FREEDOM

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."  Galatians 5:1

Only God could make a red, white, and blue sky!  Marvelous!!  Yay God!!

I Will Wait

I have a dear friend Stacey that looks at nature the way I do...I asked her permission to share this.  I know from living life with lots of people how depression can consume life, draining it of any meaning.  I pray that this is an encouragement that our HOPE that satisfies and will sustain us is Jesus Christ and Him alone.



I took this picture today. Daffodils’ are close to my heart. They are symbolic of restoration and a new beginning. I look for them daily in expectation during the last stretch of each winter. When I was consumed by bondage and depression, there were many years that they were my only hope – a hope of what was to come. “If I can just make it until the daffodils bloom…” I would repeat over and over.


Today my hope lies in the glory of our LORD! I still wait daily in expectation – in expectation of God. “He is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:25-26) My soul rejoices in its restoration! I am thankful that the earth is full of God’s glory – like the newness of a daffodil as it pierces thru the pure white fresh fallen snow.

Scarlet and White

Isaiah 1:18

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

The crimson red against the white reflection of the snow.  Absolutely Beautiful picture of our Savior wearing the scarlet color of OUR sin.  He's amazing...Simply amazing...

Building Back the Boundary

Our area has had a great deal of rain lately.  The Stones River is close to my home, and generally when it rains a bunch, it floods the greenway walking trail that borders it.  I usually look on one side of the river to see if the water is above the trail, but this particular day my eyes were drawn to the other side of the bridge, where usually, the water is a good bit below these rocks.  Every time the water rises to the rocks, the current of the water breaks down the strength of the boundary that the rocks provide the river.  Isn't that so true with our lives?  Rains come, sometimes torrential downpours, and the waters rise on the boundaries that keep us safe.  Sometimes damage is done, foundation washed away, but as the waters recede, it is necessary to make the foundation strong again.  That true foundation builder can only be found in the person of Jesus Christ and the abundant Life that only He can provide.  Rains do come in like a flood at times in our lives, but with Jesus, we are eternally safe.

"So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed."  Isaiah 28:16

The Path of a Raindrop

I am absolutely THRILLED to have a guest writer today. My sweet middle child Madison loves to write, and she shared with me Sunday what God showed her through the raindrops.  It is so cool to see my kids grasp the legacy being passed down to them.  To see God in nature is a daily reminder of His perfect faithfulness and the assurance that we are never alone.

As I'm going to church, looking out the car window, I'm watching the raindrops trickle down acrossthe car, and I picture those tiny, innocent raindrops being humans, and how a raindrop always has to go first and the other ones following the same exact path.  As humans, we look at other people's walk with God and try to mirror it, so my dad or mom being the first raindrops that trickle down their walk with God.  Sometimes I want to follow the same exact path with God.  So, looking back, are you the follower or will you branch out and be on your own with God?  Jesus has a specific path for all of us and when the "pour" of people come asking you how your life with God is, are you going to be ready for the storm?

The Wounded

So, I'm on my run this morning, being very "God aware", asking Him to teach me as I ran.  I'm finding that I see Him lots more when I get OUT!  I encourage any of you reading that do not get outdoors much to bundle up and get ready for His Glory!  He's out there waiting!  Now, I'm not saying that He can't give you spiritual truths while you're doing laundry, scrubbing toilets, or vacuuming, but it's much prettier outside.

I'm running down Riverview Drive when I happen upon a squirrel that had been hit and killed by a car.  It was obvious that it hadn't been there long because of the way it lay as if it just looked like it was taking a nap in the road.  As I passed, my mind went to a place of, "Maybe it's still alive, and I just need to gently move it to the grass so it will survive.  Next thought, "If I pick that wounded thing up, it will surely BITE ME"!  It was obvious that it was dead, but here's where God began weaving His teaching into my heart.

Just like it was very probable if I picked up a wounded animal and it bit me, that is very true of humans as well.  Mike and I have an awesome privilege of walking with wounded people every day.  Unfortunately, as we try to pick them up and move them to the side of the road, they BITE.  Hurting people have a tendency to hurt people, but even as Jesus was being spat upon, whipped, scourged, ridiculed, and ultimately slain, He did not bite back. 

It is so hard as imperfect humans to grasp that fact, but as I learned in a great way at Passion in Atlanta, "3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2Peter 1:3)  We have EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED when life, or the people in life BITE US.  We just have to access that Divine Power instead of relying on our own strength.

Lifeless Limbs

So, I've been staring at this tree with a broken limb for days.  It happens to be in my view as I watch the sun rise.  With all the strong limbs around it, my eyes are continually drawn to the broken limb, the limb that no longer has life in it and just needs to be cut off.

"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." (John 15:2)

The truth that keeps invading my mind is how in our lives we have broken places, even places that are completely severed, and totally lifeless, that need to be "cut off", but we continue to drag them behind us like a lifeless limb.

God promises us that "He has made everything beautiful in its time", (Ecc. 3:11) even that broken limb.  Maybe it needs to be cut off so that it can be made into a fire to warm someone, maybe it can be used to build something, or maybe even chopped up into mulch to nourish the earth.  Whatever the use, that broken limb can be used for good, just as our brokenness can be used to minister to others.

Are you carrying around dead limbs?

Purity

Soccer on a snowy Saturday...The beauty of falling white snow is purification for me. It's as if God's cleansing, perfect Self is covering me. All that is blemished and imperfect covered by the white snow. The snow will melt, and all that's underneath will be exposed, but I am so thankful that Christ's purification through His blood on the cross will never leave or ever melt away. I am pure because of Him. Nothing that I will ever do or not do will change His total acceptance of me. Because of Him, I am transformed as the snow transforms the Earth. Praise Him!

"To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand in the cold."

My Birds

The male and female that look sort of damaged its because they are!  Both of them hit my back door and laid under my carport stunned.  Praise God they flew away, otherwise I would still be wearing black and in a state of mourning!!

Worthy Is The Lamb!

Wow!  It has been forever since I've posted!  My heart is so full and ready for 2010!  Many make resolutions or goals for the new year, and I personally like it.  It's as if the New Year says "fresh start", "clean slate", "a chance for a do over".  I personally get excited over all of those phrases because it means that I am grasping the fact that I can look at the past to help me learn from my mistakes or keep doing the things that worked for me, but it also means that I, by my own choice don't have to take those mistakes into the future.  GLORY!!

My beloved red birds have been congregating at my house over the past weeks and my heart has been singing!!!  One particular day I counted 14 males/females.  I was absolutely screaming in my kitchen.  Something that God has shown me in the new year is how it feeds my soul to see Him in creation and then write.  Everytime I write, my focus is totally on the One who is so Worthy, and I know that gives Him Glory!  I know that God has called me to write in worship to Him, and my goal in 2010 is to write every time He shows me a truth about His Creation, so please pray that I will be obedient!  I don't love the computer, so it will definitely be a sacrifice, but HE IS SO WORTH IT!