Pictures in Time

Dear Friends, 

I spent a few minutes this morning looking at some old photos, I can’t believe how the years have flown by.  We were so young, so alive, so able – and now, what I find are many beautiful memories inspired by the pictures on my computer.  

These, my memories, belong to the cherished ones in those pictures, and we all see them differently.  I see them as they surround me, and Ron sees them through his eyes.  I don’t know what the other faces in those pictures remember, or whether they smile at the memories,  But those times, they are past, and I cannot live in the past.

Lately, I’ve also spent some time thinking about the future.  Oh yes, at 84, there is still a future, but it’s definitely not anything like those pictures on my computer, or in my mind.  It’s a future that my mind can’t even decipher.  When I try to think of the immediate future it’s a little difficult, since it could contain more beautiful memories, or maybe some truly difficult times.  I guess I believe it will be a combination of beauty and pain.  

So when I look at the future, I find myself not wanting to spend time thinking about the immediate future, but instead, looking  forward to the future time when I’ll be taking a trip to my final home, my ultimate life.  

Trying to picture the beauty and the excitement of seeing my Savior, my God, gives me comfort, and yes, excitement.  I’m also filled with peace when I think of that life.  It’s something so beautiful and so foreign that my mind cannot paint a picture of it.
So, I will just bask in the reassuring picture that Jesus gives us when He says – 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

and

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, 

would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you

 to be with me that you also may be where I am.  John 14:2-3 (NIV)

The Heavens Declare

In the silent night – the expanse of the heavens may tell us a little about the God who made them.   As I look at that night sky from a place far from city lights I believe that, if I can focus these human eyes further into the heavens, I’ll be looking right into the throne room of God. 

Here we are, minuscule ants in the vast universe, alive on a planet spinning in space.  The heavenly vastness is almost unbelievable.  It tells of a powerful unfathomable maker, and I know with certainty that it didn’t just happen to be so beautiful, so unreachable.

Psalm 19:1-2 (NIV)
The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

 Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

When I hold a tiny kitten – a newborn, when I stroke his soft fur and feel the beat of his little heart, I see the tenderness of God right there in my hand.  When I was allowed to hold my own babies and can remember the choking in my throat at the wonder of such a gift - such a helpless, precious gift, I can feel God’s tender heart touching mine and I know for certain that this tenderness didn’t just happen to be so unspeakable.

Matt 6:26 (NIV)
Look at the birds of the air,
for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns;
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Matthew 11:29 (NIV)
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.

This world is full of many created beings that inspire admiration – admiration and fear.  Or maybe not necessarily fear, but maybe an intake of breath, a feeling of caution or a wariness.  But, no matter - large and small, God made them.  Predator and prey, He made them beautiful, awe inspiring, and necessary in the arrangement of His world. 

When God created the things of our world, He said, “It is good.”  I believe He was and is delighted with the work of His hand.  I believe we can almost see Him smile as magnificent horses run in unison across the open prairie.  I believe He likely chuckles as the bear cubs tumble together in the woods, and maybe He grins as the tuxedoed penguins show off the clothing that He gave them. 

Genesis 1:25 (NIV)
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, 

the livestock according to their kinds, 

and all the creatures that move along the ground
 according to their kinds. 

And God saw that it was good.

Another thing I see that speaks a picture of God is love.  When we see, in God’s people, a love for others, it tells us something about our God as well.  The quality of love must come from someone who loves. 

We see the “good Samaritans” in our world reaching out to the hurting.  We see love in families, friends, and even strangers.  We see a willingness to put others before ourselves.  We see hospitals and homes for abused women established by believers, and we see them meeting in prisons and other places of need, and God sees them as well.  And I believe He smiles. 

1 John 4:19 (NIV)
We love because He first loved us.

He is Beyond

In my mind and heart I try to understand and picture God.  What if He is not that picture - then what?  If God is more than that, then what?  

I’ve been reading a book, “The Knowledge of the Holy” by AW Tozer.  This reading has brought many questions to my mind and some answers.  But it did make me think, and thinking is a good thing, right?  So here are a few of my thoughts.  They are not necessarily Mr. Tozer’s conclusions, but they are ideas that came from the “thinking.”  

The first, and probably most exciting thing to me is that, if I reduce God to the attributes I read about in the Scriptures, or to what I personally deduce about Him – All Knowing, All Holy, All Powerful, Always Present, etc., I still cannot see God as I see the things of this world.  I cannot truly know what I want to know about Him, because

He is Beyond my Comprehension

Do you ever try to picture God when you’re praying to Him?  I do, and it doesn’t work.  My mind cannot!

Oh, I can picture Jesus, the Son.  But not really, because I always remember that I’m only picturing His human likeness, not the essence of God in Him. 

If I try to picture the Holy Spirit, that doesn’t work either.  I feel His presence - sometimes, and I hear Him when He speaks to me - sometimes, but still my mind cannot completely know Him.

So God, the Three-in-One, is not anyone or anything that my fragile mind can imagine.  He is Too Much! Too Great!  Too Beyond!

God is Beyond

Beyond the distant side of everything,

not just everything I see

But everything

Beyond the yearning in my heart

not just everything I want or need

But everything

Beyond the worlds that He created

not just everything we touch 

But everything

Beyond the thoughts of greatest minds

not just every word we read or hear

But everything

Because

God is Beyond!

He is more than we can think.  He existed before our minds were created.  God was not created – He is!  He was!  He is Always!

If God is not within the reach of our imaginations, what then?

I will Love Him as He revealed Himself in the Scripture.  I will worship Him because HE IS GOD!  I will worship Him even if I, in my humanity, cannot paint a picture of Him. 

Therefore, I must not reduce Him to anything my mind can conceive, because He is Beyond! 

He is the only True and Living God.

The Window Pane

Recently I heard a woman say something terribly sad.  She said, “all men are worthless.”   She had been hurt deeply by several men in her life, but she spoke with such bitterness, condemning all men.

This post isn’t meant to belittle the hurt that anyone has suffered at the hand of another person, but I feel such sorrow for this woman, because she is not seeing beyond her pain.  And in not seeing beyond, she’s not allowing herself to experience blessings that are waiting for her, just behind the stormy clouds.

Memories

The snow was settling on the branches
of the pines, there’s was little hint of
sunshine on the trees across the drive. 
It was a beautiful winter wonderland.  

But there was a smudge on the window, and that was bothering me.  If, when I looked out that window, my eyes were glued to the dirty smear on the inside of the glass, I would never have been able to see the beauty painted on my window that morning.  There was something incredible out there to see.

There are many lessons to learn about the places that our focus can take us.  If we look at a rose and worry about the prickly thorns, we’ll never be able get close enough to smell the beautiful fragrance.  If we are afraid of getting our feet wet, we’ll never be able to enjoy splashing in the puddles.  So many ifs, aren’t there?

I believe many of us have had to handle things in our lives that were terribly difficult and painful.  It’s like picking up a rose and getting pricked with its thorns?  We aren’t prepared for it.  Life is sometimes like that.  Many times even the most worthwhile endeavors end up hurting us.  

Looking beyond the spotted glass, looking beyond the stop sign, looking beyond the pain and hurt, beyond the struggle, all these things are still worthwhile “if we look beyond.”  If we look beyond the windowpane, maybe we’ll see a beautiful picture that God has painted beyond the clouds, beyond the storm.

Look beyond the window glass.

Yes, look beyond the pane.

Look beyond perfection’s loss

while standing in the rain.

Look beyond the prickly thorn and smell the yellow rose.
If we look beyond,

and trust God’s heart

We’ll see roses in the snow.

My friends, maybe we could all try to look beyond our past and our pain.  With God’s help, I believe it will be worth the try.

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT) Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Jesus told his disciples just before He ascended into heaven.  Matt 28:20 (KJV) lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Diane

The True King

 

As a child I read stories about kings and castles, about golden crowns and chariots and thrones, and about a Lion who was the king of the jungle.  

Now that childhood days are long past for me, I find that those kings and queens have lost their allure.  

But today let’s remember those childhood stories and try to imagine ourselves talking to a king.

On the far side of the forest there is a mountain on which a tall strong stone castle stands, diminishing the view of anything else.  The deep moat around it is designed to keep the likes of us out.  Everyone knows that only those with a special authority can cross the drawbridge into this most forbidding, beautiful realm.  Only a very special few can come before the throne of the king - the monarch of that kingdom.  Only a very few noblemen have the right to speak to that king. 

That is the tale from my childhood, but things are different for those of us who belong to the True King, who are citizens of the true kingdom.

THERE IS ONLY ONE

There is only one True Kingdom, and one totally unlimited ruler.  He is THE KING.  He is the Monarch of all things.  And He is The Designer, The Creator, and even more than that – the OWNER of everything!  

The Bible tells us about Him. 

"Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”  Isaiah 40:28  (ESV)

and

"He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.  He wraps up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud does not burst under them.  He obscures the face of the full moon and spreads His cloud over it.  He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness.  The pillars of heaven tremble and are amazed at His rebuke."  Job 26:7-12 (NASB)

Or

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

As The Bible describes the real KING, he grows bigger, more powerful, more unreachable, and further from our understanding with each word we read.  This is the True King.

 I’m afraid that we don’t give Him the devotion, the respect and the obedience that we owe Him.  Maybe it’s because we don’t understand what it means that He is the KING!

But if I do understand, at least in a small way, His character and attributes. and if I see myself in comparison to Him, GOD - THE KING with that awesome power, wisdom, might and greatness, then I feel small, weak and unimportant.

BUT IT’S NOT THAT WAY AT ALL, 
I AM IMPORTANT 
I’M IMPORTANT TO THE ONE WITH ALL THAT POWER.

WE 
ARE IMPORTANT TO HIM  
BECAUSE WE ARE CHILDREN OF THE KING.

Children of the King have permission to cross the drawbridge, go through the castle gates, approach the throne, get up close and whisper in the King’s ear. 

Oh yes, He is still above all, above even his children, but as his children, we have a special place in his heart.  It is a place so special that He came to earth as a man, suffered and died on a cross to sign our adoption papers, making us members of His family.   

And that alone allows us the right to approach His throne and actually sit down there and talk to our Father - THE KING.

Called to be Holy

 Dear Friends, I sometimes question the possibility of living a life that reflects Jesus. When I think of His strength in the desert, resisting the temptations of Satan, I feel so inadequate.  When I think of the hours Jesus spent just helping people, healing them, listening to them, and being present in their lives, I wonder how I can possibly be like Him.  My heart so wants to be that way, but my world sometimes interferes.  

In the Bible I read - 

.... just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."  1 Peter 1:16 (ESV)

We're called to be Holy!

We're called to be Holy - His children.

We're called to draw near to His throne.

We're called to live life in His presence.

We are called,
and He's calling us home.

Home to the arms of our heavenly Father.

Home, though we're dwelling this day on the earth.

Home to a place filled with love and compassion

Home is the place of His children's re-birth.

We're called - listen closely as Jesus directs us.

We're called to take steps that walk only His way.

We're called to give Jesus our total devotion.

We're called to be Holy each hour of the day.

He calls - holds us close, as He gently erases

the sins that could turn tender hearts into stone.

We're called to the arms of the One who forgives us

and calls us His loved ones,

His children,

His own.

Diane August 2024

Please give me back my rainbow

 

Please give me back my rainbow
the symbol of God’s promises, 
kept time and time again.

No matter how his children sinned
and live within sin's stain 
our God still paints forgiveness
precious treasure through the rain

If we look at the entire story of the flood, we find that God’s anger at sin is terrifying.

The rainbow first appeared to men after God had washed the world of an epidemic of sin and debauchery.   The Bible tells us

The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.  The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.   

So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”  Genesis 6:5-8

But there was one man who did not yield to the sin that prevailed on the earth.  His name was Noah.  Again the Bible says,

“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”

 God gave Noah instructions to build a boat.  One that would hold all that God wanted to preserve on this earth.  Noah spent many years building this “ark” and after that God sent the animals to him and they all entered the boat and “the LORD shut him in.”

 It rained for 40 days, and water came up out of the earth and covered everything.  

But after Noah and his family had been in the ark about 370 days and there was dry land, God said, 

 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”  Genesis 8:16

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:  I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”  Genesis 9:12-17

God promised to remember His people.  The mighty, All-Powerful God of the universe made a promise.  It was that He would never again flood the entire earth.  God keeps His promises.  Even with all the evil in our world over the centuries, we are still here.

The rainbow in the sky should not only remind us of our loving, promise keeping God, but also the lengths that He went to, in order to make sure the human race would go on.  It should remind us how He hatred and was disappointed in the sin of the men He created.  

When I look at the rainbow (in the sky) I see two sides of our God, His love and His justice.  

It saddens me to see the way that beautiful symbol has been misappropriated by our culture.  And God is Love, and He has a right to ask that we honor Him by obeying His just requirements.

So I pray that someday the world we live in will remember and give us back our rainbow.