Scripture:
O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Psalm 139:1-3 About This Image: There is a place at the Cascades at Fall Creek Falls looking upriver towards a pine tree and big rock where I love to sit and just watch the stillness. The people are down river playing in the Cascades and there are rarely any people up this way. On this spring day the water was down and so I decided to make my way toward the tree and big rock. You usually can't get there because there isn't a path or place to walk, but on this day because the water was low there was. I made my way to the tree and big rock and looked across the river and saw this little waterfall. I am pretty sure that I am one of the few people who have seen this beautiful little waterfall. God searches for us just like I searched upstream that day. We long to be loved and to be loved is to be known. God's love for us is perfect. He sees us as we are now and as we will be. We are truly understood - and He helps us understand ourselves. Spend time with God in his Word, find yourself there in his eyes, and you will find a beautiful special place like my little waterfall.
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Scripture:
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:1-2 About This Image: Grotto Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains is an unusual waterfall in that you can actually walk behind it without getting wet. My tripod and I were standing behind the falls when I took this picture. Isaiah wrote these words to a people who were passing through some rough water. They were a people in exile, far away from home with no way to go back in the foreseeable future. But God still loved them; he created them and knew them by name. These words remind them and us that we are loved; we are known by name; we have been redeemed. When we face difficult times, God will be with us and we will not be overwhelmed. Scripture:
The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. Psalm 29:3-4, 7 About This Image: There is nothing like lightening and thunder to remind you of the power of the God who created the universe. King David, who wrote this Psalm, spent much time outdoors and I imagine that he had been in thunderstorms and knew their power. He heard the voice of the Lord in nature and stood in awe. We can easily loose this awe and wonder of the power and majesty of God in our technologically advanced society. Stand back and be amazed that the omnipotent, majestic God who created the universe loves you and me. Scripture:
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 About This Image: This image was taken the first time that we took our grandsons wading in the creek. We were camping at Fall Creek Falls State Park and I took my children and grandchildren to a place where the creek was shallow and was an easy walk. The boys loved it - throwing rocks and walking barefoot in the creek. They were never by themselves for close beside them was a parent or a grandparent showing them where to walk and holding their hand. My prayer is that I always walk in step with God, for he knows the best places for me to walk. Scripture:
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. Matthew 18:20 About This Image: Picnic tables are interesting. Most of the time they sit empty waiting to be used. And when they are used, food is usually shared and memories are made. Sometimes picnic tables are far apart and sometimes like this picture of a picnic shelter at Hungry Mother State Park they are close together and protected from the elements. I think church buildings are like this. Most of the time they sit almost empty, but when the people that make the church gather there Jesus comes like he promised and lives are changed and memories are made. On this Sunday, gather with others at your church and find Jesus there. Scripture:
You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. Psalm 119:114 About This Image: This spot on the trail at Piney Falls in Fall Creek Falls State Park is one of my favorite places. There are usually not many people here even in the busy summer season - and when they do come they usually don't stay for long. You do have to do a short hike to get here and climb down a little hillside under a swinging bridge. I have had many happy times here with family and friends. We all need places like this to be quiet and to hide from the troubles of the world. It is when we go to our hiding places and use our time to be with God by reading and studying His word that we find hope. Scripture:
Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:5-6 About This Image: While we were in Custer State Park in South Dakota on our recent trip out west, the ranger told us about a good place to catch the sunset on the wildlife loop road where tourists go to see the herds of buffalo. I had never been on the road before and so finding a good place was kind of a guessing game. We got to this pull off and the path up the hill looked promising. Several cars stopped us to tell us where the buffalo were since there were not any in sight. We just thanked them and head up the path, the way I wanted to go to see the sunset. In this scripture Jesus is giving his disciples his last words before his arrest. They didn't seem to understand and so Thomas was brave enough to ask the question, how can we know the way. Jesus told him that He was the way to the Father. It isn't always easy to know the way to go, when everyone else is looking for buffalo and you are looking for a sunset. Remember this promise of Jesus for he is the only way to the Father. And on the Way you will find truth and life and so many other beautiful things. Scripture:
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-10 About This Image: I took this image early one morning when I stopped at the Walmart to get something for work. I wasn't out with my camera looking for things to photograph and I just used the point and shoot camera that I had in my purse to take this picture from the parking lot. I think that before I had my cameras I would have rushed on by, just like the other people that were at Walmart that morning. One of the gifts that learning to use a camera has given me is to see things that I would have simply passed by in the past. Paul's prayer for the Philippians was that as they grew to love Christ they would develop discernment and a depth of insight that would help them grow and produce the fruit of righteousness. My prayer is that as I grow my photography skills that I also grow in discernment and depth of insight through his word. That will be the only way that I will be able to continue sharing his word and his world through my photography, for I want my words and pictures to always bring glory and praise to God. Scripture:
Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10 About This Image: I took this picture on one of our spring break camping trips to Fall Creek Falls State park. It wasn't a beautiful day and rain was in the forecast, but I still really like this picture. When I look at it, it reminds me to just be still. The lake was still enough to see a reflection of the sky. There were no people around, it wasn't crowded. You can tell that people had been here because of the empty canoe. We need times like this to be still and quiet and alone so we can truly listen to what God has to say. Even when it is a cloudy day, take a few moments to be still and listen to God, the King above all kings. Scripture:
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:23-24 About This Image: You have to give this image a second look to figure out what it is. At first glance it looks like the Sunsphere, a local icon from the World's Fair, is inside a building. It isn't, though, because it is a reflection of the Sunsphere in the glass windows of the Knoxville Convention Center. Like this image, true reflection takes more than just a brief glance; it is hard work. It can also be a discouraging undertaking that leads to defeat. The only way that reflection works for us is if we undertake it with prayer because we know that God will forgive us and redeem us and lead us to him. Scripture:
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. Psalm 27:4 About This Image: This is the same scripture that I used yesterday, but I have learned many things from this Psalm. I chose this image of a bench inside the Smokemont Baptist Church in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park because it made me think about dwelling in God's house. In the Psalm, David asks to dwell. The word translated dwell means to sit, to remain, to continue. We dwell in places where we find protection, instruction, love. On this first day of the new year I want to seek to dwell in God's house, not just visit occasionally, but to seek to always live in God's presence and inquire and learn of him. |
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Soli Deo Gloria,
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan