Sample 73 - Still Standing

My sincerest apologies for not posting recently... I've been busy. And God has been working on me. :)

Here's something taken on the way down from the top of Mount Evans, Colorado on our 2008 trip to the United States. I love these mountain landscapes, and I pray that the my brothers and sisters there would continue to see the glory of God through His creations that they are so privileged and blessed to behold on a more regular basis. I pray that as they see the magnificent Rockies, there would be no doubt in their minds as to how great God is, and how deep His love for us, as demonstrated through Jesus Christ.

This particular shot, verse and all, was a 'page' for a photobook I intended to print some years ago. My lack of experience back then led to the abandonment of the project... but hey, who says I couldn't share what came out of it? :)

Maybe it's time to revive the project. I lift my intentions to the Lord, and I thank Him because He will make my paths straight. To God be all 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 72 - Light's Last Moments

Before the day slips away
I want to stop and say
I love You, 
I love You;

Before the world rushes in again
I want to stop and say there's none above You
There's none above You
 
I'll just be still and know You are God
 
Be still and know You are God

- 'Before The Day', by Newsong


_______________________
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 71 - Moonset | Starfall (Bauang '12)

Here's a zoomed in crop of the sky, contrast adjusted and run through a noise-reduction program.

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?"

- Psalm 8:3-4

When I think of the sheer complexity of the smallest sections of the atom and the absolute enormity of the sky and the stars, I am humbled. I ask myself, how can our own minds grasp the truths of creation, and how could our own thoughts ever hope to measure up to the infinitely superior intricacy involved in the cell structure of the tiniest of insects, or in the birth and death of a star?

Truly and indeed, God's foolishness (for lack of a better word, I suppose) is far incomparable to the wisest of wisdoms we claim to formulate on our own. We will never be able to comprehend His ways from beginning to end in this life, yet He is so gracious to show in all things that He is reaching out to us to believe in Him... He reaches out to us for us to know that the best thing for us is to just run back to Him!

He is so gracious to guarantee that we can come back to Him, even in all His absolute glory and holiness, in His infinite power and wisdom. It is not by what we do that we are worthy to stay a second in His presence; no, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but would have everlasting life, an eternity with the Father!

It was Jesus Christ who took the judgment for the sins we committed, that those who believe would literally have a clean slate, clear of all guilt and condemnation, made whiter than snow.

I mean, I know I've said this all so many times in the past, but I just couldn't stop giving Him all the glory and praying for His will to be done as I shoot and post photo after photo of His creations... It is my prayer that we all would connect to Jesus Christ.

No matter what we've been through, no matter what we've dealing with now, and no matter what we have in store for us in the future, one truth remains - that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one could come to the Father except through Him.

Choose Jesus Christ today. It doesn't always make sense, but to run to Him will always be the best decision we will make.

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 70 - A Sign, A Wonder (Arizona '10)

 

And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
- Genesis 9:12-17
As I read these passages one morning just a few days ago, I was reminded of one particular 'rainbow' everyone saw when we were in the Grand Canyon. We were on one of the final stops on our tour of the park, when everyone suddenly lifted their cameras, from taking the breathtaking landscape to shooting the peculiar bright colors glowing on the clouds in the sky. I simply had to follow suit.

While I pulled up these pictures I took almost 4 years ago, I wanted to know the exact term for this 'rainbow in the clouds'; after a few seconds of Googling I found out that what we saw was a small section of what's known as a circumhorizonal arc.

I spoke to my girlfriend about what I read in Genesis, and what I shot and we agreed that we are also to be, in some way or form, a sign - a reminder to all of God's faithfulness and love towards us - that when people see us in our own daily lives, they are reminded in one way or the other of how God is faithful and true to His word.

Now that I type this, I remember the days when we just started our relationship. I was literally 'on fire' in telling everyone my story before, during, and after we agreed to be more than just friends. That I was living a life of idolatry, until the Lord brought me through the most trying of valley experiences. By God's grace and in His perfect timing, I came out so much more boldly, declaring that, indeed, those who call out the name of the Lord will be saved! 

I'd love to go in detail regarding this... next time. But this is what I want to say for now. As followers of Christ, I believe we would do well to heed His word in Revelation 12:11, which says that we overcome the enemy by the blood of Jesus Christ, and by the word of our testimony.

The rainbow exists to remind us of God's faithfulness to his word. Let our lives remind all of the same thing.

Lord, by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the power of Your Spirit, use us. Work in and through us, that none should perish, but for all to come to repentance. Take all the glory, Lord! In Jesus Christ's Name I pray, amen!

View in Monochrome:

_________________________

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 69 - Self-Portrait

Mansion House Lake, October 2010

A House Divided Cannot Stand

Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."

- Matthew 12:22-30

 

I haven't felt so attached to a picture for the longest time.

Conflict exists in all levels; from the deepest personal thoughts to the highest forms of human government. If not addressed, all conflict leads to desolation, as Christ mentioned.

Introspection may prove counterproductive in the sense that we would see so much conflict in ourselves... But for those of us who believe, we have the option to choose to take what filth we see beneath the surface as a stern reminder of our humanity, and the futility of our flesh. That what we do of our own strength and power is done in vain, and it is God's strength that is made perfect in our weakness.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we would do well to continually call out on the name of the Lord, for His strength to be made perfect in our own personal lives, through all the highs and lows, through times of silence and of great anguish. We are able, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to behold the Lord's strength to be made perfect in our own lives - and, eventually, as we continue to declare God's will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven, we will see the Lord's goodness manifest in our own houses, our communities, our cities, our countries, our world!

Truly, everything will be put in its rightful place, everything will be in order, when we give EVERYTHING to Jesus Christ.

Father, let Your Kingdom come, and let Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

To You be all the glory, and praise, and worship, forever and ever. In Jesus Christ's Name, 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

Sample 68 - Higher Heights Through Jesus (Pike's Peak '11)

Psalm 2

Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.

Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”

“I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.

Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”

Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little.

Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

---

Indeed, when we are in Jesus Christ, we are just so blessed. Because of His death and resurrection for our sake, for all to know the Father, what else can we do but to just give Him all the glory?

Despite all our worries, all our concerns for this day and for the rest of the year, let us always remember that God's lovingkindess endures forever.

That we should not be anxious for and about anything, but that we should lift any and all of our concerns to Him in prayer, supplication and thanksgiving - for His peace which goes beyond all human reasoning will protect our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Let us always remember that God loves us, and He loves us with an everlasting love - Though our lives fall short of His grace, by the blood of Jesus and by the power of His spirit we are stepping up, from glory to glory!

Honestly, I have reasons to be worried right now, but I know beyond doubt that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, in Christ Jesus.

The enemy may try to take us down, but let us always look beyond the darkness, knowing that God's light shines brighter... And He saw the light, and that it is good.

To God be all the glory and praise forever and ever! Indeed, blessed are those who place their trust in Jesus Christ.

Sample 67 - Very Much Alive (Otay Lake '12)

 

Psalm 1

The Way of the Righteous and the End of the Ungodly

1     Blessed is the man
       Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
        Nor stands in the path of sinners,
        Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2     But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
        And in His law he meditates day and night.
3     He shall be like a tree
        Planted by the rivers of water,
        That brings forth its fruit in its season,
        Whose leaf also shall not wither;
       And whatever he does shall prosper.

4     The ungodly are not so,
       But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5     Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
      Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6     For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
       But the way of the ungodly shall perish.


_________________________
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