O Happy Day ...

Rejoice in the Lord for he is good.

Some days on earth are happier than others. Today is one of those earthly "happy days". It is easy on such days to remember that "all things do work together for good", it is a prayer of mine that I am able to remember this on the not so happy days too.

There is sunshine in my soul today,

More glorious and bright

Than glows in any earthly sky,
For Jesus is my light.

 O there is sunshine, blessed sunshine,
While the peaceful, happy moments roll;
When Jesus shows His smiling face
There's sunshine in my soul.

There is springtime in my soul today,
For when the Lord is near
The dove of peace sings in my heart,
The flowers of grace appear.

There is gladness in my soul today,
And hope, and praise, and love,
For blessings which He gives me now,
For joys laid up above.

Empty send us not away.

It is good to receive answers to our prayers isn't it. I have been praying especially this week to be feed from the Word of God through the preaching today. Well it wasn't a great sermon, it wasn't delivered in an outstanding way, but there were certainly points to take away and reflect on regarding the spiritual growth of the church.

Jesus, we come to meet

With thee, our Lord and King,

To bow before thy feet,

And here thy praises sing:

Compassion on us have, we pray,

And empty send us not away.

May every worldly care

Be banished from our mind;

May we with profit hear;

And peace and comfort find:

Refresh us from thy word, we pray,

And empty send us not away.

Our strength will soon decrease,

Unless our souls be fed,
We feel our health and peace
Depend on living bread.

Thy gracious hand now, Lord, display,

And empty send us not away.

May all true mourners feel

Their grief exchanged for joy;

Thy love to them reveal,

And all their fears destroy:

That when they leave thy house this day,
They may not empty go away.

May all thy children prove

The riches of thy grace;

Each taste redeeming love,

And see thy smiling face:

So shall we all with pleasure say,

  We are not empty sent away.

                                                                                          S. Barnard

Do angels appear on earth in human form today?

The Bible tells us that angels are God's messengers sent from heaven to minsiter to his people.

I listened to a sermon this week which suggested that angels no longer appear in human form, but are spirits that guide us to God's revealled message in the Bible. I don't see why angel's do not appear on earth today in human form, after all they appeared before Christ's birth in human form and after his death in human form.

I am glad that God's angels minsiter to us today. I believe that they watch over us and protect us day by day in serving their heavenly master.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee

Isaiah 41v10
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

The text of the best sermon I have heard so far this year! A good "motto" for the year.

Standing at the portal
Of the opening year,
Words of comfort meet us,
Hushing every fear;
Spoken through the silence
By our Father’s voice,
Tender, strong and faithful,
Making us rejoice.

Onward then, and fear not,
Children of the day!
For His Word shall never,
Never pass away!

Francis R Havergal

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.