TEN REASONS TO BELIEVE IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

Bamburgh village and surroundings

Because the Shepherd

Knowing the depths of my need

Gave Himself for me;

Because the Shepherd

In His goodness carried me

On His own shoulders;

Because the Spirit

Has shone around me darkness

The light of God's Word;

Because the Spirit

Has swept the house carefully

Until He found me.

Because the Father

Ran to give me a welcome,

Embraced, and kissed me.

Because I am clothed

In the Best Robe that God has,

The worth of Christ.

Because I've been given

The token of divine love

A ring on my hand.

Because I now wear

The dignity that God gives,

Sandals on my feet.

Because I can share

The feast on the fatted calf:

God's thoughts of His Son.

Because God in grace

Desires to give me a place

In the Father's house.

GIVING

Into a world inured to shame

Because of Adam’s fall

God’s Son, the man Christ Jesus, came

And gave Himself for all.

He lived for us in poverty

Possessing not a penny,

Until He went to Calvary

And gave His life for many.

Faced by God’s judgement’s awful tide

I have a place to flee -

To be the One in whom to hide.

                He gave Himself for me. 

THE LAMB

Revelation 5 verse 12

The Lamb is worthy to receive

Power, since in weakness He was here,

Upon a cross of shame;

There what no other could achieve

He did,extinguishing death's fear

For those who own His Name.

The Lamb is worthy to receive

Riches, because He came to dwell

Among the meek and poor;

Those whom He came to serve believe

That Jesus has done all things well

To save, and bless, and cure.

The Lamb is worthy to receive

Wisdom because in foolishness

He bore the cross in love;

Thus He is able to retrieve

Lost ones, and finally, to bless

With wisdom from above.

The Lamb is worthy to receive

Strength since, as Samson tore the beast,

He rent death's power away;

That which bereft He has bereaved

And gives us honey as a feast

Out of His victory.

The Lamb is worthy to receive

Honour, when He shall come again

To where He was despised;

No more to bear our sins, or grieve,

He will take up His right to reign

And be adored and prized.

The Lamb is worthy to receive

Glory, and have the highest place

Among the justified;

His sanctified companions cleave

To Him alone since, through His grace,

They too are glorified.

The Lamb is worthy to receive

Blessing because He came to bless

Through ways of grief and shame;

Bless then the One who chose to leave

The heights of heaven, and confess

The glory of His Name!

Near Bamburgh Castle

MOUNTAINS

First, Ararat - God had established

New ground for man; then that mountain

Where He demonstrated the principle

Of sacrifice; at Horeb was founded

New covenant ground; and Zion showed

Mercy's sovereign rights; best things

Of the ancient mountains. But now

Christ is recognised in the mountain

Of legislation; is signified as Son

On the transfiguration mount; while from the great

And high mountain the assembly glory

Shines in its serenity: the precious

Things of the everlasting hills. 

Looking towards Bamburgh Castle

THE JOURNEY

Northumberland Coast, North England

If the lamb's blood around the door

Was answer to immediate need

God strengthened for what lay before:

They had the lamb on which to feed.

Christ has not only set me free

But been the food to nourish me.

God overwhelmed the Egyptians first

So that the victory was complete

Then satisfied His people's thirst

By water wood He showed made sweet.

Because Christ died to make me free

"Christ" sweetens what refreshes me.

Since the brass serpent held their gaze

Though serpent-bitten they could live

And reach soon, in Jehovah's ways,

The well He promised He would give.

Sin in the flesh has been condemned;

The Spirit's grace has been unstemmed.

The Jordan's flooding waters found

A force that they could not withstand,

And once they crossed it on dry ground

They ate the old corn of the land.

Christ and His cross have made me whole,

And Christ in glory feeds my soul.

A PLACE BY ME

“Behold, there is a place by Me:

There shalt thou stand upon the rock”
For Jesus suffered to unlock
The blessings in God’s heart for thee.

To answer thy desire to see
God’s glory, now revealed in grace
Effulgently in Jesus’ face -
“Behold there is a place by Me!”

A scion of a noble stock
Of those who are the sons of light
Enter God’s realm for His delight,
“There shalt thou stand upon the rock”.

More of Northumberland, England

ENOCH

"What He did not find

In Adam He now finds in

A disciplined man." 

On the Holy Island of Lindisfarne

THE ARK AT REST

All God's inheritance is richly blest

Since, in the temple Solomon prepared,

The Ark of God is finally at rest.

Round it a system God chose to invest

With glory which will never be impaired

‑ All God's inheritance ‑ is richly blest.

It led the way in every storm or test

But now, past all the trials which they shared,

The Ark of God is finally at rest.

Since God's great wisdom knew which way was best

And He was there beside them as they fared

All God's inheritance is richly blest.

His people praise the Lord with joy and zest

As, while His lasting triumph is declared,

The Ark of God is finally at rest.

Because God knew the object of their quest

Before they ventured, and in all things cared,

All God's inheritance is richly blest;

The Ark of God is finally at rest.

I'm putting my India photos in at https://dcbindia.blogspot.com/