Take courage, dear friend, you WILL come through Though dark the days, God cares for you Though deep within, you may feel it’s the end Your heart that is broken, the Saviour can mend
He knows of the depths of your sorrow and pain He’s there to uplift you, again and again He knows of the times when you’re feeling blue Take hold of His hand ~ outstretched for you
Take courage, dear friend, look up to the King, Through Jesus, our Lord, this battle you’ll win
Just lift your voice and give Him praise He’ll bring you through ~ you’ll be amazed!
Hold on to the everlasting arms They’ll never let you go In the arms of Jesus, you will find The greatest love you’ve known
He’ll give you strength and help you stand When it seems you’ve had enough The comfort of His love is real When the road of life is rough
When the cup is dry and you can’t go on And you just want to hide away The Saviour is near, He knows your need He sees your heart’s dismay
His words are words of life and peace When all around looks dark A lamp to your feet, His word will be A light upon your path
Hold on to the everlasting arms They’ll never let you go He’ll keep you safe from all alarm Because He loves you so
–o0o–
In these challenging times, it’s a comfort to know that the Lord’s arms of love are extended to us. He wants to impart grace and strength always, knowing that “without Him (Jesus) we can do nothing” (John 15). Thank you Lord!
(This poem is from my forthcoming book, Candle of Hope, soon to be released, by God’s grace) 🌷🙏🏽🙏🏽
I hope this New Year finds you safe and well. I thank the Lord for bringing us safely through 2020 ~ a year unlike any other known to most of our generations. My heart goes out to the millions affected by the awful pandemic. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to be regularly blogging. In life, we can often have wonderful hopes, plans and dreams of things we would like to pursue, but, as we’ve seen, unexpected events and circumstances may postpone things, and sometimes greatly.
BUT – by the grace of God, I’m thankful to be here at this start of 2021 sending you this little note and, by His grace also, hope to continue blogging on a more regular basis.
I pray your year will be blessed and that you will know total health, protection and the wonderful presence of God, our Heavenly Father.
As I meditated on the precious love of God, I began to get carried away in deep thought about the vastness of His love and just wanted to share these reflections with you …….
We’ve probably all experienced unrequited love in one way or another – through friends, loved ones, etc. Many of us know what that feels like and how painful it is – giving love, opening the door of our hearts, hoping for relationship, only to experience coldness or rejection – and so does God, especially as He has oceans of love for us.
Even if we have a relationship with God, through Christ, sometimes our erring ways can cause us to actually move away from Him, from that close fellowship we should have, because we know He is holy, and when we fall short we feel we have failed Him .. yet again.
It can be the case that instead of running TO Him, we may find ourselves missing out on those special times of closeness in His presence. The love of God, being unfathomable and pure, reaches out to us in mercy. Again and again, He lovingly calls us to draw near to Him, in so many ways: perhaps through a song, a word of scripture, encouragement from a friend, a sermon, even through circumstances. God patiently waits … with oceans of love … but are we always aware?
There have been seasons in my faith life when things were going along nice and smoothly, then, at some point, a situation may occur in which I felt I’d failed God again in one way or another, and (feeling defeated) would think to myself, `He must be tired of me constantly coming back for forgiveness’. As my relationship with Him grew, however, I became reassured by the reminder that it wasn’t any good that I had done that made me acceptable to God – but the righteousness of Jesus alone. Thank You Lord!
We are encouraged in scripture to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV). We are saved by grace through faith, and not by our own works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Although we are saved FOR good works, we’re not saved BY them. When we realise this, we can not only ask for forgiveness when we’re in the wrong, but can forgive ourselves and others too. It’s all about the life of Jesus being lived through us. It’s all about Him, not us! Through the everlasting love of God, that same saving grace is available to us for daily living.
When Jesus sacrificed His life for us on the cross, He paved the way for those special words that He uttered to be fulfilled – “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The transaction was done in terms of God. He “SO loved the world that He gave ..” (John 3:16). God’s oceans of love caused Him to give. He did His part. After that, it was our turn to respond to His gift, so that we could experience this forgiveness and the vastness of His love.
It’s continually our turn to respond to His heart of love which extends beyond the cross, however. As we seek to follow the Lord in our daily walk, we can experience more and more the reality of His love, and continual cleansing and forgiveness, because of our fellowship with Him (1 John 1:7-9). His sacrifice makes us acceptable; His perfection covers our imperfection.
Against the many distractions, trials, temptations and struggles in our journey with God, His eternal and holy love beckons us to keep on coming. God is love ~ rich and free. Love calls us ~ love awaits us. Isn’t that precious?! Tears fill my eyes just to think about this fact. That love is unconditional, forgiving, full of mercy, continually reaching out to all the world, looking for an inlet into human hearts. What a treasure we have in our hearts as believers!
Prayer: Thank You Heavenly Father for your fathomless oceans of love, shown to us through Jesus, Your Son, in His sufferings, death and resurrection. Thank You that this precious love made it possible for us to draw near to You, to come before Your throne and find all our needs met, because of Your heart of mercy and forgiveness. May the love You continually show .. fill our hearts daily, and may that love be poured out through us to others also ~ for Your glory and praise, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Here is a beautiful song about the love of God (a song I love) written by Graham Kendrick entitled “Such Love” …..
Happy New Year dear friends!! As each New Year begins, while we look ahead to the new things God has in store, it’s good for us to look back with thankfulness. I would not be where I am today without Him. Through the years, the Lord has been my rock. Just wanted to share this poem of gratitude ~ one of those He blessed me to publish in my book, “Forever Grateful”. Thank You Lord!
Just Want to Say Thanks
I looked through the window of life each day
When the burdens were great and I hardly could pray
If someone would ask of me how I fared
With an answer, I’d smile, but I just couldn’t share
When the tears wouldn’t cease and I felt I had failed
You came through with peace, Your kindness prevailed
You lifted me, Lord, and helped me to stand
On a rock, and You sheltered me there with Your hand
Your Holy Spirit brought comfort and peace
In the midst of my sorrow and gave me relief
Of the pain and the anguish that weighed like a stone
You always were there, I was never alone
Oh Jesus I love You, I love You so much!
So precious to me is Your comforting touch
Your wonderful peace, You always impart
Just want to say “Thanks”, from a grateful heart –o0o–
Tenderly, You look into my eyes
Lovingly, You help me to arise
And when I hear the words You speak to me
You banish all my fears and I am free
In all my yesterdays, I’ve seen Your hand
And all along, You’ve helped me Lord to stand
Lord, I can face each day because of You
Propelled by love that’s faithful, kind and true
When burdens weighed me down and heavy loads
You gave me grace and strength along the road
You bid me hand them all to You in prayer
What peace I felt when, at last, I left them there
Inspirational poems. Children's poems. Christian song lyrics and recorded songs. Personalized poems. Encouragement for the hurting. Sharing the love of God. THIS IS AN AWARD FREE BLOG.
CHRISTINE'S POETRY & REFLECTIONS 