And oh the games we Children played
just wasting precious hours
when we were close with high ideals
of hunting games and prowess
How can a Faith so clean and pure
divide us into camps?
the Love for you, my brother still,
burns deeply in my heart.
With every wound and bound you gave
My body battered sore
For they taught me God’s great Love
and how to love Him more.
Now we as men in later years look back and question why..we put before us men’s ideals while looking to the sky
A lifetime fuelled with bitterness,of labels, names and fights,
Of all the tears with passing years, please let us find the Light.
Surrendering to His great plan
In every waiting hour
Oh the Joy, the Peace and Love
Oh gentle present Power.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
What can I say about Resolutions, some of us choose to live a healthier lifestyle (cut down/out cigarettes our even alcohol), others choose to diet after the festive period because of the amount of food we have eaten not just on Christmas Day but at our work’s Christmas party and any other parties we attend in this period.
On a personal note I don’t do resolutions basically because a couple of days into it and I literally crash.
As it says in today’s reading It is important hat we forget what was behind us and move forward toward the goal of the call of God.
The tune in this video is called ‘Let there be peace on Earth’
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
O perfect Love, all human thought transcending,
Lowly we kneel in prayer before Thy throne,
That theirs may be the love that knows no ending,
Whom Thou forevermore dost join in one.
O perfect Life, be Thou their full assurance
Of tender charity and steadfast faith,
Of patient hope, and quiet, brave endurance,
With childlike trust that fears nor pain nor death.
Grant them the joy which brightens earthly sorrow;
Grant them the peace which calms all earthly strife,
And to life’s day the glorious unknown morrow
That dawns upon eternal love and life.
Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend on Facebook messenger and something they said made me angry. I mulled it over in my mind for a while. It caused me to have an epileptic episode this morning. But the sensible thing to do was to speak with them instead of it causing me worry and anxiety any longer. Within minutes we had resolved our differences. How many times do we do that to God?
Hold on to worries, anxieties? Spend sleepless nights going over and over things in our minds, when all it takes is a simple conversation with Him to find peace in our hearts and minds. I leave it with you today, if you have any unresolved problems with a friend make today the day you contact them and do something about it. If you need to speak to God, then take yourself into a quiet room and spend time in prayer with him.
Isaiah 61; 1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;
Spirit of the living God,
Fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mould me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God,
Fall afresh on me
I remember this was one of the many prayer choruses I came to learn of by heart as a young adult and one that has spoke a lot to me in my Christian life . It’s a prayer chorus that kind of speaks for itself, a chorus of prayer and repentance.
John 1:1-3 New International Version – UK (NIVUK)
The Word became flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
I don’t think I have to comment about God’s Creation as you will see and hear this video says it all. God did create some wonderful sights, nature , and animals.
Even we humans as we all know were created in his image even although some don’t believe. It is my prayer (as I hope it is fellow Christians reading this) that they pray for any non believers they may know.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswerving to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Two people collaborated to write “I Am Thine, O Lord”—a song that quickly became a favorite in Christian circles, and remains so in many places today. Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) wrote the words and William Doane (1832-1915) composed the music.
Doane was a successful businessman who served as the president of a Cincinnati company that produced woodworking machines. He also held a number of patents for the machines that they produced.
While he enjoyed his business, Doane enjoyed Christian music even more. During his lifetime, he composed the music for hundreds of hymns, and edited a number of hymn collections.
Crosby’s story was even more dramatic. Blinded in infancy, she had the good fortune to have a grandmother and a caretaker who dedicated themselves to helping her memorize the Bible. They assigned weekly goals for memorization, and drilled Crosby to help her reach those goals. As an adult, Crosby tapped that rich reservoir of memorized Bible verses to write her hymns.
And write hymns she did—8000 hymns and Gospel songs total—to include many of the old favorites that are still found in many hymnals a century after her death.
“I Am Thine, O Lord” grew out of a conversation that Crosby had with Doane while visiting his home. They were talking about the nearness of God when Crosby was seized by inspiration. Soon she was reciting the verses and choruses—very much as we find them in hymnals today. Doane set her words to music, and the song that they produced has blessed generations of Christians.
The song is a prayer, celebrating the joy of faith—and the desire for an even deeper faith. The chorus asks:
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious bleeding side.
I can personally testify to the power of this song, having sung it often as I was growing up. If sung at a spirited tempo, it had an upbeat mood. But often the chorus—in particular the last chorus—was sung more slowly and deliberately, inspiring an introspective mood. I don’t often hear it sung today, but would be happy to have the opportunity to sing it again.
1. I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice,
and it told thy love to me;
but I long to rise in the arms of faith
and be closer drawn to thee.
Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
to the cross where thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
to thy precious, bleeding side.
2. Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord,
by the power of grace divine;
let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
and my will be lost in thine.
(Refrain)
3. O the pure delight of a single hour
that before thy throne I spend,
when I kneel in prayer, and with thee, my God,
I commune as friend with friend!
(Refrain)
4. There are depths of love that I cannot know
till I cross the narrow sea;
there are heights of joy that I may not reach
till I rest in peace with thee.
Christian Devotions 