The Good Shepherd 19th-century stained glass in the church of St Mary & St Giles in memory of John William Spark, curate of the church. James Yardley.
I’m lying awake with a migraine, which gives me an excellent opportunity to publish today’s blog:
Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).
Inside and outside,
Above and below,
Jesus is with us
Wherever we go.
On our left, on our right,
Up ahead, close behind,
Jesus is present,
And he is so kind.
Longing to help us
Find all that we seek,
Jesus is ready
To strengthen the weak.
Guiding us all with his light
And his crook:
Jesus is with us –
If only we look.
If you lookforme wholeheartedly, you will find me (Jeremiah 29:13; NLT).
References
Be sure of this: I am with you always (Matthew 28:20; NLT).
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12; NIV).
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Psalm 23:4; KJV).
This prayer came to me yesterday, despite how I’m struggling with migraine and dread at present:
May your will be done (Matthew 6:10; NLT).
May your will be done today, Lord,
In my body, heart and mind;
In my spirit, and my life,
Then all my actions will be kind.
May I call upon your name,
For I am yours, and you are mine.
Fill my thoughts, and words, and deeds,
Till I become your living shrine.
May I know your strength and courage;
Take my hand, for I am blind.
May I trust you, Lord, and share
Your cross today, our souls entwined.
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 and become one with him (Philippians 3:8-9; NLT).
References
Christ is all that matters, and he livesin all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).
I will put my Spirit in you and make you eager to obey my laws and teachings (Ezekiel 36:27; CEV).
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants – men and women alike. And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth – blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved (Joel 2:28-32; NLT).
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the HolySpirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? (1 Corinthians 6:19; NLT).
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).
Trust in God, and trust also in me (John 14:1; NLT).
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth” (Luke 10:21; NET).
I praise you, Lord of heaven and earth,
For you renew my strength.
I praise you, Christ, the Counsellor,
For you have made me whole.
I praise you, Spirit, Mighty God, For you restore my life.
I praise you, Threefold Prince of Peace,
For you redeem my soul.
I will praise the Lord at all times (Psalm 34:1; NLT).
References
Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6; KJV).
He renews my strength (Psalm 23:3; NLT).
He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5; RSV).
His good favour restores one’s life (Psalm 30:5; NET).
The Lord redeems the soul of his servants (Psalm 34:22; NKJV).
As soon as I start to surface from sleep, the Lord’s Prayer is always my first prayer of the day. Straight after saying it a day or two ago, these verses arrived very insistently:
The Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26; AMP).
O Holy Spirit, Help me now to pray,
And then to walk with you, Lord,
All day long.
Please sigh for me,
And plead on my behalf,
For though my prayers are weak, Lord,
Yours are strong.
My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9; NLT).
References
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever (John 14:16; ESV).
When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10; NLT).
After saying my night prayers yesterday at the end of an unexpectedly eventful day, I turned off my bedside light and laid down to sleep. However, God still had a little bit more to give me:
How amazing are the deeds of the LORD! (Psalm 111:2; NLT).
God: amazing!
Love a-blazing!
Christ: our light, Our strength, our way.
Spirit: help, and truth, And comfort –
Threefold God: peace,
Come what may!
The Lord is peace (Judges 6:24; NLT).
References
God is love (1 John 4:8; NLT).
The Lord your God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24; NIV).
God is light (1 John 1:5; NLT).
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; NLT).
The Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength (Isaiah 26:4; KJV).
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6; NLT).
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17; NKJV).
The Spirit is truth (1 John 5:6; NKJV).
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever – even the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17; ASV).
Context: Although I don’t feel anxious about my deteriorating health in the daytime, I have bad dreams about it almost every night. A few days ago I woke feeling particularly upset and disturbed by what I had experienced in my dream, and especially by how I’d felt, both physically and mentally.
My training and experience suggest that these dreams are telling me what’s going on in my unconscious mind, and that it might be helpful to talk them over. As I prayed about this, today’s verses came to mind. They arrived so quickly that it was all I could do to scribble them down. Later I was able to spend time reflecting on them, and editing them.
I’m getting old, and sick, Lord,
Let’s face facts –
I’m never going to do again
Some of the things I love.
I’m never going to do
What I’ve not done.
I’m running out of health,
And out of time.
I’m fine with this
When I’m awake,
But dream about it
Almost every night.
And that’s when I experience My grief,
My weakness, tiredness,
Helplessness and fear;
Depression; getting lost;
Dementia; tears.
Day after day I wake up In distress.
Today, I recognised
That maybe I need help: Lord God, I want to talk
About my dreams.
God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams (Daniel 1:17; NLT).
God can tell you what it means and set you at ease (Genesis 41:16; NLT).
The Rosary Hospital
Word is slowly getting round about The Rosary Hospital, and I’ve fulfilled another two commissions. Meanwhile, yesterday I finished making a simple five-decade rosary for fun, finding it helpful to experiment freely without having any particular recipient in mind.
Context: This prayer arrived on Christmas Day, and took two more days to write. Maybe I’m slowing down in my old age…
He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20; NLT).
Come, Jesus, come –
Be born again in me,
And I in you.
I’ll do my best
To share your cross,
Your love for others, too.
The way is long,
The path is hard –
My efforts seem in vain,
But, Lord, despite
My fruitlessness, I long
To serve your name.
For you’re my Saviour
And my King,
My genesis and goal,
So come, Lord, come –
I offer you my heart, mind, strength
And soul.
You must lovetheLORDyour God withallyour heart, allyour soul, allyour mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30; NLT).
References
I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3; NLT).
God is love, and all who live inlove live inGod, andGodlivesin them (1 John 4:16; NLT).
The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it (Matthew 7:14; NLT).
The Rosary Hospital
To my great pleasure, the rosaries posted before Christmas are gradually reaching their destinations, despite the postal strikes and challenging weather conditions.
Meanwhile, I remade my Fiat rosary with the inadequate knot. It came out much better the third time, so I have no regrets about starting again – it’s all good practice.
One exciting development (from a purely personal point of view), is that over the last few days I’ve become more confident about the strength of my joining knots, so I’ve stopped reinforcing them with superglue. It’s taken quite a while to reach this stage, but I’m pleased to be getting there. Purists don’t use glue when making rosaries – perhaps mine could be held together with faith!
If you would like more rosary news, or if you have any broken rosaries to donate, you are very welcome to contact me at “The Rosary Hospital”, on Facebook.
Context: A few days ago, just before I began to be ill with Covid, I woke around 5am, and was surprised by the arrival of this prayer, which gradually unfolded over the space of about an hour:
Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker (Psalm 95:6; NLT).
You are my Maker,
My spirit,
My soul;
You are my source,
And my way,
And my goal.
You are my Pattern,
My body,
My blood;
You are my mind,
And my heart,
And my love.
You are my Master,
My strength,
And my breath;
You are my grief,
And my pain,
And my death.
You are my Shepherd,
My staff,
And my rod;
You are my life,
And my Lord,
And my God.
Context:Today’s and tomorrow’s prayers form a linked pair:
Now he will heal us (Hosea 6:1; NLT).
Lord,
Heal all living souls,
I pray,
And guide us To your narrow way.
Teach and strengthen us Each day,
Until all seek your face,
And say: I love you.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek (Psalm 27; 8; NIV).
I loveyou, LORD; you are my strength (Psalm 18:1;NLT).
The rosary-making project
Most of the materials I need to make rosaries arrived yesterday, to my delight. The main piece of kit I don’t have yet is the special rosary tool, which is coming all the way from America.
In the evening I enjoyed making a practice chaplet representing one decade, as seen above. I really need to sit by an expert to learn this craft, especially as my brain can’t distinguish between left and right for making the knots.
However, I managed to add some beads to a little cross on a cord, which I bought from a lovely lady in the UK. My addition is very simple indeed, but I’m still very pleased with the result!
