Sample 148 - Sample 63, Revisited.

You've probably noticed I posted this scene again, but this is a different picture; I played with the levels and saturation more on this one. 

"And, again I say... In God we trust, because in Christ, we trust. 

'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.' (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 NKJV)"

- Sample 63, The Beauty In Faith

Christ established faith in us. As Christ is always with us, He develops this faith, and thank God, He is faithful to perfect this faith - He is faithful to finish the work He began in us. God is not a God of unfinished business.

There is no more room for fear. There is no more room for fear of lack or complete absence of progression. The Word says that even the righteous man may stumble seven times but he will keep coming back up. Christ is the reason why we keep coming back up. Christ is the reason we keep on going. It isn't about positive thinking more than it is about Christ-consciousness.

He is with us in the light and in the dark. He knows everything we are going through, He knows our struggles, He knows what inspires us and what drags us down... And though we may have our own ideas regarding the best possibility in every circumstance, we would do well to know that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life - Yes, He Himself is all these things, and before we try to figure out His ways, before we try to think WWJD, we would do well to just remain in J's presence. 

Christ said to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness - Well, I believe Christ HIMSELF is the absolute perfect embodiment of the nature of God's Kingdom ('...peace and joy in the Holy Spirit', per Romans 14:17), and Christ Himself is not just THE Righteousness, but OUR Righteousness. 

I guess what I'm trying to say now is before we try to figure out why that rainbow is there, let's appreciate the fact that it's there. The reasons and the revelations follow. 

It's no longer a matter of us finding Christ's presence. He's the One who's with us. He's the One who never leaves nor forsakes us. He is in us, and we are in Him. Jesus paid it all. Jesus did it all. 

I remember being in a similar state of exhilaration when I saw that rainbow for the first time. Only this time, it just seems so much clearer to me that Christ's love is as uncompromising as it is unconditional, in the sense that it just keeps coming and it never stops. 

Halleluyah! What a Savior!

Sample 84 - Hope In Sight!

The future looks brighter. By God's grace, I happen to be blessed with someone to walk down the road with me. Indeed, there is greater light ahead when you see it with a partner.

I love you Paola! To God be all the glory and praise!

_________________________
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 63 - The Beauty In Faith

'Just Another Rainbow' - Sure, we can call this another phenomena that naturally happens when rain and the light of the sun are in one place at one time. However, the Bible says that rainbows are also a sign of God's promise that He will never allow the earth to be completely covered in water, ever again.

 It's time to speak up.

Just because God doesn't do what you want Him to do, doesn't mean He doesn't exist.

My father died even if we prayed, and prayed hard for His healing.

My life isn't exactly what the common person would call fun and cool.

I don't have everything I want. I don't get everything I ask for.

But I have peace. I have peace due to the fact that 2,000 years ago, a Man named Jesus Christ, steadfast before the most trying of temptations, compassionate, merciful before the hardest of hearts, Life dwelling among death and decay, sinless before God and man - this Man chose to be subject to betrayal, arrest, ridicule, torture;

He was perfect & sinless before God & man, yet He suffered as a criminal in the eyes of both God &man - the most painful & shattering scourging, topped off with a humiliating, slow death hanging naked, nailed to a cross - all the while forsaken by God the Father, separated from all Hope, and love, and all that is good... All for us. All so we would not suffer the same fate.

All so we would be saved, because we couldn't save ourselves.

In God we trust, because in Christ, we trust.

We may be emotional. We may come out as fanatical. But above all that the world perceives, one thing is definite: we choose to place our trust, our fate, our future to Jesus Christ. We keep believing because He causes everything to happen for the good of those who love Him. We keep believing because through all that has happened, all that is happening, and all that will happen, we know that God never fails, and that He is good, all the time He is good.

In Christ, there is peace, there is hope.

And, again I say... In God we trust, because in Christ, we trust.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 NKJV)

_________________________
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 50 - Curtain of Light (Colorado '08) (2)

...So you probably noticed the color of the skies in both shots are different - when I ran the second photo through Photomatix, it applied Tone Mapping settings I used for a previous shot, and... well, I kind of liked it looking a little warmer. If I made it look more natural, I'm thinking that it'll look like any other cloud shot, and the impact of the light punching through the clouds would have been watered down. What do you think?

"Lord of endless light,
 Let Your glory shine forever;
 All the earth, all the earth will sing Your praise!

 Hope of every heart
 Let Your Name be lifted higher!
 All our hearts, all our hearts will sing Your praise!

 God be exalted, God be exalted, in everything!
 We live for Your glory, live for Your glory!"

- Hillsong, "Endless Light"

As the light of the sun shines as great and beautiful curtain through the clouds and into the darkness, so the glory of the Lord is made more evident in the most difficult of circumstances. Whether we believe in Jesus Christ or not, I firmly stand by the truth of His Word, that He has been and is faithful to us even when we were faithless, and the best thing to do during these times is to draw near to Him...

Are you weary? Are you tired? Are you confused? My brother, my sister, cast your burden upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will give you rest.. Believe in Him, and you will be saved.

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