Are you a saviour?

Whilst listening to a series of sermons preached on the book of Obediah I was distracted by the last verse,

"And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's".

I first thought how can there be saviours in the plural, I only know one Saviour? ... Well look at James 5v19&20,

"Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."

and 1 Timothy 4 v16,

"Take heed unto thyself, and unto doctrine: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee."

Does this mean that we can be saviours in the sense that our walk and our attention to the doctrines of Christ will be used of God in the salvation of others?
I find this an encouragement to keep on praying for those lost souls who have a place in my heart.

Take time to be holy.

Whilst trying to take a few moments out, with my children squabbling with each other and making the usual terrible noise, I played this hymn and thought how important it is, even as busy mothers, to make sure we take time out for prayer and devotion to our Lord.

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 temper beneath his control.
Thus led by his spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

The Word of God.

This aftenoon I was arranging to send Bibles to someone in Zambia who had written to ask for copies of the Word of God. This casued me to look back to a letter I had sent to another person who had written from the same place two years ago asking for Bibles. The letter quoted Matthew 9v 37-38 - it is good to learn that there are more labourers in that harvest field two years on. I was greatly encouraged by this. I pray that the Bibles will have safe passage and be used to the salvation of souls.

What did the kingdom of God gain because of you?

Wow!

What a sermon and what a challenging message we heard last night. I love to hear a preahcer preach with passion and conviction and we got that in good measure last night. We were told in no uncertain terms that there is no problem with the harvest - the fields are ripe and ready to be harvested - the problem is with the labourers. I am praying that I will be a much more effective labourer in the harvest, I have learnt so much in the last week from a Godly couple - praise the Lord that there are young men and women all around the world who want to serve God and work in His harvest fields.


Lord of the Reapers hear our lowly pleading
Thine are the fields that stand all harvest-white,
Thine is the love that human souls are needing,
Ere falls the dusk that deepens into night.

Oft have we prayerd with longing and beseeching,
Fruit for our toil and glory for Thy Cross,
Yet slow the reaping, slow the task of reaching,
Far distant souls whose distance is their loss.

Oft have we asked for some rewarding token,
Only to know our toil was not in vain,
And for a patient love to lead the broken,
Lives of the lost to an eternal gain.

Soon o'er our harvest field the twilight stealeth
Low on its margin stands the solumn sun,
Rising to Thee the reaper's prayer appealeth,
Grant us full sheaves before the day is done.

So when Thy Morning floods the land with glory,
God will it be to meet and see Thee then!
Learn all the triumphs of Thy love's sweet glory,
Lord of the reapers! Hope of sinful men!


So what has the kingdom of God gained becasue of you? ... go labour on, spend and be spent ...

PEACE

At the Lord's supper tonight Pastor reminded us that Jesus gave us his peace. What a lovely comforting thought to be reminded of perfect gift of peace given to sinners saved by grace.

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.


Peace, perfect peace, with sorrow surging round?
In Jesus's presence nought but calm is found.

Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?
In Jesus's keeping we are safe, and they.

Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.

Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers

It is enough: earth's struggles soon shall cease,
and Jesus call us to heaven's perfect peace.

Pilgrims progress - coming UP out of the wilderness

I heard a very good sermon last Sunday on coming up out of the wilderness. Preached from Song of Solomon. The bride was leaning on her beloved as she came up out of the wilderness - a lovely picture of the believer leaning on Christ. It is like the poem ...

Footsteps in the sand

One night a man had a dream.
He dreamt he was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:
one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he
questioned the LORD about it:

"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me."

The LORD replied:

"Oh my precious. precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
I didn’t leave you, it was then that I carried you."

... well worth a listen!

Guidance

I was reminded this evening when we sung this hymn how, several months ago, when in one of life's dilemas I noticed that the children's memory verse for the week was: I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Psalm 32v8. It was a great help and comfort to me and I was able to be still and wait, in the knowledge that my heavenly Father has his eye upon me.

How blest are they whose trespass
has freely been forgiven,
whose sins are wholly covered
before the sight of heaven.

So let the godly seek thee
in times when thou art near;
no whelming floods shall reach them
or cause their hearts to fear.

"I graciously will teach thee
the way that thou shalt go,
and, with my eye upon thee,
My counsel make thee know.

“but do not be unruly
or slow to understand;
be not perverse, but willing
to heed My wise command."

Then in the LORD be joyful,
in song lift up your voice;
be glad in God, ye ransomed:
rejoice, give thanks, rejoice!

The Psalter,1912

What worthless worms are we ..

We sung this hymn on Sunday evening, it reminded me of my Grandad who chose it for his Golden wedding celebration and we also sung it at his funeral.

What a GREAT GOD we have, we are so undeserving of his infinite mercy.

Great God, how infinite art Thou!
What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And pay their praise to Thee.

Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Ere seas or stars were made:
Thou art the ever living God,
Were all the nations dead.

Nature and time quite naked lie
To Thine immense survey,
From the formation of the sky
To the great burning day.

Eternity, with all its years,
Stands present in Thy view;
To Thee there’s nothing old appears;
Great God! There’s nothing new.

Our lives through various scenes are drawn,
And vexed with trifling cares;
While Thine eternal thought moves on
Thine undisturbed affairs.

Great God, how infinite art Thou!
What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And pay their praise to Thee.

SNOW!!!

This morning brought snow & the children listening intently to the local radio to see if their schools were closed - but to no avail - they were open booo!

Anyway I took the opportunity to try my camera out in "snow" mode....

Camera arrived



My new camera arrived today, so I've been trying it out. Not very good results yet. I have a lot to learn! It wasn't very good indoors taking the children as either they kept moving, or I moved the camera. I tried to take some shots in the garden, with limited success - lets hope we see some improvements over the months!




I tried to get the berries in focus , but not the leaves! Didn't work, did it?

In the beginning ...

I am waiting the arrival of a new camera. I have the bag and the memory card, but not the camera yet. Hopefully by the weekend I will have the camera too. I hope to learn how to take good pictures, instead of just point and click. Amongst other things this blog will track the progress of my photography skills.