Scripture:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14 About The Image: I love this place above the Cascades at Fall Creek Falls State Park. I have seen it quiet and serene like this image early in the morning and filled with many people playing in the water on a hot summer afternoon. I have also seen it churning with rapids after days of heavy rain. The meditations of my heart can be like this place. Sometimes I am focused and calm, sometimes distracted, and sometimes my heart churns with worry. Remind me today, Lord, of your redeeming love so that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be calm and focused like this image of my special place.
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Scripture:
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. Psalm 86:12 About This Image: When I see a beautiful sunrise like this one on Douglas Lake, my heart is overcome with praise to our God who made heave and earth. Calvin Miller, in his book "The Christ of Easter," had these words about praising God. "Glorify God! Let this be your reason to live! You will then love God. And the simplicity of loving him so singularly will help you to discover and love yourself as well." Let these powerful words sink into your heart and life today. Scripture:
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7 About This Image: Highway 11E goes right through our town and I drive on it almost every day. It wasn't until I started taking pictures that I noticed this tree in a field close to the road. I don't really know how old the tree is but I suspect many years. It has withstood many storms as it stands alone in the field, strong and tall. When you walk close to it you see many of its roots growing above ground. When we walk with Jesus along the ordinary roads of our life we will build our roots in him and we will grow strong and tall like this tree. Scripture:
Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel. Isaiah 44:23 About This Image: While I walked on this trail in the Greenbriar section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the early morning I heard the wind blowing gently in the trees. It was if they were singing praise to their maker in the early morning light. In the verse before our scripture today (see yesterday's post) God tells us of his plans for redemption. Now that we are redeemed our only response is praise. Even the trees are to sing with joy. Scripture:
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22 About This Image: This image of the Cascades at Fall Creek Falls taken on this foggy morning is a very different picture than one taken from the same place on a sunny day. The fog has softened the image and given it an ethereal beauty. However, the fog dissipate with the heat of the day. God has promised that he will take away our sins like the mist of a foggy day. He has redeemed us through Jesus Christ. We need only turn to him and ask forgiveness. Scripture:
The commands to fear the Lord are right and endure forever. The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy and absolutely just. They are of greater value than gold, than even a great amount of pure gold; they bring greater delight than honey, than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb. Psalm 19:9-10 About This Image: When the sun is low in the sky right after sunrise and right before sunset, the land is bathed in beautiful golden light. During this time of day ordinary things become beautiful. There isn't really a trail on the side of the lake at Fall Creek Falls where I took this image. About the only people who ever go down this way are fisherman. But when I saw this view during the the golden hour the beauty of this place was amazing. God's words are like the golden light at this time of day. They are more valuable and beautiful than gold. When you study them and make them a part of your life they will bring you great delight. 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. Psalm 29:3-4 About This Image: The Grand Tetons are truly majestic surrounded by beautiful lakes. When you stand and look at these mountains you stand in awe of their fierceness and see the strength and power of the God who made them. If we listen we can hear the voice of God in the waters as they lap against the shore. We can also hear God's voice in his Word. Take time to listen carefully and you will experience its power in your life. You will more clearly hear God's majesty. Scripture:
He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15-17 About This Image: After seemingly endless rain we finally got a sunny day on Sunday, so after church we headed to the mountains. We knew that it would be too late and also too wet to do a good hike so we opted for just driving the loop road in Cades Cove. I had read on my hiking in the Smokies facebook group that the daffodils were beginning to bloom in the cove. On this group there are special places that are famous like the oak tree across from the Lawson place in Cades Cove and the daffodils across the road from the entrance to Hyatt Lane. And sure enough the daffodils were just beginning to bloom across from Hyatt Lane like they have for many years. Daffodils remind us that spring is coming and there is an order to the world God created. I have always loved these verses because there are so many times when I can't seem to hold things together. But like the coming of the daffodils, Christ, the creator of the world, can bring order out of the chaos of our lives. Scripture:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. I Peter 5:6-7 About This Image: The aperture of a lens is the opening through which the light passes to record the image on the sensor or film. The width of the aperture can be controlled, either automatically by the camera or manually by the photographer. When a photographer closes down the aperture and gets the sun in the right spot of the frame the result is a sunburst. When I photograph the sun with a small aperture and get a sunburst, like I did in this image taken from Waterrock Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway, it reminds me of a king's crown. In the democratic society that we live in today we don't easily accept the authority of a king. Instead we seek to be our own king. Following God means that he becomes our king; we humble ourselves before him; we accept his authority; we become obedient to him; and we submit to his ordering of our lives. We like to quote the words from 1 Peter 5:7 and tell ourselves to cast our anxieties on God. But before we can cast our anxieties on God we must first follow the command of verse 6 and humble ourselves before him. God won't take away anxieties that we won't give him and to give him our anxieties means we accept his ordering and timing. As the rest of the verse tells us, God can be trusted with our anxieties because he loves us and cares for us. Scripture:
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Psalm 36: 9 About This Image: I had just started to learn photography when I took this image of Spruce Flat Falls in the Tremont area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Looking at the picture now I can tell you so many things I would change about how I captured the light in the waterfall. Just like I have learned to see the properties of light as I have studied photography, we can learn to see God's light by studying his word. As we walk in God's light he will become the fountain and sustainer of our life. Scripture:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 About This Image: Water Lilies, like this one in a pond at the UT Gardens, grow in still water. Their roots are deep in the soil and their leaves and flowers float on the still, shallow water. In order to grow we also need stillness; we need rest. God made rest a part of the order of creation and a commandment for the people of Israel. The word sabbath means to cease, but ceasing to work is only the first step to rest. True rest only comes from Jesus Christ, for Jesus finished our work for us. We no longer have to work to keep the law, to be good enough to earn anything. Jesus has done that for us when he took away our load of sin on the cross. Come to Jesus this sabbath and find rest for your souls. Scripture:
Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalm 25: 4-5 About This Image: It was the second day of our recent road trip to the west and the interstate in Iowa was like driving the Daytona 500 with transfer trucks. So we got out the map and headed for Highway 30, this 2-lane road also called the Lincoln Highway. It was one of the best decisions that we made on the trip because we got to see so much more with much less stressful driving. These two lane roads are not the way most people want to travel today. We are in a hurry to get to our destination. We sometimes want our relationship with God to be like this, quick answers to hard questions. When we truly ask God to lead us and teach us, it will take time. We will have to learn to wait, to be silent. Faith develops over time. I like these words from Brian Erickson from Feasting on the Word Year B Commentary: "Our identity will not be defined by what we claim to believe, but by the road we take. Faith is more than mountaintop moments; it also encompasses times of solitude and struggle. The right road will not always look like the right road." During this season of Lent may we take time to let God teach and lead us down the right road that he has for us. Scripture:
For you, LORD, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 116:8-9 About This Image: Unlike this image taken on the path to the Oliver cabin in Cades Cove, the images that I have posted on the past two days have been black and white. I don't usually take black and white images because I am drawn to color. We all love bright, colorful, happy days. But black and white images express strong emotion and have something to teach us. In this Psalm the writer has experienced black and white days but can now walk towards the land of the living, towards light, because God had delivered him. We will only be able to walk out of our night of sorrow and into the golden light of early morning when we call on the Lord. He will dry our tears, keep us from stumbling, and provide his light for the path ahead. Scripture:
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 43: 5 About This Image: There was a storm brewing in the sky on the day I took this image in Cades Cove. It was coming - darkness, sadness, sin. Today we mourn for 17 people who were killed in a Florida high school. We ask why this evil? How could someone hate so much as to kill innocent children and their teachers? The Psalms are full of why questions asked of God. And like this Psalm, the only answer after the questioning was to hope and trust in a God who is sovereign and to seek the comfort only He can give to a fallen world that hurts and mourns. We look to Jesus who wept for his friend Lazarus and for us and then took the cross to defeat death. We sing a broken hallelujah and offer a a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15). Scripture:
Even now,' declares the LORD, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.' Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2:12-13 About This Image: The Blue Springs Lutheran Church in Mosheim, Tennessee no longer has a congregation. The building is watched over by a historical committee that recently succeeded in having the building added to the National Register of Historical Buildings. I happened to see it from the highway on the way to somewhere else, abandoned on the hill, no longer severing the purpose for which it was built. Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent. It is a time for us to "rend our hearts." In the ancient times, people would tear their garments as a sign of grief. Lent calls us to do more than just a quick, forgive-me-of-my-sins prayer, but take time to mourn and confess our sin. So that as we move through Lent we open our hearts again to what Jesus did for us on the cross. If we don't rend our heats and confess our sin, then our walk with Christ will become like this abandoned church - still standing, looked after by an historical committee, but no longer serving its purpose. Prayer O Great King, Grow my desire to follow you, with a deeper understanding of the price of my redemption. Show me the purpose you have for me and fill my heart with your love. Scripture:
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.' So God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.' Genesis 9:16-17 About This Image: Noah's ark is depicted in many children's toys and on the walls of church nurseries. In most images the day is sunny with brightly colored rainbows and smiling animals, but real rainbows come only when there are clouds and rain. On our recent road trip out west I was very much looking forward to driving on the Big Horn Scenic Highway, but as we got closer to the highway storm clouds appeared on the horizon. I was so disappointed that I wasn't going to see the beautiful blue skies and mountain canyons that I had pictured. But as we drove on the highway, I happened to look out my rear view mirror and saw this amazing rainbow. Now I was grateful for the stormy day for without the storm I would not have seen the rainbow. In the story of Noah, the rainbow comes only after the devastation of a flood. God sets the rainbow as a sign of a new covenant that he makes with all creation to bring order out of chaos and destruction. God cares for his world and its people. The story of the rainbow is the story of a new beginning. As we begin the season of Lent this week, may we take time to think about the clouds and storms of sin in our lives and look forward to the new life we have in Jesus Christ who redeemed us with his death on the cross. Scripture:
Those who fear the LORD have a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge. Proverbs 14:26 About This Image: Fall Creek Falls State Park has been a special place that our family as enjoyed for many years. One of the things that made this land a state park is the gorge and waterfalls formed by Cane Creek. When you stand where this image was taken on Buzzard's Roost and look out over the gorge it is like you are looking out from a great stone fortress. The Lord has truly been a secure fortress for our family. As my children and now grandchildren remember their visits to Fall Creek Falls it is my prayer that they will be reminded of the refuge that we have in the Lord. Scripture:
Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:11-14 About This Image: My grandparents and their grandparents before them lived in what is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While they weren't members of this church (the Methodist church in Cades Cove) they were part of other mountain churches like this one. This is my heritage. I am grateful for the inheritance of a family on both my mother and father's sides that loved and served Jesus. But the greater inheritance is the one provided to all "his people in the kingdom of light," by Jesus Christ who purchased our redemption. Scripture:
If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; Proverbs 2:4-6 About This Image: I actually remember sitting in desks like these in the Cataloochee School in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in my first years of school. For the children of the mountains, as with many children around the world today, going to school wasn't guaranteed. People who really wanted an education for themselves and their children had to work at it. So too it is for those who want to become wise; they must seek after it. As this verse tells us, though, true wisdom is also a gift from God. Seek God, stand in awe of God, and then you will find the gift of true wisdom which comes only from him. Scripture:
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 About This Image: To capture a sunrise like this one in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park you must get up and be in place before the sunrise, set up your tripod and camera, and wait. And then it happens, the sun rises over the horizon and it is thrilling. All your work and waiting pays off when you see the sun come over the horizon. It is so magnificent that it takes your breath away and for me my eyes fill with tears to see such beauty. This is especially true if you can get somewhere there aren't any man-made lights and it is really dark. Our world, filled with man made lights, often masks the light of the glory of God. We put ourselves in the spotlight and loose sight of the glory of God. Get up early one morning and go to a place where it is really dark, and as the sun rises be reminded that God has given us "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." |
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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