Our circumstances are not an accurate reflection of God’s goodness. Whether life is good or bad, God’s goodness, rooted in His character, is the same. – Helen Grace Lescheid
Browsing Tags God
Weekly Photo Challenge: Let There Be Light
This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is light.
The hardest part of this week’s challenge for me was deciding which photos to use. I like the way different natural light sources capture a scene or moment, but I also like the twinkle or glow of artificial light sources. So I’ve included some of both.
A late-summer hike along a shaded trail was brightened by sunlight piercing through the branches of trees.
Sunlight brightened these colorful fall leaves the day before a storm blew them to the ground.
Painted scenes come to life on a wall with the use of black lights as the light source.
Strings of tiny lights draped around a Christmas tree transforms the ornaments into glowing decorations and lights up the whole tree.
Light reflecting off of shiny and glittery decorations dress up an ordinary mantle for Christmas.
Light was called ‘good’ when it was created, and our lives would be very different without it.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:3-4
As much as I need the light from the sun though, there is another Light that I need even more, and I would not want to live without.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12b
Jesus, the Light of the World, is a light source that never dims or darkens.
“Take a look around you. Choose one of the light sources you see, and make it the focus of your challenge entry. .” Ben
More submissions to this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Light
The candle “Light of the World” graphic is used with permission, and is one of 4 free Christmas graphics from The Timothy Report.
Follow @learning2hearAsking The Right Question
The message on this church sign caught our attention when driving through Alabama, so we turned around to see if the – – – part was filled in on the other side. It wasn’t.
We thought the – – – was “and the truth…”, as in:
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 (NKJV)
And it will.
However, if the blanks represented letters, then it would be a three-letter word, as in:
“God will set you free”
And He will.
Maybe the message was a reference to an upcoming sermon that would explain or fill in the blanks.
Or maybe the message was just meant to cause passers-by to ponder how we would fill in the blanks.
“Wisdom is, and starts with, the humility to accept the fact that you don’t have all the right answers,
and the courage to learn to ask the right questions.” – Unknown
How would you fill in the blanks?
A Better Choice
“Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it.” Erwin W. Lutzer
Surprises From God
In the heat of summer this little flower came up through a crack in the asphalt of our church parking lot. It was right in the middle of a parking space that is used daily, yet it survived the hot sun and the heat of car exhaust, with no rain or water, for more than a week. Maybe longer, I didn’t keep track of it after that.
Even in harsh circumstances and adverse conditions this tiny flower continued to bloom, day after day. It was a beautiful reminder of how God blesses us in the most unexpected places and ways. And it came at a time when I desperately needed it.
“God still draws near to us in the ordinary, commonplace, everyday experiences and places.
He comes in surprising ways.” Henry Gariepy
How has God surprised you lately?
Expecting God’s Wonder – A Holy Invitation
My third and final post in a three-part review of the new book “Wonderstruck” by Margaret Feinberg.
Have you ever prayed this prayer?
What would you expect if you did?
I have enjoyed every chapter of my sneak peek of Wonderstruck, but reading Margaret’s comments, insights, and experiences about prayer in chapter 5 resonated with me in a special way. Here are a few examples:
During a process of making changes to her prayer time, she said:
“Though I never outwardly admitted to such practices, my new time with God exposed a deep-seated belief that if I just prayed long enough or was more articulate or heartfelt then God would answer.” Wonderstruck, page 78
“I’d lost sight of God as a loving Father—whose favor I didn’t need to earn, whose attention I didn’t need to procure; God’s eyes were already on me, his hands already extended to help.” Wonderstruck, page 79
It’s difficult to wait a long time for God to answer a prayer, or sometimes even to wait at all when we’re in a hurry and God isn’t. Whether I’m being impatient or insecure – praying longer, more eloquently, or thinking I need to earn God’s favor, God’s time frame doesn’t change. Or change how much He loves me.
“God sits enthroned, ready to listen, to help.” Wonderstruck, page 85
“We do not cry out to an unknown God; our petitions are not sent “To Whom It May Concern” but are addressed to a father who abounds in love.” Wonderstruck, page 86
God is our Loving Father. He extends a holy invitation for us to spend time with Him, talk to Him, and expect Him to reveal Himself as wonderful.
Using an illustration about artisans, Margaret’s thoughts about prayer challenge me to look even closer at how I approach prayer. Or actually, how I approach God:
“Even the simplest items take on artisanal flair when someone cares enough about the process of creating the product. The image of the artisan illustrates much of what was taking place in my prayer life: namely, moving away from rambling, mass-produced prayers that cost me next to nothing to a richer, handcrafted prayer life. Like the artisans, I knew prayer was more than just the end product—receiving an answer from God.” Wonderstruck, page 80
We can do a lot of talking and still not say anything; but we don’t have to try to impress God either:
“How often have I rattled on with God and said nothing at all? Relying on clichés, throwaway phrases, and high language I’d never use in everyday conversation, I took prayer for granted and lost sight of the wondrous opportunity to draw close to God.” Wonderstruck, page 89
Wonderstruck releases on Christmas day; these questions would make a great New Year’s challenge (or resolution) that could change our prayer lives, infusing them with God’s wonder in 2013:
“How much are you really saying to God when you pray? Where has “nonversation” replaced conversation in your prayers? What slight shifts in your own prayer life could reignite your relationship with God?” Wonderstruck, page 89
I want my prayer life to be wonderstruck by God, and to see God revealed as Wonderful.
“The wonder of prayer is rediscovered in who we’re speaking to. Prayer is a mystical event by which we get to talk to the Creator of all—the One who fashioned our world with a few words—knowing that God not only listens but answers.” Wonderstruck, page 89
This has been an unusually hectic Christmas season for me; a schedule crammed full of obligations and responsibilities, plus several funerals in the space of a few short weeks. That was in addition to my ongoing battle with a very painful cancer, fighting a bout of the flu, and health issues with both of my parents that required surgeries. I’ll admit it was a struggle to remember to look for and expect moments of God’s wonder in the midst of it all. But God is faithful, and I saw His hand in many ways, even as one exhausting day seemed to blend into the next.
The graphic below from Margaret Feinberg sums it up well. When I took time to pause and look up, whether it was morning, night, or in between, His wonders were displayed in the Heavens; a beautiful sunset, brilliant stars on a clear night, and shooting stars (a meteor shower). Many other moments of His wonder were displayed in the form of His grace, mercy, strength, and encouragement.
And most importantly, the wonder of the Reason for this Season – celebrating the birth of God’s Son, Jesus.
Immanuel – God with us.
God.
With.
Me.
Seize every opportunity to encounter Him.
Margaret recently posted a great warning on her site that those who have read Wonderstruck have experienced the following symptoms:
– An inability to stop smiling
– An uncontainable desire to pray
– A loss of interest in judging others
– A quiet, unshakable confidence in God
– A renewed ability to see the wonders of God all around
There’s only a couple of days left to take advantage of the wonderful pre-pub offer and order the book for $7.57 ($14.99 retail) at Amazon, and get some great free downloads. Find out more about Wonderstruck and the incredible promo offer of up to $300 of free stuff by visiting www.margaretfeinberg.com/wonderstruck
Follow Margaret’s funny and inspirational posts on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog.
Follow @learning2hearExpecting God’s Wonder – With Holy Anticipation
The second in a three-part review of the new book “Wonderstruck” by Margaret Feinberg.
Have you ever prayed this prayer?
What would you expect if you did?
As I continued to read the pre-release of Wonderstruck, this excerpt from page 17 caused me to reflect on what I really expect from God on a daily basis:
“Though God had been at work in my life in countless ways—revealing so many wonders—I realized that deep down inside I still backed away from living each day with holy anticipation.”
I wondered if I’ve also backed away from “living each day with holy anticipation.”
Do you live each day with holy anticipation?
I mentioned in my first “Expecting God’s Wonder” post that I’ve been a fan of Margaret Feinberg’s books for the last few years, so it was exciting to receive the insider’s scoop recently about her new book. Here are some highlights from the interview:
Q: “Where did the inspiration for the Wonderstruck book and Bible study come from?”
A: “Have you ever had one of those seasons where everything goes wrong, and when you think it can’t get worse, it somehow finds a way? Most people who have worked in ministry have experienced those seasons—some may be in one right now.”
“My husband, Leif, and I had just gone through one of the roughest years of our lives. In the aftermath, as we processed the pain and loss, I had an unexplainable desire in my heart. I began praying for the wonder of God. In essence, I said, “God reveal yourself, your whole self to me. I want to know you as Wonderful. I want to know you as I’ve never known you before and see you in places I’ve never recognized you before.”
“God did not disappoint.”
Q: “What do you mean by “the wonder of God”?”
A: “Sometimes talking or writing about wonder feels like tying kite strings to clouds. It’s ethereal, and you can never quite get a grip on it. But if you look in the dictionary, the two main definitions of wonder are: “being filled with admiration, amazement, or awe” and “to think or speculate curiously.”
“Those definitions come together beautifully in our relationship with God. That’s why I define the wonder of God as those moments of spiritual awakening that create a desire to know God more.”
“In other words, the wonder of God isn’t about an emotional experience or having some cool story to tell your friends, but the wonder of God makes us want more of God—to go deeper and further than we’ve ever been before.”
Q: “Why are you calling people to #LIVEWONDERSTRUCK?”
A: “If you look in the Gospels, what you’ll discover is that those who encountered Jesus were constantly left in wild amazement. They were awestruck by the teachings of Christ, the healings of Christ, the mind-bending miracles of Christ. Within the Gospel of Luke we see words like “awe” and “wonder” and “marvel” at every turn. If this is the natural response to encountering Christ, how much more should it be for you and I—who are invited to live in relationship with Christ as sons and daughters of our God Most High?”
“We’ve created a free PDF that looks at some of these Scriptures. For a free copy, email us at wonderstruck@margaretfeinberg.com and we’ll send you one.”
Margaret Feinberg‘s new book and 7-session Bible Study called Wonderstruck: Awaken to the Nearness of God is a personal invitation for you to toss back the covers, climb out of bed, and drink in the fullness of life. What if you could:
- Recognize the presence of God in the midst of your routine
- Unearth extraordinary moments on ordinary days
- Develop a renewed passion for God
- Identify what’s holding you back in prayer
- Discover joy in knowing you’re wildly loved
Where has God revealed His wonder in your life?
Do you want to live each day with holy anticipation?
This is the second of three posts I’m writing in my review of Wonderstruck. My next and final review post will be on December 23. If you missed it, you can read the first “Expecting God’s Wonder” post by clicking here.
Since I love a bargain as much as I love reading Margaret’s books, I’ve already taken advantage of the wonderful pre-pub offer and ordered the book for $7.57 ($14.99 retail) at Amazon, and I got some great free downloads. You can find out more about Wonderstruck by visiting www.margaretfeinberg.com/wonderstruck where she’s offering some incredible promos right now with up to $300 of free stuff.
Follow Margaret’s funny and inspirational posts on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog.
Follow @learning2hearExpecting God’s Wonder
Have you ever prayed this prayer?
What would you expect if you did?
I recently had the opportunity to read a few pre-release chapters of a new book by one of my favorite authors.
As with her other books, this one also captured my attention in the first few pages. On page 4 she writes:
“I offered up a silent prayer to lay hold of the wonder of God, to find myself once again awed by another facet of His nature, another glimpse of His presence in our world.” And, “God delights for us to cup our hands in prayer and scrunch our faces against the vault of heaven in holy expectation that He will meet us in beautiful, mysterious ways. The Creator desires to captivate us not just with His handiwork but with Himself—displaying facets of His character, igniting us with His fiery love, awakening us to the intensity of His holiness. Often such incidents occur when we least anticipate, leaving us wonderstruck…”
My friend, Margaret Feinberg, has a new book and 7-session Bible Study called Wonderstruck: Awaken to the Nearness of God (releasing Christmas Day)—a personal invitation for you to toss back the covers, climb out of bed, and drink in the fullness of life. What if you could:
- Recognize the presence of God in the midst of your routine
- Unearth extraordinary moments on ordinary days
- Develop a renewed passion for God
- Identify what’s holding you back in prayer
- Discover joy in knowing you’re wildly loved
I’ve already read enough to know I want to read the whole book, and I’m very particular about what I read. As a long time reader of Margaret Feinberg’s books, I’ve always enjoyed her engaging writing style that keeps me turning the pages in anticipation. Her passion for God and thirst for experiencing more of Him in her life is inspiring, and reading Wonderstruck challenged me to pray to “lay hold of the wonder of God.”
God has most recently revealed His wonder in my life in the middle of a restless, sleepless night. I looked out the window just as two young deer wandered into our front yard and started grazing just a few feet away. It was a dark, cloudy night, but I could see them very well in the light from our neighbor’s outside Christmas lights. A few minutes later their mama joined them, then after a while she gracefully leapt back up the bank and disappeared into the dark. The young ones stayed behind, content to nibble on what they could find under the fallen leaves.
It was such a peaceful scene, and deer are such beautiful examples of God’s creation. I stood very still and watched them for about ten minutes, fascinated by their graceful moves and sharp senses. A couple of times they seemed to know they were being watched and would stop and look directly toward me, their gaze intent as they searched for signs of danger. I gently closed the blinds and went back to bed, leaving them to enjoy their grazing without fear.
God used my peaceful time of watching the deer to calm my mind from thinking about to-do lists and busy schedules, and to draw me into restful sleep. I went to sleep thinking about the wonders of God, instead of everything else that had been on my mind. Oh, and our neighbor’s lights are on a timer and would normally already be off long before that time. But that night they were still on.
Where has God revealed His wonder in your life?
This is the first of three posts I’m writing in my review of Wonderstruck. My next review post will be on December 16, and the final one on December 23.
Since I love a bargain as much as I love reading Margaret’s books, I took advantage of the wonderful pre-pub offer and ordered the book for $7.57 ($14.99 retail) at Amazon, and got some great free downloads. You can find out more about Wonderstruck by visiting www.margaretfeinberg.com/wonderstruck where she’s offering some incredible promos right now with up to $300 of free stuff.
Follow Margaret’s funny and inspirational posts on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog.
Follow @learning2hearOur Fastened Anchor
Our hope is not hung upon such untwisted thread as “I imagine so,” or “it is likely”; but the cable, the strong rope of our fastened anchor, is the oath and promise of Him who is eternal verity. Our salvation is fastened with God’s own hand and Christ’s own strength to the strong stake of God’s unchanging nature. ~ William Rutherford
Follow @learning2hear
Weekly Photo Challenge: Through
Each Friday Sara Rosso posts the WordPress weekly photo challenges; here is what she said about this week’s challenge:
“Through. Often framing your photo’s composition through something else is the best thing you could do to it. It gives the viewer even more context into what your eye saw in that moment in time. Sometimes it modifies the entire tone or meaning of the photo.”
I’ve been thinking about the concept of through quite a bit lately in terms of this phase of my life. I’m currently going through a battle with cancer, and that can modify the entire tone or meaning of how I view things. Sometimes my view is through the frame of pain, other times it’s through the frustration of treatments, or through exhaustion from losing sleep, or through just being tired of dealing with all the cancer-related issues, day in and day out.
When I look through something to take a photo, I’m only capturing that scene from one angle, and if I shift my focus even a little to the right or left the scene will change. I’ve learned that it’s the same way with going through the battle with cancer. If I shift my focus from the pain, frustration, exhaustion, or day-to-day issues of dealing with cancer to a different subject, I can see my life from another angle.
I’m going through a battle with cancer, but I must choose not to focus only on the view from the battlefield, as one who has no hope. I choose to put my hope in Jesus Christ, and to believe that He will bring me through the cancer battle, and even bless me along the way. Every day I have to choose to frame my view through His word:
Philippians 4:13 tells us, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Psalm 41:1-3 says, “Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.”
Psalm 34:7-9 reminds us, “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.”
This week’s photo challenge took me through my thoughts and feelings about dealing with cancer. As others faced with cancer have said, cancer is something that happened to me, it’s not who I am. Photography is one of the ways I take my mind off of the ugliness of cancer, by focusing on the beauty of God’s creation, amusing subjects, or unusual sights and scenes.
One of my favorite ways to take photographs is by looking through something to capture a view, or to better focus on my subject or scene. I realized just how often I do that when I browsed through my albums to choose photos for this week’s challenge of through.
The first three photos are different views from a lookout point on top of a steep hill. This view shows a valley of trees from through the window openings on one side, and the view of part of the hilltop from through the back doorway.
The next view is looking out through the back doorway, showing the narrow, flat hilltop, and the trees beyond it.
The third view is from the bottom of the steep hill, with the blue sky showing through the openings of the lookout building.
There is light at the end of the tunnel! You can see through the darkness of the tunnel to the sun shining on a hillside strewn with fall leaves. I love the analogy of this one, especially in relation to my battle with cancer.
The weathered tree in this photo is dead, and actually looks like a piece of driftwood growing out of the ground. But it’s shape reminds me of a sewing machine needle with an “eye” at the top. A close up shot enabled me to capture some of the grass and weeds showing through the eye hole.
This spider was busy repairing his web when I snapped this photo of him through the web as he worked on the underside of it on a foggy morning.
The view through this sunny window has made this photo, taken by my husband, one of our favorites.
Hearing His Voice 