As sure as the morning dew settles on each leaf,
No day begins without a promise of blessings to those who hold out their hand to the LORD, desiring only to walk in His ways.
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“Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways.
You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.
Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.”
~ Psalm 128:1-4
Silhouette of leaves,
Framed against the sky.
Their darkness speak ever so clearly,
Here is His Glory,
Here is His Light.
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“… that you may announce the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
1 Peter 2:9
Entering the Promised Land:
Years wandering, atoning.
A generation had seen its passing.
Dry eyes strain and old legs stumble.
Has the LORD set aside his loathing?
Beyond this mountain now,
come see,
His promise at last, sends greeting.
Beneath our bright veneer of normalcy, respectability and even elegance,
A leper yet cowers in the shadows.
For like these linen white leaves which cannot produce food,
We too have often lost our humanity by failing to identify with the poor and unfortunate.
Who can heal us?
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And a leper came to Jesus, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”
And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
~ Mark 1:40-42
How shall we weather the storm of judgement turning our way?
Surely, it must be with the deep roots of humble prayer and willing sacrifice that will prevent us from toppling over, rather than the self-glorifying acts all done in the name of charity.
La vita è bella (Life is beautiful) …
But more so when our world seems to have been turned upside down!
It simply means that God has a grander design in the pipeline and major remodelling is in order. 🙂
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” … they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”
Acts of the Apostles 17:6
Photo:
The same flower in normal and upside down position.
Ever ready to advance his cause, the devil thoughtfully schemes the rot.
And what is just now a bruise to the ego, festers into a stinking sore upon the soul.
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“For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.”
~ Ephesians 6:12
Beware of the gilded tongue belonging to that wretched, the father of lies!
His words can easily persuade us, not because they are truthful or eloquent,
but simply because he repeats for our listening,
the very words that he has heard from the dark within us.
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“He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”
~ John 8:44
“A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
~ Luke 6:45
Do not afraid.
Set aside what age, knowledge and experience have long conspired to fill your mind and in so doing, killed off your childlike wonderment.
Then behold,
Where once you expect to see just another flower,
A delightful bouquet yet grows before you,
to refresh your spirit and heal your senses.
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“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.”
~ Revelations 21:1
Photo:
A bouquet of different flowers growing from the same plant.
Has the law demanding “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” ever brought about a peaceful and lasting solution to any of the woes in this world?
Is it not rather in bending to mercy and forgiveness, that the law finds its true fulfilment and for man, a realisation of his nobler self?
Photo:
The placard reads “Please do not lean cycles against this wall”. Cambridge, UK
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“If you, LORD, keep account of sins,
Lord, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness and
so you are revered.”
~ Psalm 130:3-4
Dan Frugalberg 