Crescent Beach - Easter Sunday

 

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

JOHN 20:1 (NIV)

Crescent Beach, Florida - “In the Land of Deep Darkness a Light has Dawned”

 

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9:1-2

Shores Waterfront Park, St. Augustine, Florida - "The Rising of the Sun"

 

From the rising of the sun 

to its setting
The name of the LORD
is to be praised.
Psalm 113:3

Crescent Beach Easter Sunrise - “The Strength of my Heart”

Psalms 73:26 NIV

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Crescent Beach Easter Sunrise - “With His Wounds We are Healed”

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5
 

Crescent Beach Easter Sunrise - He is Risen

 

By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.

1 Corinthians 6:14

Fort Matanzas Beach, Florida - "Be Like the Sun"

 O Lord may those who love you be like the sun as he rises in his might.

Judges 5:31

I am the Way and the Truth and the Life - Moultrie Creek

 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the father except through me.

John 14:6

Sunrise at Moultrie Creek

 

Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown - "For Where Your Treasure is, There your Heart will be Also"

 

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths an vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

Matanzas River - Breaking Light

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

Then your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard,

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; 

you will cry for help, and He will say:  Here am I.

Isaiah 58:8-9

Fort Matanzas Beach - “A Light has Dawned”

 The people walking in darknesses have seen a great light;

On those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

Isaiah 5:2

Cape Coral - Rising of the Sun

 

I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,
so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things.

Isaiah 45:5-7 NRSV

St. Augustine - Before a Breakthrough

 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.  March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.  Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.  When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”

Joshua 6:2-5 NIV

At the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout!  For the Lord has given you the city."

Joshua 6:16 NRSV

The Sun will rise

"Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise."

~Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Allow hope for a brighter day to be a motivating force in your darkest moments.  Remind yourself that the sun will rise tomorrow and that we have the opportunity to celebrate the new beginning that each day brings.  Each new sunrise brings hope.

Joy Comes in the Morning

 

For His anger is but for a moment, 

His favor is for a lifetime; 

Weeping may last for the night, 

But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

Psalms 30:5 NASV

The Moon never Beams without bringing me Dreams

 

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love--

I and my Annabel Lee--

With a love that the winged seraphs of Heaven

Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee,

So that her highborn kinsmen came

And bore her away from me, 

To shut her up in a sepulchre

In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

Went envying her and me--

Yes!--that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we--

Of many far wiser than we--

And neither the angels in Heaven above

Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, i lie down by the side

Of my darling--my daring--my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea--

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

By Edgar Allan Poe

Morning Solitude

 

A different morning, a new sunrise--a new beginning...

Into the Blue Horizon

In the early morning hour, the darkness gives way to shades of dark blues to greyish pale blues.  This quote expresses how often I feel and why it is so difficult to sleep.

 

"I do not want to sleep
for fear I might miss the twinkle of the brightest star

for fear I may never know
how the moon glimmers, in the darkest hour.”
― Sanober Khan, A touch, a tear, a tempest      

Sky on Fire



I don't believe Hollywood can come up with a more frightening skyline then mother nature.