Sojourning #3...quiet...

I always think of "soft" and "quiet" together...

Textured with one layer of Kim Klassen's "chaos" set to soft light blend mode.

...make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: 

You should mind your own business 

and work with your hands...  

so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders 

and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 

I Thessalonians 4:11 NIV

As sojourners we are to aim towards living a quiet life, and work with our hands - I love that these two instructions point in the direction of creativity!  And in living quietly and purposefully, outsiders will respect us - and perhaps ask how they too can be citizens of our country...

More "quiet" beauty at the Texture Tuesday link up here... 

Sojourning #2 ...enjoyment...

A rare pink bluebonnet from our yard last spring...textures with Kim's 0703 at color burn blend mode and reduced to 25% opacity.  The type font is called "Petra"

I am a sojourner here on this earth (Philippians 3:20).

And it is amazing to me that, even though I am no longer "of this world" but still in it, the things in it were made for my enjoyment...

What a loving God, that before I became a citizen of His world, He created the beauty in this one for me to enjoy, and perhaps to wonder about just how much more incredible my permanent home will be...

And if He created all this beauty for me to enjoy, how it must please Him when I do take. time. to. stop. and. enjoy. it...

no frantic trying to please Him, to work at gaining what I already have (His love),
no worrying that He might withdraw it from me,
no missing the delicate intricacies of living life here because I am constantly preparing for the move "home"...

This must be why He told the Children of Israel to plant gardens and settle down, "make themselves at home", when they went into captivity in Babylon...even tho' they were no longer in their homeland, they were still in the hands of God - and could still have joy in their lives...

And here, back here in this century, this year, this moment of time - I am free in this land that is not my final home...and I can love:

warm days and cool nights

frogs singing across the field every evening

morning songbirds

wind in the oak's strong branches

the scolding chatter of the squirrel who lives above the garage

the anticipation of this year's wild flowers

a cat's purr

the smell of spring

the comfort of a worn quilt on the porch swing when it is just a tad too cool 

the way of a family

how we love one another...

Joining with other wonderful photographers at Texture Tuesday here

Sojourning #1...You know the way...

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of being at a retreat center which had a reproduction village from ancient Israel built - it is called "Capernaum".  Of course I took pictures!  And you will be seeing many of the shots during this season of Lent...

 

...and you know the way to the place where I am going...John 14:4

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.     John 14:1-3 NIV

The theme the Lord is leading me towards for my personal Lenten explorations comes from the idea that we are simply sojourners in this world, citizens of another.  And so for this first installment, I chose an image of looking through an archway in the town of "Capernaum", towards a live oak tree...

 almost as if I am looking through a corridor from one world to the next, and the oak is the Tree of Life in the center of Paradise...

"Soon," the Spirit says.  "Soon, we will be together." 


Joining with the Texture Tuesday link up here... 

My image is processed with a vibrance adjustment and one layer of Kim's "rest" from her February trio set to "color burn" blend mode and opacity adjusted to 48%. 

My word for the year - "Finish"

Hearing my word for 2014 really happened during the regular time frame...during the month of January...it is just now that I seem to have time to write about it...

Picture source

The word whispered around the back portions of my mind - I wasn't sure if it was just my need to accomplish cleaning off my desk in my office/art studio, or gaining some sort of organization after 6 months of seeming chaotic life...(my desk is still piled, but project after project is moving off...FINISHED!)

"FINISH"!

It is a triumphant call - He calls me to "finish" because He declared "It is finished"...Everything is settled...

He will perfect that which concerns me -

He has given us everything I need for life and Godliness -

His gift and calling is irrevocable -

I looked at places where the word shows up in Scripture, and found three that leaped out to me:

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:4 NIV

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.  2 Corinthians 8:11 NIV

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.   Acts 20:24 NIV

Picture source

 The very day I decided that the word dancing around my mind had the emphasis of the Spirit with it, this article was delivered to my inbox:

There is an "It is Finished" sound in the kingdom. Are we releasing it? 

This excerpt captures the tone of what I was hearing:  

The governmental power of 'NOW Sound" is that we know He is King, it is finished, and Father is governing through the release of the sound of His sons and we are releasing what He is revealing, right here, right NOW! 

When I read about worship, I automatically include the act of creating any art, honoring Him by releasing the creativity He has placed within us, in the context of worship...


He is saying:

Finish the race I have set before you...
I have released you into the fullness of your passions and calling!

Finish the creative explosions released within you...
Release the creativity I have placed within you to the sphere of your influence!

Finish through perseverance...
Maturity and completeness come only through the daily practice of reaching towards Me, seeking to reflect Me to the world...in all you do, keep going, experimenting, exploring, wondering, making, moving, ministering, revealing...

I hear Him cheering me on...
What will He accomplish in this coming year?  I cannot wait as I consider all the ideas, half formed, some almost complete...finished!

Blessed first day of the week...

Image source - the owners contacted me and encouraged me to use their images!