My Faith Has Found A Resting Place

My faith has found a resting place,

Not in device nor creed;

I trust the Ever-living One,

His wounds for me shall plead.

I need no other argument,

I need no other plea;

It is enough that Jesus died,

And that He died for me.

Enough for me that Jesus saves,

This ends my fear and doubt;

A sinful soul I come to Him,

He'll never cast me out.

                                                                                                                                                                       

My heart is leaning on the Word,

The written Word of God,

Salvation by my Savior's name,

Salvation through His blood.

My great Physician heals the sick,

The lost He came to save;

For me His precious blood He shed,

For me His life He gave.

                          -Eliza Hewitt

      

                        

"For we which have believed do enter into rest." (Hebrews 4:3)

(As I finished writing this post, this very song began to play on my online radio, Abiding Radio. Talk about emotion! I believe the Lord was giving not only His approval but also reinforcing the truth of His Word in which I have rested my faith.)

Extra Special Blessings

The Lord delights in sending us sudden, unexpected blessings into our lives, perhaps for no other reason than that He loves us and wants us to enjoy the life that He has given to us.

Yesterday we were riding out into the country and suddenly came across some patches of pink flowers, perhaps some sort of day lily, a bit unlike the surrounding vegetation. We could NOT resist stopping to take some pictures! 

  

A closer look...Beautiful, no?

  

"Delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give thee 

the desires of thine heart."

(Psalm 37:5)

Perfect!

It was beautiful today...

blue sky, clear air, sunshine,

and a perfect temperature of 72.

It just has that look and feel of Fall coming around the corner,

which it certainly is, in just four more days!

I might be a tad prejudiced,

but some of my plants are perfect, too.

Like this one in a hanging basket...

Look at the little purple flowers at the end of some of the vines

(click on the photo if you're past 40, ha).

"Perfeito!" 
Do you want to see another

perfect little hanging basket?

I know you do...

Well, not everything in my world is perfect.

There are certain burdens, problems and challenges around me.

And, for sure, there are many people in distant

and not so distant places that would not consider

their lives to be perfect right now in any sense of the word.

But one day the world of those who believe,

  love and obey Him will be completely perfect,

 for we will be with the One who is perfection Himself.

He has prepared a perfect place for us

and I am perfectly sure that it will one day be my heavenly home.

"But the path of the just is as the shining light,

that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

(Proverbs 4:18)

"He is the Rock, His work is perfect..."

(Deuteronomy 32:3)

A Prayer For Japan

In light of the current tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan, I would like to share this touching and powerful prayer by John Piper that I read today...                                                                                                                     

 A Prayer For Japan

Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.

O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.

And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.

Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.

Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.

May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures' pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.

In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.

Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.

And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.

O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.

In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.

(John Piper)

Flower In A Vase

I love to stare at this picture

and laugh at the way the water magnified my fingers.

Do you like my little flower vase? I do.

I found it in the trash...

one of those not-needed things

 my husband was throwing away.

*smile*

Observing The Weather

To give you a break from flowers...

Some of you know that I like to observe the weather. Nothing compared to how a certain brother of mine is, I'll have you know, but the temperature, precipitation, clouds, wind, storms...wow, what a fantastic demonstration of God's creative power!

My Dad used to go outside during storms and just admire the wind and lightning and rain...and we were right there by his side, learning to do the same. Only many years later did I discover that my mother had a certain fear of storms but she somehow managed to hide that fact from us. She said she didn't want us to develop that fear, too. What a wonderful Mom!

For those of you who also enjoy weather, here is a little "thingie" that shows our current weather as well as the forecast for the next few days...for what it's worth.

Curitiba, Brazil Weather Forecast

"Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He

 in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;

He maketh lightnings for the rain;

He bringeth the wind out of His treasuries."

(Psalm 135: 6,7)

Growth

I love taking pictures that show growth. Remember my post about my white, orange and red roses? I was kept busy for several days, taking picture after picture of these beauties. I think my husband raised his eyebrows a tad at how much of my time was consumed with SO many photo shoots and working with photos on the computer. Oh well. But instead of posting several, I made this one collage of the three roses.
(Don't forget that you can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

If these were running for beauty queen I would never be able to decide which one should win! Each one is beautiful for its own reasons.

Growth is important for all living things. Physical and spiritual growth is important in the young AND the old. Growth is a sign of life! I can not think of growth without remembering a verse that I memorized as a child:

"But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen." (II Peter 3:18)