Plan

Year in review. Hope in trial.

Kenneth

Though the battles, have been rough,

Our eyes they see, our eyes look up!

The glinting on horizon stands,

Our faith to see, unfolding plans.

No matter what we must endure,

Our hope in trial, is destined sure;

Amoung the crash catastrophe,

God’s Hand of work, we clearly see!

The prophet’s eye, zoom far to see,’

Cross centuries, God’s tapestry!

Each moment, details very small,

Was in His plan, was at His call.

The insignificant, was grand!

The harvest mighty in His plan!

The ordinary plain to see,

Holds wonders in eternity!

But oh! The sacrificial love!

The greatest plan, of heaven above!

With buff and heat and pain below,

So love of huge proportions grows!

The gem our God creates right here,

Exceptional in beauty dear,

Is clothed in rags, and pain, and tears,

Yet inward shines increasing clear!

So lift your eyes, above bleak doubt,

And in His mighty love, now shout!

He’ll finish what began in you,

A perfect work, of love that’s true.

By Lisa Lawlor

Penitence

KennethLeave a comment

Jeremiah 18 New International Version 

At the Potter’s House

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted,10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.Related image

11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways,each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’”

1.
Kneeling in penitence I make my prayer,
Owning my weaknesses and my despair;
Failure I cannot hide,
Broken my selfish pride,
Pardon thou dost provide,
Pardon declare.

2.
Nothing can I achieve, nothing attain;
He that without thee builds, labours in vain;
Shatter my own design,
Shaping a plan divine,
Come to this heart of mine,
Saviour, again.

3.
Though few the gifts I have that thou canst use,
Make thy demands on me; I’ll not refuse;
Take all there is of me,
Take what I hope to be;
Thy way at last I see,
Thy way I choose.

There is an additional chorus to this song which is not in the video and the words are as follows:

Chorus
Into thy hands, Lord, take me and mould me,
E’en as the potter handles the clay;
Make me a vessel fit for thy service;
Cleanse me and fill me, and use me today.

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.

Bow the Knee

Kenneth3 Comments

Philippians 2:9-11 9

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

I originally fist heard this video a couple of years ago sung by a girls choir on you tube and fell in love with it, and now guess what!, it’s become that popular that everyone’s singing it.

The words to the song are so meaningful and true. As I look at the verses below It’s a song that tells us in times of doubt ,fear etc we are to Trust in our heavenly Father.

There is a third verse in the video which unfortunately is not listed.

There are moments on our journey following the Lord
Where God illumines ev’ry step we take.
There are times when circumstances make perfect sense to us,
As we try to understand each move He makes.
When the path grows dim and our questions have no answers, turn to Him.
Bow the knee;
Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.
Bow the knee;
Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.
And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan,
In the presence of the King, bow the knee.
There are days when clouds surround us, and the rain begins to fall,
The cold and lonely winds won’t cease to blow.
And there seems to be no reason for the suffering we feel;
We are tempted to believe God does not know.
When the storms arise, don’t forget we live by faith and not by sight.