Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Sometimes it is hard to think about a new day. In our sadness we see only cloudy skies and wonder if the sun will ever break through the clouds again. In those times we cling to the promises of a God who has always been and will always be faithful. We look forward with hope to a new day, for God will come to dwell with man as our God. As surely as a new day dawns with the promise of blue skies, God will make all things new.
Prayer Trustworthy and True God, Shine your light and break into our darkness. Restore our hope and dwell with us. Wipe away our tears now until in your timing you take them away forever. Amen
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The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; When you are driving along the Little River Road you will see this pull off that is a little longer than most by a stone retaining wall. If you stop and look back across the river in the dark forest you will see these falls, hidden away but in plain sight. We can all feel like this, hidden away in a dark place but in plain sight, as the Christmas carol says, “in this world of woe.” Sometimes the woe can be of our own making and sometimes the woe is not of our doing. The prophet Zephaniah wrote these beautiful words to the people of Israel who were experiencing times of woe after he had taken then to task over their rejection of God’s ways. His words comforted the people in dark times with this promise of God that there would be a time when there would be rejoicing again because the “Lord your God is in your midst.” In your times of woe, God speaks this same promise. Let God’s love quiet you and bring you peace. And while you may not hear it all the time, just like you won’t see these falls if you are not looking, the Lord God will sing over you like a mother sings over her child.
Prayer Emmanuel, God With Us, Quiet us with your love and open our hearts to hear you singing over us and then open our mouths to share this joy with all we meet today. Amen For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. The big trees towered over us on the trail. I stopped a minute and stood in awe at their amazing strength and beauty. In their height, their trunk, and branches you can see their many years, their history. They have made it through many seasons. But in each one is also the promise of new growth waiting for the next season. We look back over our lives and see the way Jesus has stepped into each season. We see him today as we try to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. And now we wait for our blessed hope, of when we will see our precious Jesus.
Prayer Savior Jesus We wait for your coming today as we walk with you. We wait for that time when you will come again in your glory. As we wait help us to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly. Amen Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; Hope and trust are related to each other like two sides of a bridge. The way to hope requires trust and when we trust we have hope. The important thing to know before crossing a bridge is its quality - is it well built, can it hold my weight. We know we can put our trust in God for his love is steadfast and sure. Even knowing this we will sometimes walk through waters of worry when right above us is a perfectly good bridge that will carry any weight we put on it. And our hope to turns to fear. Look for the strong, trusty bridges that God builds and they will lead you from fear to hope.
Prayer Strong and Steadfast Savior, Teach me to look to you, to trust you instead of walking through waters of worry. For you, O God, are my bridge to hope, strong and steadfast. Amen May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. There is something about a budding flower that symbolizes hope. The plant has found what it needed to survive in the soil in which it was planted and now there is hope of a new life of beauty. If we are to find hope in our lives to grow and bloom then we will need to make sure that we plant our lives in the soil of God’s love. On this the first Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Hope, look to the God of Hope so that through his power you will find a hope that will not fail.
Prayer God of Hope Fill us with your hope. Open our eyes to places where we can share the hope we have in Jesus Christ with all those we meet. Amen The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. I don’t know how flowers get their common name, but I think “bleeding heart” describes this flower well. It is a beautiful small heart-shaped flower with several blossoms on each stem. There are times in each life when we are brokenhearted and these are the times when the Lord seems nearer. I say ‘seems’ because God is always the same distance from us, just a cry away. But it is in the brokenhearted times that we actually cry for help and we feel him nearer. I think this flower has something to teach us about dealing with brokenhearted-ness. As the blooms grow taking nourishment from the same stem, so we need to be close to others who find their nourishment in Christ. We need others who will walk with us and carry us to Christ in their prayers. We also need to be sure that we reach out to those who are hurting. This small flower is beautiful and in its beauty we find hope when we are brokenhearted for it was Jesus’ bleeding heart that saves us and brings us hope.
Prayer Lord of the Brokenhearted, When we cry out to you from a broken heart, we are grateful for your presence. Open our eyes to those who need us to carry their hearts to you. Most of all thank you for the bleeding heart of Jesus who saves us. Amen I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord Seeing a beautiful sunrise is hard, especially in summer when the days are long. Many times it means not just getting up early but getting up in the middle of the night to get to a good location and driving and/or walking in the dark. When you see the sky begin to fill with color then you know it was worth the work. To photograph sunrises takes discipline and desire. Waiting on the Lord also requires discipline and desire. But it is in discipline of studying his word that we find hope like the colors that fill the sky of a beautiful sunrise.
Prayer Lord, Renew our desire to seek you in your word. Fill us with hope that only you can give. Amen For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. I love a sunset in the mountains. Since I have lived close to mountains all my life, they have come to symbolize steadfastness and endurance for me. We got to the spot where I thought I could get a good sunset and we waited. I have found that photography involves a lot of waiting - for the right time of day, for the wind to stop blowing, for the sun to get in just the right place in the sky, for the fog to move in or out, and for the people to move into or out of the frame.
While waiting for a sunset doesn’t always yield results, waiting on God always does. It is hard to wait for anything in our instant gratification culture, much less to wait in silence. This is something that we need to learn, to cultivate, for it is only when we are silent that we hear God, the source of our hope. Prayer My Rock and Salvation, Teach me to wait in silence for your voice. Open my ears to your words and my eyes to your beauty. Amen So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Winter trees seem so bare and lifeless. They wait for the spring when the leaves return and their bare branches are filled with life. We all have times in life when we feel like we are wasting away. One day we will see that the difficult times we face today are preparing us for “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” We will come to see the beauty in the branches that was there all the time. God’s love and care is eternal.
Prayer All Seeing God, Give us the courage to look beyond the trials we face today and see the beauty that lies before us in your eternal love. Amen But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” The little boy looked up at the great big tree along the trail and he wanted to climb it. What did he think about as he stood there looking up at it? Finally after some coaxing from his grandfather, he moved on down the trail.
I wonder, on this day of Ascension, if the disciples felt like the little boy looking up in amazement at that great big tree as they watched Jesus move out of their sight. Their wondering was stopped by a question and a promise. Jesus had given them a task so why were they looking up? After a short while, it would be time for them to follow the path from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. But they wouldn’t go in their own power for they would have the power of the Holy Spirit. They would also go with this wonderful promise - Jesus would return one day. We have that same task, power, and promise. We are to be witness to the saving love of Christ. Sometimes, like that little boy, we stand in amazement at the task before us. But we also have the promise, Jesus will come again. And so we move on down the trail with the power of the Holy Spirit leading the way. Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, Give us courage as we set out to be your witnesses. Give us joy as we think of your return. Keep us close to you through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Amen Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. You can hear the roar of the waterfalls as soon as you open the car door at the pull off. Even though they are set off from the road you still hear them. Powerful waterfalls can fill us with a sense of awe but also danger. One wrong step, one slip on wet rocks, and we could be swept away.
When we come upon times of trouble in our lives we can feel like we are going to be swept away. Even though the writer of this psalm felt overcome by the waves he still knew that the waterfalls were God’s waterfalls. Instead of looking at the power of the waves he remembers the steadfast love of God and even in his darkest night he sings the song God gave him to sing. Prayer Creator of Waterfalls When we face difficult times and feel like we are being swept away, remind us to look to your steadfast love. For it was you who made the waterfalls and you who will bear us safely through them. Amen In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. The summer house and estate of Moses Cone close to Blowing Rock, North Carolina was beautiful on that late summer day when we visited. We enjoyed the carriage road and paths around lake. Before it was a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Mr. and Mrs. Cone entertained many guests there in the summers. It must have been very special to have been invited to visit here.
On the night Jesus faced his arrest he sought to comfort his disciples with the promise of something much more than a beautiful summer house to visit. He promised them a home. He told them that he was going to prepare a home for them, a place where he would always be with them. He also promises anyone who loves him and keeps his word to make a home with them, for in the Greek the same word, monē, is used for the word “rooms” in verse 2 and “home” in verse 23. He has prepared for us a home filled with his perfect love, a place where we will never feel alone and where we will always be with Jesus and the Father. Prayer Jesus We bow in gratitude for your wonderful promise that you will make your home with us, a home that you have prepared for us. May we remember the cost that you paid this week and open our hearts to you now. Amen We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, NIV The day before I took this picture of the daffodil it was standing upright, beautiful, without any blemish, but during the night the spring snow came. It is pressed down under the weight of the snow. Sometimes we can be like this daffodil after the snow - hard pressed, perplexed, and in despair. When we face difficult times we can learn from Paul who was able to face the many hardships in his life and ministry because he always carried Jesus with him.
Prayer Jesus, Lord and Savior, Out of our despair we call to you. Walk with us through our difficult days so that others may see it is you who keeps us from being crushed. Amen The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. It was a cloudy day on the Lincoln Highway in Nebraska when I saw this windmill. I wanted to have a good picture of a windmill as a reminder of our trip but I just couldn’t seem to find one in good shape. You could tell this one was no longer in use and the surrounding fence and gate were old and rusty. I almost didn’t stop. The sky wasn’t the clear blue that I had wanted for my windmill picture, but I stopped anyway. I didn’t even think it was worth getting out the tripod. I was wrong. This image turned out to be one of the best images of our trip to the west.
Sometimes we feel like this broken windmill on a cloudy day. We are crushed and lonely. It is in these times that we can feel the presence God more clearly because we are more aware of our need. Even though we are afflicted the Lord will deliver us. And when we look back we may see that it is in the hardest times that we experience the most growth. Prayer Lord of the Brokenhearted When we are crushed in spirit you have promised to be close to us. Help us to call on you when we face dark days and trust you to make our darkest days times of growth. Amen For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31:33, ESV Hidden within this daffodil bud is a beautiful flower. Where I live daffodils remind us that after the long, dark winter spring is on the way. When the Lord spoke these words through the prophet Jeremiah, the people of Israel were in exile and experiencing times of darkness. God made a promise to his people that he would make a new covenant and put his law within their hearts. Through Jesus’s sacrifice we can experience the new covenant. God will write on our hearts. He will make us his people. The long, dark winter has passed. God will bring us to full bloom and make us new creatures through Jesus Christ.
Prayer Our God, Thank you for your promise of new life through Jesus Christ. Come into our lives and write your word on our hearts. Amen But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, Recently we were in Knoxville and decided to visit Lakeshore Park, a new park made on the grounds of a former state mental hospital (I worked there 40 years ago). The non-profit organization that oversees the land has done a beautiful job converting this to a city park overlooking the Tennessee River and the Smoky Mountains. One of the buildings on the grounds is named Marble Hall. From a distance it looks like a church, which is unexpected in the middle of a city park. As we got closer we saw that while it looked like a church on the front and back, there were not side walls and no furniture except for a stage area with a bench. There were no religions symbols. There is just this stained glass window.
Sometimes I wonder if we are not like this building that looks like a church but isn’t. Do we really make the effort to tell people that we meet about the hope we have in Jesus Christ? Are we always ready to give anyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in us? Are we afraid that what we say will be not spoken with gentleness and respect? During this time of Lent, let us ask these questions of ourselves and find ways to share our hope in Jesus every day. Prayer, Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, Teach us how to honor you as Lord of our hearts. Help us examine our lives. Give us courage to share the hope we have in you with the people we meet each day. Amen 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:
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:
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). |
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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