For even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these
“Go your way.
Eat the fat and drink sweet wine
and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready,
for this day is holy to our Lord.
And do not be grieved,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
(Nehemiah 8:10)
For my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving!
Photo: fireweed reflection
I love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
(Psalm 116)
Daisies
“Not worlds on worlds, in phalanx deep, Need we to prove a God is here; The daisy, fresh from nature’s sleep, Tells of His hand in lines as clear.”
Edward Wilson
Phlox
May the God of endurance and encouragement
grant you to live in such harmony with one another,
in accord with Christ Jesus,
that together you may with one voice glorify
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you,
for the glory of God.
(Romans 15:5-7)
Photo: Bouquet
Someone asked me if I really thought that God speaks through nature.
“Are you sure these are not just ideas of reference, or that you are not merely assigning a designation of “beauty” to something that is simply an evolutionary adaptation?”
Put it this way. If you are handed a bouquet of flowers from someone whose character you have come to know and trust you can accept it as a collection of specimens of dying plant sex organs or as token of affection from your lover.
Your choice.
Photo: Trio con brio
Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
( Psalm 34:5)
Guilt = I did something wrong.
Shame = I am something wrong.
Jesus Christ cleanses us from guilt and removes our shame. Innocence may not be regained. Once innocence is lost we become resigned to the reality of sin, whether it was our own or someone elses choice.
Purity can be regained. He purifies us and sanctifies us and calls us his beloved.
Yeshua: my glory and the lifter of my head.
Photos: Hollyhocks
Yet the proof of God’s amazing love is this: that it was while we were sinners that Christ died for us.
Moreover, if he did that for us while we were sinners, now that we are men justified by the shedding of his blood, what reason have we to fear the wrath of God?
If, while we were his enemies, Christ reconciled us to God by dying for us, surely now that we are reconciled we may be perfectly certain of our salvation through his living in us.
Nor, I am sure, is this a matter of bare salvation—we may hold our heads high in the light of God’s love because of the reconciliation which Christ has made.
(Romans 5:8-11)
Mary II
Without opening the door
the curious host
let the Teacher in.
Beside him the once-dead man,
having left his grave clothes on the stone,
reclined to dine.
Beside the calloused feet
of hungry men
the sister flitted
with bowls of ripened fruit,
slabs of risen bread,
platters of spiced meat,
pitchers of waiting wine.
In the doorway
the listening one,
emptied of darkness,
loosed her hair.
With no authority,
no covering,
no office,
no documents,
no priestly garments,
no holiness of her own,
she broke the box,
poured out her adoration,
and anointed
the King of Kings.
(The story of this dinner party is told in John 12 and Mark 14)
But you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
a people for his own possession,
that you may proclaim
the excellencies of him who called you
out of darkness
into his marvelous light.
(1 Peter 2:9)
Charis: Subject to Change 