Sample 61 - Bulb Off, Light On (San Diego '12)

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men."

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." -Matthew 3:13-16

Isaiah 36:3 speaks of one Asaph, 'the recorder'; I suppose that keeping records of events had a degree of importance during those times that a person was assigned specifically to make them. I believe it is important for us to record what happens, what is revealed to us, for references to be created, and ultimately, as Christians, for the glory of God to be made known in fullness.

"...Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed..." -Jeremiah 51:8

I do not doubt that a change begins in us the moment we believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. There was a time in my life that I expected change to come immediately after I accepted Jesus Christ with all earnest, but now that I look back at those times, the 'change' I wanted to see was in my own terms, and not God's. 

"Everyone proud in heart is an abomination... none will go unpunished..." -Proverbs 16:5

By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, I see now that there are certain things that needed to be taken away immediately, and even more things that were worked on (and still being worked on) over the course of time, up until now. This ultimately results in us truly dying to ourselves, dying to our sinful, prideful flesh, and giving everything to Jesus Christ. 

"...A throne is established by righteousness..." -Proverbs 16:12

The moment we placed our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were saved by His blood. His blood continually sanctifies, justifies, and redeems us. While we are still in this world we will never meet up to the standards of an absolutely holy God by our own strength, which is why we should depends solely on the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for our sins. His blood justifies us - not our own actions. We will never be righteous on our own; the righteousness we have comes from Jesus Christ. 

"I have loved you with an everlasting love, with lovingkindness have I drawn you..." -Jeremiah 31:3

I record that before Jesus Christ came into my life, I was a totally wayward soul, and when I placed my trust in Him as my Lord and Savior, I was made a new creation by His blood, totally free from the obligations of sinful nature. Only by the blood of Jesus Christ have I been placed in the proper position to receive the love and grace of God the Father, an everlasting love that literally explodes in me that I cannot contain it. By God's grace am I gracious. By God's love, I can love! And it was all because He loved me first, as seen through Jesus Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension! 

To God be the glory!

_________________________ 

jb.redeemed

email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 60 - Light Shines Brighter (Brent Baguio '09)

"For You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD shall enlighten my darkness." -2 Samuel 22:29

I just have to stop when I think about all the darkness trying to make its way in this life God has given me, in the relationships He has established, in the household I have been given charge over, in the church He brought me to serve in, in this country and around the world. It's overwhelming to think that the enemy is assaulting us in all fronts, and by myself I can imagine how he comes down like a massive tidal wave against a wooden joke of a boat, barely floating on its own.

Alas, I am that boat, but my God is my anchor! And though the darkness grows darker in these last days, I stand only by the grace of God, by righteousness only by the blood of Jesus Christ, in excellence only by the power of the Holy Spirit in me, for the glory of the Lord, and for His Will to be done!

I will overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of my testimony! God, be glorified up until my last breath! I know You will never leave nor forsake us! In Jesus Christ's Name I pray, Amen!  

"In the darkness, God's light shines..." - Hillsong United, 'You Deserve'

God bless us all.
_________________________ 
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 59 - Comfort

My uncle who I got the 'J' in my 'JB' from is gone. I opened up to my mom about his passing, and I was plenty honest when I said that I was more affected by his passing more than my own father's - and I meant that in the sense that I knew where my father is right now, but I don't know where my uncle is.

I base that last sentence on what Romans 10:9 says. I know my dad confessed with his mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and I am certain that he believed that God raised him from the dead. I couldn't say the same thing about my uncle, but on the other hand, I haven't exactly been hanging out with him as much as I did with my own dad.

I take this all as a lesson for myself and for my family - that we are able to do so much more to reach out to our own blood regarding the knowledge of salvation that comes only through Jesus Christ. We can actually reach out to them in their own afflictions, iniquities, sharing that we have our struggles as well, but it all works out and results in us feeling peace beyond all understanding simply because we have Jesus Christ in our lives.

"Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." - Galatians 6:2

Lord, I pray we continue to serve You at the highest capacity. Let Your Will be done. In Jesus Christ's Name, amen.

I miss you, Uncle Joe.
 

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 58 - Building Blocks (Los Angeles '09)

Best viewed while listening to the SimCity 2000 Theme... in MIDI Format.

Communication restores, builds, updates, motivates, and inspires. Communication is essential for relationships to flourish. Without communication relationships of any sort wither and die. We need to constantly communicate, and our relationship with God is no exception to the rule. Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for this line of communication to be made possible for all of us who believe... Are we communicating? Are we pouring our hearts out to the Lord? Are we listening to what He has to say? If not, we don't know what we're missing!

We're talking about talking to the Creator of the Universe here; how can it get any better? My friends, before we complain, before we shut our lips, before we curl up in a ball and waste away... Call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved!

Here's a passage, an excerpt from God's Word that kept me sane and in line this week:

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

- Romans 8:26-27

 God bless us all.


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 57 - Wrath (Benguet '10) (1)

This was from my first time in Kabuyao, Mt. Sto Tomas, Benguet; I was blessed by some good friends of mine by being called to join them during this sunrise shoot.

Psalm 109

New King James Version (NKJV)
Plea for Judgment of False Accusers
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

109 Do not keep silent,
O God of my praise!
2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful
Have opened against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without a cause.
4 In return for my love they are my accusers,
But I give myself to prayer.
5 Thus they have rewarded me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.

6 Set a wicked man over him,
And let an accuser[a] stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
And let his prayer become sin.
8 Let his days be few,
And let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.
10 Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;
Let them seek their bread[b] also from their desolate places.
11 Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder his labor.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy to him,
Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off,
And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be continually before the Lord,
That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;
16 Because he did not remember to show mercy,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
That he might even slay the broken in heart.
17 As he loved cursing, so let it come to him;
As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18 As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
So let it enter his body like water,
And like oil into his bones.
19 Let it be to him like the garment which covers him,
And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.
20 Let this be the Lord’s reward to my accusers,
And to those who speak evil against my person.

21 But You, O GOD the Lord,
Deal with me for Your name’s sake;
Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting,
And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.
25 I also have become a reproach to them;
When they look at me, they shake their heads.

26 Help me, O Lord my God!
Oh, save me according to Your mercy,
27 That they may know that this is Your hand—
That You, Lord, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but You bless;
When they arise, let them be ashamed,
But let Your servant rejoice.
29 Let my accusers be clothed with shame,
And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.

30 I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth;
Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.
31 For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor,
To save him from those who condemn him.

Right now, with so much happening in my life, with so many trials, I cannot help but get angry; It's hard to 'be angry, but do not sin,' but it is possible; Praise God for His Spirit that aids us, by making intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26). Praise God for the peace that goes beyond all understanding, that protects our hearts and minds as we lift all of our junk to the Lord... He is forever faithful, forever His love reigns! Thank You, Jesus!

Father, let Your perfect will be done for all of us. Glorify Your Name! In Jesus Christ's Name I pray, Amen!

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Checkpoint 5.5

It's hard to take a telephoto picture while being engaged in a telephone conversation, while you have your cell balancing on the other ear. Nevertheless, I'm glad I was able to pull this off. I believe this pine needle (dangling by conveniently near-invisible spider webs) was 10 feet above the ground. 

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. - James 1:2-4

The greatest of trials always have the greatest rewards: The greatest lessons we will ever learn. Our God is the God of the valleys as much as He is the God of the mountains. Whether we be in a valley or a mountain, whether we be light on our feet or weighed down, He has, is, and will always be God Almighty.

Praise the Lord, from whom all blessings flow.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. - Ephesians 2:4-7

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 56 - To The Last Breath (Benguet '12) (1)

Notice that the branches at the very top of this dying tree are still alive.

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."- Revelation 12:11

"Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed." - Hebrews 12:12-13

We have placed all our hope in the One who saves us - Jesus Christ. The tides may turn against us, but we stand strong on the fact that our God is King over the calm and the storm, God over the mountains and the valleys.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 55 - Sentinel (Colorado '08)

"But if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it - lest you even be found to fight against God."
- Acts 5:39

Here's something I learned today: Be willing to share as long as what you share is of God's will, and according to His word.

Just sharing. :)

God bless you.


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 54 - There Is Much To Share (New Jersey '08)

Indeed, there is much to share, including this shot of a random suburban street somewhere in New Jersey...

A blessing is only truly a blessing when it is shared. When we bless people with our time, resources, and in this case photographs, we bless ourselves in the process as well. Everyone wins, and God is glorified.

"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” - Luke 6:38

God bless you.


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 53 - There Is Much To Learn

Add caption

Proverbs 2

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Value of Wisdom

2 My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
4 If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
8 He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.

10 When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
11 Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
16 To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,
17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
19 None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—
20 So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 52 - A Moment To Observe (Baguio '08)

I was tempted to keep this colored but I suppose consistency in what I have planned for every sample till #60 took precedence.

I believe it's necessary for a small break to be taken to take in a break. In my opinion, I've been thinking small recently, and I've been adding things which were not necessary.

I meant 'shallow' when I said 'not necessary' - My attempt in expressing what I wanted to say in the 2 previous sentences palindromatically (?)  was shallow in itself. Hell, this text so far has been quite shallow.

I need to do some rethinking and re-evaluating before I go on with adding any text with the posts.

God bless you. 



_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26