January 31, 2015 Who Am I

All that you are I am.

Do you have a phrase that you both love and hate? I have several but there is one in particular. It is "But for the grace of God there go I". It is true in one sense. Without Him I could not exist nor would it be possible to strive to be sin free. On the other hand, what a gross case of judgmental audacity to imply someone is better than another. That includes self. We were brought into this world with every sin, every possible tendency and fault of every other person that ever existed. Quite a paradox, huh! Want proof? Have you ever been brought to the point of saying or thinking you would like to kill someone for something they did to you? Or how about, I got an extra twenty cents in my change at the grocery store. It must be a gift from God. REALLY????? Give the twenty cents back because if you don't you just stole money from the store and cashier. She may have to make that up at the end of the day. Give it back even if it is a penny. Do you ignore "Do not touch", "Do not handle" or "Do not move" signs? Do you hold grudges? Do you get even? Should I go on? Didn't think so. The flip side to this and the reason for the statement is not that one person is better than the other but realizing you have been given a chance at redemption by changing the way you perceive things and how you act on events in your life. If you are invited to a party that will have 40 guests and you volunteer to bake a cake will you bring only half a cake to the party or the whole cake? I know someone who would and does bring half a cake. How self centered and crass. The "I and Me" must become the "You and They" in your life. There is only one place that "self" cannot be compromised and that is your salvation. This is the only place where self is number one. To get there means removing self when you are around others. Christ became a servant when dealing with others and became the example of what we are to be. We are to be the example of Christ working in our lives but always mindful that "all that you are I am but for the Grace of God." 

Listen closely to my words, be attentive, understand what I am saying. Does the ploughman plough all day to sow, breaking up and harrowing his ground? Once he has levelled its surface, does he not scatter fennel, sow cummin? Then he puts in wheat, millet, barley and, round the edges, spelt, for his God has taught him this rule and instructed him.

The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Is 28:23–26). New York: Doubleday.
I will be dealing with this further in the next post.

Time to introduce you to a few more of my followers. 

Benzi from Benzy Stamps. Brenda was one of me first followers. She is a southern gal with a huge talent for card making and could be a poster child for southern charm. Stop by her blog and say hi.

Maxine D from Kiwime's Kreations. Maxine is from New Zealand. She is a Christian crafter with a flair for the imaginative and always has a fresh take with the cards she creates. Give a look and remember to leave a comment.

Teresa from Crafting All Day Creations. Let me tell you that if you like vintage you will love Teresa's cards. Be sure to drop by and ogle her work. You can tell it is a labor of love.
While you are there be sure to tell her how much you like her creations.

This post I want to share a few Hubble photos with you. The pictures are available for download at the Hubble picture album. God's glory is awesome. 

M51 The whirlpool Galaxy and it's small companion NGC5195 in the constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dog).

The "M" stands for Messier and the "NGC" is for New General Catalogue.

NGC 5128 (better known as Cenaurus A) The two lobes or jets coming from the top and bottom of the galaxy disk are what are known as radio jets from a very active black hole at the galaxy core. Beautiful but deadly if you were in that galaxy.

 NGC 1300 is barred spiralin the constellation Eiridanus (The River) 

This is a general idea of what our home galaxy would look like if we could see it from afar. Our galaxy would have more arms.

NGC 1073 in Cetus (The Sea Monster) 

This is another barred spiral. It is considered to be an archetypal type barred spiral.

A nearly perfect ring of hot, blue stars pinwheels about the yellow nucleus of an unusual galaxy known as Hoag's Object. This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures a face-on view of the galaxy's ring of stars, revealing more detail than any existing photo of this object. Notice the apparent second ring galaxy in the far distance between the ring and the core at the one o'clock position. Fascinating!

 

NCG 4313 in Coma Berenices

The ring is composed of hot new young stars. It is enhanced to show them more distinctly. 

Arp 148 in Ursa Major (the Great Bear or The big Dipper)

Arp 148 is the staggering aftermath of an encounter between two galaxies, resulting in a ring-shaped galaxy and a long-tailed companion. The collision between the two parent galaxies produced a shockwave effect that first drew matter into the center and then caused it to propagate outwards in a ring.

I hope you enjoyed my short tour of the wonders of my long time love affair with astronomy. The beauty and wonder of God's creation is mind blowing. It does not matter if you don't understand the jargon, just enjoy the beauty of the object and images. Thank you for joining me and allowing me to share the wonder and truths of our Lord.

Until next we meet, Remember to LOVE THE DETAILS.