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Weeping May Last for the Night, But…Joy!

 

 

There is so much

to weep about in our world recently. Bad things happen as surely as night follows day. (John 16:33) It seems as though our country–along with most other parts of the world–has been experiencing one very long night. Will the violence and human pain never end? Yet for those who find their eternal hope in our great God and Savior (Titus 2:13), Scripture carries the promise of a bright day to follow each and every dark night: “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” — (Psalm 30:5).”

Christians know this biblical promise of God is true, because Christ has already deposited within them the fountain of life and joy–his Holy Spirit (John 7:38; Ephesians 1:13). And this fountain of joy and life is eternal; it can never be quenched no matter how much external circumstances say otherwise. And so we sing–

” “Spring up, O well! — Sing to it!”

Numbers 21:17

Christians know and experience that God’s love and mercy arrive fresh and new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), and therefore unquenchable joy is their strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

 

 

When Humankind Fails Us…Psalm 146

Psalm 146_3098 copy

Rules Or Relationship?

Photo by Christina Wilson

 

What Is “Salvation” Anyway?

 

Quick Peek: Salvation is not automatic by our meeting a certain set of requirements. God does not say, “Do this, this, that, and the other, and I’ll stamp you saved,” but he does say, “Come to my Son, and my Son will save you.”

Galatians 3:11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” (NIV)

 

Body: The law, the Ten Commandments, is a thing. It’s a set of rules. It’s non-living, not a person, not a sentient being; it’s non-interactive. It has no soul nor mind, no receptors. The Ten Commandments have no awareness of anyone’s reading and obeying or not reading and obeying. There is no consciousness. The Ten Commandments have no power to save or not save. They make no choices.

But God is Person. God is sentient. He is personal being. God as creator judges his creation. A righteous man or woman is declared so, and is saved and lives, because God says so, since he is the only one with whom anyone must deal. God makes alive, God declares. The law can do nothing.

I am saved by God’s relationship with me, my relationship with him. Salvation is relational by means of faith. Through faith is how I relate to the person of God. This is by God’s choice. He chose faith as the vehicle for people to relate to him.

Do I have faith in God? Have I put my hope and trust in God? Have I turned to God and begun speaking with Him? Has God spoken into my heart? Do I have an ongoing, active relationship of trust and love with Jesus Christ, God’s Son, his Mediator between himself and humanity? If so, then I am saved.

John 20:31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (ESV)

Further Verses: Romans 8:1-17

This post is a rewrite of an earlier post by the same author at Berean Digs

Beauty Day 99

Find one beautiful thing every day and take a photo of it.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Beauty Day 99 Winter’s Demise

Birds chatter playing tag

shake raindrops from empty branches

crows act as referee

hawking out the score

this new life will not wait

for the long, cold rain to end

bulging, bursting, pushing

spring enters the world

 

Beauty Day 98

Find one beautiful thing every day and take a photo of it.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

  ♦

Beauty Day 98 Mt Rainier

 

Rainier impresses

yet not alone–the foreground

threads frame, bow, applaud

 

 

 

 

Beauty Day 96

Find one beautiful thing every day and take a photo of it.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

  ♦

Beauty Day 96 A Wooden Fence

 

there’s something about

a wooden fence

that gets me every time

I’m talking about the see-through kind

not those brick wall jobbies

that are meant to separate

so that not even viewing is allowed

a wooden fence with wooden bars

like a ladder, easy to climb over

such a style boasts the grain of wood

and permits a person to compare

which side really looks the greenest

this side or that

though winter wet deciduous leaves

aren’t green at all

mainly I like a fence

because it’s like a young child dancing

in wild and crazy polka dots

expressing vibrancy

that costs nothing

and leads to nowhere

that’s why I love to look at wooden fences

I think the adult word is

aesthetics–kind of dead sounding–

yet fences are alive

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty Day 95

Find one beautiful thing every day and take a photo of it.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

  ♦

Beauty Day 95 Ready, Begin

 

spring crouches in the wings

wound tightly as a nearly pouncing cat

like a Broadway musical

at the moment the curtains lift

props set

the stage arranged

actors’ lungs filled

first syllable on countdown

score practised

choreography complete

instruments tuned

musicians in posture

ready

for the sudden rise

and strong descent

of the conductor’s magic wand

The show begins!

greens and pinks

purples, yellow

I see it all

in these living buds

silently screaming

all over town–

spring has almost sprung

we only need that one sunny

warm day

for all to be transformed

from winter’s muted tones

of deafening gray

to spring’s essential touch

 bright cacophony

of bursting sound

a healthful baby’s

chubby flush

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty Day 94

Find one beautiful thing every day and take a photo of it.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

  ♦

Beauty Day 94 Raising a Standard Against the Gray

 

Gray is a permanent fixture

no one’s fault

that’s just the way it is

brightness can be fleeting

a moving, temporary thing

gray needs no help in being gray

while brightness must be fed

encouraged

because brightness is alive

and gray is dead

brightness will succeed

brightness overcomes darkness

turns everything around it

into day

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty Day 93

Find one beautiful thing every day and take a photo of it.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

  ♦

Beauty Day 93 Strings of Things

 

Walking in a rain

that doesn’t end

one rain after another

day after day

I encounter

strings of things

nice things

things that don’t matter

a string of days

a string of birds

perched

high and dry

on strings of wires

a string of pussy willow buds

and a string of pearl drops

formed by rain

a perfect circle

stitched together

by strings of straight things

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty Day 92

Find one beautiful thing every day and take a photo of it.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

  ♦

Beauty Day 92 Dragon Fruit

 

Hylocereus undatus

exotic fruit

from an exotic land

surely it must be exotic

because I am a tourist here

and I don’t see this fruit back home…

riding the bus

to see where it goes

riding back again

hopping off to visit awhile

not knowing what we’ll find

maybe the best decaf

I’ve ever tasted

maybe an out of this world

whole wheat

blueberry muffin

juicy not too sweet

or perhaps the flakiest

baklava

I’ve ever laid eyes on

(we gave it as a gift)

maybe this exotic fruit

called dragon

 

 

 

 

 

 

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