Tag: Soul

God’s Inner Sanctuary

1 Corinthians 3 The Passion

The Church, God’s Inner Sanctuary

¹⁶Don’t you realize that together you have become God’s inner sanctuary^[i] and that the Spirit of God makes his permanent home in you?^[j] ¹⁷Now, if someone desecrates^[k] God’s inner sanctuary, God will desecrate him, for God’s inner sanctuary is holy, and that is exactly who you are.

True Wisdom

¹⁸So why fool yourself and live under an illusion?^[l] Make no mistake about it, if anyone thinks he is wise by the world’s standards, he will be made wiser by being a fool for God!^[m] ¹⁹For what the world says is wisdom is actually foolishness in God’s eyes. As it is written:

The cleverness of the know-it-alls
becomes the trap^[n] that ensnares them.

²⁰And again:

The Lord sees right through
the clever reasonings of the wise
and knows that it’s all a sham.^[o]

²¹So don’t be proud of your allegiance to any human leader. For actually, you already have everything! It has all been given for your benefit, ²²whether it is Paul or Apollos or Peter the Rock,^[p] or whether it’s the world^[q] or life or death,^[r] or whether it’s the present or the future—everything belongs to you! ²³And now you are joined to the Messiah, who is joined to God.

COME, Saviour Jesus, from above,
Assist me with thy heavenly grace;
Empty my heart of earthly love,
And for thyself prepare the place.

2 O let thy sacred presence fill
And set my longing spirit free,
Which wants to have no other will,
But day and night to feast on thee!

3 Henceforth may no profane delight
Divide this consecrated soul;
Possess it thou, who hast the right,
As Lord and Master of the whole.

4 Wealth, honour, pleasure, and what else
This short-enduring world can give,
Tempt as ye will, my soul repels;
To Christ alone resolved to live.

5 Nothing on earth do I desire
But thy pure love within my breast;
This, only this, do I require,
And freely give up all the rest.

Reblog – A Song of Consecration

John 15:15-17 New International Version

¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.

Jesus, tender lover of my soul,
Pardoner of my sins, and friend indeed,
Keeper of the garden of my heart,
Jesus, Thou art everything to me.

Jesus, Thou art everything to me;
Jesus, Thou art everything to me;
All my lasting joys are found in Thee;
Jesus, Thou art everything to me.

What to me are all the joys of earth?
What to me is every sight I see,
Save the sight of Thee, O Friend of mine?
Jesus, Thou art everything to me.

Here I lay me at Thy bleeding feet;
Deepest homage now I give to Thee;
Hear Thy whispered love within my soul;
Jesus, Thou art everything to me.

This lovely song of consecration was written by Edward Henry Joy – an early-day Salvationist born in Canterbury, England in 1871. Later, he was a bandsman at Folkestone Corps before becoming an officer in 1894. He had only one corps appointment – at Tunstall, where he was also responsible for Golden Hill outpost. After this, Joy served in local administrative appointments until 1917, when he was transferred to International Headquarters, as Under Secretary in the Foreign Office. After some international travels, he was appointed to Western Canada as Immigration Secretary, and then Editor-in-Chief. In 1932 he became editor of The War Cryin South Africa. Colonel Joy retired in 1938 and in the following year returned to England, where he died in 1949.

Clean hands and a Pure Heart

Psalm 24 New International Version

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

¹The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
²for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.

³Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
⁴The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god.^[a]

⁵They will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God their Saviour.
⁶Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.^[b][c]

Photo by pixel2013 ~ Silvia & Frank on Pexels.com

⁷Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
⁸Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord strong and mighty,
    the Lord mighty in battle.
⁹Lift up your heads, you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰Who is he, this King of glory?
    The Lord Almighty—
    he is the King of glory.

Standing Firm

Matthew 24 New International Version

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ²“Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹²Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The Weak and The Sick

Psalm 41 New International Version – UK

Psalm 41^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
    the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.
²The Lord protects and preserves them –
    they are counted among the blessed in the land –
    he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
³The Lord sustains them on their sick-bed
    and restores them from their bed of illness.

⁴I said, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord;
    heal me, for I have sinned against you.’
⁵My enemies say of me in malice,
    ‘When will he die and his name perish?’
⁶When one of them comes to see me,
    he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;
    then he goes out and spreads it around.

⁷All my enemies whisper together against me;
    they imagine the worst for me, saying,
⁸‘A vile disease has afflicted him;
    he will never get up from the place where he lies.’
⁹Even my close friend,
    someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
    has turned^[b] against me.

¹⁰But may you have mercy on me, Lord;
    raise me up, that I may repay them.
¹¹I know that you are pleased with me,
    for my enemy does not triumph over me.
¹²Because of my integrity you uphold me
    and set me in your presence for ever.

¹³Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.

That wondrous Cross

Galatians 6 New International Version

Not Circumcision but the New Creation

¹¹See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

¹²Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. ¹³Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. ¹⁴May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which^[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.¹⁶Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to^[b] the Israel of God.

¹⁷From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

The words i have picked are not familiar with the tune below but they do fit. The song is

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ my God!

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Born Again

John 3 New International Version

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ²He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

³Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”

⁴“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d]

⁹“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹²I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.^[e] ¹⁴Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^[f] ¹⁵that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”^[g]

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned,but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

A few days ago you may recall that I actually put verse 16 in a blog as a video, so for the sake of repeating it so soon i have selected something else.

Favour and Honour

Psalm 84 New International Version

Psalm 84^[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
²My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.
³Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.^[c]

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.^[d]
⁷They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
⁹Look on our shield,^[e] O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless.

¹²Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Take time

1 Peter 1; 13 – 16

Be Holy
13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Take time to be holy

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in him always, and feed on his word;
Make friends of God’s children; help those who are weak;
Forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone;
By looking to Jesus, like him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct his likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let him be thy guide,
And run not before him whatever betide;
In joy or in sorrow still follow thy Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in his word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul;
Each thought and each motive beneath his control;
Thus led by his Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

We all have to ‘Take time to be Holy’ and spend time with our Lord preferably when we get a quiet moment (which can rare for most of us these days).

We all have our own time and way of doing our devotions and personally I have found that when doing my blog is my time of devotion.

Jesus in Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36-46 New International Version

Gethsemane

³⁶Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

⁴⁰Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴²He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

⁴³When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

⁴⁵Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”