The Servant Song

Will you let me be your servant.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

 

We are pilgrims on a journey.
We are brothers on the road.
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

 

I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you;
Speak the peace you long to hear.

 

I will weep when you are weeping.
When you laugh, I'll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we've seen this journey through.

 

When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we've known together
Of Christ's love and agony.

 

Will you let me be your servant.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

 

Songwriters:

Richard Gillard, Betty C. Pulkingham

The Servant Song lyrics © Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ.

Companions on the Journey

Refrain
We are companions on the journey,
breaking bread and sharing life;
and in the love we bear
is the hope we share
for we believe in the love of our God,
we believe in the love of our God.

Verse 1
No longer strangers to each other,
no longer strangers in God’s house;
we are fed and we are nourished
by the strength of those who care,
by the strength of those who care.

Verse 2
We have been gifted with each other,
and we are called by the Word of the Lord:
to act with justice, to love tenderly,
and to walk humbly with our God,
to walk humbly with our God.  

Verse 3
We will seek and we shall find;
we will knock and the door shall be opened;
we will ask and it shall be given,
for we believe in the love of our God,
we believe in the love of our God.




Verse 4
We are made for the glory of our God,
for service in the name of Jesus;
to walk side by side
with hope in our hearts,
for we believe in the love of our God,
we believe in the love of our God.

Words and music: Carey Landry © 1985 Carey Landry and North American Liturgy Resources.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)

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Another timely quote as I struggle with improvements and changes I need to make in my life. Scripture is inspired by God and God inspires us through the scripture (and the Holy Spirit). God is good. :-)

Labor Day Reflection

Unless this love is among us, we can kill ourselves with work and it will only be work, not love.  Work without love is slavery.

Mother Teresa...now Saint Teresa (as of yesterday)!

When I don't know what to pray

I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!

Isaiah 65:24, NLT

(Today's Air 1 verse)

Combine that with this one:

We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

Romans 8:26

It just tells me that I can pray when I don't know what to pray for and there's a double promise: the Holy Spirit will intercede for me and turn my lack of words into prayers for the right thing and God is going to answer my prayer, even before I utter it. When a friend is in trouble or feeling pain, I feel so helpless and often times that helplessness comes down to not knowing how to help and not even knowing what to pray for. But it's okay. Just spending time with God and letting him know that friend is on my mind and thanking God for helping that friend is enough. Together, they will take care of it all. Praise God!

Pondering

How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them.

Psalm 111:2, NLT
(from Air1 Verse of the Day)
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I need to do more pondering in my life. I used to be better at that. Time to go back to my old ways and then get even better.

Single Person's Prayer

In the summer of 2012, my friend Andrea (also a single person) wen to Banbury England. She brought back this postcard with a beautiful prayer. It was designed by Noreen Littleton, a member of the Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen, England. I don't know if Noreen wrote the prayer or did the calligraphy or both, but I love it all and need to pray it more often.

Be careful what you ask for

So I said a prayer last night and when I woke up, this was the Verse of the Day:

 

I'd been thinking about this decision for a very long time and I just couldn't decide. I knew I had looked at it from every angle and gotten a lot of input on it where I could. But then I realized I hadn't done the one thing that I knew would give me the answer I needed--I hadn't prayed about it. So I prayed about it and got this oh so obvious answer (obvious to me anyway).

Thank you Lord for answering prayers and thank you for the wondrous and creative ways in which you do so. :-)

Providence

God's rich compassion is like an endless stream that brings refreshment and renewal to His beloved children. As you yield yourself to His will, He will work His divine providence to refresh and heal your broken heart.

from "Hugs for the Hurting"
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from "Hugs for Everyone" page-a-day calendar for Tuesday May 27

Faith

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

--Martin Luther King, Jr.
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from "Hugs for Everyone" page-a-day calendar for Monday January 20

Worrying

Jesus reminds us that worrying doesn't really get us anywhere. And He has told us that if we will just come to Him, He will give us relief from our burdens (Matthew 11:28). We can ask for His strength to live life one day, one step at a time, and He will gladly give it to us. "Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself" (Matthew 6:34). Keep your eyes focused on God and the love He has for you, and say to yourself, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13 NKJV).

from "Hugs for Teens"
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from "Hugs for Everyone" page-a-day calendar for Tuesday January 21

Prayer

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?

--Corrie ten Boom
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from "Hugs for Everyone" page-a-day calendar for Thursday February 13

Miracles

It is clear that the individual whose journey in life ismore joyous, more meaningful, and more sublime, is the individual who believes in miracles.

Small Miracles II
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was the entry for Thursday December 12 on a page-a-day calendar called "Small Miracles"

Coincidence

How much more fortunate is the individual possessing enough awareness to recognize coincidences for what they truly are -- mysterious, magical, and awe-inspiring testimonials to God's presence in our ordinary, everyday lives. This graced individual will most assuredly be filled with spiritual optimism. She will believe that the events in her life have purpose and that-- most important of all--her very life is hallowed by sacred purpose.

Small Miracles II
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This was the entry for Tuesday December 3 on a page-a-day calendar called "Small Miracles"

6/12/09 Sifting through the chaff

God never said life would be easy.
He just promised it would be worth it.

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I had to read through a bunch of that "send this to 12 people" kind of stuff in an email that had been forwarded a bazillion times, but it was worth it to get to this great quote.

God's answers

I believe that God only gives three answers to prayer:
1. "Yes"
2. "Not yet"
3. "I have something better in mind."

~Author unknown

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I found this as the email signature of someone I don't know. It was buried in all the "forwards" of a forwarded email. I think it's waaay cool. I DO believe it. And I love it when the answer is #3 which it is most of the time in my life.

Einstein on miracles

"There are only two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle; the other is as though everything is a miracle."

Albert Einstein

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This was a signature line in the middle of an email that had been forwarded many times. I don't even know the person who had it as their signature, but Einstein can even bind strangers.

BTW, I choose to live my life in the latter of the two ways.

Dancing With God

Dancing With God

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. While reading, I began thinking that God's will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance. When I saw "G: I thought of God followed by "u" and "i". "God, "u" and "i" "dance." God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday. May you abide in God as God abides in you.

Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached. If God has done anything for you in your life, please share this message with someone else. Truly, prayer is one of the best gifts we can receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards; so let's continue to pray for one another.

And I Hope You Dance

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This was an email I received on 3/22/2007. Often I get these and it's the millionth time I've seen 'em, but this one was new to me. And often, when I get them, they're judgmental or make you feel guilty. But this one, I loved. It really spoke to me. I wonder if it would have the same impact on someone who doesn't do a lot of dancing or who isn't passionate about dancing with a partner. For me, I love ballroom dancing; and country-western is a close second. I'm not all that great at dancing and I don't get to do it often, but it's a thrill for me whenever I get to dance. When I read this, a flood of dancing memories came rushing into my head, mostly good ones or great ones. But I have a few bad dancing memories and those non-examples really made this ring even truer for me. Okay, you probably can't be true, truer, or truest, but you get my drift.

I would love to see this in calligraphy. I wanted to leave out the next to the last paragraph because that's getting into that "pass this on or else" syndrome that so many email messages have on them. But I so like the ending of the paragraph "continue to pray for one another" which is the perfect lead-in to "And I hope you dance" that I kept the rest of the paragraph in.