Author: liliessparrowsandgrass

The Speech and Knowledge of the Skies

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
 the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
 Day after day they pour forth speech;
 night after night they display knowledge.
 There is no speech or language
 where their voice is not heard. 
 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
 their words to the ends of the world.”
Psalm 19:1-4

By day, the skies and the heavens illuminate the wonders of God’s creation.   By night, the proclamation continues, telling of the majesties of God’s handiwork.  They speak constantly; there is no spot on earth where their voice is not heard: incessant praise and adoration for God, His majesty and His glory.

Jesus said that if men kept quiet, if they withhold or repress their praise for God, the rocks will cry out and do it for them.

Tyrrhenian Sea along Tuscan Archipelago, photo by Rica Marie Gandionco Conci
Sunset in Prague, Czech Republic, photo by Rica Marie Gandionco Conci
Isola D'Elba Italy, photo by Rica Marie Gandionco Conci
Sunset in Spain, photo by Rica Marie Gandionco Conci
Sunset at Isola d Elba Italy, photo by Rica Marie Gandionco Conci
Sunset in Germany, photo by Rica Marie Gandionco Conci

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Elements of Joy

“And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” I John 1:4

What is joy? It is a difficult concept to define precisely, however I came across a discussion by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on certain elements that constitute joy:

The first element is that of a state of complete satisfaction. It is an all-encompassing feeling of fulfillment — mind, heart, emotions and desires.  Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that this is an essential part of joy.

The second element of joy is “a spirit of exultation”.  Dr. Lloyd-Jones portrays a child happily playing with his toy, and then someone comes along and gives the child a surprise: the child springs to his feet in glee; “there is a brightness, a flush which is exultant”.  Joy is more active: there is a “positive spirit of exultation and rejoicing”.

The third element, Dr. Lloyd-Jones suggests, is “a feeling of power and of strength.  There is nothing flabby or superficial about it. Joy is one of the strongest powers in the world. When you are truly joyful, you are wound up by some mighty dynamic power; you feel strong, you are lifted up above yourself, you are ready to meet every enemy from every direction and quarter.”

Dr. Lloyd-Jones admits that the above elements  constitute an inadequate description of joy, but it is difficult to describe it any further.  He concludes his outline of joy by these words:

“Joy is something very deep and profound, something that affects the whole and entire personality.  In other words, it comes to this; there is only one thing that can give true joy and that is a contemplation of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He satisfies my mind; He satisfies my emotions; He satisfies my every desire.  He and His great salvation include the whole personality and nothing less, and in Him I am complete”.

“Joy, in other words, is the response and the reaction of the soul to a knowledge  of the Lord Jesus Christ” – Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

 

*** photography by George Thomas

The Path of the Righteous

But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.  Proverbs 4:18 ASV

Our journey through life offers a myriad choices of roads to follow. The Bible says that there is a path, an illuminated highway where each step forward brings heightened clarity to our surroundings as well as our destination.  It is the path of the righteous.

Righteousness simply means being right with God.  To this end, we can never achieve this on our own because we are sinful and morally imperfect, whereas God is perfectly holy; a vast divide between God and man exists.

But God in His infinite Love sent a Bridge across the deep chasm of separation: God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Who came into our sinful world as a man, to be one of us, to dwell among us, feel our hungers, our joys, our sorrows.

Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was the ultimate sacrifice, Who bore all our sins and sicknesses in His body on the cross —  the consummate act that made a way for us to be right with God .  Through faith in Jesus that He accomplished this righteousness for us, and not by ourselves through our good works, we obtain our “right standing with God”, and the free gift of salvation and eternal life.

We have the choice to follow the shining path of the righteous or walk the other way.

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The Christ The World Despises

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”  Isaiah 53:3  KJV

From the book “God Calling”,  by Two Listeners, ed. by A. J. Russell:

That these words strike a note of Beauty in the hearts of those attuned to hear the Beautiful, shows truly that the heart recognizes the need for the Man of Sorrows. That it sees nothing contemptible in One despised by the world. That it recognizes the vast difference between the values of Heaven, and those of the world. Fame and acclamations are accorded to earth’s great, contempt and rejection to the Son of God.

One of the things My disciples must ever seek to do is to set aside the valuation of the world, and judge only according to the values of Heaven. These are not for you.  Do not seek the praise and the notice of men. You follow a despised Christ. See the mob is hooting, throwing stones, jeering, and yet in that quiet little throng there is a happiness and Joy the reviling crowds could never know.

Follow that little throng with stones and gibes, and it appears to be of men, mean, ludicrous, contemptible.  Be one of the throng, and you feel the Majesty of God in the presence of Him, Who was despised and rejected of men. Wreaths around His Brow, and shouts of applause, would belittle that Majesty.

In your dark hours, when human help fails, keep very close to the Man of Sorrows. Feel My Hand of Love press yours in silent but complete understanding. I, too, was acquainted with grief. No heart can ache without My heart aching too. “He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”

* Note: The content in this post is not by the author of this blog, but is derived and quoted from the book  “God Calling”, ed by A. J. Russell
* picture of Jesus from http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/ocean/

The First and Foremost Love

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30

Love is a command. Astounding.  How can love be a by-product of a command? A command to obey seems sensible, but a command to love?  I did not hear an explicit command to love my children when they were born;  love for them came naturally to me as breathing and blinking my eyes.

But the kind of love being “commanded” here goes beyond all dictionary definitions. It is a love that is to be practiced by all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, permeating every warp and woof of my being.  This is the first and foremost directive. Jesus says in Matthew 22:37 that “this is the first and great commandment.”  The great commandment.

Even more astounding when I consider Who gives this command: God Himself.  He commands me to love Him with every fiber, every imaginable strength I could muster, with all of my heart, soul and mind.  God commands me to love Him.

But even if I were not commanded, I do love God; however, the kind of love I possess has to go several steps further — to follow the commandment as directed, to love God with the totality of my being.    As God loves me, I am to love Him.

I believe the great commandment is about the quality of my love for God. The most important concern in my life, therefore, is my love relationship with God.

 

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