Pain

ReBlog – Being true to the Lord

KennethLeave a comment

Psalm 31 New International Version

Psalm 31[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me,
    come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
    a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
    for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
    for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
    deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.

6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
    as for me, I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
    for you saw my affliction
    and knew the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy
    but have set my feet in a spacious place.

9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;
    my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
    my soul and body with grief.
10 My life is consumed by anguish
    and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,[b]
    and my bones grow weak.
11 Because of all my enemies,
    I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
    those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;
    I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear many whispering,
    “Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
    and plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;
    deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
    from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your unfailing love.
17 Let me not be put to shame, Lord,
    for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
    and be silent in the realm of the dead.
18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
    for with pride and contempt
    they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

19 How abundant are the good things
    that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
    on those who take refuge in you.
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
    from all human intrigues;
you keep them safe in your dwelling
    from accusing tongues.

21 Praise be to the Lord,
    for he showed me the wonders of his love
    when I was in a city under siege.
22 In my alarm I said,
    “I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
    when I called to you for help.

23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
    The Lord preserves those who are true to him,
    but the proud he pays back in full.
24 Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the Lord.

Be strong and take courage
Do not fear or be dismayed
For the Lord will go before you
And His light will show the way

Be strong and take courage
Do not fear or be dismayed
For the one who lives within you
Will be strong in you today

Why don’ you give him all of your fears
Why don’t you let him wipe all of your tears
He knows, He’s been through pain before
And He knows all that you’ve been looking for

So, be strong and take courage
Do not fear or be dismayed
For the Lord will go before you
And His light will show the way

Be Strong and take courage
Do not fear or be dismayed
For the one who lives within you
Will be strong in you today

Nothing can take you out of his hand
Nothing can face you that you can’t command
I know that you will always be
In His love, in His power you will be free!!

So, be strong and take courage
Do not fear or be dismayed
For the Lord will go before you
And His light will show the way

Be Strong and take courage
Do not fear or be dismayed
For the one who lives within you
Will be strong in you today

Broken Hearts

Kenneth1 Comment

See the source image

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

There are  of course several other bible verses I could list.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

As we are reminded in this video throughout the pain we suffer we can come to him in prayer and put our Trust in him to heal that broken heart because God loves us and cares for us

What was crucifixion like?

Kenneth4 Comments

Ever wondered what the crucifixion was like?

I came across this video last night in preparation for today and found it very interesting and thought I would share it now that Easter is over and Jesus is Risen!See the source image

The video tells us that before actually whipping Jesus the Romans attached broken glass ,nails bone or lead weights to the whip. Can you imagine the suffering and pain that must of caused and how weak it must of made him before he had to make that journey with the cross. The bible tells us that Jesus was crucified at a placed called Golgotha or ‘Skull’ (a small hill shaped like a bears skull). It tells us crosses were shorter than thought and placed at eye level This was to let onlookers see the consequences of opposing Rome. It is interesting what was found by archaeologists in 1968.

Someone Cares

Kenneth

Matthew 11:28-30  (NIVUK)

28 ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

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.

I was certain I had done a blog of this title in the past, but looking back I discovered I hadn’t. It’s a song that is well known is The Salvation Army, in fact it started of in one of the Army musicals “Take over Bid”.

The words by General John Gowans is as you can hear put to a simple tune written by General John Larsson.  As you can see by the words it a song used in times of reflection.

This is the arrangement by Andrew Mair

 

Jesus Heals and Saves

Kenneth

Jeremiah 17 New International Version

5 This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.

7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

9 The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?

10 “I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”Related image

11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
    are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
    and in the end they will prove to be fools.

12 A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,
    is the place of our sanctuary.
13 Lord, you are the hope of Israel;
    all who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust
    because they have forsaken the Lord,
    the spring of living water.

14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
    save me and I will be saved,
    for you are the one I praise.
15 They keep saying to me,
    “Where is the word of the Lord?
    Let it now be fulfilled!”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
    you know I have not desired the day of despair.
    What passes my lips is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror to me;
    you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
    but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
    but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
    destroy them with double destruction.

The Power of the Cross

KennethLeave a comment

1 Peter 2

24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,”[f] but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Mark 8See the source image

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

As I listen to this song by Stuart Townend I can’t begin to imagine the pain and suffering Christ went through for us at Calvary. Being whipped (that to me is painful enough) then having a crown of thorns placed on your head and then huge nails driven through your hands . He did all this to save you and me from our sins.

The amazing thing was three days after they put him in the tomb they found it his mother and Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty

 

The Saviour is mocked

KennethLeave a comment

Matthew 27New International Version

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

The following words can only be sung to one tune, that is a tune which I hate to hear. The tune is called Passion Chorale

Then you added these powerful words to it that sheds a different light on things.

O sacred head, once wounded
With grief and pain weighed down
How scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown!
How pale art Thou with anguish
With sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish
Which once was bright as morn!


O Lord of life and glory
What bliss till now was Thine!
I read the wondrous story
I joy to call Thee mine
Thy grief and Thy compassion
Were all for sinners' gain
Mine, mine was the transgression
But Thine the deadly pain


What language shall I borrow
To praise Thee, heavenly Friend
For this, Thy dying sorrow
Thy pity without end?
Lord, make me Thine for ever
Nor let me faithless prove
O let me never, never
Abuse such dying love!




Be near me, Lord, when dying
O show Thyself to me
And for my succour flying
Come, Lord, to set me free
These eyes, new faith receiving
From Jesus shall not move
For he who dies believing
Dies safely through Thy love

Stories of Jesus

Kenneth

1 John 1:1-4 New International Version (NIV)

The Incarnation of the Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.

When reading this verse of scripture and title I am reminded of the hymn I learnt as a child.

  1. Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
    Things I would ask Him to tell me if He were here;
    Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
    Stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
  2. First let me hear how the children stood round His knee,
    And I shall fancy His blessing resting on me;
    Words full of kindness, deeds full of grace,
    All in the love light of Jesus’ face.
  3. Tell me, in accents of wonder, how rolled the sea,
    Tossing the boat in a tempest on Galilee;
    And how the Maker, ready and kind,
    Chided the billows, and hushed the wind.
  4. Into the city I’d follow the children’s band,
    Waving a branch of the palm tree high in my hand;
    One of His heralds, yes, I would sing
    Loudest hosannas, “Jesus is King!”
  5. Show me that scene in the garden, of bitter pain;
    Show me the cross where my Savior for me was slain;
    Sad ones or bright ones, so that they be
    Stories of Jesus—tell them to me.

God’s Patience

KennethLeave a comment

Numbers 14:18

‘The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’

‘Patience is a virtue’ as they say. Nature has it that some people are more patient than others. I invite you to listen to this audio video on The Patience of God by John MacDuff.Image result for poems on God's Patience

Image result for poems on God's Patience