Safety

 Psalm 91

There is safety only in the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God Yahweh. The Holy Spirit is with and within those that love the Lord. It is hard to express and, at times, to wrap the mind around a triune God. It is just as hard to grasp the idea that not loving others more than self is to not love that very same Triune God. (Galatians 5:16-25, Mark 10:17-27) To count the riches of this world as worthless compared to what is offered in the next world (eternity) is the first step in the love of God. It is not wrong to have wealth but it  must be used for those in need not for self gratification. Love of wealth is not the love of God. Christ could have commanded the whole of the earth, taken all of the wealth for Himself, Healed only the rich and forsaken the poor and the lowly. Instead he became the healer of all who asked to be healed, called the uneducated to follow Him. His only request was for others to become selfless as He had become. He had great love for others because He had great love for His Father in Heaven. He imitated His, our Father, in heaven, and was protected until He willingly gave Himself up for us on Calvary. Look back on your life and see those times when you were protected and held close to our Jesus and know there are no places to find safety greater than that which The Spirit affords. Nothing is more precious than the spirit within each of us to our God. He will protect each and every one of us in the safety of His embrace.

Here is a different rendition of the image from last week.

I would like to also share some photos of the spring scenery from this past May. Enjoy!

These are from around the yard and the neighbor's yard. That is it for this week. God Bless and keep you safe. Thanks for stopping by and remember to always Love The Details.

Poverty

 Matthew 19:23-30, Mark 10:21

Wealth can make one have a false sense of well being. Money is a trap that blinds us to the way to heaven. Christ said that it is not easy for the wealthy to enter into heaven. (Matthew 19:24, Luke 18:25, Mark 10:25) In fact, it is not something you can take with you. Wealth is for this world not the next. It can buy many things but it cannot buy the kingdom of God. What is considered wealth in this world is worthless in the kingdom of Yahweh. It fails miserably in all truth by birthing greed, and fear of its loss. Poverty does not fare much better. The needy hunger for that which is needed to sustain life and what this life says is happiness. Poverty is a place where the needy are trodden down and treated as inferior, looked upon as less than human, unintelligent and worthless. The learned feel they are superior to the poor since they have an education they do not. The things that are handed to the rich are denied to the poor. It is these that Christ came to bring the good news to and to show the way to true peace through His sacrifice. Those that He chose to be apostles and disciples were not educated but fishermen and lower class. There were some followers that were well educated but those close to him were not, with the exception of Luke, who was a physician. Happiness is not how rich with the wealth of this world you are. Wealth is the Holy Spirit within, the peace of heart and soul in the knowledge that we are saved and eternity is ours no matter what happens in this life. Happiness is the promise of eternal life. Happiness is knowing this body is only a temporary vessel, that when our spirit leaves it behind there is a perfect body awaiting us in Yahweh's heaven. Happiness is knowing there is no death in the next life. Nothing in this life can buy that. Nothing stored up in banks, learned in colleges or institutions can create or purchase what Yahweh has created. We are His and His alone. This is true happiness.

The next two posts I am sharing a flower stamp Jill gave me to color. 

I decided not to adjust this finished image but to leave it as is from the photo. Next week it will be the same image colored differently. Take care and God bless. Remember to always Love The Details.

Ephesians 3:17-19

 

The greatest of minds cannot know the mind of God. Scripture can be memorized to the last letter but if the spirit of God does not live in your heart, the fullness of God will never be known to you. (Ephesians 3:17-19) To know God, baptism in the Holy Spirit is needed. For that to happen you must believe in Jesus Christ. The way of life you once lived will become fresh and new, cleansed of all things of this world. A desire for the word of Christ will bloom with new meaning and light the way to a new life. Those whose heart is right He will call to himself. (John 15:9-17) A heart that loves Christ is also one that abides in the word and spreads the word to those in need. The word will manifest itself in those who believe and follow it. No one can fully know the mind of God, our creator, but we can be covered in the fullness and inner peace in His presence. That peace is His Spirit that lives within letting us know He loves us, will care for us, will never abandon us. His constancy is always true.    

This week is the last of the Victorian house images and Jill's favorite. It is yellow, Jill's favorite. 

That is it for this week. I pray the good Lord has been kind to all of you. May Jesus Christ bless you and keep you in the coming weeks and years. Until then, remember to "Love The Details." God Bless!

Psalm 118:8

Many people feel so pressured by the expectations of others that it causes them to be frustrated, miserable and confused about what they should do. But there is a way to live a simple, joy-filled, peaceful life, and the key is learning how to be led by the Holy Spirit, not the traditions or expectations of man. 

Joyce Meyer @ htps://www.brainyquote.com

It is not a tradition, a law nor a human expectation of man that is meaningful in this life. These are places where failure is guaranteed. Israel tried for centuries to follow laws and traditions and failed to the point they lost the country they lived in. The problem is these things cause men to become blind to the truth that is right in front of them. Psalm 118:8 says "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than Man." Traditions are man's and therefore incomplete or flawed. Man's expectations are no better. They may not be wrong but they are incomplete. Read Psalm 118: 8-14 and take note of verse 14. "Yahweh is my strength and my song, He has been my savior." Christ sent Yahweh's paraclete, the Holy Spirit, to be our guide, comforter and our savior. The early Christians lived in a world that was exceptionally cruel and uncertain. It was the unwavering faith that eventually caused the world to take notice and begin to believe in Christ. The Holy Spirit brought peace to them even in the face of persecution. If you read scripture and Christ is your savior then the Holy Spirit is there to be your guide. To have unwavering faith in Christ is to have unwavering faith in Yahweh. Yahweh lives in Christ and Christ lives in us in the form of the Holy Spirit. Trust in the Spirit of God not in man. You will never be disappointed.

This is the final Victorian house image and DW's favorite. She says that is because it is yellow, her favorite color.

That is it for this week. Remember to always "Love The Details." God Bless and keep you always safe.

Alms

 Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. Khalil Gibran

https://www.brainyquote.com

Did you know that, according to St. Augustine, kindness bestowed upon others in the form of deeds are considered "Alms deeds?" Many of the saints had little or no wealth to give so they gave what they had instead. This included the clothes they were wearing right off their backs. When the need was other than monetary they gave assistance or service. "He who supports a lame man bestows an alms on him with his feet; he who guides a blind man does him a charity with his eyes; he who carries an invalid or an old man upon his shoulders imparts to him an alms of his strength. Hence none are so poor but they may bestow an alms on the wealthiest man in the world.” (Shea, J. G. (1887). Pictorial Lives of the Saints (p. 220). New York; Cincinnati; Chicago: Benziger Brothers.) Love thy neighbor as thyself. (Matthew 22:39) These things must be done with love and compassion to have any meaning. No matter the gift or service it is giving back what the lord has gifted us with. We were blessed with life and things that others do not have. Those gifts are not ours to hoard away. They do not gain interest or multiply in ways that are eternal. They do fade away and disappear into the forgotten world of nothingness since most of the gifts of importance are not material. As for the gifts of material things, they can't be taken with you when you cross over to eternity. Some have tried by having them buried with them. That is only selfish greed. Those things will either rot away to nothingness or they will be forgotten along with the one it is buried with. No one remembers them or honors them for their greed. Be of generous heart and be gifted with even greater gifts. (Luke 6:38, Acts 10:4, Romans 12:7, Corinthians 12:8-10, 2 Corinthians 8:3) 

Today I am sharing the third image of the Victorian house. This is a departure from the other two in the way it was colored. DW would like me to do more variations since she like this one so much.  

Several of the parts of this image were colored different than any others. The roof shingles are the greatest difference. Next week is the last of these renderings. I am sure you tire of this image anyway. 

Remember to always "Love The Details." God bless and keep you safe always.

Respect

 

(Acts 1:24, 10:34) In reading these passages then following up in a commentary it was an "aha" moment that made complete sense in a new way. God knows hearts (1:24) and does not respect persons (10:34). This arose from the question of circumcision of the gentiles by the Christian Jews (the Judaisers). This is to say that circumcision is part of the Jewish law and tradition. God knows the hearts of His creation and we no longer need the act of circumcision to signify that we are His. There are no works or acts we can perform to acquire the gift of eternal life. (10:34) It is by the grace of the father that we are forgiven and the sacrifice of Christ that grace is sealed. The belief in Christ can be seen in our hearts and that is all that is needed. That belief will change the life of the believer through his or her heart and transform them into a likeness of Christ. The heart cannot lie to the spirit of God. He created us to be His mirror image in this life. Christ was sent to show us the way. Physical circumcision is not needed for God to know we are His. Spiritual circumcision is required. We are to be set apart from this life and this world in our ways. (Galatians 6:15, Romans 2:27) In short, we are to become a new creation, transformed, reborn.

Today I would like to share the second image of the Victorian house. 

Next week the coloring will be quite different. Until then, remember to "Love The Details." Be safe and God Bless.

The Future

 2 Peter 2:6, 1 John 3:2, Revelations 4:1

Have you ever wished for knowledge of the future? Have you ever proclaimed how wonderful it would be to know the future? Do you still feel that way? Do you know what you are asking for? Look at where you are now and consider that question again. Biblical individuals that were granted that wish/request found it a horrifying vision. Would you have wanted to know what you had to go through before it happened to arrive at this moment in your life? There are both good and bad possibilities as an answer to these questions. Where you start does not define where you end. It is the life you live that defines how that ending turns out. Knowing it beforehand changes nothing. We are not in control of it. If you chose a life outside of Christ you will not be finding a rainbow there that is permanent. (2 Peter 2:6) Following Christ and placing our life in His hands will provide a definite ending to this life. Whether it is the expected or not is still not up to us. (1 John 3:2) The future we live in is even more unsettled. Look around you. Do you like what you see? Does the future excite you with its possibilities? I am not a doom and gloom person but neither am I someone who will paint future possibilities as rosy and secure. Life does not work that way and this age we live in is rife with trial and strife. 1 John 3:2 states the only thing we can be sure of, we are His and we will be like Him when he returns. It is only important that we strive in the moment to be as patient and Christ like as our earthly life will permit. To not do so would invite a repeat of 2 Peter 2:6. Revelations 4:1 is the beginning of the revelation of the fate of humanity. It is a future that no one knows but all Christians long for, The coming of the Lord. I am content to wait on the Lord and that day. 

The image this week is one MDW has used many different versions of as far as coloring is concerned. It is fun doing these and the possibilities for coloring are only limited by the number of colors available.

I included the Copic colors in the image itself to eliminate photographing, adjusting and resizing two images instead of one. Hope you enjoyed this image. There are three more to come and two of them are quite different. 

That does it for this week. Please take care of yourself and remember to always "Love The Details." God Bless.

Silence

 Zephaniah 3:9 - Psalm 67:2-6,8

How ironic! A deposed dictator of yesteryear speaks words we should be listening to today but are silent over. What we are not proclaiming speaks louder than the silence around us as Christians. What does it say about us if we have lost our voice when it comes to proclaiming the word of God? We are in need of a full blown revival in this country. (John 12:44-50) The word of God is not silent even when it is not spoken but remains as judge over those who reject it. It is true that one person has a seemingly small influence in this world by themselves. Christ proved that wrong. One voice, in fact, is very powerful when it is based in the truth of God's word. Christianity, Christ's teachings, are base on the truth of God's words. We are coerced by this world to believe the word of God can be twisted to suit human desires and wants. We are expected to believe that these things are normal and that they are the majority in our society. That is not true. They believe they have no judge since they have silenced it. That is not true because God's word is not silenced. Judgement was not spared for Jerusalem when they rejected God's word. This world is, the nations are, this nation is headed in that same direction. Judgement! The silence of the Christian is not a place of safety just as speaking out is not a place of safety. The word of God is never silent nor is it complacent or dormant. We are called to return to the word and not only repent but to speak out lest it find reason to judge us. This nation needs to return to being based on family principles, on Christian principles, on God's word. Wealth, political power or military power are no substitute for the word of God. They all fail when put in the light of the word.

In the next few posts, four to be exact, I would like to share an image that my DW likes. Unfortunately I have had this image for some time and never have found where it originated from. It is titled "Old Victorian House." I have done a dozen or so variants of this image.

This image is "as is". The only thing added is the colored by on the front of the image. That does it for this post. I hope you are all well and safe. Remember to always "Love The Details." God Bless!

What I am Not

 Galatians 3:28

(Acts 8:1-9) Saul (Later renamed Paul) was a good example of a man that was changed and lived through spiritual adversity. It also shows how much God loves us and wants to use us to show His love for all of us no matter who we were before we are called. Unlike most of those called to be disciples, Saul (Paul) was well educated. He had to be humbled so he understood who Christ was. (Acts 9) He was now brought to a place where Christ could affect his rebirth and cause him to be a new creature, an apostle to the gentiles. This is an extreme example of the Holy Spirit causing the conversion from non-believer to believer. Hard hearts sometimes need this to see the truth. For some it happens subtly, more gently. I felt the calling when very young, too young to understand the meaning of being Christian. By the tweens (pre-teens) it was becoming clear that something was different. I answered an alter call in my early teens but still had no true idea what it meant to be Christian. Still living in the ways of the world the Lord said enough is enough and caused me to break both major bones in my calf and the socket of my foot. For three months while healing I read the bible from beginning to end since I was not allowed to walk on the cast. Much has happened since that time including being guided to do this blog. There are many things in our lives that we can look at and say "I can relate to that" as we read the bible. I am not a Paul who travels the world, converting souls over to the Christian way nor a minister or priest. It is enough to share what I have been given to give hope to those who are feeling alone or forgotten. Christ forgets no one and leaves no one behind. I know that first hand. Hardships and broken bones may just be a wakeup call telling us to stop, be still and listen to the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit calling to you. God loves us and sometimes does miracles to cause us to listen to that whisper we are too busy to hear otherwise. Yes broken bones can be miracles when they cause us to return to the path and be still so we can become better Christians.

Today I would like to share a page from a coloring book, Creative Haven - Peacock Designs coloring book,  that I was given by a friend. I will be giving them this as a birthday present on their birthday. They are enamored with peacocks so this was done especially for them. 

The Copics used were:

The diamond in the upper left is Wink of Stella gold. That pretty much does it for this post. Thank you for stopping by and if you commented it is much appreciated. Remember to always "Love The Details." God Bless.

Believe

 John 6:22-29 

It can be difficult to understand the purpose behind some things we encounter in life. Sometimes they seem an insurmountable barrier to our understanding and forward progress. There are times when the solution seems to have multiple answers or in fact has multiple possibilities. Jesus often answered with vague answers we call parables. Other times He was very clear. If you have spent your life trying to find how God would use you the best thing you might do is to be still. The treasure you seek is most likely right in front of you. Read  John 6:22-29 and the answer Jesus has given to us all. We run around seeking the food that we put into our body but neglect the food that sustains our spirit. Why does this sound familiar? Why do we always wind up back where we started from? Because to follow Christ we must begin at the beginning. There are no short cuts, therefore we run in circles. Circles have no end point. Getting from here to there requires a straight line. A line of spiritual sight that feeds our spiritual need and waters the thirst within our spirit. The eucharist shared at the Christian services tells us what we must do but it is up to us to follow through. (1 Corinthians 11:24-34) Matthew, Mark and Luke (Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:19-20) tells us the last supper was the place the eucharist was first shared but Corinthians is where it is explained. It is not enough to partake in the last supper in remembrance but to do so with belief and repentance. That is the way our spiritual walk must be made. That is when we are fed and given living water that sustains us. It is a life process that we must follow throughout our week, not just on Sundays or on special holidays. In this way we become Christian examples not just Sunday church goers. 

Today I would like to share several stamped images my DW gave me to color from her stamping magazines to color. They are simple but they were fun to do. 

The colors are at the edges of the image for each image.  The Copic colors are:

For the leaf = G16, YG41

For the large & small flowers = YR65, RV09, BV34, V01

For the upper left flower = R12, R22, YR14, Y26

That will do it for this weeks post. May the Good Lord bless and keep you safe. Remember to always "Love The Details."