by his forgiving?
I’m compelled by love.

Compelled by love,
Called to toil
Wherever there are mouths to feed.
Compelled by love,
Called to work where life is at its worst.
Moved by God’s grace,
I’ll prove that I am willing.
How can I offer less than all
When his love fills my heart,
My spirit thrilling?
I’m compelled by love.

Compelled by love,
Called to follow Christ
No matter where he leads.
Compelled by love,
Called to give and not to count the cost.
Filled with God’s grace,
I’ll lead a life worth living.
How can I offer less than all
When I am made anew by his infilling?
His love calls me, his love claims me,
I’m compelled by love.

Unconditional Love

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1 Corinthians 13 New International Version

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

1.
Though in declaring Christ to the sinner,
I may all men surpass,
If love impassioned seal not the message,
I am naught but sounding brass.

Chorus
Love suffereth patiently;
Love worketh silently;
Love seeketh not her own.
Love never faileth;
Love still prevaileth;
Lord, in me thy love enthrone!

2.
Though I have wisdom lighting all mysteries;
Though I may all things know;
Though great my faith be, removing mountains,
Without love ’tis empty show.

3.
Though I distribute all my possessions;
Though as a martyr die;
My sacrifices profit me nothing.
Unless love doth sanctify.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Light and Understanding

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Psalm 119 New International Version 

פ Pe

129 Your statutes are wonderful;
    therefore I obey them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light;
    it gives understanding to the simple.

131 I open my mouth and pant,
    longing for your commands.
132 Turn to me and have mercy on me,
    as you always do to those who love your name.
133 Direct my footsteps according to your word;
    let no sin rule over me.
134 Redeem me from human oppression,
    that I may obey your precepts.
135 Make your face shine on your servant
    and teach me your decrees.
136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes,
    for your law is not obeyed.

Saved from Troubles

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Psalm 138

Of David.

1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
    before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
    and will praise your name
    for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
    that it surpasses your fame.
3 When I called, you answered me;
    you greatly emboldened me.

4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
    when they hear what you have decreed.
5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
    for the glory of the Lord is great.

6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
    though lofty, he sees them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
    with your right hand you save me.
8 The Lord will vindicate me;
    your love, Lord, endures forever—
    do not abandon the works of your hands.

The Promised Land

Deuteronomy 6 New International Version 

Love the Lord Your God

6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.Image result for bound for the promised land

10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied,12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you;15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.

20 In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?”21 tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God,so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”