Life, guided by the Holy Spirit

  

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.

Revelation 21:5, And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Acts 3:21, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.

Last week I told of a small piece of my journey in Christ Jesus with the holy spirit. It was a beginning. Many things have happened since then. I don't intend to recount my life to this day. Much of what was experienced caused me to question things that were being said about who God was, how I should live, how others should live, etc. The only way to find the answers to all of the questions was to find out what the original scriptures said about all of this and what was the original contextual meaning the of word. This is difficult since there was only the Torah at that time. The books of the Gospel were not yet written. The meaning of what was shared at the time of the Apostles was Hebrew and Aramaic which have a spectrum of meanings. The translation to Germanic/Indo-European languages, which are linear in nature, presents the problem of not having an equivalent meaning for the word to be translated.  This is further complicated by the use of words that are incorrect in meaning or add something that is not in the original Meaning. This has made it tough to find what the the gospels are really saying. All of this has made it hard to discern what the Apostles and Christ were telling us.  

I have the belief that God is omnipotent in every way. I believe in a loving, forgiving God that wants to have all of his creation join Him in heaven. It is inconceivable to me that He would not be able to undo the sin in all of his creation to make that possible. If he cannot do this then we are all condemned to destruction. There are no sinless people living on this planet. If this is the case, Christ came to redeem us in vain. If this is the case, God is not the loving God of our scriptures. RUBISH! There is no doubt in my mind that Christ died for our sins and that everyone will be redeemed at the coming of Christ Jesus. Why else would He quote that we should love God with all our strength and love our neighbor as our self? (Matthew 22:37-39) I know our God is a loving God. I have been loved and guided throughout my life and corrected when needed. Nothing can change that. The correction can been severe. Fore example: I was getting to busy with things and drinking a little too much so the Lord caused me to fall, landing on my right leg breaking both major calf leg bones and cracking the socket to my foot. Grounded for three months with a cast up to my knee. During that time I spent most of my time reading the King James bible I had from cover to cover. He wanted my attention and He got it. God is not static in any way. He is active in our lives and loving us in ways we may not recognize at the time. He is forgiving and ever present to us if we but pay attention. With everything that has happened in my journey through life, The Holy spirit has always been there guiding and speaking in whispers, and at times, shouting guidance and encouragement. I know my god to be just and forgiving, loving me right where I am, always present, even when I think He is not there. (He did not move. I did.) Consider again the original scriptures and what was being said. More about my journey with my loving Father next week. Have courage and be still long enough for Him to speak to your heart.

May God bless and Keep you safe and Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Card Making

 

This is another 3d card created from the pile of stash on the table I shared in the first Card Making post. I have no idea where most of these images and sentiments came from.

The image above is comprised of a base image and four cutouts for the flowers and a single cutout for the frame. All pieces were match up with the corresponding base image and cutouts and mounted with micro dots to give the 3d effect. The frame was also raised with micro dots to make a completely 3d image.

The sentiment is also mounted with micro dots to complete the 3d card. The corners were peel and stick. 

The reason there is no origin for the images on the cards I made is that everything is lose with no packaging to tell me what company they came from. Almost all of the cards are created from this mashup of pieces.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Its a Long Road

 

In my earliest years I attended protestant churches. In the mid 1950s the church I was attending had a former government agent who performed an alter call. I answered and was baptized in the Spirit. My life has not been the same since. On the way home one day I had a voice say to me you will join the Catholic church. My reaction was surprise and tucked the thought away then I dismissed it. In the late 60's I had come home from work and was going to bed. As I lay there I had the feeling I was not alone. Someone besides my wife was in the room with me. I sat up in bed and there next to the bed was a figure, all in black, no features visible. I asked what it wanted. It said nothing but pointed at me. I laid back and closed my eyes in fear. Almost immediately I heard, saw and felt the loud words in brilliant  letters, glowing like nothing I have ever experienced, "DO YOU BELIEVE" I answered involuntarily "I BELIEVE". All this in brilliant, luminous marque like visible light. All of this never disturbed my dear wife sleeping next to me. After that, what was gibberish ran through my mind and was spoken. I was confused so I told my mother about what had happened. She gave several suppressed "Praise the Lords". Turns out she was part of the Charismatic movement and had been praying for me to be baptized. Shortly after that I joined the Catholic church. Imagine that! In the years that followed I quit a heavy smoking habit, Dropped a  borderline alcoholic habit, cleaned up a nasty explosive temper and cursing habit among other things. That does not make me perfect. Far from it! If anything it has left me vulnerable. If you think this is all made up, I assure you it isn't. There is far more to this life than most people are willing to share. This is a tiny bit of what being a Christian means. Much of it is not fun and games but some of it is praise worthy in the end. There are tears, both of joy and sorrow, loneliness, new friendships, broken friendships, persecution, sacrifices and any other experience you could name. I have been sharing the quest to know the loving God that loves and blesses me so completely, without compromise. I pray you get to know Him in a very personal way. Next week I will try to continue sharing what he has shown me and means to me.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe. Remember to "Always Love the Details".

Card Making

The next 2 cards are both 3d. Both are blank on the inside to allow for special greeting and wishes.

 There are 5 layers to the first card. The bush and stone patio are the base. The dog, and the general room are all one layer. The coat, cane and table are another layer. 

the tray, table napkin and news paper are the fourth layer. The plate and food are the last layer. All are raised up on thin sticky dots to give that 3d effect. I used a black peel and stick border. The red side panel is stash paper that is used to cover the blank white space. Unfortunately photos do not really show the dimensional effect. Of course the back is labeled.

This card opens up and down awning style. The inside is completely blank. It can be used however it is needed.

The next card is also 3d. 

This image already had a frame around it so did not need any embellishment. The back window with the outside view was the base. The room was the first raised layer. The side table and book/magazine rack was another layer. The chair, lamp and rug are a layer. The pillows on the chair are a layer. The dog sleeping on the rug is the last layer. This is a Christmas card but the plaid of the background makes the Merry Christmas hard to see. I used gold peel and stick to border the the card and give it interest. Of course the back is signed hard to read.

I apologize for not giving more information on the process of making the card. These cards are more jigsaw puzzle than actual craft cards. 

Thank you for at least giving these cards a look. 

May the good Lord bless you and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details".

Bible Versions

There is a dizzying number of translations for the bible. There are currently 900 English translations available ranging from word-for word to dynamic thought-for-thought versions. The number of languages it has been translated into is more than 3,500. I use 20+ versions as cross references in my studies. Why bother? The variability is interesting and provides a baseline to consider. Combine this with the experience of having attended many different churches gives a better understanding of what the beliefs of those institutions are.

This is a very short post this week. We have had many disruptions for health and other reasons. I will try to post something more in line with what this blog is all about, The Lord.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Card Making

 Today I am sharing two more cards. This was the second card created in this run. The lettering appears a bit tilted due to the card being slightly open.

The sentiment was stamped in blue ink . The wreath and ribbon bow were stamped and colored with Copics. The stamped image was actually a double stamped image so it gives the impression of seeing a blurred image.

The sentiment on the inside of the card was also stamped with blue ink. The corner decorations are "peal and stick" to give added interest.

The back of the card was personalized to indicate I was the creator of the card. I have done this with most of the cards created by me. Jill keeps asking me how many cards I made. 

This card is dimensional card. The background is a blue cardstock stamped with a dear and colored black with Copics. The tree trunks were fussy cut with an exacto knife. They were then attached to the background base with dimensional foam dots to give the 3d effect. The tree tops were also cut with an exacto knife and attached to the top of the tree line with the dimensional dots. The base of the card front was a problem because details were showing that should have been hidden. A second strip of the light green cardstock was cut and glued to the base and that was glued to the base to form the forest floor. The Chinses proverb was something left over from one of Jill's projects. The white die-cut pieces Were used to bracket the proverb.

The sentiment on the inside is from a sheet of clear acrylic with sentiments from an unknown source and glued inside the card.

The tag on the back.

This was not the best of the cards but I am sharing it anyway. It presented and myriad of problems to solve. I hope you like what was done.

Until next week, may the good Lord bless and keep you safe. Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Eternity

 Note: I have opened this site to anyone, blog owner or not, to be able to comment. Responsible, civil comments are accepted. I am sharing what I find to personally bring the scriptures alive and clarify my life experiences.  

In my studies there have been many surprises. I have been trying to see what the original texts say and what the words meant in that era to the people reading them. Sometimes it is a large difference from how we read the text today. One of the biggest surprises was the interpretation of words used in the original texts of scripture. [OLAM - meaning 'an age' or 'agelong'] There are other words that only appear a few times that I will not cover at this time. It turns out that the original meaning as understood by the authors was not a forever thing, eternal, but for a finite period of time. The ancients did not recognize infinity when creating the old or new testament. Instead they wrote in terms of periods of time, not always described in specific years or periods but indeterminate spans of finite time. This poses many problems such as the existence of eternal damnation. There are disagreements among different churches when it comes to this view of the scriptures. Since God created man to be subject to the imperfect world he lives in, why would he be judged as if he were immortal. Scriptures say God wants to forgive and welcome all into the family He created. The prodigal son comes to mind.(Luke 15:11-32) The father welcomed the prodigal son with tears and open arms. The son who stayed behind and did the fathers will was indignant of the father welcoming his son back home with a celebration is very much an example of the world today. If mankind is so lost why send Jesus Christ to be and example of the forgiveness of our father in heaven? The lack of eternal punishment in the old and new testament means that redemption is the way God our loving father is planning for His children to join Him. In the vision of Mary mother of Christ, when asked who will be saved she answered "Everyone." For years I have struggled with interpretations and teachings. I am now more convinced than ever that our God is a loving, forgiving father not a hateful, vengeful father bent on punishing his creation for faults that are a result of the world He created. It is apparent the suffering we go through in this world is redemptive and not a preemptive process to eternal hell fire. I welcome the troubles and tests of this life so that the next life will be with our father in heaven.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Card making

 Before I show any cards I would like to show my work area. It is somewhat organized but mostly a mess. There are years of collecting "stuff" to make cards within this mess. Jill has even more that she keeps adding to the piles. That said, here is the work area.

When I create cards I have no idea for the most part where everything comes from. It is a jumble of everything from images to sentiments to who knows what.

Now to the cards I want to share.

This is a step card. It does not have an inside to write a note. It folds flat and stands up like a easel when unfolded. The image is part of the jumble of images on the table. The sentiment, and side decorations are "peel and stick". The background is from our stash of unused paper.

This next card is the most recent creation.

The image was one the wife cut out but never used. The green border is a die cut made from scrap paper. The floral frame is a die cut from stash paper. It was also used on the inside to add interest. The corners outside and inside are "peel and stick". [note: these peel and sticks are no longer available. The Covid crisis helped to put these companies and many others out of business. Luckily we have a fair stock of them.]

That will do it for now. I will post more next week. I have more than sixty cards created so far. May the good Lord bless and keep you safe. Remember to "Always Love The Details."

How we understand the bible.

Love comes unseen; we only see it go.

— Henry Austin Dobson
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/henry_austin_dobson_219708

It seems of late that I am sitting at the keyboard writing this post when the well seems dry, inspiration comes in last minute form. That also seems to be the way of my life. The previous 3 posts were about God's love. There is no greater subject we need to pay attention to. The world thinks it can put aside God and His love for us because it thinks it is able to know everything there is to know. That is an impossible task to say the least. The world could build data centers to cover every last inch of space on earth and it world fall far short of what God knows. There are those that believe the meaning the words of today's vocabulary are the same today as they were in Jesus' time. They are not. In fact they are far different than they were then. Since a child I felt there were things not quite right about some of what we were being taught. The old testament and the new testament we read today as translations leave something to be desired. Much of the gospel is valid to this day but the way in which we understand it is off base. We need to step back and see it as it was seen in the days it was written, in the way Jesus and the apostles understood and taught it. It sheds a whole new light on what was taught by them and why it was done that way. The people of their day were not educated as most of us are today. That is why Jesus taught in parables that they would grasp and understand. I am still grappling with much of it in my studies but the scriptures are coming alive as more is brought to light. For me this is a time of revelation and discovery. I am by no means saying the scriptures as they are translated today are useless. They are relevant. It is important to understand the way the writers and Jesus understood the Old and New Testament, not what we think they should be. 

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details." 

I may do a post every so often to share some of the cards I and my wife have made. God Bless.

God is love part 3

 

Bad choices in life are abundant. Choosing Jesus is not one of them. I hear about how the Lord (YAHWEH) abhors sin and can't stand to be in the presence of sinners. That would mean than no sinner has any chance of entering heaven. That would also mean there would be no one in heaven. Hell would be a raging fire to everyone living today and that had ever lived. If that were true then why was Jesus sent to call all sinners to repent and follow Him. Jesus and our father in heaven are one. They are united and know one another completely. That means the love one has is the same as the other. Jesus was not commanded to die for us. He chose to do so out of love for God's creation to unite all of humanity to our father in heaven. There are many thoughts about God, some of which don't fit well with scripture. God is not the hateful, vengeful, permanently rejecting father some of these views propose. He is a forgiving, loving parent that will always honor and fulfill his promises no matter how we humans interpret scriptures. He is profoundly working toward His forgiveness in the same manner as the prodigal's son. (Luke 15:11-32) Does this sound like a father that condemns his children to eternal fire? Throughout the bible many covenants were made with Israel. Each one was expanded from the last until the coming of Christ. God honored every one of them regardless of the sinfulness of His people and still guided, protected and was ever present to them no matter their situation. He delivered them from complete destruction to this day. He has done the same for us in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in to this day. God speaks to us and tells us He loves us and wants us to be with him. In one of Mary's miraculous appearances she stated that God wanted everyone to be saved. That would mean no one will be left behind. GOD IS LOVE.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details." 

God is love part 2

 

Love in this day and age is seen as an extreme physical and emotional desire for a relationship of sexual desires. That is not how God intended it to be  because it is fleeting and is not enduring. The desires may remain but the high they produce does not. God's love is far more complete and enduring. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love never comes to an end.(The New Jerusalem Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1985)

This does not fit into the vision of love based on emotion or physical desires. It is beyond all of that. True love is faithful too the end. God was faithful through the ages with His creations, US. He never gave up on us or abandoned us because of our sins. He didn't ignore our plight because the place we call home was riddled with sin that permeates all that is in it. Instead He sent His son to lift the veil placed over our eyes to reveal his graces of forgiveness. No sex involved, no emotional highs or lows, just a loving father calling his sons and daughters to Him. Read the passages of 1 Corinthians above again and know that Our father is all of these things and more. He has been with us through all of our trials and tribulations no matter what they were or are. Few of us can say that about our relationships with others, including our Father in heaven. It is why marriages end for most within the first ten years. Commitment is in the wrong place and much of the things Corinthians tells us love is about are absent in our relationships. God is a tough act to follow but His is the only example that is pure and forever. We should be living with all of the traits of our Lord ever in mind.

More next week.

May the Good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Rememkber to "Always Love The Details."

God Is Love, Part 1

 

This is something that has made itself clear over the years of study and listening to the voice that speaks in the quiet time of prayer and listening to that soft voice within.

(1 John 4:16)God is Love. (1 john 4:19-21) We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

This means our God is not one who punishes with no chance for forgiveness. It is not His wish to punish us or reject us permanently. He does honor our free will choices in this life. The human condition in this life is due to our living in a sinful world. If it were not for Christ Taking the sins of humanity on himself we would never be able to enter heaven for any reason. Christ filled all of the old testament rules for sacrificing the sin offering but took the place of the sacrificial lamb and defeated Satan in the process. When he drank the sour wine offered on the cross He declared "it is finished" and completed the last supper ceremony. The supper in the upper room was never really finished until that moment. When He left the upper room the feast was left unfinished because the final part of the festival meal was the drinking of wine. It did not happen in the upper room but did happen on the cross he was crucified on. Without that final act the Passover festival was not completed. That is why He declared "it is finished" on the cross. Think about this this week. Next week I will take these thoughts a step further.

May the good Lord bless you and keep you safe.

Remember to"Always Love The Details."

Enjoy life, it has an expiration date

 

Today I would like to share the card I created for my DW for our anniversary as well as another I made for Christmas this year.

First is the envelope for her card. Yeah, I had to create the envelope since the card was so large. (she is worth it)

It is 7"x7" square not including the flap.

It had to be large to accommodate the card which is 6"x 6".

The clock is from our stash as are the gems in the chandelier. The The red spline at left is washi tape that changes color depending on the angle the light hits it. The sentiment was created on my computer.

This is the back of the card.

 

This is the right hand inside of the card. The image was one I had colored several years ago. It was die cut from a number of images .

This is the left hand side of the card with the anniversary sentiment. They are from our stash that is several years old. 

Strangely, the 63rd shows up great and the happy anniversary is hard to see. In person the opposite is true. Go figure!

The next card was created for the Christmas season this year. The cover image was stamped by my wife some time ago. The rubber stamp used was removed from the wood block so it's source is unknown. All of the peel and stick sentiments and borders are from the accumulated stash and, to the best of my knowledge, are no longer available. 

 

This is the inside of the card. The wife stamped the sentiment some time ago but never finished a card from it. Again the peel and sticks are from our stash and no longer available.

I hope you liked the cards we made. I will share some of the 60+ cards made in the future.

Acts 4:12 " There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."
May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Life in the slow lane

It seems that time speeds up when you get older but everything else slows to a crawl. Recent events seem to have taken the slow boat to everything. Doctor appointments, getting help with things and life in general. Sounds confusing doesn't. Keeping things going forward in an orderly manner is more difficult than it used to be. Life has put many road blocks in from of us. The medical profession is especially shackled due to big pharma, insurance companies and the government. Much of my struggles of late have been caused by getting the medical profession to do more than just endless testing and tackling the problem instead of the symptom. My dear wife has been through the wringer with the endless tests and no solution, just more tests. I will admit that they were doing the same with me and I shut them down. No more tests and no more new medications. Find solutions to my wife's problems. That does not include more medications.

Thank God for his faithfulness and graces. I and my dear wife would be mental disaster areas were it not for our rock and savior. Our troubles placed before Him are always answered and progress through grace are ever present. Ask and you shall receive.(Matthew 7:7) If I listed all of the times that we have asked and received I would not have time in the day to write everything down. From lost items to prayers for others, the answers are always given. They may not be what we expect but they are always answered. The door we build is to the Lord. We must knock for it to be opened. Be prepared to be surprised.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

 

Apology

 No post this week. Life has been topsy Turvy this week. Here is a recent new image finished between topsy and turvy.

Irish Cherokee is my blog alter ego moniker. Hopefully I can post next week.

May the good Lord Bless and kep you safe. Remember to "Always Love The Details." 

Focus

(Note: I am making cards again to help DW get Christmas and other cards together. I will post some of them as They are finished.)

Last post I posed the question "How would you want to be remembered?" In some respects that was a loaded question. It meant you had to be honest with yourself if you were going to answer it. I really did not expect anyone to answer it in the comments. It was posed to make you think about what was most important in your life. It is most important that we have our focus in the right place going forward in our Christian walk. Important? As we age we realize how short our sojourn is on this earth. The tag at the end of this and every post is "Always Love The Details." It is there for a reason. Everything we do in this life is important. We forget that everything we do influences everything around us and therefore has the power to change the world as we know it. Yeah, WOW? The most insignificant to the earth shattering all have an effect that changes everything on this planet. Not all we do is perfect or planned for that matter but all of it matters. It should matter to YOU what your actions may change in the world around you. There are those in this world that only think of themselves and could care less about others. There are those that care but don't stop to think about their actions as cause and effect. All I can say is wake up and take note because you may find yourself in a world you created that you can't survive in. Caring for this world means caring about what you do. Your influence has a greater effect than you realize. If you read the bible and learn from scripture and Christ you will see that living like Him is more than a challenge, it is a necessity. I fully understand His Comment “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you?”(Matthew n17:17, Mark 9:19, Luke 9:41) Be more like Christ and live not for self but for all. Aim toward the eternity that our father has promised us.  

This card was the first one I have tried in several years. It was created with on hand craft supplies. It is a step card( which means it has several steps when opened like a stairway)

This card was also created using "stash supplies" on hand craft supplies. It was really easy. I did however color the wreath.

The next image was the last one in a series of images created by AI and colored by me. These images are copyrighted and may not be copies without express permission.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Remembrance

 How would you want to be remembered?

This was a subject my dear wife and I had recently. Most people hesitate to answer this question for various reasons. Everyone has secret wishes to be remembered in one way or another. What is your deepest wish for remembrance? Be honest with yourself. My dear wife didn't give her answer to this question, although she obviously did give it some thought. I have heard some desires expressed about what others wanted to be remembered for and they are pretty amazing at times. What are some of your deepest wishes for remembrance? Foremost for me is the desire to spread the Christian word for the glory of our Lord. Next would be that I was a good devoted Christian husband and father. Beyond that would be that what I do further glorifies our lord, my artwork for example. (Another example is included below) There are many of you that would share what some of my hopes and dreams are. It is not for me to say if any of this is true or not but by example it is for others to judge. I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this subject.

This image took 4 or 5 days to complete. The background was difficult for several reasons. The details were obscured and difficult to make out. These images were meant to be printed much larger.(60.5"HX42.5"W) To help with seeing what was out there, a modest 19.5" X 14.25" had to be created. That did not give me full detail but it helped. 

This image is 10"X 7" so the detail is severely reduced in size. I will post images from time to time.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

It is what it is

As life proceeds it appears to pick up its pace in an apparent need to get to its end.  

I would like to apologize for not getting back to those that have visited and personally thank you for stopping by to comment. All of the changes that Google is making have really messed up the way it works. I am still trying to get things working somewhat as they used to. It used to be that when I posted your comments, a notice was sent to my inbox in Google Mail. That no longer works. I have been trying to get it to do that again but nothing seems to work. Thank you again for your comments. They are what keep me motivated to continue. With all that is going on it is hard to create a post that is meaningful.

My thought on life at the top of the post is much the way it appears these days. Funny how when we are young we can't wait to get older to do all of the adult things. Then we become adults and are so busy with jobs, spouses and family we don't notice time passing by. Then we get older only to notice that time is speeding by so quickly that hours and days are a blur, making it hard to remember what day you  are in. The only thing that seems to slow things down somewhat is making ourselves still. It is at these times we can remember the cherished moments, the love, all that is important, all that has become who we are. All else is part of the blur we hardly remember or took notice of for that matter. It would be easy to discard all those blurred, hardly noticed things but they make up the majority of what made us who we are. Life may be a hectic blur, hard to get a clear picture of in our minds. If it has so much as touched the most insignificant part of our life, a port we never even noticed, it is a something that is also a part of the path we are currently on. It cannot be denied or ignored since it is a part of us. Christ is a part of this "hardly noticed" part of our lives. He is always there gently guiding our every action, our every move. (Colossians 3:12)(Psalm 25:4-5)

Today I would like to share some of my favorite images. These images are gorgeous even when they are not Colored, which makes them a challenge and a work of love.

    

The image above is my favorite

They are all from the first few weeks of this blog. They are special to me in many ways. The first two images are from an artist friend in Finland. Her talent is extraordinary as you can see.That about wraps up this post. May God bless those of you who visit and comment. You are truly a blessing to me. 

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

The mountain top

 

(Matthew 19:23-24 & Mark 10:25) I have watched when well to do individuals have done things to to add to their coughers at the expense of others or donated sums to the church to be held up as generous in the eyes of others while looking down on the less fortunate. They expect others to be of service to their family when they have made it clear anyone they perceive to be less well to do than they, are nothing. It is rare that the well to do are willing to have compassion on the weak, impoverished or the needy. I also know that there are those that sacrifice much to do for the less fortunate among us.

(Matthew 19:16-32, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30) I don't know what being rich feels like other than with the things that are owned. Most of that would be considered "junk" by others. I guess I am a pack rat since I keep what might be useful to repair something later. In this way I am rich. None of those things are so important they cannot be trashed or given away. I have often used some this "junk" to repair things for others. Very few in this society that are wealthy would willingly give away all they own to the poor or needy. It is usually what they see as overage or wealth they have no immediate use for that they will donate. It is the poor widow that gives her last penny that is truly blessed. (Mark 12:42-44) I wish I could say I have always been free when it comes to alms giving but I cannot. The Lord gives freely to everyone, Saint and sinner alike. If we gave according to the way He gives to us there would be little to no starving or destitute in the world today. I do not wish to be wealthy since I am not sure I would give all or most of it away. I see those who win the lotteries who, in short order, spend it all on trivialities and are left in worse shape than before their lottery win. I consider myself rich in ways that being wealthy cannot provide. Take stock of where your wealth is and count the blessing you have been graced with. Remember Job and what he lost. It could be you that experiences the loss of everything with no guarantee of any of it being restored. Blessings are the Holy Spirit, Jesus and God in our lives. They are eternal.

May the good lord bless and Keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Abandoned?

 

Last post was an admission of going through many trials and difficulties. Throughout my life this has been the way things have been. Saint Paul often referred to the difficulties he endured in his letters to the churches. He did not hide the fact that the trials he endured also made him stronger in his faith. It is the trials that strengthen us and prepare us for our walk with our Lord. I have never lost faith that the Lord was there in the worst of times and the best of times. Scripture teaches us that those times of desert experience are a time of preparing for what comes next. The apparent absence of the Holy Spirit is not abandonment but a time of preparation, unseen by us, in the background. We need to thank the Lord for EVERYTHING. Yes, even when we feel abandoned. We are never abandoned. He is always with us. Just because we are not able to see or feel His presence is not a reason to abandon your faith. I have often heard it said that the gifts have been taken away at these times. That is not true. The gifts of the Spirit are always present when faith is present. Where faith is present the Holy Spirit is present. Where the Holy Spirit is present Jesus is present. Where Jesus is present our Father in heaven is present. There is no exception to this. When one is there all are there for they are one. 

I have seen the hard times when out of work, no money coming in, a wife and baby at home with one can of soup on the shelf. Jesus was there. Family and friends provided food for the family, a job was found soon after. Our first nine years of marriage was a slippery slope. Then the Lord provided the way of reconciling things through marriage encounter. God was there. I could go on and on but through all of these seeming desert experiences the Lord was preparing the way (in the background).

Through faith and belief the Lord is always faithful and there, even though we are not aware of His presence. He is a loving Father who is true to His promise to always be there and protect us in our times of need.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."