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.”
“Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger. 18 Among all the children she bore there was none to guide her; among all the children she reared there was none to take her by the hand. 19 These double calamities have come upon you—who can comfort you?—ruin and destruction, famine and sword—who can console you?” Isaiah 51:17-19 NKJV
“Awake, awake, Zion, clothe yourself with strength! Put on your garments of splendor, Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. 2 Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, Daughter Zion, now a captive. 3 For this is what the Lord says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.”” Isaiah 52:1-3 NKJV
Good Morning O Lord,
Sometimes my body is awake but my mind is still snoozing. Here You are calling YOur people who are awake in dreadful circumstances to awake to the true situation. One they are ignoring, or perhaps are in this generation of Israelites ignorant of? Sometimes we just do not see things as they are.
Isaiah paints a clear picture of their actual situation and then their choice for the future if they wake up to it. I thank You God for the times You have pulled me back, prodded me, sent someone to speak to me or picked me up and opened my eyes. Paul calls us to be careful how we live and to wake up and rise from the dead (Ephesians 5:14-15).
Without money we were redeemed but at great cost to You, Lord. So grant us good sleep to repair and minds and bodies and keep us alert and awake to Your will to rest in Your ways when our eyes are open!
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Worship Thursday 27th August 2026 Written in 2016 and based on Psalm 103 a wonderful read to go to sleep on . . .
Wake up my soul and bless your God Turn every sense to praise And sweetly speak His holy name And sweetly speak His holy name And sweetly speak His holy name Who blesses all your ways
The lord forgives your every debt Let sickness hold no fear His hand redeems you from the pit His hand redeems you from the pit His hand redeems you from the pit And brings his goodness near
Let thoughts of worry and distress Slip from your troubled brow A crown of love and tenderness A crown of love and tenderness A crown of love and tenderness From God adorns it now
To Moses and to Israel He showed his righteousness His justice shall be shown as well His justice shall be shown as well His justice shall be shown as well To all who are oppressed
His love transcends the clouds, the air The stars and spheres above Let fragile frames forget their care Let fragile frames forget their care Let fragile frames forget their care And marvel at his love
The hosts of heaven praise his name Great servants of his word On earth, let thankful souls proclaim On earth, let thankful souls proclaim On earth, let thankful souls proclaim The glories of the Lord
“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.
