Tag Archives: sunrise

Letting in the Sunshine

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letting-in-the-sunshine

The light of day

In this current culture of obscuring the truth with words (e.g. locker room talk, boys will be boys), I need to reflect on the truth found in 1 Corinthians 13.

Lust wants to possess, to force.
Love hopes for love’s response.

Lust wants to rule, to conquer.
Love brings freedom to the lover.

Lust wants to be served, and uses others.
Love wants to serve.

Lust is self-seeking.
Love seeks for good in the one loved.

Lust lies to get what it wants.
Love rejoices with the truth.

Lust becomes angry when it doesn’t get its way.
Love is patient and kind.

Lust leads to self-gratification.
Love leads to self-sacrifice.

The one who lusts becomes like the purveyor of lust.
The one who loves becomes like the author of love.

I may not have stated it all quite right, but I want to point to the one who came to proclaim the truth of God’s love.

Beyond My Wildest Dreams

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Forest Light

Dreaming in the forest

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”   1 Corinthians 2:9

The question is how do I love God? I know from Deuteronomy 6:5 that I am told to love God with everything in me. But how do I do that?

To understand how, keep reading in 1 Corinthians 2.

“But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.”  1 Corinthians 2:10

I can’t of myself truly love God—I need the help of the Holy Spirit. To receive that help all I need to do is ask and receive as His child. And what I receive is beyond my wildest dreams. To be loved by God and walk with my Lord.

Beautiful Iceberg Lake Trail

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One of my favorite hikes is Iceberg Lake Trail in Glacier National Park. I would like to use the pictures from this trail as a metaphor for an even better hike through Psalm 103. Hopefully both hikes will lift your spirit as much as they lift mine.

The trail starts in a beautiful aspen grove with the early morning light just touching the tree tops like a crown.

Iceberg Lake-1

Aspen along the trail

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. Psalm 103:1-4

As I gaze at this grove of aspen the more I remember of the crisp cool morning, the birds singing in the trees, the fragrant scent of the forest. In the same manner, the more I dwell on all God has done for me the greater my praise for Him.

Saying Grace

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SHg3-160527-2721imp100

The beginning of another day at Icicle Gorge

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19

Before each meal I say grace, following the example of Jesus. The purpose is to give thanks for what God has provided, and ask the Lord’s blessing upon the food.

This morning as I lay in bed thinking of the coming day it struck me I could say grace over this day, following the same pattern of giving thanks and asking for God’s blessing. Saying grace over the day reminds me that God wants to bless it, to transform it into the fullness of why He has given it to me. Maybe the greatest transformation is in my perspective of the meaning and purpose of this day. After saying grace, it is no longer “just another day,” but one filled with God’s presence at every turn. The same possibility of blessing applies to the people we pray for: family, friends, and even person who cut us off in traffic.  What an awesome gift is grace, for we get to lavish it around on everything and everyone that God brings into our lives. This day will be forever changed simply by praying for God’s grace upon it, and with this simple prayer this day is elevated to eternal purpose.

Morning Feast

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morning lupine

Morning taste of glory

Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love  Psalm 143:8

As I begin this day my thoughts gravitate to my failures, lack of discipline, lack of prayer, too much TV, wrong thoughts, and I feel pulled down unable to enjoy the day due to my shame. But then a voice says it is by grace you have been saved (Eph. 2:8-9). Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Heb. 4:16). I grab hold of these words, laying aside my self-doubt and shame, to begin this day again in Christ. Renewed to pray for my family, trusting that my failures will not foil God’s love and provision for them. That His love has not diminished and remains as wide and long and high and deep for me as it is for the greatest saint (Eph. 3:18). By faith the day changes from one of struggle with sadness and shame to one of victory and thanksgiving unto the LORD. Knowing He is good, His love endures forever (Psalm 136). This is my morning feast, my wake up coffee.

O taste and see that the LORD is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!  Psalm 34:8

Let Goodness Flow

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Along the trail to Colchuck

Water flows from on high

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

Medical genetics has discovered epigenomes that turn on/off the expression of genes. Thus in identical twins one may get cancer where the other is spared.  When the genes of identical twins are tagged for activity they show nearly identical activity as babies, but later in life they show marked divergence in activity. This change is from epigenes, but what cause epigenes to do this? There are environmental factors that have an effect, but what is surprising is that emotions also produce changes in epigenes. This explains why when a person loses their spouse there is a higher than expected incidence of cancer in the following year. I wonder if this helps explain the placebo effect, associated with any treatment, if one expects a positive out come our emotions cause the production of epigenes that produce the change. Thus the proverb about a cheerful heart is more than a nice statement, it speaks to an underlying biologic mechanism. The opposite emotions also take on new significance in that anger, stress, spite, and hate become avenues for destructive change in our genetics.

All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.        Proverbs 15:15

So let your mind dwell upon the good things God has given and give thanks.

Glory

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balasomroot glory

Glorious

This flower is one among hundreds on this hillside. Hardly worth taking its picture, until you get the early morning sun behind it and then — Oh my, it is glorious.

Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Colossians 1:27

Harbinger

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Glacier Lily

Harbinger of Spring

The Glacier Lily is one of the first wildflowers announcing Spring. It is a welcome harbinger of all the beauty coming in the weeks ahead.

To get this picture I had to get down close to the ground, upon trying to get up my joints and back complained mightily. The groan told me Spring had long since come and gone for my body. But those aches and pains reminded me of another harbinger that holds an even greater hope.

For while we are in this tent (our mortal body), we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 5:4-5

The Holy Spirit is a harbinger of what is to come. But more than that, God’s Spirit is an initial deposit in us of all the good He wants to bestow.

Because of His Spirit within, I can rejoice in my groaning for I know it is temporary, and God will use it to mold me into something far greater than the Glacier Lily.

Rejoice

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Rejoice

Rejoicing in new life

Rejoice, He has risen.
It is the death of Death,
New life in His life,
And the hope of glory.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.  Matthew 28:5-6

Beautiful Light

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Light in the woods

Light In the Woods

Oh, how beautiful…
There is something about real beauty that touches our soul.
Beauty is far more than shape or form, it is the fragrance of heaven.
Beauty inspires us to reflect the loveliness we encounter.
Seeing a baby smile brings beauty to the beholder, and inspires a smile in return.
Beauty is a signpost pointing to how life should be.
Beauty is never conscious of self, instead it always desires to see beauty in others.
Beauty colors our past with innocence, our present with joy, and our future with hope.
Seeing what is beautiful stirs the desire to draw closer to the source of beauty,
And seeing the source changes you forever.

One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

So this prayer is far more than asking for a room with a view, it is about asking to draw close to the source of beauty, and be transformed.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18