Paradise, New Zealand - “My Sheep Listen to My Voice”

 

The time came for the Festival of Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple, walking in the covered porch named for Solomon.  The Jewish opposition circled around him and asked, “How long will you test our patience?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”  Jesus answered, “I have told you, but you don’t believe.  The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you don’t believe because you don’t belong to my sheep.  My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.  I give them eternal life. They will never die, and no one will snatch them from my hand.

John 10:22-28

Paradise, South Island, New Zealand - "He will swallow up death forever"

 And in this mountain
The LORD of hosts will make 

for all people

A feast of choice pieces,
A feast of wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.

And He will destroy on this mountain

The surface of the covering

cast over all people,

And the veil that is spread

over all nations.

He will swallow up death forever,

And the Lord God will wipe

away tears from all faces;

The rebuke of His people

He will take away from all the earth;

For the LORD has spoken.

Isaiah 25:6-8

Mt. Earnshaw, New Zealand - “The Word of the Lord Stands Forever”

 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.  For,

All men are like grass,
And all their glory is like the
Flowers of the field;
The grass withers and the
Flowers fall,
But the word of the Lord
Stands forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:23-24

Sunrise Lake Superior - "The Light of the World"

 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

John 8:12

Crisp Point Lighthouse, Paradise - "The LORD Looks at the Heart"

 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7

Whitefish Bay - "Boundless Love"

 Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:4-5

Upper Tahquamenon Falls - "Run to the Father"

 

And, "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

2 Corinthians 6:18

Whitefish Point, Shipwreck Coastline - "Wisdom"

 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Ecclesiastes 9:18

Lake Wanaka, South Island - "And the Mountains fall into the Heart of the Sea..."

 

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever present help in trouble,
Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into
the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake
with their surging.

Psalm 46:1-3 NIV

"I AM WHO I AM"

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.  

This is what you are to say to the Israelites:  "I AM has sent me to you."  

Exodus 3:14

But thou art the same and thy years shall have no end.

Psalm 102:27-28

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.  

Hebrews13:8

Hymn to the Night

Hymn to the Night

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the trailing garments of the night

Sweep through her marble halls!

I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light

From the celestial walls!

I felt her presence by its spell of might,

Stoop o'er me from above

The calm, majestic presence of the Night,

As of the one I love.

I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight,

The manifold, soft chimes,

That fill the haunted chambers of the Night,

Like some old poet's rhymes.

From the cool cisterns of the midnight air

My spirit drank repose;

The fountain of perpetual peace flows there,--

From those deep cisterns flows.

O' holy Night from thee I learn to bear

What man has borne before!

Thou layest thy finger on the lips of Care

And they complain no more.

Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer!

Descend with broad-winged flight,

The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair,

The best-beloved Night!

In Loving Memory

Mary Lee Smith-Brown

"Solitude"

 
  
Solitude
Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Paradise Ranch

If I had a ranch, Paradise is the place I would want to be.  Surrounded by mountains with beauty all around.  It is a wonderful scenic drive from Queenstown and a getaway from the tourist and traffic congestion.  Paradise is a rural locality in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It lies on the eastern side of the Dart River at the head of Lake Wakatipu, close to the settlement of Glenorchy and 45 minute drive from Queenstown.

The Road to Paradise

Glow of the evening sky at Lake Wakatipu on the road from Paradise outside of Queenstown, New Zealand.

Dwell in the Green Mountain

Green Mountain

By Li Bai

You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;
I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.
As the peach-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown,
I have a world apart that is not among men.

Paradise Road to Mt. Earnshaw

I wanted to travel to the end of the road but it was not on the tour.  Mt. Earnshaw is in the background and can only be reached by climbing trails or helicopter. 

"Paradise Found" Beorn's Home

I finally found Paradise and I had to travel across the earth to find it in the South Island of New Zealand!  This is the home of Beorn the "skin-changer".  In "The Hobbit" Beorn is a fictional character created by J. R. R. Tolkien. He appears in The Hobbit as a "skin-changer", a man who could assume the appearance of a great black bear.  In The Hobbit film trilogy, Beorn is portrayed by Mikael Persbrandt in the films The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies.

 

 

I took a Jeep Safari tour of the locations where the film was made around Queenstown. The jeep's name was Thorin, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, King under the Mountain.  The tour guide was very knowledgeable and we had a tea party in the forest a few miles down the road from Beorn's house.  It was an Hobbit "Adventure!"