Category: cross

We praise your name

Ruth Kirk

1. Father,
May we praise your name –
To love you
Is our highest aim.

2. Jesus,
May we bear our cross –
Ready to accept
Each loss.

3. Spirit,
May we welcome you –
By serving God
In all we do.

4. Mary,
May we know your Son –
Of woman born,
God’s Holy One.

References

1. The Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name (Luke 1:49; NIV).

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind (Luke 10:27; NLT).

2. Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24; NLT).

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised (Job 1:21; NIV).

3. You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; NLT).

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

4. When the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law (Galatians 4:4; NLT).

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35; NLT).

A dream: 16.8.18.

Ruth Kirk


I dreamed I was looking up at a beautiful late-evening sky, filled with stars. As I gazed, I could see that behind them, much further away, there were countless millions of fainter, smaller stars.

As I watched, the stars parted, like clouds, revealing hundreds of small brightly-shining white shapes, rather like crosses.

For a few moments, I thought they too were stars. But then I realised they were moving: great flocks of birds, like swans, some black, some white, wheeling together and filling the sky above me.

And as I watched, all these things began to fade away, and I woke up. 

References

I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command (Isaiah 45:12; NLT).

The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born (Psalm 33:6; NLT).

God is more glorious than the moon; he shines brighter than the stars (Job 25:5; NLT).

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge (Psalm 19:1-2; NIV).

Self is an illusion

Ruth Kirk

My old self has been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me
(Galatians 2:20; NLT).

1. Self, Lord, is a shadow,
Created by the sun;
Self is an illusion,
When we forget we’re one.

2. Self, Lord, is a daydream,
A temporary state;
Self is what we leave behind
When we seek heaven’s gate.

3. Self, Lord, is a mirage,
Created by the sun;
Self is a delusion,
When we forget we’re one.

4. Self, Lord, is a bubble,
An unimportant loss;
Self is what we leave behind
When we take up our cross.

References

1. For we were born but yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow (Job 8:9; NLT).
Common people are only a vapour; important people, an illusion (Psalm 62:9; CSB).
You are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28; NLT).

2. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace (1 Chronicles 29:15; NLT).
You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13; NLT).

3. They are all a delusion; their works are nothing (Isaiah 41:29; ESV).

4. Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ (Philippians 3:8; NLT).
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me (Luke 9:23; NLT).

In the heat of the day

Ruth Kirk

1. In the heat of the day,
You draw near to say:
Come to me, children,
And rest.

2. In the long afternoon,
You murmur: Quite soon,
My people, you’ll finish
This test.

3. In the cool of the eve,
You whisper: Believe
In me always, and trust
In my Son.

4. In the depths of the night,
You sing with delight:
Your souls, and my Spirit,
Are one.

5. In the freshness of dawn,
You cheer the forlorn:
I’m with you in gain
And in loss.

6. And, as we face each task,
You love, Lord, to ask
Of us: Followers, take up
Your cross.

References

1. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest
(Matthew 11:28; NIV).

2. How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble! (Job 14:1; NLT).

3. Trust in God, and trust also in me (John 14;1; NLT).

4. The Spirit of God […] lives in you (Romans 8:11; NLT).
The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17; NLT).

He […] will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17; NIV).

5. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised
(Job 1:21; NIV).

6. If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me (Luke 9:23; NLT).

You have blessed my life

Ruth Kirk

Give thanks in all circumstances
(1 Thessalonians 5:18; NIV).

1. Father,
You have blessed my life
With hardship and abuse;
You’ve given me so much to learn:
Lord, thank you for each truth.

2. Father,
You have blessed my life
With suffering and pain;
You’ve given me so much to learn:
Lord, thank you for each gain.

3. Father,
You have blessed my life
With sorrow, grief and loss;
You’ve given me so much to learn:
Lord, thank you for each cross.

4. Father,
You have blessed my life
With guilt, regret, and shame;
You’ve given me so much to learn:
I praise your glorious name.

References

1. God has seen your abuse (Genesis 31:42; NLT).

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 16:33; NLT).

Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you (Psalm 25:5; NLT).

2. You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and life me up from the depths of the earth (Psalm 71:20; NLT).

3. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised (Job 1:21; NIV).

4. I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me (Psalm 51:3; NIV).

O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! (1 Chronicles 29:13; NLT).

When we leave your side

Ruth Kirk

1. Father, when we leave your side
And come to live on earth,
We enter time, and space, and mass,
Through pain and blood, in birth.

2. Here, we must face change and growth
Through suffering and loss;
Here, we strive to follow Christ,
By taking up our cross.

3. Here, we long to find again
The bliss we knew above;
Here, we struggle to forgive,
And slowly learn to love.

4. Help us, Lord, in our short lives,
To serve in all we do;
For then, in death, eternally,
Our souls will rest in you.

References

1. Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble (Job 14:1; NIV).

2. If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me (Luke 9:23; NLT).

3. I long for you, O God (Psalm 42:1; NLT).

4. My soul rests in God alone (Psalm 62:1; HNV).

When we’re engulfed by fear

Ruth Kirk

Lord,
When we’re engulfed by fear,
Remind us you are always near.

Lord,
When we are put to shame,
Remind us of your holy Name.

Lord,
When we are full of care,
Remind us of the thorns you wear.

Lord,
When we are hurt and bruised,
Remind us how you were abused.

Lord,
When we are racked with pain,
Remind us all how you were slain.

Lord,
When we think life’s unfair,
Remind us of the wounds you bear.

Lord,
When death is close at hand,
Remind us of God’s angel band.

Lord,
We share one flesh and blood:
Remind us of our Father’s love.

References

Being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44; NIV).

Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus (Luke 23:11; NLT).

The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head (John 19:2; NLT).

They spat on him and took the staff and struck him repeatedly on the head (Matthew 27:30; NET).

Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross (Mark 15:24; NLT).

Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side (John 20:27; NLT).

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34; NLT).

When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body (1 Corinthians 10:16-17; NLT).

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16; NLT).