Could my tears..

"God is not impressed if we are deeply moved over Jesus' torment. Unbelievers are moved to tears watching The Passion Of the Christ. "Could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone." He is impressed with whether or not we believe in the gospel Jesus preached. It is true that God the Son suffered more than we will ever know. And it is right to pray for softer hearts and a more profound grasp of what Jesus endured to save us. But as we survey the wondrous cross today, remember that in our worship God will not be looking for tears, he will be looking for trust." - Jon Bloom

Strength to Strength

"Those with anxious spirits trouble themselves about the future. “Oh!” they say, “we seem to go from affliction to affliction.” Very true, O you of little faith; but don’t forget that you also go from strength to strength. You will never find a bundle of affliction that doesn’t have God’s sufficient grace at the very center." - Spurgeon

No sunset years

There are no sunset years. "The path of the righteous is like the dawn; It shines brighter until the full day." (Pro. 4:18) - John Piper

I've been thinking about this quote today. It's pretty profound and worth pondering on. I like it very much.

Swoon

Street art by Swoon. Photo by Atomic. I like the combination of cut paper and drawing.

A thousand different colours

“People observe the colours of a day only at it's beginnings and ends, but to me it’s quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colours. Waxy yellows, cloud-spot blues. Murky darkness.”

- From The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I haven't read this book, but i read the quote and like it.

North Iran

by Icy & Sot

Waiting...

"All the days of my struggle i will wait, until my change comes." - Job 14.14

Here is my truthful confession... Sometimes it's hard to wait. I was at Church this morning, and every bit of my soul was bursting with a longing to praise God... every bit of me wanted to dance and sing and be free in my expression of worship.... there was worship deep in my heart, seeking a release...... but my body is weak... my limbs were trembling.. my words were being blocked before they even escaped from my lips.. it was as much as i could do to get a few words out in the songs, let alone anything more...... and i knew i wasn't strong enough to dance.. if i did, i would almost certainly have collapsed and had a fit.

I don't want to endulge in self-pity.. i don't want to seem ungrateful, when i know that i'm blessed to have eyes that see, and ears that hear, and limbs that allow me to walk and draw... I am blessed.. everything i have is a gift.. the simple fact that i am alive is a gift.. and i am so grateful for that. But sometimes, i yearn to be fully free. I yearn to be able to express my worship to God. I yearn to be able to be strong enough to go and be amongst the people my heart bleeds for, and to serve and love others without being so limited by my feeble body.

And sometimes, like today, it feels hard. I would be lying if i pretended it didn't feel like a struggle.

"You are the living word, You are glorious and righteous, I shall be satisfied when i wake in Your likeness. I will wait for my change to come, til i wake more like the Son. I'm satisfied to be like You Lord. You're faithful, You are good. You abound in love and mercy. How awesome is Your name. You're the Christ, the hope of glory. You never tire nor faint, You strengthen those who wait, hoping in things unseen, I will trust in Your name." - Song lyrics by Christ Our Life

Even the stones...

Each rock had a hundred thousand stories etched into it's being. Each rock was a silent witness to the activities of the World. And each rock had a multitude of songs it could have sung; laments, ditties, lullabies, psalms, serenades, anthems, hymns. Yet the cry that must be heard, the cry that can't be contained, is the cry that declares who is King.

".. the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." " - Luke 19. 37-40

A little bird

Photo by Kurt Tong

I quoted this once before, but i'm going to quote it again. I like the truth of it, even though i don't always feel it.. my heart doesn't always feel free.. but today it does and i'm grateful:

“A little bird I am, Shut from the fields of air; Yet in my cage I sit and sing, To Him who placed me there; Well pleased a prisoner to be, Because, my God, it pleases Thee. Nought have I else to do; I sing the whole day long; And He whom most I love to please, Doth listen to my song; He caught and bound my wandering wing, But still He bends to hear me sing. My cage confines me round: Abroad I cannot fly; But though my wing is closely bound, My heart's at liberty." - Madame Guyon

Being present

"Neither go back in fear and misgiving to the past, nor in anxiety and forecasting to the future; but lie quiet under His hand, having no will but His." - H.E.Manning

Open eyes.

"It's all a matter of keeping my eyes open, Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will sense them. The least we can do is try to be there... So that creation need not play to an empty house." - Annie Dillard

Tear it out.

"The role of the will in sanctification: How intentional must you be to tear out your eye? Totally. It's never spontaneous." - John Piper

Challenging, but true...

Chinese Totems

Photos taken from the 'Totems' series by Alain Delmore. They portray Chinese men carrying vast loads across the city of Shanghai. I find them pretty fascinating.

All in a day's work

"If i may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole." Mark 5.28

I've been marveling at Mark 5 this evening. It contains three incredible stories showing Jesus' power; power over the enemy, power over sickness, power over death. And it's all in a day's work:

Jesus frees a mad man from a legion of demons and restores His health and sanity. Then He heals a lady who's been sick for 12 years. I am in awe of her simple faith.. She had spent all she had on seeking a remedy, only to have gotten worse. Yet when she sees Jesus she says with complete and absolute certainty that if she just touches His clothes then she WILL be made well. She touches, with a trembling fearful hand. She's made whole. And then with humility she declares to everyone the full truth as to why she had touched Him. Straight afterwards, Jesus raises a child from the dead, with the power of His simple tender loving words: "Little girl, arise." She arises. She lives.

Honestly, this chapter blows my mind. This chapter points to the absolute beauty and power of Jesus - power over the enemy, power over sickness, power over time, power over death.. and beauty that invokes faith and love and humility in sinner's. This God-man is incredible.

Your hands.

"Jesus, let me see Your hands. I wanna see the holes, where You felt Your Father's plans. Jesus, let me see Your feet. Never was a man's suffering so sweet.... Those who have ears, let 'em hear... those who have eyes, let 'em see.... There will be a day when the King will come, separate the weeds from the wheat.... Scoffer's scoff, skeptics smirk, don't you see a sinner's just like me... There will be a day when every knee will bow... So Jesus, let me see Your hands. I wanna see the holes, where You felt Your Father's plans. Jesus, let me see Your feet. Never was a man's suffering so sweet."

- Josh White

The Sun is Rising

The little video that this photo is taken from is worth watching: The Sun is Rising

Trees - Men

" “I see men, but they look like trees.” (Mark 8:24). Lord, leave me not with one lone touch. Keep touching till all is clear. " - John Piper

The cry of the needy

"He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap." - Psalm 113.7

"You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed...." - Psalm 10.17-18

Photo & stencil graffiti by icy

The face of Jesus

"'I see the face of Jesus in disguise,' said Mother Teresa about the dying beggars she would invite into her home in Calcutta - 'sometimes a most distressing disguise.' She, like Gandhi, understood that the direction of charity is not condescending, but rather ascending: in serving the weak and the poor, we are privileged to serve God himself." - P.Yancey

A crown of thorns.

"It ill becomes you to make much of dress and show, when you are so soon to see the face that was crowned with thorns." - RMM via J.Piper

He opened not His mouth

"Never man spake like Him (John 7.46) and never was man silent like Him." Spurgeon

I still can't comprehend how Jesus always spoke so beautifully. His every word is absolutely perfect. What blows my mind even more though, is His silence. I love this God-man. And I love His words. Out of everyone, He has a right to defend Himself, yet He doesn't... instead, His silence speaks in my defense, when I'm the guilty one.

Let me sail..

Photo by Sarah V. Elston

I caught a glimpse of You today, as shards of light danced across the ocean, merging sun and sea into single sapphire dewdrops; it was a timely unison. A summer radiance overthrew yesterday's grey countenance, and every resident of that water-city seemed to sing with victory. For a moment, Your laughter was written into the face of the great deep.

When You withdraw, all pleasing colours fade from those waves, like blood that drains from a broken man's skin. They have no brightness of their own.. they are not whole... like a bride without her groom. With no metronome to tame it's song, the current writhes at the hands of fierce winds, like a restless troubled soul. It's breakers crash upon the rocks, unleashing heavy salty tunes.. and my own heart echos their cry, releasing heavy salty tears. We toss as one, the vast ocean and i... we utter sounds simultaneously, as we share our longing for Your rays again.

Yet today, as i gazed into the waters heart and You unveiled Your shimmering eyes, hope surged through the fragments of my soul. I heard a faint whisper of the voice that stills the waters; a faint promise that the day is not far off. And I burst with gratitude at Your faithfulness. But still my every fibre flows with yearning... I long to sail peaceful seas again, to let You calm my ocean. I wait in hope for Your voice that speaks to my depths and hushes mighty storms. I wait in hope for the gentle tide that draws me to You, my desired haven.

"He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven." - Psalm 107.29-31

Old Brighton Pier

I like these double exposures by Dan Mountford

Twenty Three

"Arise Oh Lord

Lift up Your eyes

Don’t forget I’m helpless

Oh You lead me to waters and pastures so green

Oh You pour out Your oil and choose goodness and mercy for me

No I will not be in want

You’re with me

I will not fear

You comfort me

I will not fear.

Everything i've ever wanted, i find in You. I could run away and You will never leave. You will always stay, right by my side."

- Song Lyrics to Twenty Three by Aaron Strumpel -

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Photos by Ibán Ramón.

He is good.

"I will hope in Your name, for Your name is good." - Psalm 52. 9

"I will sing the Lord's praise for He has been good to me." - Psalm 13.6

So that we might cling to Him

"Christ did not come into the world so that we might comprehend Him, but so that we might cling to Him, so that we might let Him simply pull us into the tremendous story of the resurrection. He came so that we might simply let Him tell us in total incomprehensibility: You are dead - and yet you have risen! You are in the dark - and yet you are in the light. You are afraid - and yet you can rejoice. These totally incompatible things are side by side only a hair's breadth apart. Just like the two worlds, our world and God's world, they are side by side only a hair breadth apart.....

Our visible life with its joys and successes, with it's worries and trouble and its painful disobedience stands holy and innocent and perfect for Jesus Christ's sake in that hidden world of God before the eyes of the Almighty, today and tomorrow and forever. And no tear flows in vain and no sigh goes unheard; no pain is disparaged and no jubilation is lost. The visible world brutally and heartlessly and violently marches over all of that. But out of grace and mercy and great love, God gathers up our burning, blazing life... Our true life is hidden - but it is solidly grounded in eternity." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer