I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Two pictures today. Yesterday I went to see my New Market Tree in the snow. I first noticed this tree on 11E 2 years ago and I love to look at each time I pass. I have taken pictures of it in all seasons and you will find some several in blog posts from the past. Yesterday, I was able to get some pictures with snow on my tree. I am going to put a picture of the tree I took yesterday and I one I took in the summer. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' John 7:37-38
Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. This is the first Sunday of Lent. Now in the Baptist church where I grew up we didn't really observe Lent. I really didn't even know what it meant until I was in college. I am glad that my Baptist church now does celebrate Lent. Since we just came through a week of snow we missed our Ash Wednesday service - which we are going to have this coming Wednesday a week later. This morning my pastor, Gene Wilder, preached a wonderful sermon about the power of story. Our scripture was in John 9, the story of the blind man that was called before the Pharisees to tell his story of healing. His story was simple and straightforward and not what they wanted to hear. But he had the conviction to tell his story and it changed his life and the lives of those who heard it. And it still changes lives today when people read his story. The verse that our church will use this Lent season is Psalm 107:1-2: Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble So I thought with this post I will tell my story. And I will tell it through my pictures. I have learned so much since God put that camera in my hand 3 years ago. It wasn't what I expected. I bought the new fancy camera to take pictures of my son's wedding. I never expected that it would become a new way of seeing. God has used it to teach me about beauty and art and creation. Through seeing his world I see him, through seeing his beauty I see my own for I see me through his eyes and the beauty I create with my camera He has given me. Through art I express my wonder and awe at God and his world. My favorite verse and greatest desire of my heart has become Psalm 27:4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. This week with all the snow I couldn't go to the mountains like I wanted. I so want to see the middle fork of the Little Pigeon river in in Greenbrier in snow. One day I hope I will, but until then I have other people's pictures to see on the Hike the Smokies Facebook Page. So I looked for God's beauty in other places around my home, in ice on the trees and quiet falling snow. I will share my pictures here for you to see God's beauty in the snow - the white snow, the way we will be one day, all our sins gone through the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So for Lent this year instead of giving up something, I am going to try to do something. I am going to try to share one picture and one verse a day. I know there will be some days that I won't because we will be gone camping during Spring break with limited Internet access. I will also make my stories simple and not worry so much about good writing. I will just let God's word speak for itself. I hope you come back and see my pictures and that they help you see God's beauty and inquire in his temple. Water is one of the elements that can be easily seen in all three forms of matter. A few of Sundays ago I went to Panther Creek in the afternoon to get a little walk in. As always I took my camera not knowing what exactly God would show me. I took my usual trail, the Old Wagon Trail, down to the lake. It had been a very cold week and while there wasn't any snow, there was ice. I didn't take my tripod but I did capture these images handheld. Just like water comes in 3 states, Living Water comes to us in different forms. But unlike water which only changes forms under specific conditions, God comes to us in the form we need when we need it. Each form of water has its own beauty and fills a specific need. In the story of the Woman at the Well where Jesus called himself Living Water he also talked about worship. Worship comes in different forms but true worship must be in Spirit and truth: "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth." John 4:24. May water in all its forms remind us to be open to the different ways God speaks to us and may our worship always take the right form - in spirit and truth.
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AuthorI am a daughter, a wife, a mother and now a grandmother. I am wonderfully loved first by Jesus Christ then by two wonderful parents, three sisters and their families, a special husband, two extraordinary children and a wonderful son in law and daughter in law, two new grandsons, and dear Christian friends. I seek now to serve Christ in new ways in my retirement! My Portfolio site Seeing God's Word in His World - my other blog site
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November 2017
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