"The LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel'" (Genesis 3:14-15)."
"When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, 'Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands'" (Genesis 5:28-29).
"And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:2-3).
"I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 26:4).
"Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 28:14).
"Then the LORD said, 'I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites'" (Exodus 3:7).
"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—" (Deuteronomy 18:15).
"I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him" (Deuteronomy 18:18-19).
"When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, 'Are you for us, or for our adversaries?' And he said, 'No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.' And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped" (Joshua 5:13-14).
"When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
"When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever" (1 Chronicles 17:11-14).
"In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet" (Psalm 18:6-9).
"It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever; and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever" (Psalm 136:23-24).
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool" (Isaiah 1:18).
"In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning" (Isaiah 4:2-4).
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined" (Isaiah 9:2).
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this" (Isaiah 9:6-7).
"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins" (Isaiah 11:1-5).
"Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, 'Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.'
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes" (Isaiah 35:3-7).
"Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice" (Isaiah 42:1-3).
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound" (Isaiah 61:1).
"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness'" (Jeremiah 23:5-6).
"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13-14).
"'In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,' declares the LORD who does this" (Amos 9:11-12).
"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2).
"Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts" (Haggai 2:21-23).
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9).
"But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts" (Malachi 4:2-3).
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction" (Malachi 4:5-6).
"But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us)" (Matthew 1:20-23).
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:11-12).
"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight'" (Mark 1:1-3).
"And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared" (Luke 1:16-17).
"And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.'
And Mary said to the angel, 'How will this be, since I am a virgin?'
And the angel answered her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God'" (Luke 1:30-35).
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1:68-79).
"And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7).
"And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord'" (Luke 2:10-11).
"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32).
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
"The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
I spotted this beautiful bird on a calm, cold, morning just before sunrise. I grabbed my camera and got some quick shots. It wasn't too long before he made an attack. It was an awesome sight, and I use that word literally. He swooped down to a bush, frightened a small bird, and gave chase. I lost him in the ensuing pursuit as he and the other bird weaved in and out of trees and brush farther and farther away. Then all was calm, and the woods were perfectly still again. It was something.
INTERESTING FACTS
The Cooper’s Hawk was first described in 1828 by Charles Bonaparte, a French naturalist and ornithologist who was the nephew of Napoleon. It was named after William Cooper, who collected the first specimen.
It captures a bird with its feet, and will squeeze it repeatedly to kill it, instead of biting the prey to kill it in the fashion of falcons. It has also been known to drown its prey.
They capture prey from cover or while flying quickly through dense vegetation. This can be dangerous, a recent study found that 23 percent had healed fractures in the bones of the chest, especially of the furcula or wishbone.
A group of hawks has many collective nouns, including a "boil", "knot", "spiraling", "stream", and "tower" of hawks.
Coopers_Hawk.aspx>.
INTERESTING FACTS
The Cooper’s Hawk was first described in 1828 by Charles Bonaparte, a French naturalist and ornithologist who was the nephew of Napoleon. It was named after William Cooper, who collected the first specimen.
It captures a bird with its feet, and will squeeze it repeatedly to kill it, instead of biting the prey to kill it in the fashion of falcons. It has also been known to drown its prey.
They capture prey from cover or while flying quickly through dense vegetation. This can be dangerous, a recent study found that 23 percent had healed fractures in the bones of the chest, especially of the furcula or wishbone.
A group of hawks has many collective nouns, including a "boil", "knot", "spiraling", "stream", and "tower" of hawks.
"Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? On the rock he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold. From there he spies out the prey; his eyes behold it afar off" (Job 39:26-29).This hawk was a majestic sight, and even somewhat terrifying. So quiet, so beautiful, so majestic, yet so deadly and lethal. An incredible creature. Does it not display a piece of our God's silent beauty, His majestic power, His awesome Person? It was a privilege to behold.
Work Cited
What Bird. 21 Dec. 2010, <http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/36/_/Coopers_Hawk.aspx>.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Trees
Trees have a pretty boring life. They grow leaves, they lose leaves. They grow them again, they lose them again. And so on. We can usually tell what cycle the tree is going through by looking at its outward appearance. If it has new leaves, it must be in the "spring" stage. If it has full, green leaves, it must be in "summer " stage. If dying leaves, "fall" stage. If no leaves, "winter" stage.
The tree above is in very early spring stage, as can be seen from the tiny leaf buds forming on the stems (may not be visible without clicking on the image). It's leaves demonstrate the life that is beginning within.
Summer stage . . .
Fall stage . . .
Winter stage . . .
Like trees, the war going on inside of us on a daily basis manifests itself in outward symptoms. Though often it may seem like our war should be directly against wrong behavior, hurtful words, or other outward sins, these are but the symptoms of the inner war raging within.
Ephesians 6:12 says, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." And 1 Timothy 6:12 says, "Fight the good fight of the faith."
So while it is easy to get caught up fighting the outer war, we need to focus on getting to the core. The battle is within; we must fight there. Our actions are but a visible expression of what is within: "As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man" (Proverbs 27:19). If we want to see righteousness come out, let us strive first to be righteous within.
The glory is that Christ now lives within us, and our outward expressions will not be able to keep from expressing His presence: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if I had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
- Robert Frost
Friday, December 3, 2010
The Other Half
A little less than two years ago I took a photograph called "The Half Sun." It is seen in a post entitled "Unusual Suns" that I posted in January of this year. It was so neat looking, one of the more unique "suns" that I've seen. The sun never seems to look quite the same; sometimes it's red, sometimes white, sometimes yellow, sometimes half-way hidden by clouds, sometimes peeking behind clouds, sometimes creating a rainbow, sometimes in brilliant sunsets, sometimes in ordinary sunsets, sometimes more to the southern horizon, sometimes more directly up . . . you get the idea. It rarely looks the same. Different seasons, different times of day, and different weather conditions change the way we see it.
The morning I took this picture there was only half a sun.
And this morning (Dec. 3) I found the other half!
It never looks the same. It's appearance changes depending on the way I view it. The same is true in our relationship with God. Our perceptions of Him change as our circumstances change. Depending on where we are in life, what season we're going through, what the spiritual "weather conditions" are, He is revealed in different light from day to day. But, like the sun, He is always the same. No matter how distant or dim He might appear, He is there. Even when He apparently disappears altogether, He has not gone. He is with us in our deepest darkest valleys and our highest brightest mountains. As Jesus Himself said just before He left this earth: "I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Monday, November 29, 2010
First Snow
The morning after Thanksgiving was marked by our first snow of the season. The weathermen had forecasted it, but I didn't really believe them. I was therefore quite surprised to wake up to a world washed white in snow. Surprised, and reminded . . .
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool" (Isaiah 1:18).
Thanksgiving day was a gray, muddy day. It rained the entire day, and much of the day before. It was muddy. It was dirty. It was cloudy and dark. Not a pretty sight.
But when we woke up the next morning, the scene had changed: everything was sparkling white, fresh, and clean. What a picture! What a testimony creation gives to the glorious reality of the Gospel! What a portrayal of the transforming power of the cross of Jesus Christ!
This is the story of everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, accepting His sacrifice for sin. The dirt and grunge is removed, and all that remains is purity and holiness. That is the difference between the work of God and the work of the snow: snow just covers the dirt; God's grace obliterates it.
"I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25).
Monday, November 22, 2010
Freedom
"Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:34-36).
"For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13).
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thoughts
Our thoughts are with God, as Noah's dove was in the ark, kept up to Him a little against their inclinations and desire; but when once they can break away, they fly up and down over all the world to see (if it were possible) to find any rest out of God; but when we find that we seek in vain, and that the world is all covered with the waters of instable vanity and bitter vexation, and that there is no rest for the sole of our foot, or for the foot of our soul, no wonder then if we return to the ark again.
(Baxter, Richard. The Saints' Everlasting Rest. 1650)
Like the dove in the photograph above, we must learn to content ourselves on the only Branch that can satisfy us. We may think that there's a better perch out there somewhere, but there isn't. There will be no rest for our minds until we settle upon that most wonderful Perch: God Himself.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Waiting
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust--there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love; for He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.
Lamentations 3:25-32
Waiting through the storms of life is never easy. But it is always worth it. So I'll join these birds and wait . . .
Monday, November 15, 2010
Blessing
I have just been blessed with a new camera. My 2 1/2-year-old camera has been growing gradually noisier. It served its purpose well, and remains a faithful piece of equipment--just a bit outdated.
It's not a DSLR. That's a bit beyond my interest and my budget :) But it is a top-of-the-line super-zoom, with an optical zoom of 35x (35mm equiv. = 840mm, which would be a very large DSLR lens). Here are some photograph and video examples of what this looks like:
I am extremely thankful for this new camera. By my rights, I deserve nothing but eternal wrath. Yet by God's grace through Jesus Christ, I receive not condemnation (Romans 8:1), but eternal spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3). Blessing is not deserved; it is given. What's neat is that, even though material blessing is not necessarily promised us (unlike spiritual blessing), God still gives it. Let us take care that these blessings do not distract us from the Blesser! He blesses us not that we might become wrapped up in the blessing, but that we might become wrapped up in Him.
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