Unseen Majesty

the guardian, originally uploaded by Lano Ling.

There is an unseen majesty
When believers gather
For our Lord promises
His presence in such times

..

Lifted Up

Photo credit: pomodora

Lift His name high
In songs of praise

..

Light Accents

Photo credit: Gotfish AKA...Marc

The setting sun:
A daily accent of light
On God's diverse creation.

..

Vapor

Originally uploaded by Dakos..

Like an unseen vapor
The Spirit of God
Imbues the believer...
Guiding,
Directing,
Prompting,
Comforting,
and linking us
To the Divine.

..

Complete Comprehension

One day we'll see Him. One day the questions will be answered. One day all doubts will be dispelled. One day His glory will be completely defined for us.



--Building 429 - Glory Defined

..

Post-Christmas Promise

What better thought can we have for the day after Christmas than this: Our salvation is here. Enjoy.



--Lincoln Brewster - Salvation Is Here

..

On Christmas Morn

Pre-Dawn Sky, originally uploaded by Pat's Pics36 - limited internet next few months.


I

Now the King Immortal

Comes to claim His own,—

Shepherds at their watch by night,

Hail the glory of the light—

They, and they alone.

II

Heralds from the heaven-land,

Tell His Advent clear;—

Where the sound of hurrying feet?

Where the crowds come forth to greet?

Where the loyal cheer?

III

Angels, on the night winds

Have their carols thrown,—

Theirs, the music rapturous, sweet,

Theirs, the songs the Monarch greet,

Theirs, and theirs, alone.

IV

Ah, the silent night hours,

Ah, the slumberers, prone,—

Mortals wake, arise, adore,

Angels, shepherds, honours pour,

They, and they, alone.

V

Jesu, King Immortal,

Mount thy rightful throne;

Loyal hearts their plaudits pour,

Heavenly choirs in songs adore,

They, not they alone.


--from Hymns from the Morningland by John Brownlie

..

Sun Beam

Sun Beam, originally uploaded by Ian Lambert.



PASSIONTIDE

I

O Light, resplendent of the morn

On golden pinions upwards borne,

That usherest in the day;

We rise responsive to the call,

As night removes her dusky pall,

And speeds her flight away.

II

O Light, that, from the Father’s face,

Shone on our world with winning grace,

When darker night prevailed;

We rise to greet Thine Advent bright,

All hail! majestic in Thy might,

When darkness is assailed.

III

O let my soul Thy rising see;

From every cloud my vision free,

And on my pathway shine;

Then shall my course, in safety trod,

Lead ever nearer to my God,

The source of light divine.

IV

O Jesus, Morn of better day,

Thou Light of lights, Whose gladsome ray

Gives light, and life, and cheer;

Light to my soul, and life impart,

And fill with joy my inmost heart,

And scatter night and fear.


--from Hymns from the Morningland by John Brownlie

..

Ah! Angels Hailed That Morning Bright

Photo credit: chrchr_75

I

He came because the Father willed,

And from the midst of heaven’s renown,

The promise to our world fulfilled,

And won a kingdom for His crown.

II

He came because He willed to bear

The burden that His love imposed;

And all our lot of sorrow share,

Until the day in darkness closed.

III

Ah! angels hailed that morning bright,

And in the heavens their carols sung;

But God Himself was hid in night,

When sin and death their arrows flung.

IV

But not to sink beneath their power,

The God-man girt Him for the fray;

And from the darkness of that hour,

There sprang the light of endless day.

V

And wounded souls the triumph knew;

Fresh courage to the faint was given;

And e’en the dead to life anew,

Rose in the glorious might of heaven.

VI

For sin was crushed, and death was slain;—

All hail, the great victorious Son,

Who mounts the throne of heaven again,

To rule the kingdom He has won.


--from Hymns from the Morningland by John Brownlie

..

Nativity

Nativity, originally uploaded by Perfesser.


I

Hail to the King, Who comes in weakness now,

No wreath of gold encircleth His brow,

Lowly His state,—in lowly worship bow;

Hail to the King!

II

Born of His Maiden Mother, pure as snow,

Son of our God, begotten long ago,

Ere yet the stream of time began to flow;

Hail to the King!

III

Nowhere was found a shelter for His head,

Humble He lay, e’en where the oxen fed,

No couch nor crib, a manger was His bed;

Hail to the King!

IV

Herdsmen were there who heard the angels sing;

Wise men from far who myrrh and incense bring,

No other hand bestowed an offering;

Hail to the King!

V

Hail to the King! O Christ upon Thy throne,

Look on the souls which Thou didst make Thine own,

When by Thy Birth and Death Thou did’st atone;

Hail to the King!


--from Hymns from the Morningland by John Brownlie

..

Advent

Small Crater Sunrise 2 - Negev - Israel, originally uploaded by Yayo_M (Avi Morag).


I

Hark! upon the morning breezes,

In the darkness, ere the waking,

Music sweet the senses pleases,

Soft upon the stillness breaking;—

“Glory, Glory!” this the singing,

Welcome to Immanuel bringing.

II

Shepherds at their watch beholding

Angels clad in glistening whiteness,

Heard the wondrous news unfolding

’Mid that dazzling scene of brightness;—

“Glory, Glory!” peace, and kindness,

Light is breaking on our blindness.

III

Glorious morn! The sun uprising,

Shone upon a world rejoicing;

God is with us, truth surprising;

List to song the message voicing,—

“Glory, Glory!” ages told it,

Heavenly voices now unfold it.

IV

God adored, our nature wearing!

Ah, such condescending meekness!

Stooping to a world despairing,

Full of pity for our weakness;—

“Glory, Glory!” praises swelling,

God hath made with man His dwelling.


--from Hymns From the Morningland by John Brownlie

..

Immutable

Everything changes. We grow up, move on, graduate, find love, lose friends, encounter death, get sick, etc. Nothing and no one in our lives is immutable except for One. God and his love for us are unchanging, which is the message in this Sunday's video.



--Todd Agnew - Unchanging One

..

A Simple Faith

This Saturday's video goes back several years, but its core message is still relevant today. We tend to make serving God far too complex than it needs to be. May we all take a lesson from the gentleman featured in this clip.



--Newsboys - Simple Man

..

If My People...

Source: www.christianphotos.net

..

Diverging Paths

Source: www.christianphotos.net

Smile!

Source: www.christianphotos.net

..

Fortified

Source: www.christianphotos.net

..

Fever Fact

Four days of fever so far, so I'm taking a break until I get better. See you soon, Lord willing.

..

Channeled Blessings

Irrigation Sprinkler Wheel 1, originally uploaded by LongInt57.

Prayer and the promises are interdependent. The promise inspires and energizes prayer, but prayer locates the promise, and gives it realization and location. The promise is like the blessed rain falling in full showers, but prayer, like the pipes, which transmit, preserve and direct the rain, localizes and precipitates these promises, until they become local and personal, and bless, refresh and fertilize. Prayer takes hold of the promise and conducts it to its marvellous ends, removes the obstacles, and makes a highway for the promise to its glorious fulfillment.

--from The Possibilities of Prayer by E.M. Bounds

..

God's Golden Promises

Golden fruit and leaves of lignum vitae (Guaiacum officinale), originally uploaded by Joel Abroad.

God's promises cover all things which pertain to life and godliness, which relate to body and soul, which have to do with time and eternity. These promises bless the present and stretch out in their benefactions to the illimitable and eternal future. Prayer holds these promises in keeping and in fruition. Promises are God's golden fruit to be plucked by the hand of prayer. Promises are God's incorruptible seed, to be sown and tilled by prayer.

--from The Possibilities of Prayer by E.M. Bounds

..

As Unceasing As An Artesian Spring

Old Fountain, Artesian well just off the Boardman River, originally uploaded by Kim Cronin.

There ought to be no adjustment of life or spirit for closet hours. The closet spirit should sweetly rule and adjust all times and occasions. Our activities and work should be performed in the same spirit which makes our devotion and which makes our closet time sacred. "Without intermission, incessantly, assiduously," describes an opulence, and energy, and unabated and ceaseless strength and fullness of effort; like the full and exhaustless and spontaneous flow of an artesian stream. Touch the man of God who thus understands prayer, at any point, at any time, and a full current of prayer is seen flowing from him.

--from The Possibilities of Prayer by E.M. Bounds

..

Knocking On Heaven's Door

Knock and the Door Will Be Opened, originally uploaded by honey 77.

God can help us. God is a Father. We need God's good things to help us to "do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God." We need Divine aid to act brotherly, wisely, and nobly, and to judge truly, and charitably. God's help to do all these things in God's way is secured by prayer. "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

--from The Possibilities of Prayer by E.M. Bounds

..

Everything

"Everything changed....., originally uploaded by mistybliss.

"Prayer should be the breath of our breathing, the thought of our thinking, the soul of our feeling, and the life of our living, the sound of our hearing, the growth of our growing." Prayer in its magnitude is length without end, width without bounds, height without top, and depth without bottom. Illimitable in its breadth, exhaustless in height, fathomless in depths and infinite in extension. -- HOMER W. HODGE

--from The Possibilities of Prayer by E.M. Bounds

..

Seeking the Lost

Do you ever stop and ask yourself how many of the people you meet are saved? We encounter sometimes hundreds of individuals daily in school or at work, on the streets or in the stores. How many know Christ? And if we are true believers, what is stopping us from sharing the life-changing faith we know with them? Fear? Sure, none of us like to open ourselves up to potential rejection and ridicule, but is the chance that some lost soul will come to know Jesus through your efforts worth the risk?

Granted, not everyone is a Billy Graham, and no evangelism technique works in all cases. For example, stopping in the middle of a mall and shouting to everybody within earshot to get saved probably won't get you very far, but what about those one-on-one opportunities when you can begin building a friendship with someone new? Those connections can become redemptive relationships that can help one day open the door for you leading another person into a saving knowledge of Christ. And don't your friends deserve that chance?

How will the lost ever get found if we are too afraid to look for them?



--Britt Nicole - The Lost Get Found

..

He's Always With Us

Ever and always, our Savior is with us. We know this. Yet, this promise an mean so much more to us when the hard times come.



--Building 429 - Always

..

Loving Him Completely

Photo credit: hjukkhj

Lord, I would trust Thee completely; I would be altogether Thine; I would exalt Thee above all. I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of Thee. I want constantly to be aware of Thy overshadowing Presence and to hear Thy speaking Voice. I long to live in restful sincerity of heart. I want to live so fully in the Spirit that all my thought may be as sweet incense ascending to Thee and every act of my life may be an act of worship. Therefore I pray in the words of Thy great servant of old, "I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee." And all this I confidently believe Thou wilt grant me through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen.

--from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

..

Sacramental Living

Photo credit: RobtheRunt

Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act. All he does is good and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For such a man, living itself will be sacramental and the whole world a sanctuary. His entire life will be a priestly ministration. As he performs his never so simple task he will hear the voice of the seraphim saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."

--from The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer

..

Motive is Everything

Photo credit: Ryan_Brenizer

The "layman" need never think of his humbler task as being inferior to that of his minister. Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything.

--from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

..

Holy Acts

Photo credit: DiDis.zw

One act of a good man's life may differ widely from another in importance. Paul's sewing of tents was not equal to his writing of an Epistle to the Romans, but both were accepted of God and both were true acts of worship. Certainly it is more important to lead a soul to Christ than to plant a garden, but the planting of the garden can be as holy an act as the winning of a soul.

--from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

..