the Lord challenges us to suffer persecution and to confess Him. he wants those who belong to Him to be brave and fearless. He Himself shows how weakness of the flesh is overcome by courage of the Spirit. this is the testimony of the apostles and in particular of the representative, administering Spirit. a christian is fearless.
redemption. oh, the color of it.
rode out to lake bryan, ate our pitas and drank our wine watching the sun set down. then the stars came up, and we watched them fall.
best friday night ever.
let your eyes look straight forward; fix your gaze straight ahead..don’t turn to the right or left; keep your feet away from evil.
then a kind of promise: ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be established. proverbs four.
it sounds so easy.
it’s kind of scary to think that if I’m focused on the Lord, He’s going to lead me on this straight and narrow path that goes in one direction and never turns, not right, and not left. but then, thinking through it again, i realized that’s not what solomon was saying…
he’s saying something more like: don’t turn right or left by my own choice- because that makes my foot step off the path and into evil, sin, darkness. rather, God, lead me along your path as my eyes gaze straight ahead toward You: I have a feeling, the path You lead me on will curve right and left on its own. i can’t see far down that path… all i can see from here, right now, is about as far as a flashlight would shine… like, till the end of this week. or the end of the semester. or maybe graduation. i can’t see further than that, not at all.
which way this established path gonna curve?
words are so great. they describe, they bless, they explain, they direct, they help me understand. they communicate thoughts and feelings. they help create new ideas. they get things out of one head and into another, or into as many as can hear them or can read them on a page.
i like that i don’t have to be a good writer or a good talker to use words. i like that there are words in different languages, since no language ever seems to have all the right words i need for expression. actually i love that. and i like the fact that even God used words in the beginning to create the world. he didn’t have to speak them, but he did. but then again, i like that creation doesn’t have to use words to declare God’s glory.
i wish i had more words.
passport de blue
at times or multiple times or for long periods of time, i have wanted to be estonian, russian, moscovian, ukrainian, turkish, finnish, hungarian, dutch, danish, scandinavian; african, israeli, egyptian, american, texan, jewish, venezuelan, arab, german, ethiopian, moroccan, south african, sudanese, aussie or kiwi, not necessarily in that order.
i forget a lot. because i have a bad memory, and maybe also because the tower of babel sent division of languages and cultures—and thus division of identity.
once in a while it gets re-cleared-up to me that i thank God: that i am not estonian, not russian and not moscovian, not ukrainian, not turkish, not finnish, not hungarian, not dutch, not danish, not scandinavian; not african, not israeli, not egyptian, not quite american, texan, not jewish, not venezuelan, not arab, not german, not ethiopian, not moroccan, not south african, not sudanese, not aussie and not kiwi… not because there aren’t specific things i love about each of these… but because, that’s not where He ultimately put me. and it’s not what i’m looking forward to.
shana tova v’mevurechet ! שנה טובה ומבורכת
the night sky is amazing. and it’s crazy someone can capture it with a lens. i just love the stars.
stars of abraham.
photo from astrophotography on starrynightphotos.com
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