Light or Shadows

There wasn't much light as I came to the street that led to the park. One of the largest oak trees still standing is in the front of the Episcopal church. The moon shined through the shadows of the tree.

The LORD always speaks to me on my visits to the park. The church sign spoke to me. Is our life a light in the darkness of the world or are we as a shadow? The Old Testament was Gods light but it also had shadows and types of the true light that was to be manifest. Jesus is the light of the world. We are to shine forth his light of goodness and truth.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 

Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 

The light of the moon made a veil of light on the pond surface. Our light must come from within, the light of God from the Holy Spirit.

1Jn 2:8  Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 

1Jn 2:9  He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 

1Jn 2:10  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 

1Jn 2:11  But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 

A small child was feeding the ducks from the dock. I gave my bread to her parents and the little girl was delighted to feed the ducks and Randy the goose with the encouragement of her mother. This was a good lesson of sharing from our abundance. Our LORD shares his abundance and all good things with us.

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

The ducks were as ghosts in the night time light. There is a spirit world that we sometimes see through our spiritual eyes.

Deu 29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. 

Randy is there too, but something else happened that troubled me. In the distance was a struggle, a black duck had been introduced into the pond. At one time there were four white ducks and over time there is now only one white duck left who acts as the shepherd over the Mallard ducks. Often I would see a line of ducks being led by the white duck. The black duck attacked the white duck as the other ducks were feeding. Then I saw the black duck chasing a female mallard away from the flock. The shepherd white duck followed seeking to protect the female from the black duck. This is not about racism concerning ducks, but it reminded me of a larger picture where Christians are being persecuted worldwide by Muslim extremists. They kill and destroy the family of God. We are to pray for these who are being persecuted.Their angels go beside them, but the LORD wants us to pray. There is power in the spirit world and our prayers are the power of God for the needs we see. Pray for the souls of the lost and for strength, peace and protection for the Christians and the suffering people of the world to come to Jesus.

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 

stripped bare

Last night's picture of an oak, stripped bare, but alive.

Ecc 3:1  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Where there is life, there is hope.

2Co 6:1  We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
2Co 6:2  (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Now is the day of salvation, the forgiveness of sins by the grace of God through faith in his son, Jesus Christ.

None of us can save ourselves and no one can brag on their own good merits. It is by faith only that we are given grace to be the children of God. Like the oak tree in winter, we shed the leaves of our  pride and are stripped bare by the eyes of God. A time of seeking God and making plans to fulfill his purpose for the new year. He has plans for us of green leaves, seeds and the fruit of the spirit, Let him work in you to do his good purpose.

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 
Gen 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 
Gen 3:10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 
Gen 3:11  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 
Gen 3:12  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 

Gen 3:13  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 

Whatever excuse we may have, and whoever we blame, it is sin in us that needs to be forgiven and cleansed.

Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 

Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 

Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

This lesson is for me first. If you read this far, you are not alone, we all need Jesus.

Late long walk

Walking where we can see the river, the ponds, the trees and vines, the animals and birds; this renews the mind and soul and we feel the presence of our creator. 

The trail looks long when pushing a wheelchair, 

but we share as we go seeing many things.

Gen 2:8  And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 
Gen 2:9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 
Gen 2:10  And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 
Gen 2:11  The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 
Gen 2:12  And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 

Gen 2:15  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 
Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 
Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 
Gen 2:18  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 

Gen 2:19  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 

Gen 2:20  And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 

Gen 2:21  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 

Gen 2:22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 

Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 

Our shadows grow long in the setting sunlight. The first day was evening to evening. Adam's wife was the beginning of women, so she was named Eve. Eve means life, or living. Adam means man, the first man.

Gen 3:20  And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Spike looks up from his grazing. The KJV
calls the deer, a hart.

Song 8:14  Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

His older brother Buck hurries to his side. 

It is nice to have an older brother nearby. I saw a young doe in the road and it jumped over a 6 foot wall of blackberries and hopped up and down like a jack rabbit in the field.

Isa 35:6  Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. 

Often the deer will position themselves 

one behind another.

Gen 27:6  And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, 

Gen 27:7  Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death. 

Gen 27:8  Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. 

Gen 27:9  Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: 

Gen 27:10  And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. 

A majestic oak has branches that walk with us,

in my imagination. The oak tree has wood that when dried, resists moisture. They make good oars.

Eze 27:6  Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. 

We are almost around to the end of the trail loop 

as we approach the bridge. Jesus has been called the bridge between this life and the next life. He is the way, the strait way. A strait is a narrow way, for example a cattle chute where only one can pass at a time.

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 

We hear the honking of geese 

and two large groups flew overhead heading south.

Gen 1:20  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 

A quacking was heard as we walked on the bridge.

A family of Mallards were foraging in the pond. Baby sister is in the middle. They hatched her out in the Spring and

will probably spend the Winter in the pond.

Gen 1:21  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 
Gen 1:22  And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

It has been a good walk in God's creation. We saw much more, but these things I wanted to share with you.

His creations

In the beginning God created (Genesis 1:1).  How far the world goes to ignore their beginnings. God made it all and we are accountable to God. He made us in his own image, a spiritual image, to have fellowship with him. The world tries to hide this in the schools of learning. The result  is a people empty, seeking to fill the emptiness. Many see the creation, they call it evolution and chance, but it is just too beautiful to have happened by chance. The most beautiful truth is that God loves us and wants us to be with him forever in close fellowship. Jesus came to make this possible. He took our sins to the cross and by faith in Jesus we are reconciled to God, His Father. Being born again of the Spirit, we see with new eyes His glory all around us.

Red and gold color the autumn blackberry leaf. 

Everything has it's season.

Job 5:26  Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season. 

The wild grape leaves are turning colors too. Israel

was planted as a beautiful grape vineyard.

Isa 5:4  What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 

The wild grapes grow fast. This arch of grapevines will soon turn into a golden arch, like McDonald's? Ezekiel's temple

 will have arches. When will Ezekiel's temple be made?

Eze 40:22  And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them. 

The older grape vines make ropes, the kind that Tarzan would swing on in the movies. We as children of God need to be together.

Ecc 4:12  And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

This giant oak is a dead, like a fossil from a long ago place where dinosaurs roamed.  With a little imagination you might think it was a monster reptile.

Job 40:15  Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. 

There is always something to see in the park. God has made his creation for all to enjoy. We do not worship the creation, but we worship our creator who is above all and most holy. Thank you father for giving me eyes to see.

Windy woods

Wind and rain today and soft cloud light. 

Some trees same to have a spirit about them.

Rev 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 

The word for spirit is pneuma, meaning wind. 

Some winds are destructive bringing down limbs.

1Ki 19:11  And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 

1Ki 19:12  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 

These oak balls were broken like eggs when the limb broke off. Oak balls are caused by the larva of the gall wasp; somewhat like a grain of sand in an oyster producing a pearl in defense, the oak tree makes the oak ball as a defense. The Indians ground them up and used them to treat wounds. They are high in tannic acid. They also were used  to tan leather.

Act 10:30  And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, 

Act 10:31  And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. 

Act 10:32  Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. 

Now where did this scraggly steer wander in from?

Isa 11:7  And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 

This tree could make a tapestry design.

Pro 7:16  I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 

A bit of manipulation and a Chinese tree appears. 

A cross represents the Chinese Christians from the light of the son. Rainy days make for creative thoughts?

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

One Days Change

In the morning about 8:30.

Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 

Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 

The clouds were dramatic as they 

were mirrored by the pond.

Psa 96:4  For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. 

Psa 96:5  For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. 

Psa 96:6  Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 

A big oak tree broke in two.

Zec 11:2  Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. 

Zec 11:4  Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; 

Zec 11:5  Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. 

This familiar tree has come to an end. It will be firewood. I still think of these mighty trees as symbolic: for a fallen leader? for a fallen nation? What of a nation that has turned from God?

Zec 11:10  And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. 

Zec 11:11  And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. 

Zec 11:12  And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 

At sunset, only a stump remains. In a few months there will be grass here, no stump, no evidence of it ever being here. What if it were you or me, taken down in one day. Would we be remembered in a good way?

Maybe these posts will remain? I love the sermons of several great men of faith that continue because they were recorded. Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, but oh what a great price he paid for our redemption. His life brought life to us all. We are to bring life to people because of Jesus.

Isa 9:2  The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 

It is sunset at the park, like other sunsets, but one less tree.

Rom 5:17  For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 

Rom 5:18  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 

Rom 5:19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 

Like the days beginning and end bring beauty, so should our birth day and day of death be beautiful. We shall go to Jesus, and perhaps we will meet him in the clouds?.

Ecc 7:1  A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. 

Imagine

Imagination is good if it is constructive. Great inventions have come by imagination and wisdom from God. Needless to say, we get into trouble if we have wicked imaginations. Try to imagine good things and see things as they should be. When the LORD called us he called us to a purpose. Try to imagine your purpose and your usefulness to him. The Lord gave me eyes to see. I like to share what I see.

Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. 

A puddle mirrors a giant oak tree, a muddy image. We were once in a muddy pit of sin until Jesus came and lifted us out.

Psa 40:2  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 

This tree resembles an owl. I see an eye and a beak. The LORD made all creation and provided for it.


Isa 43:20  The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. 

Just a lizard on a tree, or is it a dinosaur? Depends on your perspective.

Isa 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. 

 

Looking through a seed we see a blooming Silver Thistle. The small birds like thistle seeds.

Pro 25:11  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. 

Pro 25:12  As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. 

Guy Smiley and his family. They weep over most anything.
A little humor from the kitchen. The onions flavor food and we are to flavor the world.


Eze 20:41  I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. 

Can you figure out what this says?

Mat 28:5  And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 

Mat 28:6  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.