Tag: God

Peace

Luke 2 : 13 – 14

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Image result for peace at Christmas

It doesn’t matter which version of scripture you choose to read, you’ll find the word peace used about 150 times. Sometimes it’s used to warn people who are about to lose their sense of peace, and other times it’s part of a standard blessing spoken over God’s people. It’s remarkable how many times the word is used to give a promise or as part of prophecy. Often the word is spoken as a reminder of the peace God gave in the past or given as a word of hope for the present as well as the future. During Advent this year, we’ll look at each of those uses of the word, and hopefully, by focusing on the One born to bring us true peace, we’ll have our most tranquil Christmas celebration ever!

Nowadays we read, hear and see on TV all sorts of evil taking place all over the world. Lets remind ourselves that this is a season of Peace and Joy.

Verse 1]
Behold the star of Bethlehem
The Word of God has become flesh
Unto us a child is born
The Savior of this broken world

[Chorus]
Hear the angel voices
Sing come let us adore Him
Peace has come, for our King is with us

[Verse 2]
Fully God and fully man
He comes for all with open hands
He rules with love on David’s throne
All praise belongs to Christ alone

[Chorus]
Hear the angel voices
Sing come let us adore Him
Peace has come, for our King is with us
Holy, Holy, Holy
Jesus we adore thee
Peace has come, for our King is with us

[Bridge]
Oh come let us adore Him
Oh come let us adore Him
Oh come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
(2x)

[Chorus]
Hear the angel voices
Sing come let us adore Him
Peace has come, for our King is with us

God’s Time

Jeremiah 29

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I have this tune on a recent CD I bought it’s a piano arrangement and I love the tune but being a musician when i looked up these words it made the tune a lot more meaningful.

As Jeremiah tells us God has plans for each of us we just need to pray for him to show and teach us the way to enable us do what he says.

In His time, in His time, See the source image
He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Lord, please show me everyday
As You’re teaching me Your way,
That you do just what You say in Your time.

In Your time, in Your time,
You make all things beautiful in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
With its winter and its spring,
May I fathom everything in Your time.

There’s a time, there’s a time
Both for sowing and for reaping there’s a time.
Time for losing, time for gain,
Time for joy and time for pain,
Every purpose under heaven has a time.

There are times, there are days,
Weeks and months we cannot understand God’s ways.
If for years we fail to scan
What is his eternal plan,
We’ll remember that He can, all the time.

The cries of the needy

Psalm 69 New Living Translation

²²Let the bountiful table set before them become a snare
    and their prosperity become a trap.^[b]
²³Let their eyes go blind so they cannot see,
    and make their bodies shake continually.^[c]
²⁴Pour out your fury on them;
    consume them with your burning anger.
²⁵Let their homes become desolate
    and their tents be deserted.
²⁶To the one you have punished, they add insult to injury;
    they add to the pain of those you have hurt.
²⁷Pile their sins up high,
    and don’t let them go free.
²⁸Erase their names from the Book of Life;
    don’t let them be counted among the righteous.

²⁹I am suffering and in pain.
Rescue me, O God, by your saving power.

³⁰Then I will praise God’s name with singing,
    and I will honour him with thanksgiving.
³¹For this will please the Lord more than sacrificing cattle,
    more than presenting a bull with its horns and hooves.
³²The humble will see their God at work and be glad.
    Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged.
³³For the Lord hears the cries of the needy;
    he does not despise his imprisoned people.

³⁴Praise him, O heaven and earth,
    the seas and all that move in them.
³⁵For God will save Jerusalem^[d]
    and rebuild the towns of Judah.
His people will live there
    and settle in their own land.
³⁶The descendants of those who obey him will inherit the land,
    and those who love him will live there in safety.

Remembrance Sunday

Psalm 90 New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

¹Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    throughout all generations.
²Before the mountains were born
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
⁴A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.
⁵Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
⁶In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.

⁷We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
⁸You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.
⁹All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan.
¹⁰Our days may come to seventy years,
    or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
¹¹If only we knew the power of your anger!
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
¹²Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

¹³Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
    Have compassion on your servants.
¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
¹⁶May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.

¹⁷May the favor^[a] of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Devotion time

Some of you may know that I attend The Salvation Army and sing in the local choir ( in the Army they are referred to as Songsters).

For as long as I care to remember it has been customary either during or at close of practice. The devotional period is usually about ten minutes and consist of a thought/bible reading and prayer

Our practice is on a Thursday night and last nights thought was about “When you think someone doesn’t care they actually do”

Here is the words and music of two retired Generals John Gowans and John Larsson of The Salvation Army.

Do you sometimes feel that no one truly knows you,
And that no one understands or really cares?
Through his people, God himself is close beside you,
And through them he plans to answer all your prayers.
Chorus
Someone cares, someone cares,
Someone knows your deepest need, your burden shares;
Someone cares, someone cares,
God himself will hear the whisper of your prayers.

2. Ours is not a distant God, remote, unfeeling,
Who is careless of our loneliness and pain,
Through the ministry of men he gives his healing,
In their dedicated hands brings hope again.

Right from Wrong

2 Timothy 3 New Living Translation

Paul’s Charge to Timothy

¹⁰But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance. ¹¹You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured. You know all about how I was persecuted in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra—but the Lord rescued me from all of it. ¹²Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. ¹³But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.

¹⁴But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. ¹⁵You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Being renewed day by day

2 Corinthians 4 New International Version

Present Weakness and Resurrection Life

4 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ²Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. ³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

⁷But we have this Image result for Corinthians 4 16 -17 treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side,but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

¹³It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”^[b] Since we have that same spirit of^[c] faith, we also believe and therefore speak,¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.¹⁵All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Wonderful Words

“Wonderful Words of Life” was written in 1874 by Philip P. Bliss, a gifted composer and evangelist whose music shaped the gospel hymn tradition. Bliss was deeply involved in revival meetings across the U.S., often collaborating with evangelists like Dwight L. Moody and Major Daniel Webster Whittle2.

✍️ Origins and Purpose

Bliss composed the hymn for a Sunday School paper called Words of Life, published by Fleming H. Revell in Chicago.
The hymn was designed to be simple, repetitive, and memorable, making it ideal for teaching children and congregations by rote.
Its lyrics emphasize the beauty, hope, and spiritual nourishment found in Scripture—“Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life.”

🚂 Tragic Turn

Just two years after writing the hymn, Bliss and his wife Lucy tragically died in a train derailment in 1876.
Their legacy was carried on by fellow musicians like James McGranahan, who continued performing Bliss’s hymns at revival meetings.

📚 Musical Legacy

The hymn gained widespread popularity through inclusion in Gospel Hymns No. 3 (1878) and Sacred Songs and Solos No. 2 in Britain.
Its enduring appeal lies in its gentle melody and uplifting message, often used in worship to evoke reflection and joy.

Philip P. Bliss left behind a remarkable legacy of gospel hymns that continue to resonate with congregations and choirs around the world. Here are some of his most beloved and widely sung works:

🎵 Notable Hymns by Philip P. Bliss

Hymn Title	Theme / Message	Year
Almost Persuaded	Urgency of salvation and decision-making	1871
Hold the Fort	Spiritual perseverance and encouragement	1870
Hallelujah, What a Saviour!	Christ’s redemptive sacrifice and triumph	1875
Let the Lower Lights Be Burning	Evangelism and guiding others to safety	1871
Whosoever Will	Invitation to salvation for all	1870s
Jesus Loves Even Me	Personal assurance of Christ’s love	1871
I Will Sing of My Redeemer	Joyful testimony of salvation	1876
Free from the Law, O Happy Condition	Grace over legalism	1870s

Many of these hymns were published in the Gospel Hymns series, co-edited with Ira D. Sankey, and became staples in revival meetings across the U.S. and Britain2.

The living God

Daniel 6:26-27New International Version

²⁶“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.

“For he is the living God
    and he endures forever;
his kingdom will not be destroyed,
    his dominion will never end.
²⁷He rescues and he saves;
    he performs signs and wonders
    in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
    from the power of the lions.”

Smile Time

Proverbs 15:13 – 23

13 A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day.

14 An intelligent person is always eager to take in more truth; fools feed on fast-food fads and fancies.

15 A miserable heart means a miserable life; a cheerful heart fills the day with song.

16 A simple life in the Fear-of-God is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches.

17 Better a bread crust shared in love than a slab of prime rib served in hate.

18 Hot tempers start fights; a calm, cool spirit keeps the peace.

19The path of lazy people is overgrown with briers; the diligent walk down

a smooth road.

20 Intelligent children make their parents proud; lazy students embarrass their parents.

21 The empty-headed treat life as a plaything; the perceptive grasp its meaning and make a go of it.

22 Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed.

23 Congenial conversation – what a pleasure! The right word at the right time – beautiful!

I don’t suppose I’ll have to tell anyone reading this that it take more facial muscles to frown than to smile. Don’t you think it’s a lot better to feel happy than down right miserable, I do! I believe God would have us being happy than sad. I also believe that because we know Christ as our Saviour we are joyful and it is our duty as Christians to go out into the world and reach out to those who don’t know Christ as their saviour.