Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 24

Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 24 


This is a Psalm of David

This Psalm falls into 4 parts:

V. 1-2
The Earth and Everyone belong to God

V. 3-4
Not everyone will stand in God's Holy Place

V. 5-6
Blessing on Holiness

V. 7-10
The King of Glory

All is God's.
Surely we should remember that everyone and everything ultimately belong to God when praying for people, our city, our nation.


God's Holy Place.
We also need to pray that we and others will have clean hands and pure hearts because we desire to be able to dwell in God's Holy Place.
We should pray for protection in all that we do to keep ourselves Holy to the Lord.

This is where we should desire to live

God's Blessing.
As we keep ourselves Holy God will give us His Blessing.


The King of Glory.
Strength and might describe our King of Glory.
The Lord of Hosts who is the Lord above all else is our King of Glory.

We have talked about the Holy Place
and how we must live to be able to enter it.

But it is not how Holy or clean or pure we may be that will make this Place Holy,

it is Holy because of the 

Holy, perfect Lord of all 

who will be resident there.

You Can Face It! Yes, You can! - A Dose of Encouragement

You Can Face It!

   Do you know that?

Yes, whatever it is - You can face it!


Yes, wherever you are  -  You can face it!


Yes, whenever it may happen  -  You can face it!


Yes, even when you think you are on your own  -  You can face it!

At some time or another we all need this type of encouragement.

No matter what the circumstance,

              or the location,

                            or the time frame,

                                          or the loneliness we feel,

                                                        we need to remember that

                                                                                                       we can face it all!

                                       
 

Yes with God on our side we can face it all.


With God we don't have to worry or be afraid that we are incapable of overcoming or even meeting whatever lies ahead because He will meet it with us and He is the True Overcomer.

He's the One who can move mountains.

He's the One who can calm seas.

He's the One who can heal.

He's the One who can give life.

He's the One who can whisper comfort in the storm of life.

If you have met with your Saviour and have that personal trusting relationship with Him where you have handed over your life and asked for forgiveness then

You can Face it! Yes, You Can!

because He is with you, Yes He is with you all the way!


It's a promise and He can keep that promise because of  WHO He IS!

Yes it's not about us  -  It's all about HIM.

because He said

So say it today and believe it

I Can Face It!  -  Yes, I Can!

Partners in Crime - Book Review

Disclaimer:
There is an affiliate link on this blogpost.


I am trying to read through the novels of Agatha Christie in the order in which they were written and write a review on each one.

  

Partners in Crime. 


1929  
A Book of short stories.
Detectives - Tommy & Tuppence



Shelfari Description

Tommy and Tuppence take over a detective agency and assume the methods of such great fictional detectives as Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot to solve case after case...

My Thoughts

This is the 11th book by Agatha Christie and the Second one  involving Tommy & Tuppence who are now married.

Although the pair's previous book  "The Secret Adversary" was a full length novel this one is a series of short stories about their new life as Private Investigators - Mr Blunt and his assistant Miss Robinson.  15 completely different short stories all set around the Detective Agency that Tommy and Tuppence have taken over.  

Something that I particularly liked was the fact that this pair were not perfect and in fact made some quite wrong assumptions at times.

Albert is back in this book as well adding an extra bit of humour to the delicious atmosphere of the Tommy & Tuppence relationship


I adored the book and sat up late at night saying

 "just one more story and then I'll go to sleep" 

but that wasn't true at all, I just kept reading on.  

 Here is a link to a list of her novels on Shelfari
Books by Agatha Christie






Disclaimer:
If buying through Amazon via the link above I get a little commission but that does not mean any extra expense to you.

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 121

Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 121 



This is one of the Psalms of Ascent

This Psalm falls into three parts:


V. 1-2
Question
Answer



V. 3-4
God's deeds towards us
God's character for our benefit



V. 5-8
Reassurance & examples of all that God is doing for us

Question & Answer.
I believe that the Psalmist is looking up in awe and wonder because He knows the greatness of God.

The question is not a pleading or desperate one it is one that he already knows the answer to and finds comfort from it.  There is the feeling of the Psalmist resting content in his knowledge that God is in control of everything.

We must recognize the greatness of God

God's Deeds & Character.
Even though God is the great creator of all things He cares about us so much that He is always looking after us.  Continually aware of what help we need and not slacking on the job but ever awake and alert.

The Psalmist uses repetition here to stress just how important it is for us to know that God is always awake.  He doesn't nod off, doesn't take a siesta, doesn't take a cat nap.  He doesn't even let his eyes droop on us.
I have previously written about how encouraging that is for us in Forty Winks


Reassurance & Examples.
Again just to make sure we have taken in the awe and wonder that the Psalmist has of our great God; he gives us examples of what God does and we are left with complete reassurance that YES everything we need will come from God.

Oh how important it is that we see the greatness of God 

and

the One who is in control

but also that 

He cares so much for us 

that 

He is constantly looking after us.

Christian Songs for Kids - I Believe the Bible

Do you find it hard to get visuals and recordings for different kids songs?

I have always found this a problem so I am now sharing songs that I have used with children providing you with 

Visuals 
Powerpoint or Picture 

or details of how you can make one 


Words   
Chords also available


Recording  
mp3 or video to learn the song 

Then if you would like to download the visual of the song there will be a link provided to my creation, or I will direct you to where else you can find it.   

This month I am taking the theme of

 The Bible

I thoroughly believe we should teach and encourage children to get familiar with the Bible learning to trust God's word 

and to believe in what the Bible tells us about God and Jesus.

The song I have chosen is 

 I Believe the Bible

This is a song that I got to know through Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) when we had a Good News Club in our home before we even had any children ourselves.

It is such a repetitive song so very easy for the children to learn.

The song is full of the basic fundamental things we believe as Christians and should be teaching our children from an early age:

The Bible

Jesus

Salvation for sins

Resurrection

Christ's Return 

VISUAL

My visual is very old but still in good condition because I laminated it and took good care of it over the many many years of use in Kids' clubs and Sunday School etc.


This is a picture of the front of the 5 cards (1 card for each verse)

and here you see the words on the back of each card for the continuation of each verse.

The cards are A4 size and using this type of visual gives me the opportunity to involve 5 children in holding up the cards and turning them around at the appropriate time in each verse.



Where to Buy the Visual:

This version of the visual for the song is no longer available but a newer version can be found HERE at the US CEF Website, unfortunately no version is shown for sale on the UK Website.

Below is a screenshot of the new visual which is more modern and colourful than the original.  

These songs are good value for money and extremely good if you are like me and use them for years in many different places so I would recommend buying from CEF.

Disclaimer: 
 I am not compensated in any way for writing this blogpost it is purely based on my own thoughts and experience so buying from CEF will not benefit me.


NOTE:   The older version has 5 verses but the newer one has more so the words of the new song are slightly different but the tune is the same.

WORDS


I BELIEVE THE BIBLE

I Believe the Bible
I Believe the Bible
I Believe the Bible
It's the Word of God

I Believe in Jesus
I Believe in Jesus
I Believe in Jesus
He's the Son of God

Jesus died for sinners
Jesus died for sinners
Jesus died for sinners
Jesus died for me

Jesus Christ is risen
Jesus Christ is risen
Jesus Christ is risen
He arose for me

Jesus Christ is coming
Jesus Christ is coming
Jesus Christ is coming
In the clouds for me


To Download a copy of these words with chords for guitar and piano 
CLICK HERE




ACTIONS

We usually clap through this one.

RECORDING

This is the CEF YouTube recording for the song




Notes:
The author of the song is Hubert Mitchell and copyright is held by CEF.

I Hope you enjoy the song and this is a help to you.

Free Printables - Songs for kids - I believe the Bible

DON'T FORGET
If you are interested in finding out about more 

Christian Songs for Kids

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OR

See Our Other Kids Songs:   

Creation  -    Who Made?
Easter  -    He's Alive
Prayer  -    Whisper a Prayer
Bible  -    I will Make you Fishers of Men
Love of Jesus  -    Jesus Loves the Little Children
Love of Jesus  -    Jesus' Love is very Wonderful
The Attributes of God  -    God is So Good 
The Promises of God  -    No Never Alone

(Click on the names of the songs above to view them)

Invisible Reins - A Dose of Encouragement

One time a few years ago while a group of us were praying for a friend I had this impression of how she was being held back, constrained, as if a set of reins were attached to her back and being pulled quite taut.

Something was keeping this lady from having the full enjoyment available in her Christian life.  She was being restricted from advancing because of some tie.

The restriction I was sure was coming from some incident in her past, something that was keeping a restraint on all she was to experience in God.  I also felt that she wasn't aware of this but it actually was something she was allowing to hold on to her when God had forgiven her and all she had to do was to forgive herself.

          

There are many things in our past that can still affect us even when we believe we have left them behind.  

When we moved to live in America for three years everyone would have thought that things from the past in a different country could not have gone with me and been a hindrance, but they did.  

In fact one of the reasons God moved us was to help me be free of a person from the past that always wanted to rein me in and curb anything that I felt God was doing in my spiritual life.

However moving thousands of miles does not offer the solution in itself.  

I still had to come to the point where I put certain things behind me and only then could I open myself to let God make a real change in me.

In America I was seen in a different light from the way people (who had known me most of my life) had viewed me.

I was freer to step out and do as God was leading me which meant a change in me.

Yet there still remained the feelings of hurt and restraint that I had from before.

But God is gracious and during that period away from the previous environment I had time to develop without the distractions and restraints.

We need to fly free from all restraints

Also things changed back at home as well so that on our return to Northern Ireland I was not thrust back into the exact same setting as before to suddenly have that same pull put on me.

No matter what stage of life we are in or where we are God can provide us with the circumstances and setting we need to help us move on in Him.

The important thing is to move on with God

In my case He used a move to a different country but in other cases He will use the right thing at the right time to work in any of our lives - we just need to be ready to let Him remove those reins and be freer for His use.

The devil will always love to see us tied up and bound by anything at all so that we are not free to be used properly for God's glory but God is always in control of each situation and we need to keep in step with Him and allow Him to work in us.

          

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 37

Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.




Today I'm looking at Psalm 37

Many of the verses in this Psalm exhort us to do something and then we will see God work in us or around us.


V. 3
Trust in the Lord
We will dwell safely


V. 4
Take delight in God
We will gain the desires of our heart


V. 5-6
Commit our ways to God
He will act on our behalf


V. 7-11
Be still and wait patiently on God
The wicked will be cut off and we will possess the Land


V. 16-17
Be righteous
God will uphold us


V. 23-24
Walk in the steps that delight the Lord
He will establish us


V. 27-29 &  32-33
Depart from evil and do good
We will abide forever because God will not forsake His saints

It is important that we know how God desires that we live our lives

V. 30
Speak as a righteous person
God will give us the wisdom to be just


V. 31
Keep the law of God in our hearts
Our steps will not slip


V. 34
Wait on the Lord and keep to His Way
He will exalt us to possess the Land


V. 37
Be a person of peace
God will prosper us


V. 40
Take refuge in God
He will help, deliver and save us

It is important we know how God desires to work in our lives

but 

it is more important 

that we know how God desires that we live our lives.