A little bit of heaven

Ruth Kirk

Image: John Woodman, Shrine Church,
Castletown, Isle of Man.

🍁

We have the Holy Spirit within as a foretaste of future glory
(Romans 8:23; NLT).

1. You make my church
A little bit of heaven –
A foretaste of the joy
That lies ahead.

2. You make my mind
A little bit of heaven –
A place that’s sometimes free
Of pain and dread.

3. You make my heart
A little bit of heaven –
A space where we can talk,
And share our love.

4. You make my soul
A little bit of heaven –
Until we reunite
In bliss, above.

🍁

References

1. There is wonderful joy ahead (1 Peter 1:6; NLT).

2. There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever (Revelation 21:4; NLT).

3. God speaks again and again, though people do not recognise it (Job 33:14; NLT).

Pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done (Philippians 4:6; NLT).

He loves us with unfailing love (Psalm 117:2; NLT).

I love you, Lord (Psalm 18:1; NLT).

My beloved is mine and I am his (Song of Songs 2:16; NIV).

4. The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).

Acknowledge and take to heart today that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39; NIV).

Humility

Ruth Kirk

Image: TheRevSteve, Creative Commons

❤️

The Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him
as we are changed into his glorious image
(2 Corinthians 3:18; NLT).

1. Help me, Lord, to be more humble
In my thoughts, and words, and deeds.
Then I’ll grow more like your Son,
And concentrate on others’ needs.

2. Help me to be more forgiving
When I’m wrongfully accused.
Then I’ll grow more like your Son,
And turn my cheek when I am bruised.

3. Help me, Lord, to be more loving
To all those whose path I cross.
Then I’ll grow more like your Son,
And gladly share their pain and loss.

❤️

References

1. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3; NLT).

He gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being (Philippians 2:7; NLT).

 Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35; NIV).

2. If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you (Matthew 6:14; NLT).

He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered (1 Peter 2:23; NLT).

If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also (Luke 6:29; NLT).

3. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them (Romans 12:9; NLT).

In all their suffering he also suffered (Isaiah 63:9; NLT).

Mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15; NRSV).

Inner space

Ruth Kirk


Image: geralt, Pixabay

💙

1. You alone
Give inner space,
Faith, forgiveness, Lord,
And grace

2. To help us serve you
Every day,
By following
Your humble way.

3. You alone
Give inner peace,
Love, acceptance,
And release

4. From every weakness,
Fear, and sin,
For you, our Saviour,
Live within.

💙

References

1. It is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8; NIV).

He forgives all my sins (Psalm 103:2; NLT).

2. You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him (Luke 4:8; NLT).

Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9; NLT).

3. Peace I leave you; my peace I give you (John 14:27; NIV).

He loves us with unfailing love (Psalm 117:2; NLT).

4. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26; NLT).

You will stand firm and without fear (Job 11:15; NIV).

You have been set free from sin (Romans 6:18; NIV).

You are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16; NLT).

Christ lives within you (Romans 8:10; NLT).

You have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you (1 John 2:27; NLT).

I glimpse you

Ruth Kirk

Image: Christoph Schütz, Pixabay

❤️

1. Lord,
I glimpse you
Sparkling in the dew;
In land and sea,
And in the heavens, too.

2. Lord,
I hear your footsteps
In the trees;
Your voice in storms,
Your whisper in the breeze.

3. Lord,
I see you shine
From every face;
Your love reflected
In the human race.

❤️

References

1. There is […] one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all (Ephesians 4:5-6; NLT).

Your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people (Isaiah 26:19; NLT).

I see God moving across the deserts from Edom, the Holy One coming from Mount Paran. His brilliant splendour fills the heavens and the earth is filled with his praise (Habakkuk 3:3; NLT).

2. When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the poplar trees, be on the alert! (2 Samuel 5:24; NLT).

The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare (Psalm 29:9; NLT).

After the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:12; NLT).

3. God shines in glorious radiance (Psalm 50:2; NLT).

God created human beings in his own image (Genesis 1:27; NLT).

All of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18; NLT).

Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

It’s Advent!

Ruth Kirk


Image: Dorothée Quennesson, Pixabay

🧡

1. It’s Advent, Lord:
I wait anew,
To hear your cry,
And welcome you.

2. It’s Christmas:
And you’re born afresh
In my poor mind, heart,
Soul, and flesh.

3. It’s Easter, Lord:
You rise again,
To free me from
All sin and pain.

4. It’s Pentecost:
Each day you burn
Within me,
Till your great return.

🧡

References

1. Wait expectantly for him (Psalm 37:7; CSB).

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3; NKJV).

2. She gave birth to her first-born son (Luke 2:6; RSV).

I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3; NLT).

Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

3. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman Soldiers to be crucified (Mark 15:15; NLT).

You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! (Mark 16:6; NLT).

He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases (Psalm 103:3; NLT).

4. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3-4; NLT).

Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us? (Luke 24:32; NLT).

His mercies begin afresh each morning (Lamentations 3:22; NLT).

He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him (Hebrews 9:28; NLT).

In the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64; NLT).

Daily miracles

Ruth Kirk

Image: Ruth Kirk

🌺

1. You give us daily miracles
It’s easy to ignore:
Light and darkness, dawn and dusk, Lord,
Seasons, tides, and more.

2. You give us daily miracles
It’s easy to forget:
Rain and sunshine, seeds and crops –
We’re always in your debt.

3. You give us daily miracles
It’s easy to dismiss:
The helpfulness of strangers, Lord;
Each smile, each hug, each kiss.

4. You give us birth, and life, and death;
This world, which you sustain;
You give so much, Lord, every day –
Until you come again.

🌺

References

1. As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night (Genesis 8:22; NLT).

2. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need (Acts 17:25; NLT).

3. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, “Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here” (Luke 10:33-5; NLT).

4. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal (Deuteronomy 32:39; CSB).

He sustains everything by the mighty power of his command (Hebrews 1:3; NLT).

He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him (Hebrews 9:28; NLT).

No better gift

Ruth Kirk

Image: Engin Akyurt, Pixabay

🔴

1. There is no better gift, Lord,
Than the faith you give each day.

2. There is no sweeter pleasure
Than to trust you, praise, and pray.

3. There is no higher joy, Lord,
Than to serve as you ordain.

4. There is no greater honour
Than to share your grief and pain.

5. There is no higher path, Lord,
Than to live as one, with you.

6. There is no finer witness
Than to serve in all we do.

7. There is no dearer hope, Lord,
Than to long for your embrace.

8. There is no deeper rapture
Than to see you face to face.

🔴

References

1. By grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8; NIV).

2. He is my God, and I trust him (Psalm 91:2; NLY).

This is my God, and I will praise him (Exodus 15:2; NLT).

Pray constantly (1 Thessalonians 5:17; NIV).

3. Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40; NLT).

O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8;’ NLT).

4. If we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering (Romans 8:17; NLT).

5. God has united you with Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:30; NLT).

6. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6; NIV).

7. As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? (Psalm 42:1-2; NLT).

I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord (Psalm 84:2; NLT).

So he returned to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him (Luke 15:20; NLT).

8. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12; NIV).

Eternity

Ruth Kirk


Image: Waldemar Kaczmarski, Pixabay

🧡

All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time,
and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen (Jude 1:25; NLT).

1. Do not fear eternity;
You’re living in it now:

2. One with God
Before your birth,

3. One with him
Whilst here on earth,

4. One with him
At your last breath,

5. One in bliss,
Beyond your death.

6. So never fear eternity:
You’re living in it now!

🧡

References

1. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11; NLT).

2. I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5; NLT).

Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his (Psalm 100:3; NIV).

3. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them (1 John 4:16; NIV).

4. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last (Luke 23:46; NLT).

5. The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).

God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself (Psalm 49:15; NIV).

6. The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you (Deuteronomy 33:27; NLT).

It really doesn’t matter

Ruth Kirk

Image: Sabine van Erp, Pixabay

✝️

Christ is all that matters (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

1. It really doesn’t matter, Lord,
What else I do today,
As long as I try hard
To follow you,
And to obey.

2. It really doesn’t matter, Lord,
What else I do today,
As long as I love you
In all I meet
Along the way.

3. It really doesn’t matter, Lord,
What else I do today,
As long as I serve you
In thought and deed,
And all I say.

4. It really doesn’t matter, Lord,
What else I do today,
As long as I remain in you,
Rejoice, give thanks,
And pray.

✝️

References

1. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said (Matthew 4:19; NIV).

Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life (John 3:36; NLT).

2. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them (Romans 12:9; NLT).

Everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too (1 John 5:1; NLT).

Love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10:27; NLT).

Love the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19; NKJV).

Show love to foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:19; NLT).

Love your enemies! (Matthew 5:44; NLT).

3. Serve only him (Luke 4:8; NLT).

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5; NIV).

Do everything with love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14; NLT).

We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ (Ephesians 4:15; NLT).

4. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5; NLT).

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; NIV).

To pray

Ruth Kirk

Image: Barbara Jackson, Pixabay

💛

1. To pray
Is to live in the Lord,
Day and night.

2. To pray
Is to serve him
And scatter his light.

3. To pray
Is to love all,
Like Jesus, his Son.

4. To pray
Is to join with his Spirit,
As one.

💛

References

1. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).

They will pray day and night, continually (Isaiah 62:6; NLT).

2. You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him (Luke 4:8; NLT).

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35; NIV).

Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me (Matthew 25:40; NIV).

You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14; NLT).

3. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

Love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10:27; NLT).

Love the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19; NKJV).

Show love to foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:19; NLT).

Love your enemies! (Matthew 5:44; NLT).

All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us (Revelation 1:5; NLT).

4. You have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you (1 John 2:27; NLT).

The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17; NLT).