Mountain of the Dragon - “Finding Rest with Jesus”

 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

 Matthew 11:28

Garden of God - “Find Rest for Your Souls”

 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

MATTHEW 11:28-29 (NIV)

Rock Ledge Ranch, Colorado Springs - “A Light Unto Our Path”

Inerrancy of Scripture

Whereas inspiration concerns the origin of the Bible’s authority, inerrancy describes its nature. By inerrancy we refer not only to the Bible’s being “without error” but also to its inability to err (we might helpfully illustrate this point by comparing it to the distinction between Jesus’ sinlessness or being without sin, on the one hand, and his impeccability or inability to sin on the other). Inerrancy, positively defined, refers to a central and crucial property of the Bible, namely, its utter truthfulness.

The basis for the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is located both in the nature of God and in the Bible’s teaching about itself. First, if God is perfect—all-knowing, all-wise, all-good—it follows that God speaks the truth. God does not tell lies; God is not ignorant. God’s Word is thus free from all error arising either from conscious deceit or unconscious ignorance. Such is the unanimous confession of the psalmist, the prophets, the Lord Jesus and the apostles. Second, the Bible presents itself as the Word of God written. Thus, in addition to its humanity (which is never denied), the Bible also enjoys the privileges and prerogatives of its status as God’s Word. God’s Word is thus wholly reliable, a trustworthy guide to reality, a light unto our path.

C S Lewis Institute

American Mother’s Chapel, Colorado Springs - “Come Now”

 

Learn to do good; Seek justice, 
correct oppression; 
Bring justice to the fatherless, 
plead the widow’s cause. 

 “Come now, let us reason together, 

says the Lord: 
though your sins are like scarlet, 
they shall be as white as snow; 
though they are red like crimson, 
they shall become like wool. 
 If you are willing and obedient, 
you shall eat the good of the land; 
 but if you refuse and rebel, 
you shall be eaten by the sword; 
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Isaiah 1:17-20

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs - “The Whole Creation Groans”

 We know that the whole creation has been groaningas in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Romans 8:22-27

Pike's Peak, Colorado Springs, Colorado - "A Refuge for the Oppressed"

The LORD also will be a 

refuge for the oppressed,

A refuge in times of

trouble.

And those who know Your

name will put their trust

 in You;

For You, LORD, have not

forsaken those who seek

You.

Psalm 

Rocky Mountains - The Skies Proclaim the Work of his Hands

 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Psalm 19:1

Rocky Mountains - Take to Heart

The Greatest Commandment

Jesus replied:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Matthew 22:37

Pray for Ukraine - "Don't be Discouraged...for the Battle is not Yours, but God's"

 

This is what the LORD says:  Do not be afraid!  Don't be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

2 Chronicles 20:15t

In the beginning was the Word

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5 NIV

Crystal Creek Reservoir

 

Jesus asked, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."  Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Luke 10:36-37 NIV

Thought for the Day:  Everyone I meet is my neighbor.

Pikes Peak - You Knew Me before I was Born

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16 ESV

William Shakespeare- “Is there no Pity in the Clouds?”

 Is there no pity sitting in the clouds,

That sees into the bottom of my grief?

William Shakespeare

Garden of the Gods

 

"Keep your face toward the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow."

Helen Keller

Rocky Mountains - Love Never Fails

 Love never fails.  But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.  Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even a I am fully known.

And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love.  but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 NIV

Enlighten My Darkness

 

For you will light my lamp;
The Lord my God will 
enlighten my darkness,
For by You I can run
against a troop,
And by my God I can leap
over a wall.
As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is
proven;
He is a shield o all who
trust in Him.
Psalms 18:28-30

World Without End

Ephesians 3:21 NKJ

 To Him be glory in the

church by Christ Jesus throughout

all ages, world without end.

Amen

Letting Go to Move Forward

 

"We know that our loved one has died.  Do we recognize that in that death a part of us has died, too!  The part of us that lived in our relationship to that person alive in the world has died.  The part of us that lived in expectation of a future on earth together has died.  The part of us that enjoyed the commonality of shared memories has died.  This is a lot to lose...  We have to let go and then in the spaces where those deaths have occurred, new life will spring.  Some of the new life may be our new relationship with our lost love."  ~Martha Hickman  

"At every point in the human journey we find that we have to let go in order to move forward; and letting go means dying a little.  In the process we are being created anew, awakened afresh to the source of our being."  ~Kathleen Fischer

My journal of grief for my daughter Crystal involves a part of me dying.  I have turned to the spirit of her creativity in her art work to help move forward.  My new relationship is with her as an artist and her legacy of writing notes and cards for the people she loved.  I have continued that legacy with  my Card Ministry "Crystal Expressions."  I joined multiple groups "Cards of Kindness, Cards for Cool Kids, Small Acts Big Change, Braid Missions, Smiles for Seniors, etc. to share her passion for coloring and designing cards.  It gives me comfort sharing her artwork with others.

I have opened my hand and heart to relinquish and to receive.

Healing Touch

 

These pictures are from Garden of the Gods, a silhouette of the canyons stretching across the horizon.  The healing touch of nature is what I seek when I need calmness and serenity in my life.  Jesus stretches out his hand to give a handling touch for those who seek him.  When our daughter died, I couldn't sleep or rest without tears falling.  I was in anguish, my heart was broken and the tears fell endlessly.  It was my husband holding me in his arms until I finally went to sleep each night that helped to calm and comfort me.  Through my husband actions, I experience God's presence in those moments of anguish and sorrow.

Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.  ~Mark 1:41 NRSV

What Now?

Isaiah asks, "Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth."  (Isaiah 40:28 NIV)  

As time passed, after my daughter's death and during the pandemic lockdowns, all church programs and activities were shutdown so isolation, loneliness and illness became a way of life for many.  I ask God, What now?  I ask the Lord to lead me to a new ministry.  Something I could do that would help me with my grief, keep my daughter's art alive, and to serve God the same time.  I started a card ministry to use my daughter's artwork and my photography to spread uplifting messages and encouragement to the lonely, elderly, orphans and foster children.  My card ministry is called Crystal Expressions.  It has expanded to Spiritual Cards, handcrafted cards as well as photography mounted cards and now I have started painting watercolor cards.  For SIFAT, an international Christian organization, I custom printed Spanish Bible Verse Cards for them to send to their students and alumni in South and Central America,  I was informed this week that they are traveling to Costa Rico and plan to distribute my cards to their Spanish students living there.  God has opened the door for me to spread his Word through this card ministry and the opportunities keep flowing in.