Month: November 2020

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).

Be faithful

Ruth Kirk

Image: falco, Pixabay

🤎

Be faithful, even to the point of death,
and I will give you life as your victor’s crown
(Revelation 2:10; NIV).

1. Be faithful
In the little things
The Lord entrusts to you.
Then he will give you
Greater tasks
He wishes you to do.

2. Be faithful
To the lowly place
The Lord asks you to take.
Then he will raise you higher
At the banquet,
For his sake.

🤎

References

1. If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities (Luke 16:10; NLT).

His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much” (Matthew 25:21; ESV).

2. Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all (Mark 9:35; NIV).

When you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, “Friend, go up higher” (Luke 14:10; NKJV).

There is no path

Ruth Kirk

Image: Tumisu, Pixabay

✝️

1. There is no path like yours, Lord,
And no better way to turn.

2. There is no life like yours, Lord,
And no finer truth to learn.

3. There is no light like yours, Lord,
And no deeper joy to share.

4. There is no grief like yours, Lord,
And no greater cross to bear.

5. There is no peace like yours, Lord,
And no sweeter voice to hear.

6. There is no love like yours, Lord,
And no other god to fear.

✝️

References

1. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21; NIV).

2. Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6; NLT).

3. I am the light of the world (John 8:12; NLT).

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (John 15:11; NIV).

4. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death” Mark 14:34; NLT).

Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:27; NKJV).

5. The Lord is peace (Judges 6:24; NLT).

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you (John 14:27; NKJV).

After the fire [came] a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12; KJV).

6. God is love (1 John 4:16; NLT).

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13; NLT).

I am the Lord your God, and there is no other (Joel 2:27; NKJV).

You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him (Deuteronomy 10:20; NLT).

Would you?

Ruth Kirk

Image: Roy N, Pixabay

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others
and to give his life as a ransom for many
(Mark 10:45; NLT).

1. Would you forgo your hope of rescue,
So a foreigner is saved?

2. Or forswear your dream of freedom,
So a friend is not enslaved?

3. Would you renounce your chance of healing,
So a neighbour is made whole?

4. Or surrender your survival,
Just to save a stranger’s soul?

5. Would you resign your reign above,
So enemies are welcomed in?

6. Or face death by crucifixion,
Bearing many people’s sin?

7. Would you believe the Father’s promise,
Trusting you will rise anew,

8. And then give up your life for others –
Just as Jesus did, for you?

 

References

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

2. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13; NLT).

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

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

He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole (Isaiah 53:5; RSV).

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15; NLT).

5. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being (Philippians 2:6-7; NLT).

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

6. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8; NLT).

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24; NIV).

7. Those who die in the Lord will live; their bodies will rise again! (Isaiah 26:19; NLT).

I trust in God (Psalm 56:11; NLT).

They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again (Mark 10:34; NLT).

8. We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16; NLT).