A Wildflower Morning

"The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross, His flesh lacerated with stripes;     those hands so often reached out in blessing, nailed to the wooden bars;     those feet so tireless on ministries of love, spiked to the tree;      that royal head pierced by the crown of thorns; those quivering lips shaped to the cry of woe,     And all that He endured--      the blood drops that flowed from His head,          His hands,              His feet,                 the agony that racked His frame                      and the unutterable anguish that filled His soul        ...

"You should take your children  out into the gardens,  and show them the beautiful flowers  that God has made.    God is the great master artist,  and the pictures which are painted by human artists  and admired by the world,  are only feeble imitations of the works of God.    God daily works miracles before us  in the unfolding of the blossoms;  for no human hand can paint  such delicate hues, or fashion such graceful plants   All this speaks of the work  of the divine Artist,  and each flower is an expression  of the love of God to us.  God has designed to make us happy.    He has covered the earth  with the beautiful green verdure;  for he knew that this color  would be grateful to our senses.    Each beautiful thing in nature  is a token of God's love and care.  So take your children out into the open air  beneath the canopy of the ...

This morning God brought me some new thoughts.  He took me to the interlinear Bible I had downloaded onto my computer , where I can look at the Hebrew or Greek or any verse of the Bible.  This morning I studied through the 10 commandments in Exodus 20.  Amazing.  I have never looked at them in this way.  I have new thoughts about almost every verse.  I don't know if I'll have time to write about all of them, so I'll start with the last one, because it is possibly the one that struck me the closest. In the King James we read in Exodus 20:17, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's." The first translation of the Hebrew word for covet is "to delight in, and then gives a list of things you might delight in, including, "beauty, desire, goodly, pleasant (thing), precious (thing). I had no...

We are children of the most Amazing, Awesome God.  He doesn't work on the exchange system, where He pays us for our work, or rewards us for how good we are.  He instead gives us salvation, not because we earned it, but because He loves us and loves to give good things to His children.  Our righteousness comes by faith in our Savior, not because of any amount of any good works we may do.   It's not because we are awesome that HE rewards us (gives us salvation), it is because He is AWESOME! -The most important part of a sermon I heard last week by David Asserick

Everything is so fresh outside and full of life. The air is full of sound, but it the noise of peace and praise. Sparrows, robins, meadowlarks, mourning doves, crickets all singing the song God gave them to sing. Something swelled up in my heart as the freshness filled my lungs and sight. Green bursting forth from the once cold soil. Flowers in simplicity and purity grace the garden. I could stay out here for hours, wandering slowly so as not to miss a single joy. I almost missed it though. I almost didn't go outside. I almost stayed inside loaded down with the cares of the morning: dishes, dirty counters, kids who can't find their socks, phone calls, messy piles of clutter. The to do list stretched beyond my sight. There is no way to get it all done in one day. "Work hard and fast," my mind says. "Come and see," the birds call. "Come," my God calls. Come and spend some time with me. All of this freshness, warmth and beauty are cre...

Green Tree Frog, near Fern Canyon, Crescent City, CA F. = Forever R. = Rely O. = On G. = God