2026 will again be through the Bible chronologically selecting verses which attract my attention or questions or encourage me on the day. I pray it blesses whoever reads . . . My theological background is Salvation Army College and now Church of England. I love all Christian denominations.
Lord Jesus, I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Forgive me and help me turn from everything I know is wrong. Thank you for dying on the cross to pay the price and set me free from my sin. Please come into my life, fill me with your Holy Spirit and be with me forever. Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen.”
“But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. 17 Your sons shall make haste; Your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go away from you. 18 Lift up your eyes, look around and see; all these gather together and come to you. As I live,” says the Lord, “You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, And bind them on you as a bride does.” Isaiah 49:14-18 NKJV
God of Faithfulness,
Hindsight is something the nation of Israel had. To be able to look back at their history and see the countless times God, You provided. And led them to freedom, protected them, gave them victory over their enemies – when they followed You as their only God. But also the times they suffered, were judged, taken into slavery because they turned away from You to other Gods. But perhaps it did not seem as black and white to them? We cannot judge or make excuses for them only try to learn Lord?
These are well known and favourite verse from Isaiah for today, because we can adopt it to ourselves. When our prayer times seems barren, when we have slipped or tripped or floundered in our faith. When we are frustrated that prayer is not answered – we are not forgotten or ignored -we are engraved on Your hands. It is not always helpful when we just need empathy to understand our pain. We do not always want to be reminded that we grow through tough times. And I know You cannot forget me or anyone – You are omniscient.
But that You will have compassion Oh that is different. Compassion gave Adam and Eve another chance. Compassion gave Noah the Ark, Compassion chose Abraham to make a nation of Your people. . . Compassion embraced the gentiles in sending Jesus. Compassion gives life to those who chose You. Your compassion, Your willingness to suffer with us. That is something I can hold onto, be held by and be grateful for, forever.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Worship Wednesday 26th August 2026 A repeat from this July. I thought about compassion – and mercy. Compassion is said to be what you feel in your heart, sorrow or deep empathy for someone’s suffering. Mercy is what you choose to do, an outward act of withholding punishment, judgment, or harm when you have the power to inflict it. Surely our God is both.
Praise the Lord, His mercy is more Stronger than darkness, new every morn Our sins they are many, His mercy is more
What love could remember no wrongs we have done Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore Our sins they are many, His mercy is more
Chorus
What patience would wait as we constantly roam What Father, so tender, is calling us home He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor Our sins they are many, His mercy is more
Chorus
What riches of kindness He lavished on us His blood was the payment, His life was the cost We stood ‘neath a debt we could never afford Our sins they are many, His mercy is more
““Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of my mother He has made mention of My name. 2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me.” 3 “And He said to Me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.’ 4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with My God.’ ” 5 “And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength), 6indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. 7Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You.”’ ”” Isaiah 49:1-7 NKJV
Lord God,
I wondered when I started reading this why My had a capital M if it was Isaiah speaking? A servant who will be raised up? The Bible is full of those You raised up to be servants of the living God – You Lord. Still there are many called today in all walks of life, all ages, all nationalities to serve You. But this One is different. One who can rescue Israel Jacob and be a light to the gentiles? That’s big. Isaiah knows it is not him (Or whoever is the writer to the second half of Isaiah). One who You called from his mother’s womb, was in the shadow of Your hand, and whose words were like a sharp sword . . . We read in verse 7, that this servant is despised and abhorreds, the servant of rulers. This servant, will nevertheless be recognized by the powerful, by kings and princes. A reflection of Jesus?
Your intention God in their future is the restoration of Jacob, “the preserved one’s of Israel” (verse 6). You God intended Israel to be restored as Your people. Their exile is not the end.
They have a greater calling yet to come, to us, the gentiles. Through One who would be born of a woman, be a servant, then despised and rejected. And one day worshipped by all. Jesus, what a wonderful name. We do not exist for ourselves alone either, restoration is not an end in itself, it is a beginning of sharing Your love with others to find their own restoration. Worship Tuesday 25th August 2026
From heav’n You came, helpless Babe, Entered our world, Your glory veiled; Not to be served but to serve, And give Your life that we might live.
This is our God, the Servant King, He calls us now to follow Him, To bring our lives as a daily offering Of worship to the Servant King.
There in the garden of tears, My heavy load He chose to bear; His heart with sorrow was torn, ‘Yet not my will but Yours,’ He said.
Come see His hands and His feet, The scars that speak of sacrifice; Hands that flung stars into space To cruel nails surrendered.
So let us learn how to serve, And in our lives enthrone Him; Each other’s needs to prefer, For it is Christ we’re serving.
““This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: 2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3 I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. 4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. 7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.” Isaiah 45:1-5 NKJV
Lord God, I Am,
This is a great passage for reminding me that I cannot always work out Your plans or see where You are going. There are confining rules with You as You are the author. You do not dictate, You seek good and we see Your hand in history even as men try to control and write it themselves.
Isaiah here is speaking and writing about a King of Persia called Cyrus who has not been born yet. He will not be born one of God’s chosen people, or a follower, but will enable them to be freed from Babylon. He speaks like it may be soon but scholars think it may not have been for 150 years! But You Lord God of the beginning and then end, know each of us by name. You knew Cyrus would be born, become King and You chose to use him. A peek into Ezra 1:1 confirms it happens along with the annals of history from other sources than the Bible.
Thank you Lord God that You remind us that You are the great I Am. The future will unfold in Your hands. We should not try to limit what You can do by our own logic. You can use whosoever and whenever and however You desire. And good can result. As when we see the harm the nations are doing to each other and the harm we are doing to Your creation we look to You for unexpected good from unexpected directions in unexpected ways.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Worship Monday 24th August 2026 In the words of Jeremiah 32:17 . . .
Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens And the earth by Thy great power Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens And the earth by Thine outstretched arm
Nothing is too difficult for Thee Nothing is too difficult for Thee O Great and mighty God Great in counsel and mighty in deed Nothing, nothing, Absolutely nothing Nothing is too difficult for Thee
