Glory at the End of the Day!!

Do you ever feel like this at the end of the day?? It WAS a Morning Glory, but this reminds me how fleeting that glory is. It’s beauty only lasts a day.

How like us that is!! How fleeting our glory is!!

“Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly
as the flowers in a field.
The grass withers and the flowers fade
beneath the breath of the Lord.
And so it is with people.
The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
(Isaiah 40:6-8, NLT)

Or as it is quoted in 1 Peter….

And this is what I read this morning:

“The sum of Your word is truth [the total of the full meaning of all Your individual precepts]; and every one of Your righteous decrees endures forever. ” (Psalm 119:160, Amp.)

 

 

 

Friend or Foe??

Make friends of your anemones!! ( Sorry, I pinched my friend’s line!)

This is a sea anemone with an anemone or clown fish. It became famous with Nemo.

For most fishes, swimming too close to a sea anemone means death. The anemone fires tiny poison darts to paralyse the victim and then eats it. However, clown fishes are covered in a slime containing chemicals that prevent the anemone’s tentacles from firing.

Clown fish can therefore live among sea anemone tentacles - a mutually beneficial arrangement. The anemone repels the fishes’ enemies, and the clown fishes attack anemone-eating creatures such as butterfly fish.

Hey, isn’t it neat how God has arranged all that?? The word for all that is “symbiosis”, which means the association of two different organisms living attached to one another or one as tenant of the other.

Isn’t our relationship with God a bit like that?? He protects those who believe in Him, but horrible wrath and judgment is on those who refuse to believe. We can run to our God and hide in Him for safety.

” You are my hiding place;You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.” (Psalm 32:7, NKJ)

” You are my hiding place and my shield;I hope in Your word.” (Psalm 119:114, NKJ)

(Also, see today’s post in my other blog!)

Hell’s Gates!

What did I do on Easter Sunday?

I went to the Hell’s Gates and back, and here’s the pics to show it…..

Okay, it wasn’t the REAL gates of hell! I went for a walk in Noosa National Park, and the last point of the walk is called “Hell’s Gates”.

But as I thought about it, it reminded me, firstly, of the victory Jesus won at Easter time. In Revelation, He said:

“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” (Revelation 1:18, NKJ)

And secondly, it reminds me of the victory WE have now, as His Church, over hell and Satan, because of Jesus death and resurrection.

Jesus said to Peter: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19, ESV)

And thirdly, it reminds me of our FINAL victory over sin and death:

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
(1 Corinthians 15:54-58, NKJ)

God loves macro!!

I am so amazed with my NEW camera!! I can now get shots I could only dream of a while ago!!

I’ve always loved macro! What I like is that the image is REAL, yet it is something that I’d would never see with the naked eye.

It shows me the intricate details of a Master Designer. Imagine how, that the God of the universe could take the time to make something so delicate as an insect. And look at the bees, and how amazingly they work together, and our God has set all that in motion by natural laws.

If our God takes the time for those minutest details, won’t He surely take the time for me?? In fact, His word says….

“Your hands have made me, cunningly fashioned and established me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.” (Psalm 119:73, Amp.)

To Scratch or Not to Scratch?? Part 1

My profundity for the day:

If you have an itch….. scratch it!! Think about it!! It makes sense!

And if it still itches, scratch it some more!!! Don’t think about it….. just do it!!

Anyhow, I have been thinking about that, and thinking about itches and scratching, and I’ve come to the conclusion that sometimes you should, and sometimes you shouldn’t.

Remember when you had chickenpox!!?? (If you’ve never had it, you’re on of the lucky ones.) You’d be itching like crazy and you’d just want to scratch!! But what does your mum say?? (And of course, mums always know best!!)

She’d say, “Don’t scratch!!” Then she might even put socks on your hands so you couldn’t scratch. And why not scratch?? ‘Cause it would make the sores worse and leave horrible scars.

Oh, how much like life that is!!!

My mate Dave says:

“Ahhh but sometimes the thing that itches is detrimental, and therefore you have to resist scratching it!! I think of such times when we are tempted to sin (itching) and we are told to flee it (as in not scratch it)!”

Gee, thanks Dave for that insight!!

Here’s what it says in the Bible:

“So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7, NLT)

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.
“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen.” (1 Peter 5:8-11, NLT)

“If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Corinthians 10:12-13, NLT)

Isn’t that just like when your mum put lotion on the chickenpox sores to stop the itch? You know, God does the same thing for us through His Spirit. It’s called GRACE!! He gives us the grace so we can endure!!

And Jesus said to Paul:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV)

Through it all….

I’m reminded of a song I’ve always loved, by Andrae Crouch:

“Through it all, through it all,
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,
I’ve learned to trust in God ……”
(Click on the link to read the rest of the lyrics.)

And the rest of what Paul said in Romans 5:1-5 (NTL)…..

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

More than the eye can behold!!

A sad thing happened to me the other day….

….. my CAMERA broke, and the cost of repairs is not worth it. So, I am now in between cameras…. should have a new one soon!!! But boy I felt lost… like someone had cut off my right arm!!

But in another way, this has been a great experience. I have learned a lot from it. It’s given me a chance to catch up on some of my older photos that needed editing, and of which, I had never really had the chance to look at properly. So I’ve had a wonderful time with them. I’ve been sharing some on them on Flickr…. a wonderful, friendly place!! Go to my Flickr account and check them all out! But here are some recent ones:

As I was going through these pics, it got me thinking of how many there were. I hadn’t even had the time to really appreciate them, and that’s just images of God’s creation, when I happened to be in the right place at the right time, to take them. But how many more images a day, do our eyes see, but we don’t really notice.

God’s blessings are so bountiful that it is impossible to count them. Our eyes and our ears, and in fact all our senses, cannot take in all of God’s wonders.

As I look at my almost endless stream of photos, both my own and the ones in Flickr, I say to myself, this is more than I can grasp, let alone all the would-be photos that were never taken.

How could we ever say that God’s creation is boring. He has always something new for us to look at… only if we open our eyes and see. And yet in all those things, our God is big enough to notice every detail of His vast universe. Nothing escapes His notice.

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.” (Hebrew 4:13a, NIV)

And neither am I!! Which can be either an encouraging or a daunting thing. Because the rest of that verse says:

“Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Here’s what the Psalmist says in Psalm 139 (ESV):

13 “For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.

17 “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.”

Apology

I’m sorry that I haven’t posted anything on this blog for a little while, but I have been writing in another blog…. and the writing bug has bit!!

This blog, Truly Blessed, is like my “showcase” blog, where I like include a pic with my writing, and I edit the writing more…. a more creative, inspirational site.

The other blog is my everyday, “in the raw”, unedited blog, where I write things just as they are. As the Lord inspires me, so I write. So, lately, I’ve had more to write about, and the creativity has gone by the way a bit.

However, I will be back here soon with more entries… when the creative bug bites again!

In the meantime, you can check out my other blog, God’s Special Treasure. I trust that you will enjoy it as much!

Thanks for dropping by and reading!

Stained!… and ruined!?

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain;
He washed me white as snow.

Listening to the Christian radio, I heard Chuck Swindol recite those words this morning, which got me thinking…..

…. about washing!!

I see a beautiful, favourite white garment that was worn out to dinner, and the unbelievable happens. You spill a glass of red wine all over it. It seems ruined, but when you get home, you soak it to try and get the stain out.

The next morning you find that most of the stain has gone, but you are still left with a big pink mark. Nothing you try seems to move it.

How like our hearts that is. We will try all we can to be good and do the right thing, but nothing can get that stain out of our hearts.

“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6, NLT)

So what hope do we have?

As David said:

5 “For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.

7 “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.”
(Psalm 51, NLT)

Our hope is in Jesus! As it says in Romans 3 (NLT) ……

21 “But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.”

What a gracious God we have!!!!

Being Beautiful!

I was thinking how strange we humans are! What other creature has to cover up what God has made to make it more beautiful.

Every morning, on our front verandah, I see evidence of God’s beautiful handiwork in the birds He sends our way, especially these Lorikeets. Their beauty is exquisite, even if they do have crumbs on the faces, yet they don’t have to do a thing about it.

It really doesn’t seem fair! We’d have to spend an hour or so in front of the mirror and in grooming ourselves to come anywhere near up to scratch. But still, we humans love to spruce ourselves up and then strut our stuff.

And what for??

Often it is because we want to impress, and it works, because human nature is obsessed with externals. We judge people by the way they look. Even in church we will give preference to someone who is well dressed as opposed to someone who has come in with dirty jeans and torn t-shirt.

Check out what James has to say:

A Warning against Prejudice! 
“My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?”….. read more!