Zephaniah 2:3: "Seek Jehovah, all ye meek of the land, who have performed his ordinance".
Friday, 29 October 2021
SEEK JEHOVAH
Zephaniah 2:3: "Seek Jehovah, all ye meek of the land, who have performed his ordinance".
Friday, 22 October 2021
THOUGHTS ON OUR GOD AND FATHER
I have put together her the sequence of verse regarding our God and Father which I wrote and posted recently. They are intended as a sequence of separate poems rather than as one poem. I have used the form rhyme royal , a form introduced into English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer, and used by James I of Scotland in 'The Kingis Quair'; the name may derive from his royal use. Marja and Arsty have provided me rhymes embedded in photographs which I have gratefully used.
but the desire always is and must be that God may be glorified.
“HEAVENLY FATHER”
Your heavenly Father knows that you have need
And therefore He will graciously provide
With clothes to wear, and bread on which to feed.
He is the One in whom you may confide,
As you set sins against yourself aside;
And all the wealth of heaven comes in view
Because Christ's heavenly Father planted you.
“YOUR FATHER”
Your Father who is in the heavens gives
Good gifts, and as His people's nature shows
His feature of forgiveness He forgives.
He gives good gifts because your Father knows
What's better than the gifts you might propose.
And, as the gifts He gives you are applied
In lives, your Father will be glorified.
“THY FATHER”
When you give alms let your left hand not know
What your right hand does; for "thy Father" sees
In secret: He discerns what you bestow.
Close yourself in when you bow down your knees:
"Thy Father" only is the One to please;
And do not fast for other men to see:
"Thy Father's" grace "shall render it to thee".
“OUR FATHER”
When those who love our Lord and Saviour gather
To pray unto the One whom He made known
They have the liberty to say, "Our Father ...".
They long to reverence His Name alone;
They long to see the glory of His throne;
They trust in Him to bear them on His arm,
To meet their needs, and shelter them from harm.
“MY FATHER”
"My Father's" will was Jesus' first concern
And those who do it know His graciousness
As those who are His family, they learn;
They are the persons whom He came to bless,
And with His Father those He will confess,
Because, before He went to bear their guilt
He said, "not as I will but as thou wilt".
“LORD OF THE HEAVEN AND OF THE EARTH”
So Jesus answered, saying, "Father, Lord
Of heaven and earth ..."; the One who has the right
To give to each their suitable award,
Has hidden things from those who claim the light,
Since giving to the poor was His delight;
The wise may model heaven by astrolabes:
The Father gives His model to the babes.
IN THE GLORY OF HIS FATHER
When Jesus Christ the Lord returns to reign,
To make an end to man's world's dismal story
Of lawlessness and sorrow, death and pain,
The start of which was sin, and end was gory,
His coming will be in the Father's glory,
And He will see, reigning in truth and peace
The Father's kingdom flourish and increase.
THE HEBREW TONGUE
Faced with the death of one who was so young
"Talitha koumi" were His words; we see
Holy emotion through the Hebrew tongue.
"Ephphatha" was the word He used when He
Was shown a thrall of Satan to set free;
What wells of grief Gethsemane induced,
And "Abba Father" were the words educed.
LUKE 15
The younger son found how he had been missed
When he came to his father and confessed;
How readily he was embraced and kissed;
How readily he was adorned and dressed,
And how he learned the father as he blessed.
The father was not only one who cared,
But one whose great desires and tastes are shared.
IN HIS SUFFERINGS
Thrice in the chapters of prevailing dark
The Lord said, "Father"; first, at that crossroad
Where the road taken, and its end, were stark;
"Father, forgive them ...": next the Saviour showed
The weight of grace before He bore sin's load;
And last, in words we barely understand
He placed His spirit in His Father's hand.
“AN ONLY-BEGOTTEN WITH A FATHER”
As the disciples watched One who would rather
Face death than fail to do Another's will
They saw a first-beloved with a father.
That One, who in His service could be still
Within the Father's bosom, could fulfil
God's purposes, as One whom God prepared:
It is by such a One God is declared.
THE LIVING FATHER
The fathers of the men who followed Moses
Ate manna in the wilderness - and died;
But Christ has come, and in His life discloses
The living Father, whom He glorified.
And through the Lord we may be vivified:
Through Christ, who is the Living One, streams course
Which have the living Father as their source.
HOLY FATHER
The Lord said, "Holy Father"; I ask why
It is, "A holy Father's constant care",
We sing, "Keeps watch with an unwearying eye"?
Because a holy Father is aware
Of the world's wiles, against which to prepare;
Kept in the Father's Name, who chose to bless
According to the Father's holiness.
RIGHTEOUS FATHER
It was a righteous thing that One we know
As Son was loved before the world's foundation.
He has come forth in light and love to show
The Father in the joy of that relation,
Although exceeding this world's contemplation.
So "Righteous Father" was the name employed
For One whose company the Son enjoyed.
THREE HOURS
But for three hours the Saviour did not say,
"Father"; but, "My God, my God, why hast Thou
Forsaken me": oh, cry of deep dismay
And bitter anguish. Yet He did not bow
His head till all was finished. We may now
Say, "Father" through the work that was achieved
By Jesus in the three hours when He grieved.
THE FATHER OF COMPASSIONS
Satan, the flesh, and sin, in their own fashions
Have clashed against me to disturb my soul;
But I turn to the Father of compassions,
The God of all encouragements, and roll
My burden on the One who will console;
In spite of ills my foes seek to impart
The Father of compassions binds my heart.
THE FATHER OF LIGHTS
When first the light broke through the primal darkness
It gave this earth hope it would live anew,
Although exposing chaos in its starkness.
Then great and small lights graced the settings due
To them, while looking to the Light that's true;
Father of lights, since then each light that's burning
Comes from One with no shadow and no turning.
“MY FATHER AND YOUR FATHER”
The risen and ascending Man could say,
"My Father and your Father"; all was done
To make the Father's name known in this way:
This glorious Name could be revealed by none
But the victorious beloved Son;
In everything this Person has made known
The glory of God's purposes is shown.
THE FATHER OF SPIRITS
If we will live, we must be subject to
The Father as the One who has the Name
Father of spirits; He will bear us through
His chastening. We gladly own His claim
Upon us since it from Him we came;
He rules our spirits in a way to suit
Our needs, and to secure from us His fruit.
ABBA FATHER (I)
When all God's work in prior time was done
He sent, is spite of this world's bile and blather,
The One who most delighted Him, the Son
That sonship might be known by those He'd gather.
The Spirit of His Son cries, "Abba, Father";
No longer bondmen, they rejoice to be
Forever with the One who set them free.
Your heavenly Father knows that you have need
And therefore He will graciously provide
With clothes to wear, and bread on which to feed.
He is the One in whom you may confide,
As you set sins against yourself aside;
And all the wealth of heaven comes in view
Because Christ's heavenly Father planted you.
“YOUR FATHER”
Your Father who is in the heavens gives
Good gifts, and as His people's nature shows
His feature of forgiveness He forgives.
He gives good gifts because your Father knows
What's better than the gifts you might propose.
And, as the gifts He gives you are applied
In lives, your Father will be glorified.
“THY FATHER”
When you give alms let your left hand not know
What your right hand does; for "thy Father" sees
In secret: He discerns what you bestow.
Close yourself in when you bow down your knees:
"Thy Father" only is the One to please;
And do not fast for other men to see:
"Thy Father's" grace "shall render it to thee".
“OUR FATHER”
When those who love our Lord and Saviour gather
To pray unto the One whom He made known
They have the liberty to say, "Our Father ...".
They long to reverence His Name alone;
They long to see the glory of His throne;
They trust in Him to bear them on His arm,
To meet their needs, and shelter them from harm.
“MY FATHER”
"My Father's" will was Jesus' first concern
And those who do it know His graciousness
As those who are His family, they learn;
They are the persons whom He came to bless,
And with His Father those He will confess,
Because, before He went to bear their guilt
He said, "not as I will but as thou wilt".
“LORD OF THE HEAVEN AND OF THE EARTH”
So Jesus answered, saying, "Father, Lord
Of heaven and earth ..."; the One who has the right
To give to each their suitable award,
Has hidden things from those who claim the light,
Since giving to the poor was His delight;
The wise may model heaven by astrolabes:
The Father gives His model to the babes.
IN THE GLORY OF HIS FATHER
When Jesus Christ the Lord returns to reign,
To make an end to man's world's dismal story
Of lawlessness and sorrow, death and pain,
The start of which was sin, and end was gory,
His coming will be in the Father's glory,
And He will see, reigning in truth and peace
The Father's kingdom flourish and increase.
THE HEBREW TONGUE
Faced with the death of one who was so young
"Talitha koumi" were His words; we see
Holy emotion through the Hebrew tongue.
"Ephphatha" was the word He used when He
Was shown a thrall of Satan to set free;
What wells of grief Gethsemane induced,
And "Abba Father" were the words educed.
LUKE 15
The younger son found how he had been missed
When he came to his father and confessed;
How readily he was embraced and kissed;
How readily he was adorned and dressed,
And how he learned the father as he blessed.
The father was not only one who cared,
But one whose great desires and tastes are shared.
IN HIS SUFFERINGS
Thrice in the chapters of prevailing dark
The Lord said, "Father"; first, at that crossroad
Where the road taken, and its end, were stark;
"Father, forgive them ...": next the Saviour showed
The weight of grace before He bore sin's load;
And last, in words we barely understand
He placed His spirit in His Father's hand.
“AN ONLY-BEGOTTEN WITH A FATHER”
As the disciples watched One who would rather
Face death than fail to do Another's will
They saw a first-beloved with a father.
That One, who in His service could be still
Within the Father's bosom, could fulfil
God's purposes, as One whom God prepared:
It is by such a One God is declared.
THE LIVING FATHER
The fathers of the men who followed Moses
Ate manna in the wilderness - and died;
But Christ has come, and in His life discloses
The living Father, whom He glorified.
And through the Lord we may be vivified:
Through Christ, who is the Living One, streams course
Which have the living Father as their source.
HOLY FATHER
The Lord said, "Holy Father"; I ask why
It is, "A holy Father's constant care",
We sing, "Keeps watch with an unwearying eye"?
Because a holy Father is aware
Of the world's wiles, against which to prepare;
Kept in the Father's Name, who chose to bless
According to the Father's holiness.
RIGHTEOUS FATHER
It was a righteous thing that One we know
As Son was loved before the world's foundation.
He has come forth in light and love to show
The Father in the joy of that relation,
Although exceeding this world's contemplation.
So "Righteous Father" was the name employed
For One whose company the Son enjoyed.
THREE HOURS
But for three hours the Saviour did not say,
"Father"; but, "My God, my God, why hast Thou
Forsaken me": oh, cry of deep dismay
And bitter anguish. Yet He did not bow
His head till all was finished. We may now
Say, "Father" through the work that was achieved
By Jesus in the three hours when He grieved.
THE FATHER OF COMPASSIONS
Satan, the flesh, and sin, in their own fashions
Have clashed against me to disturb my soul;
But I turn to the Father of compassions,
The God of all encouragements, and roll
My burden on the One who will console;
In spite of ills my foes seek to impart
The Father of compassions binds my heart.
THE FATHER OF LIGHTS
When first the light broke through the primal darkness
It gave this earth hope it would live anew,
Although exposing chaos in its starkness.
Then great and small lights graced the settings due
To them, while looking to the Light that's true;
Father of lights, since then each light that's burning
Comes from One with no shadow and no turning.
“MY FATHER AND YOUR FATHER”
The risen and ascending Man could say,
"My Father and your Father"; all was done
To make the Father's name known in this way:
This glorious Name could be revealed by none
But the victorious beloved Son;
In everything this Person has made known
The glory of God's purposes is shown.
THE FATHER OF SPIRITS
If we will live, we must be subject to
The Father as the One who has the Name
Father of spirits; He will bear us through
His chastening. We gladly own His claim
Upon us since it from Him we came;
He rules our spirits in a way to suit
Our needs, and to secure from us His fruit.
ABBA FATHER (I)
When all God's work in prior time was done
He sent, is spite of this world's bile and blather,
The One who most delighted Him, the Son
That sonship might be known by those He'd gather.
The Spirit of His Son cries, "Abba, Father";
No longer bondmen, they rejoice to be
Forever with the One who set them free.
Friday, 15 October 2021
AN EXCURSION
To celebrate my retirement my sisters gave us a voucher for a trip on the steam railway from Fort William to Mallaig and back. We eventually managed to do the trip on 23 July this year. I thought I would confine posting to that trip today. The weather was very kind to us that day, and everything worked out very well.
The first part of the route is by Loch Eil, a sea loch extending west from Loch Linnhe.
After a brief run inland, continuing west, you reach Glenfinnan. This used to be famous as the place where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard in the '45 rebellion, when he tried to regain the throne for his father, James VII and II. (That means 1745, and James VII of Scotland and II of England).
It's now famous because the Hogwarts Express crossed the Glenfinnan Viaduct in some Harry Potter films.
After a few inland miles Loch Eilt, a freshwater loch appear on your right.
But very soon you are back to the end of the sea loch, Loch Ailort .
Some of the Inner Hebrides - the islands to the west of Scotland - come into view.
Then you reach the port of Mallaig, from which the ferry goes to Skye, while there are many boat trips around the Sound of Sleat. (We just had a walk round the town and harbour.)
The train ready to return. It has to go backwards.
I think that must be Skye. There's a song about Charlie's escape, "Over the Sea to Skye".
Ben Nevis comes into view as we approach Fort William again.
View of "The Ben"; often the top is in cloud; we climbed if nearly 40 years ago.
Back to Loch Linnhe.
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