Monthly Archives: December 2023

THE LEGACY OF JESUS

Gospel, ,

THE LEGACY OF JESUS

When Jesus went to heaven

He left three gifts behind;

His love, His joy unceasing,

And lasting peace of mind.

Your life may keep on changing—

Uncertainty you’ll find,

But you’ll receive from Jesus

His gift of peace of mind.

When you receive forgiveness

He’ll take your guilt away;

Love, joy and peace will enter

Your spirit when you pray.

All worry will be over,

Anxiety kept at bay,

Your mind will be protected

By peace in every way.

God gives two feet to stand on,

For peace with God will come

When you receive forgiveness

For wrongs that you have done.

The other foot you stand on

Is freedom from all fear;

The peace of God will keep you

As you give Him your care.

So stand upon His promise,

And you will truly find

That you can change your worries

 For lasting peace of mind.

Y Y Y Y Y

MATTHEW 5:3-12

Devotion, ,

As we, who have embraced Him as Lord and who seek to walk in this world as He did, put ourselves under the authority of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Word, we will be transformed into His likeness from glory to glory.

MATTHEW 5:3-12

How happy and how blessed are those

Who know their poverty;

Who understand their desperate need,

Their spirit’s bankruptcy.

The craving of their hungry heart

God’s rule will satisfy;

They’ll gladly yield their emptiness

To draw on His supply.

How happy those whose waywardness

Their emptiness reveals,

Who feel the pain their sin has brought,

The grief the Father feels.

In mourning, they’ll be comforted,

Enveloped in God’s love;

Forgiveness bringing to their heart

Approval from above.

How blessed are those who walk with God

In deep humility;

Who daily draw their strength from Him

In His sweet company.

The earth is theirs, they’ll freely find

The land its bounty yield;

Where’er they go, God’s favour shall

Surround them like a shield.

How blessed are those whose hungry hearts

Desire to do what’s right,

To please the loving heart of God,

Find favour in His sight.

Their hunger shall be satisfied;

They’ll walk in step with God:

Their feet will find His chosen path

Directed by His Word.

What blessing comes to those who give

Forgiveness full and free,

Who hold no grudges, do not seek

Another’s judge to be.

God’s mercy shall return to them:

His way to them is clear:

To be forgiven, they must forgive

The heart of God to share.

How happy those whose hearts are pure,

With undivided love,

Who have no passion but their Lord,

Who worship God above.

His glory He will show to them,

The beauty of His face;

He’ll draw them tenderly to feel

The warmth of His embrace.

How truly blessed, the ones who pray

For others in their need,

Who make themselves an offering

As they for sinners plead.

They shall be called the sons of God

For ‘tis their one desire

That others, too, His peace would know,

Be touched with holy fire.

The greatest joy is kept for those

Whom men have come to hate:

Because their lives expose the wrong,

They’ll share the prophet’s fate.

They will receive a great reward

Reserved for them in heaven;

They’ll mirror Jesus here on earth

As grace to them is given.

This is the way to holiness,

The path that Jesus trod:

There is no other way for us

If we would be like God.

PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11

Gospel, ,

PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11

Come, pause a moment to reflect —

In true humility

Our Jesus left His Father’s side —

Took on frail flesh for me.

He laid aside His place as Lord;

Of wealth, position stripped.

The angels watched in silent awe

As quietly He slipped

Into a teenage mother’s womb,

Unfolding human form

Secluded in the secret place

A baby would be born.

Yet not enough that He should live

As God inside a man,

In meekness and in poverty

Submitting to God’s plan,

Embracing servanthood, He stooped

Still lower at God’s feet

Until at last a bloody cross —

A sacrifice complete.

The Father watched with pleasure deep

As Jesus gave His life —

He lifted Him to heaven’s throne

Above all earthly strife;

Exalted Him to His right hand,

Crowned Him with heaven’s praise;

Conferred on Him His holy name;

Gave Him the highest place.

To Jesus every knee shall bow

And every tongue confess,

“He is my King, and Lord of all;

I’ll give Him highest place.”

JOHN 1:1-14

Gospel, ,

I have included in this small work some poems from the New Testament which focus on the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecies.  Jesus is exalted as the great Servant of Jehovah who came in answer to every promise of God and in fulfilment of every Old Testament prophecy, to give Himself up to death as the atoning sacrifice God demanded to pay the debt for the sin of the world.  All who believe in Him and receive Him as Saviour and obey Him as Lord are assured of the free gift of eternal life, not only in the eternity hereafter but in this present life as they follow Him and live through Him.

JOHN 1:1-14

Long before God made the heavens,

Long before the earth appeared,

In the bosom of the Father

Was the Christ, the living Word.

Wrapped in glory, clothed in splendour,

He reveals the Father’s grace;

Always with Him, great Creator,

Mirror of the Father’s face.

There is nothing now existing,

Nothing that the Father planned,

Which was not by Him created,

That did not come from His hand.

He is light and life eternal

Shining through the darkest night;

He gives life to those who trust Him;

Darkness cannot quench the light.

God sent John to be a witness,

Pointing men to Christ, the Lamb,

But His own would not receive Him

Even though to them He came;

But to everyone who trusts Him

He gives pow’r to be God’s son,

Born of God by His own Spirit,

He gives life to every one.

And this Christ became a human,

Tabernacled here with men,

Grace and truth from God revealing,

Drawing them to Him again.

John, the voice the prophet spoke of,

Crying in the wilderness,

“Look, the Lamb of God has come now!

He’s the one that I confess.”

“He, the one who is far greater

Than I am, has come at last.

He existed long before me,

Even in the distant past.”

“I’m baptising you with water

That the Christ can be revealed:

There will be an open heaven.

He is by the Spirit sealed.”

“Coming like a dove from heaven,

Wrapping Him in mighty power:

Filling Him with God’s own glory,

Making ready for the hour.”

ISAIAH 66:1-2 and REVELATION 21:1-4

Gospel, ,

Isaiah concludes his prophecies with this final, beautiful chapter revealing the heart of God for His people.  All of history will culminate in this one final event when God take His place forever among His people.  Sin will never again separate them from Him, and His purposes will be eternally complete.

ISAIAH 66:1-2 and REVELATION 21:1-4

Christian, do you know the reason

Father God set you apart?

Can you feel the warmth of passion

Flowing from His loving heart?

Our God reigns in pow’r and glory;

All of heaven is His throne,

Earth His footstool, yet He’s seeking

Human hearts to be His home.

Fellowship is what He longs for —

Hearts to be His resting place;

Humble, contrite, broken spirits;

Those who long to see His face.

All of history has one purpose —

Read it in God’s holy Word;

His desire that we should worship,

Truly love and serve our Lord.

In the book of Revelation,

At the closing of the age,

All God’s purposes completed,

Written there on every page —

There will be a brand new heaven;

All the old will pass away.

We will rise to be with Jesus,

Set free from our house of clay.

“Look!” cried John, “I see God’s city

Like a bride adorned in white,

Coming down from heaven’s glory.

What a splendid, wondrous sight!”

Then he heard the shout of triumph

Blaring like a trumpet blast,

“God has found His final dwelling;

He will live with men at last!”

Nothing left to come between us,

No more sorrow, death or pain;

Satan banished to hell’s fire,

Never to be seen again.

God will revel in the pleasure

Of His people’s company;

Every heart the Father’s dwelling,

Bound to Him eternally.