Category Archives: Christianity

Thank you, LORD.

Some of the women at our church are going through a Bible Study book on Heaven. This was one of the exercises in Session two that I wanted to be able to access on my blog. We looked at the following Scriptures to identify the path to the Father. We rephrased each verse using first-person pronouns. It was a good exercise for me.

The Scripture references in order are; Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8, John 3:18, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Acts 4:12 and Romans 10:9-10.

I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages for my sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus my Lord. By grace I have been saved through faith that is not my own-it is a gift of God. If I believe in Him I am not condemned but if I do not believe in the name of the only Son of God I am condemned already. For God so loved me that He gave his only Son that if I believe in Him I will not perish but have eternal life. God showed his love for me in that while I was still a sinner Christ died for me. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to me by which I must be saved. If I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I will be saved. With my heart I believe and am justified and with my mouth I confess and am saved.

Thank you, LORD!

 

Jesus, Thy Church With Longing Eyes ~ Hymn

Jesus, Thy Church With Longing Eyes

Jesus, Thy church with long­ing eyes
For Thine ex­pect­ed com­ing waits:
When will the pro­mised Light arise,
And glo­ry beam from Zi­on’s gates?

E’en now, when tem­pests round us fall,
And win­try clouds o’er­cast the sky,
Thy words with plea­sure we recall,
And deem that our re­demp­tion’s nigh.

Come, gra­cious Lord, our hearts re­new,
Our foes re­pel, our wrongs re­dress,
Man’s root­ed en­mi­ty sub­due,
And crown Thy Gos­pel with suc­cess.

O come, and reign o’er ev­ery land;
Let Sa­tan from his throne be hurled;
Let na­tions bow to Thy com­mand,
And grace re­vive a dy­ing world.

Yes, Thou wilt speed­ily ap­pear;
The smit­ten earth al­rea­dy reels;
And not far off we seem to hear
The thun­der of Thy cha­ri­ot wheels.

Teach us, in watch­ful­ness and pray­er,
To wait for the ap­point­ed hour,
And fit us for Thy grace to share
The tri­umph of Thy con­quer­ing pow­er.

Words: William H. Bathurst, 1831.

Truth for Today #181

Friday February 20th

On Fridays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s continue to dig deep into God’s truth.

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

Announcement: Please be aware that Truth for Today posts will be on a break until sometime at the end of March. 

2 Chronicles 14:11

And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

2 Chronicles 16:9

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.

From Vera:

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” ‭‭

Psalm‬ ‭56‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬

From Maristella:

Do not lose hope in times of trouble, for God is working in the unseen. His hand is steady, and His timing is perfect in bringing good out of difficulty.

Isaiah 43:19.

From Dianna:

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the city of our God, His holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The city of the great King.
3 God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a stronghold.””

Psalm 48:1-3

From Cheryl:

. . . how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him . . . ”

Hebrews 2:3

 

Pancake Hodgepodge

Rise and shine, it’s pancake time!

Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for our Wednesday Hodgepodge questions.

1. The Hodgepodge lands on Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. Do you mark this season in some way? Will you be giving something up or adding something to your life in this Lenten season?

This will be an as per usual time during Lent as in… morning devotions, reading through the Bible, Women’s Bible Study, Daily Spurgeon, and Daily Doctrine.  Growing in my love and devotion to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is an everyday thing and includes the 40 days of Lent.

From Spurgeon: ‘God, you see me.”  “May the Lord be as a well to us, delightful, comforting, unfailing, springing up unto eternal life.”

We have 17 days of travel during Lent this year which is very unusual for us. I will be absent from the Hodgepodge for at least a couple of Wednesdays.

2. Pancakes…are you a fan?

YES! All kinds of pancakes are enjoyed. These are yogurt pancakes. Potato pancakes at the top of this post.

Every time our whole family gets together we enjoy Greg’s Swedish pancakes. It’s a long standing tradition at our house and we always serve them with Little Smokies.

Greg has also made Aebleskivers, Danish spherical pancakes.

Syrup or no syrup?

Yes, please, real maple and fruit syrups.

Plain, blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, or some other add in? 

No to chocolate chips or bananas. Yes to blueberries or strawberries and always sour cream!

Are pancakes on your menu this week? 

Yes, in the blintz form, we had them last night for dessert since it was Pancake Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday!

3. Tell us about a time recently when you felt ‘spread too thin’. 

I haven’t felt this way recently. I might feel that way after today as we are getting ready for an international trip so I’m getting all our ducks in a row starting now!!

4. What’s your favorite jewel or gemstone?

If I have to pick a favorite, I’ll choose a Ruby.

In terms of your wardrobe would we find more gem tones, pastels, black and white, or primary colors? 

My wardrobe isn’t well planned and is a combination of all of these.

5. What responsibility do you think is hardest about being in charge? 

Being a mom is a very hard responsibility, one of the hardest. Being a grandmother is so much easier.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I finally finished this most difficult puzzle just before Valentine’s Day. The pressure was on to get-er-done since we would be using the dining room table for company on the night before Valentine’s day and then again on the 17th of February. This was one of the hardest puzzles I’ve ever completed because of the very random shapes of the pieces.

See you in the middle of March, Hodgepodgers! I will try to post daily postcards of our journey here on my blog.

Wide O’er Earth’s Remotest Border ~ Hymn

 

Wide O’er Earth’s Remotest Border

Wide o’er earth’s re­mot­est bor­der
Long had mid­night dark­ness dwelt,
Darkness, par­ent of dis­or­der,
Darkness, such as might be felt.

But the Lord of life des­cend­ing
From His man­sion in the skies,
Peace and joy His steps at­tend­ing,
Bids a glo­ri­ous light arise.

Jesus comes; in si­lent won­der
Nations hail the new-born light,
While He rends the veil asun­der
Which con­cealed Him from their sight.

Now the prince of dark­ness trembles,
For his reign is near its end;
All his forces he as­sem­bles
His frail em­pire to de­fend.

Vain at­tempt! the word is spok­en,
Christ shall reign on ev­ery shore;
Soon shall Sa­tan’s rod be brok­en,
Sin and dark­ness be no more.

Words: William H. Bathurst, 1831.

Lamb of God, We Fall Before Thee ~ Hymn

Lamb of God, We Fall Before Thee

Lamb of God, we fall be­fore Thee,
Humbly trust­ing in Thy cross.
That alone be all our glo­ry;
All things else are on­ly dross.

Thee we own a per­fect Sav­ior,
Only source of all that’s good.
Every grace and ev­ery fa­vor
Comes to us through Je­sus’ blood.

Jesus gives us true re­pent­ance
By His Spir­it sent from Heav’n;
Whispers this trans­port­ing sen­tence,
Son, thy sins are all for­giv’n.

Faith He grants us to be­lieve it,
Grateful hearts His love to prize;
Want we wis­dom? He must give it,
Hearing ears and see­ing eyes.

Jesus gives us pure af­fect­ions,
Wills to do what He re­quires,
Makes us fol­low His di­rect­ions,
And what He com­mands, in­spires.

All our pray­ers and all our prais­es,
Rightly of­fered in His name—
He that dic­tates them is Je­sus;
He that an­swers is the same.

When we live on Je­su’s mer­it,
Then we wor­ship God aright;
Father, Son, and Ho­ly Spir­it,
Then we sav­ing­ly unite.

Hear the whole con­clu­sion of it:
Great or good, whate’er we call,
God, or King, or Priest, or Pro­phet,
Jesus Christ is all in all.

Words: Joseph Hart, 1759.

Truth for Today #179

Friday February 6th

On Fridays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s continue to dig deep into God’s truth.

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth.”
(Psalm 96:11–13).
~
“Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.”
(Psalm 98:7–9).
~
“The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12)
~
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
(Colossians 3:16)
~
From Dianna:
~
 Psalm 37:7
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
~
From Vera:
~
“the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial name: “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”” ‭‭
Hosea‬ ‭12‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬
~
From Karen:
~
Psalm 119:11
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
~
From Cheryl:

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Hebrews 1:1-4

To God the Only Wise ~ Hymn

Sisters wknd 016

To God the Only Wise

To God the on­ly wise,
Our Sav­ior and our king,
Let all the saints be­low the skies
Their hum­ble prais­es bring.

’Tis His al­migh­ty love,
His coun­sel, and His care,
Preserves us safe from sin and death,
And ev­ery hurt­ful snare.

He will pre­sent our souls,
Unblemished and com­plete,
Before the glo­ry of His face,
With joys di­vin­ely great.

Then all the chos­en seed
Shall meet around the throne,
Shall bless the con­duct of His grace,
And make His won­ders known.

To our Re­deem­er, God,
Wisdom and pow­er be­longs,
Immortal crowns of ma­jes­ty,
And ev­er­last­ing songs.

Words: Isaac Watts, 1707.

My God, My Life, My Love ~ Hymn

My God, My Life, My Love

My God, my life, my love;
To Thee, to Thee I call;
I can­not live if Thou re­move,
For Thou art all in all.

Thy shin­ing grace can cheer
This dun­geon where I dwell;
’Tis pa­ra­dise when Thou art here;
If Thou de­part, ’tis hell.

The smil­ings of Thy face,
How ami­able they are!
’Tis heav’n to rest in Thine em­brace,
And no where else but there.

To Thee, and Thee alone,
The an­gels owe their bliss;
They sit around Thy gra­cious throne,
And dwell where Je­sus is.

Not all the harps ab­ove
Could make a heav’n­ly place,
If God His re­si­dence re­move,
Or but con­ceal His face.

Nor earth, nor all the sky,
Can one de­light af­ford,
No, not a drop of real joy,
Without Thy pre­sence, Lord.

Thou art the sea of love,
Where all my plea­sures roll:
The cir­cle where my pass­ions move,
And cen­ter of my soul.

To Thee my spir­its fly
With in­fi­nite de­sire;
And yet how far from Thee I lie!
Dear Je­sus, raise me high­er.

Words: Isaac Watts, 1707-09.

Truth for Today #177

Friday January 23rd

On Fridays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s continue to dig deep into God’s truth.

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

Luke 12:8-12

8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

From Vera:

“O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭25‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬