2 ‘Bear with me a little longer and I will show you that there is more to be said on God’s behalf. 3 I get my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe justice to my Maker. 4 Be assured that my words are not false; one who has perfect knowledge is with you.
5 ‘God is mighty, but despises no one; he is mighty, and firm in his purpose. 6 He does not keep the wicked alive but gives the afflicted their rights. 7 He does not take his eyes off the righteous; he enthrones them with kings and exalts them for ever. 8 But if people are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, 9 he tells them what they have done – that they have sinned arrogantly. 10 He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. 11 If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. 12 But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword[a] and die without knowledge.
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’
23 Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’
24 Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’
25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
27 ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. ‘The Teacher is here,’ she said, ‘and is asking for you.’ 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked.
‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’
37 But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
Verse 1 O Christ, You wept when grief was raw, and felt for those who mourned their friend; Come close to where we would not be and hold us, numbed by this life’s end.
Verse 2 The well-loved voice is silent now and we have much we meant to say; collect our lost and wandering words and keep them, till the endless day.
Verse 3 We try to hold what is not here and fear for what we do not know; Oh, take our hands in Yours, good Lord, and free us, free now to let our friend go.
Verse 4 In all our loneliness and doubt through what we cannot realise, address us from Your empty tomb and speak of the life, that never dies
11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.
12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors.13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young.15 The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.16 You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
Once again as in so many other parts of the bible we are advised to follow God’s commandments and we are assured of God’s love as mentioned in verse 13.
1. God’s love to me is wonderful, That he should deign to hear The faintest whisper of my heart, Wipe from mine eyes the tear; And though I cannot comprehend Such love, so great, so deep, In his strong hands my soul I trust, He will not fail to keep. Chorus God’s love is wonderful, God’s love is wonderful, Wonderful that he should give his Son to die for me; God’s love is wonderful!
2. God’s love to me is wonderful! My very steps are planned; When mists of doubt encompass me, I hold my Father’s hand. His love has banished every fear, In freedom I rejoice, And with my quickened ears I hear The music of his voice.
3. God’s love to me is wonderful! He lights the darkest way; I now enjoy his fellowship, ‘Twill last through endless day. My Father doth not ask that I Great gifts on him bestow, But only that I love him too, And serve him here below.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.
“Fear not!” said he, for mighty dread
Had seized their troubled mind;
“Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To you and all mankind.
“To you, in David’s town, this day
Is born of David’s line
A Savior, who is Christ the Lord,
And this shall be the sign:
“The heav’nly Babe you there shall find
To human view displayed,
All meanly wrapped in swathing bands,
And in a manger laid.”
Thus spake the seraph and forthwith
Appeared a shining throng
Of angels praising God on high,
Who thus addressed their song:
“All glory be to God on high,
And to the Earth be peace;
Good will henceforth from heav’n to men
Begin and never cease!”
This is not the original carol but never the less I hope you like it
Today is Remembrance Day when the whole country paused in silence and thought for two minutes to give thanks to those who gave their lives not just in World war 1 and in World war 2 as well. Also the wars that went on after that and still is in some parts of the world. We will remember them!
Peace in our time, O Lord, To all the peoples – peace! Peace surely based upon Thy will And built in righteousness. Thy power alone can break The fetters that enchain The sorely stricken soul of life And make it live again.
Too long mistrust and fear Have held our souls in thrall; Sweep through the earth, keen Breath of Heav’n And sound a nobler call! Come, as Thou didst of old, In love so great that men Shall cast aside all other gods And turn to Thee again.
Peace in our time, O Lord, To all the peoples – peace! Peace that shall build a glad new world, And make for life’s increase. O living Christ, Who still Dost all our burdens share, Come now and dwell within the hearts Of all men everywhere.
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.
4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:
‘When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.’[b]
9 (What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The birth of every child into your family is a joyous occasion but for those of you who are Parent’s or grandparent’s for the first time it’s an extra special moment especially that first little hold of him or her.
When we went to see her with baby and partner on Thursday night they looked understandably shattered. Never the less mother and baby are doing ok, and the father’s just about getting there as well.
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.
O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people Blessed be God!
Here we have a song that tells us off all the amazing things that God can do. Right through from a small seed till we get old, he even plans our future.
We are also reminded that Christ died at Calvary for our sins in the song.
We truly do have an Amazing God who loves, cares for each of us (believer or not). He not only loves & cares for us but he loves & Cares for the creatures of this earth and while we believe in him he is everything to us.
Christian Devotions, Health and General issues of the day 