But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing." Andrew Jackson
Christ secured our blessing of salvation when He died on the cross for us. He payed the ultimate price so that we would not have to. We do however need to remain vigilant for the devil prowls around, waiting to destroy us. The devil will do anything that he can to make you disbelieve the promise of your salvation. He knows that BELIEF in the promise is what seals the seals the deal.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
I was recently given a very old Bible from a friend of mine. I love the treasures that are sometimes pressed in the pages, or the notes that someone from long ago left for us to find.
I have always had a thing for Abraham Lincoln. As I was turning the pages, I discovered a yellowed newspaper clipping. It was cut to the size of the article perfectly. The Title of the article is, Lest Union Forget! It's Been Four Score..And Seven Years Today Since Lincoln Made His Address.
I decided to read the Gettysburg Address. I have come to realize, that God knows that I enjoy history, and uses it as a way to reveal things to me. Here is the address:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
In reading the italicized part of this speech above, I realized that Christ died for the same reason that these men gave their life. Just as God has raised up an earthly army to fight for our physical freedom, He also sent us Christ, who has paved The Way for our spiritual freedom. In the same manner that Lincoln had urged us to take increased devotion towards their cause, I feel that Christ compels us to continue on with His cause of freeing the spiritual prisoners of this Earth. Let us lose our lives as Christ did, by dying to ourselves, and reaching out to a hurting world. If you want to become a hero, save a life. Save them by teaching them of the Lord our God and Savior. In this Way, we will show the world that our Lord did not die in vain.
Father, give us eyes to see, and ears to hear those around us that need our help.
I have always had a thing for Abraham Lincoln. As I was turning the pages, I discovered a yellowed newspaper clipping. It was cut to the size of the article perfectly. The Title of the article is, Lest Union Forget! It's Been Four Score..And Seven Years Today Since Lincoln Made His Address.
I decided to read the Gettysburg Address. I have come to realize, that God knows that I enjoy history, and uses it as a way to reveal things to me. Here is the address:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
In reading the italicized part of this speech above, I realized that Christ died for the same reason that these men gave their life. Just as God has raised up an earthly army to fight for our physical freedom, He also sent us Christ, who has paved The Way for our spiritual freedom. In the same manner that Lincoln had urged us to take increased devotion towards their cause, I feel that Christ compels us to continue on with His cause of freeing the spiritual prisoners of this Earth. Let us lose our lives as Christ did, by dying to ourselves, and reaching out to a hurting world. If you want to become a hero, save a life. Save them by teaching them of the Lord our God and Savior. In this Way, we will show the world that our Lord did not die in vain.
Father, give us eyes to see, and ears to hear those around us that need our help.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
DECOLORIS!!
I was enabled to embark on the journey of a lifetime. My walk to Emmaus, #32 St. Annes Convent, Melbourne, KY, TABLE OF ESTHER (I should have known)! I have never felt so loved in all of my life. I want to thank God for Jerry a man that after knowing a girl for only 15 minutes on a bus to New Orleans, would follow his inner Spirit voice, and refer me to two fellow servants Lori & George who would sponsor me for this walk. My heart has been touched in so many ways, my cup overflows with love. I am blessed to become a part of this community of BELIEVERS! Thank you also for my friends who so dearly expressed their love for me, through their agape letters, and for the people that knew me not, yet showed me more love than a heart can contain. Lord, you always know where to put me, and when to put me there. The experiences I am unable to speak of, as the surprises must be left as such, should you become a pilgrim. I will say that I know what Heaven will look like, if only at a glance. I have been inspired in so many ways to take this love inside of me, and pay it forward. Thank you Lord for my new friends, my new experiences and where this road is leading on my Fourth Day! I know you are counting on me and I am counting on you.
Jesus, I adore thee, lay my life before ye, how I love thee!
I ask you Papa, what is next? I am willing to wait for that answer,and BELIEVE with all my heart it will be revealed in your perfect time.
Love me, your daughter art!
Jesus, I adore thee, lay my life before ye, how I love thee!
I ask you Papa, what is next? I am willing to wait for that answer,and BELIEVE with all my heart it will be revealed in your perfect time.
Love me, your daughter art!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
A SABBATH DAY OF REST
Heb 4:1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
Heb 4:2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
____________________________________________
Most when they hear The Sabbath and rest, think of taking time off from our work to play, and I do feel this is an important part of the Sabbath that God speaks of. I also BELIEVE there is another kind of rest. One of sitting back, and not letting the storms of life bother you. To fully and totally TRUST our Father to handle any situations that arise. To have a peace about you in the midst of everything, that can only come from clinging onto the only constant, with full assurance that He that knows all, will see you through. If you are going through something today that has you stressed, you are not putting your full Faith in our Father to take care of your every need. I have a son. If I knew that he was constantly worrying that I may not be able to take care of him, and provide for him, it would break my heart and I would feel that he does not trust me. I feel that God hurts the same when we don't keep our eyes on Him as our provider, with an inner knowing that all will be well.
Heb 4:2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
____________________________________________
Most when they hear The Sabbath and rest, think of taking time off from our work to play, and I do feel this is an important part of the Sabbath that God speaks of. I also BELIEVE there is another kind of rest. One of sitting back, and not letting the storms of life bother you. To fully and totally TRUST our Father to handle any situations that arise. To have a peace about you in the midst of everything, that can only come from clinging onto the only constant, with full assurance that He that knows all, will see you through. If you are going through something today that has you stressed, you are not putting your full Faith in our Father to take care of your every need. I have a son. If I knew that he was constantly worrying that I may not be able to take care of him, and provide for him, it would break my heart and I would feel that he does not trust me. I feel that God hurts the same when we don't keep our eyes on Him as our provider, with an inner knowing that all will be well.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Rev 4:3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.
If you click on this picture twice, it will make it bigger. I just love the circular rainbow of colors along the outside of the sun. It reminds me of what our hearts look like when we are full of the Holy Spirit. It is the true Sonshine.
If you click on this picture twice, it will make it bigger. I just love the circular rainbow of colors along the outside of the sun. It reminds me of what our hearts look like when we are full of the Holy Spirit. It is the true Sonshine.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
STAIRWAY FROM HEAVEN
I was at Red River Gorge over the weekend. I had never been there before. We hiked for endless hours on Sat and Sun. On Sunday, we were headed towards a rock with a split in it, was all that I knew. I had no idea that the bottom of the rock was about 10 feet from the edge of a cliff. This would have been where you would reach your leg up to get onto this rock, that was about half as tall as me.
My friend had it in his head that my other girlfriend and I would be totally fine climbing it. Normally, I am up for a good challenge, and it is hard to get me to back out of one. I was not sure if this was a time to face the fear of falling, or if this was an unwise move all together. As we sat there on the other rocks deciding whether we were going to climb it or not, I prayed to God to tell me what to do. I felt as if it was not a wise move because there was no one else climbing this rock, my legs were already spent from all of the hiking that we had done all weekend, and this was my first time hiking like that. I did not feel it would be a wise choice. Now that I had made this decision, I began to wonder what the alternative route was going to look like. We had already climbed some very big rocks, in some very tight squeezes, to get to this rock in the first place. I began to pray Lord, please make a safe way for us. As we ventured around the front side of this mess of rocks, there were, wooden and steel steps with rails. how they got them all the way up there, and built them around all those drop off points, WOW! He had mentioned they were not there the last time that he came. Even though my legs were aching, I was never happier to see those staircases from Heaven. Thanks God for making a way for me! He will always make a way out for us if we call to Him.
We got to the bottom all of us still in one piece. That was a miracle in itself.
Me on a safe rock, LOL:
My friend had it in his head that my other girlfriend and I would be totally fine climbing it. Normally, I am up for a good challenge, and it is hard to get me to back out of one. I was not sure if this was a time to face the fear of falling, or if this was an unwise move all together. As we sat there on the other rocks deciding whether we were going to climb it or not, I prayed to God to tell me what to do. I felt as if it was not a wise move because there was no one else climbing this rock, my legs were already spent from all of the hiking that we had done all weekend, and this was my first time hiking like that. I did not feel it would be a wise choice. Now that I had made this decision, I began to wonder what the alternative route was going to look like. We had already climbed some very big rocks, in some very tight squeezes, to get to this rock in the first place. I began to pray Lord, please make a safe way for us. As we ventured around the front side of this mess of rocks, there were, wooden and steel steps with rails. how they got them all the way up there, and built them around all those drop off points, WOW! He had mentioned they were not there the last time that he came. Even though my legs were aching, I was never happier to see those staircases from Heaven. Thanks God for making a way for me! He will always make a way out for us if we call to Him.
We got to the bottom all of us still in one piece. That was a miracle in itself.
Me on a safe rock, LOL:
Sunday, May 16, 2010
BUTTERFLY BLESSING
Yesterday was a beautiful day at Harbin Park. I arrived earlier to spend about an hour and a half, talking to God, and reading my Bible. I have been struggling lately, feeling a little disconnected. I felt much better after spending that time with Him. A friend of mine met up with me to take pictures, walk, and talk. We had a wonderful afternoon! There are many paths that lead to the hiking trails at this park. We walked down one of these paths, thinking we were going to take a small hike in the woods. We began to take pictures on the way, but her camera was not taking her pictures correctly. It's a little hot out at this time, the bugs are biting us, and now we are really irritated with this camera. Why did it all of the sudden stop taking macro shots correctly? As we are standing there, I look down and see the feather of a cardinal!! I had never found one before. It was awesome! As I bent down to pick it up, I was deciding whether I was going to give it to my friend rather than keep it for myself. Just then another one caught my eye, THERE WERE TWO! WOW! Not only did God bless me with this treasure, He provided another for me to give to her! Then there were two smaller feathers, that were lighter and smaller, able to float in the air better. So, we decided to pick them up, make a wish and throw them into the air. Both of our feathers blew to the left and right side of the trail on top of leaves. I took a picture of both of them, but I liked the picture of hers the best. 
After this, we went to get lunch and I was able to get my blue Slush Puppie, that I had been craving at the local ice cream stand. It started to get cloudy out. I was in shorts and a tank top, and it was getting a little cold out there. I was wishing that I had long pants to put on. I went to the trunk to get my Bible and my journal thinking, well maybe I will just stay for a little longer and read and write. Something navy blue caught my eye. It was the track pants that I had put in there, in case I needed them! I thought that I had taken them out. I was able to slip them on over my shorts, and go on my next adventure. I felt a strong sense that there was something exciting waiting for me on one of those paths. I decided to go with my gut and investigate.
Walking down the path, I could hear my feet crunching the grass, the swish of my track pants, and the sound of tons of crickets even though it was only about 6:30Pm. There was a cool breeze blowing, and everything was vivid and crisp. The bugs could no longer use me as a walking buffet as I was well covered. It was as if I had stepped into a beautiful painting, or a different land of mystical wonderment. I stopped at one point in the path to take pictures of a tree of thorns, mixed with flowers. As I was standing there, I heard something fly by my ears similar to the sound of a small plane. It was a beautiful butterfly! He was fluttering all around. I tried to get a shot of him, but he was much too fast, and very skittish. It was as if he was playing with me. Flying right past my face, and then up, up, and away. It was making me giddy with joy, that he was making his presence known to me. Rather than chase the thing around, I stood still and I held my left arm out, camera in right hand, deciding that the butterfly would in fact land there. I prepared everything as if I knew it was going to happen. I had also asked God to intervene, and allow this to happen.
It was less than a minute, that this beautiful creature blessed me with his presence on my hand exactly in the spot that I had the camera pointed to! WOW! What a miracle/gift of God.
After taking these pictures, he flew away. I asked God if I could have a picture of him, next to the footprints ring that God had given to me years ago on my pinkie finger so that my two miracles could be together. So, I held my arm out again and stuck up my pinkie finger.
Praise the Lord! Thank you so much for making your presence known through your creation. I could never explain the euphoric feeling to have God instantly answer a prayer right before my eyes. Butterflies do not just land on on you. Unless you are at the conservatory at the butterfly show, LOL. Nope, God led it to me because of my request, but more importantly because of my childlike Faith that it would happen. Those are the prayers that release Heaven on Earth, and that is exactly what it felt like in those woods on that day.
I look forward to my next adventure! I will also try with all of my heart to continually remember that things that we perceive as bad or aggravating, happen along the paths of our journey, to slow us down and have us take note of the beauty around us. I guess that is why her camera kept messing up, because once we got off the trail, it started working again. If that had not of happen, I may not have had the time to notice our feathers!
After this, we went to get lunch and I was able to get my blue Slush Puppie, that I had been craving at the local ice cream stand. It started to get cloudy out. I was in shorts and a tank top, and it was getting a little cold out there. I was wishing that I had long pants to put on. I went to the trunk to get my Bible and my journal thinking, well maybe I will just stay for a little longer and read and write. Something navy blue caught my eye. It was the track pants that I had put in there, in case I needed them! I thought that I had taken them out. I was able to slip them on over my shorts, and go on my next adventure. I felt a strong sense that there was something exciting waiting for me on one of those paths. I decided to go with my gut and investigate.
Walking down the path, I could hear my feet crunching the grass, the swish of my track pants, and the sound of tons of crickets even though it was only about 6:30Pm. There was a cool breeze blowing, and everything was vivid and crisp. The bugs could no longer use me as a walking buffet as I was well covered. It was as if I had stepped into a beautiful painting, or a different land of mystical wonderment. I stopped at one point in the path to take pictures of a tree of thorns, mixed with flowers. As I was standing there, I heard something fly by my ears similar to the sound of a small plane. It was a beautiful butterfly! He was fluttering all around. I tried to get a shot of him, but he was much too fast, and very skittish. It was as if he was playing with me. Flying right past my face, and then up, up, and away. It was making me giddy with joy, that he was making his presence known to me. Rather than chase the thing around, I stood still and I held my left arm out, camera in right hand, deciding that the butterfly would in fact land there. I prepared everything as if I knew it was going to happen. I had also asked God to intervene, and allow this to happen.
It was less than a minute, that this beautiful creature blessed me with his presence on my hand exactly in the spot that I had the camera pointed to! WOW! What a miracle/gift of God.
After taking these pictures, he flew away. I asked God if I could have a picture of him, next to the footprints ring that God had given to me years ago on my pinkie finger so that my two miracles could be together. So, I held my arm out again and stuck up my pinkie finger.
Praise the Lord! Thank you so much for making your presence known through your creation. I could never explain the euphoric feeling to have God instantly answer a prayer right before my eyes. Butterflies do not just land on on you. Unless you are at the conservatory at the butterfly show, LOL. Nope, God led it to me because of my request, but more importantly because of my childlike Faith that it would happen. Those are the prayers that release Heaven on Earth, and that is exactly what it felt like in those woods on that day.
I look forward to my next adventure! I will also try with all of my heart to continually remember that things that we perceive as bad or aggravating, happen along the paths of our journey, to slow us down and have us take note of the beauty around us. I guess that is why her camera kept messing up, because once we got off the trail, it started working again. If that had not of happen, I may not have had the time to notice our feathers!
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