Category Archives: Bible

Let Your Light Shine…

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“Det ljusnar en smula för den som tänder ljus för andra “

The literal translation from google is:

“It brightens slightly for those who light candles for others”

I’m hoping that a Scandinavian blogger might be able to correct this translation if it’s off or wrong.

This came down to us from Dear’s mother’s people who are all Swedish. I’m sorry to say I don’t know which relative or friend painted it and who it was painted for. It has the year 1950 painted on the back. I enjoy seeing it on the wall and I appreciate the sentiment on it, too.

I did my own little word study on light from the Bible. Here are some of the verses I found from the English Standard Version of the Bible.

For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. Psalm 18:28

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Psalm 43:3

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”John 8: 12

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. John 12:46

It was a good exercise to look up these references about light on a dark winter’s day. Good to remember the source of my light and my salvation.

 

I Hold You in my Heart…

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Philippians 1:3-11 (ESV)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

HT: Bible Gateway

I love this prayer of Paul’s and wanted to pair it with the collage of my bleeding hearts.

We are enjoying a fine stretch of dry sunshiny days here in the Seattle area. I’m getting ready to head outdoors to work alongside Dear who is cleaning out the rain gutters. I’ll be doing some weeding and maybe even wash my car! Hope you have a nice first weekend of April!

New Gifts for the whole Year!

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I was gifted two new devotionals on Christmas from our daughter in love Laura and our niece Debbee. The Songs of Jesus by Timothy Keller with his wife Kathy Keller is a year of daily devotions in the Psalms. Savor by Shauna Niequist 365 devotions with recipes interspersed. The description reads, living Abundantly where you are, as you are. These two devotionals are different in style and I’ll enjoy each one.

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Our daughter gave me a calendar with Bible Verses illustrated for each month of the year.

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True words illustrated beautifully. I won’t get tired of the visuals.

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We bought our favorite waitress at the Mexican Restaurant we frequent the devotional by Sarah Young called Jesus Calling in Spanish called Jesús te llama for Christmas. When we went in last week she mentioned that she had started reading it already but was wondering about the references, wanting to read them, too. We realized she doesn’t own a Bible so we went to the Bible bookstore and bought her a Bible in Spanish so she could look up the references. (The most important part…yes?) We will give her the Bible this week and show her how to find the references. Her first language and the language she still excels in is Spanish. We have fun trying to communicate with her in English.

Do you read devotionals? Are you trying to read the Bible through in one year? Do you have a favorite devotional? For years my favorite was Daily Light. Over the years I’ve preferred reading verses right from the Bible with the same theme as opposed to someone’s thoughts with a verse tacked on. But…I’m not a legalist about it! I do believe wholeheartedly that the Scripture, God’s Word, the Bible is the one book that holds all authority. Period. God’s light and truth will shine!

Eternal Father, Strong to Save ~ Hymn

 

Eternal Father, Strong to Save

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked upon the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoe’er we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Words: William Whiting, 1860.

Limited Edition!

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a beautiful limited edition Bible published by Allan Publishers who were based in Glasgow, Scotland, and have since moved to Southwest London. Here’s what they say about their Bibles.

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For 150 years – since 1863 – we have been producing and selling our own exclusive Allan range of high quality, hand-finished Bibles which are both beautiful and durable. They are probably the finest leather-bound Bibles you can buy.

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My Bible’s font is 10 pt which means I can read it easily even though my eyes aren’t working as they used to.

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This will be my last personal Bible. I’ve decided to transfer my notes from my other Bibles to this Bible. Who knows how long that will take. We ordered a special pen to do that with, too, that’s recommended for fine paper and has archival qualities.

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Whatever book of the Bible you open to this Bible lays flat and doesn’t try to close up on you…very cool feature. The highland goatskin leather smells real good.

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The copy I own is 113 of 150 total published.

The first paragraph of the Preface supports the extravagant purchase of my new Bible.

“This book is the most valuable thing that the world affords. Here is Wisdom: this is the royal law; these are the lively oracles of God.” With these words the moderator of the Church of Scotland hands a Bible to the new monarch in Britain’s coronation service. These words echo the King James Bible translators, who wrote in 1611: “God’s sacred Word…is that inestimable treasure that excelleth all the riches of the earth.” This assessment of the Bible is the motivating force behind the publication of the English Standard Version. “

My plan for this year is to read five Psalms a day and one Proverb a day which means by the end of the year I would have read the Psalms and Proverbs 12 times. There’s a Russian saying that says that “repetition is the mother of learning”. The verses that I’ve chosen to concentrate on meditating on this year are Romans 12: 1-2.

Do you choose a Bible reading plan or a key verse for the new year?

Two Days Filled With Love…

Celebrating a new beautiful beginning and celebrating a lifelong time of loving and caring pretty much sums up our whirlwind trip to Southern California.

My heart is full and my heart is heavy…

MomAfter the beautiful wedding on Saturday we packed up and headed to my mom and pop’s apartment for a short visit before our flight home. We had a wonderful time around my mom’s hospital bed where she shared her favorite verses from the Bible with us with some added words of counsel. She was able to walk into the living area for a while to eat and watch the video of the wedding of grandson Caleb and sweet Marie that was recorded with my sister’s IPad during the wedding ceremony.  By this point she had to go back to her bed and rest. Dear, Josh, Laura, Katie and I said our goodbyes knowing this would be the last time we would see her alive.  Heavy…

Life…just like this post is always mixed with Joy and Sorrow…isn’t it?

Now that I am home I will be able to go through all the photos from the weekend and share with you in depth the beautiful wedding we were able to enjoy.  Here’s a little tease…

IMGP0831Before I go here is one of passages my mom shared with us when we were around her bed yesterday…

Jude 20, 21 (NASB)

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

Jude 1:20 (The Message)

20-21 But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!

It was so good to walk into our home last night to the smell of new floors. I’m looking forward to catching up on what you have been up to here in bloggy land.

Days and Moments Quickly Flying ~ Hymn

 

Days and Moments Quickly Flying

Days and moments quickly flying
Blend the living with the dead;
Soon our bodies will be lying
Each within its narrow bed.

Soon our souls to God who gave them
Will have sped their rapid flight:
Able now by grace to save them,
O that, while we can, we might!

Jesus, infinite Redeemer,
Maker of this mighty frame,
Teach, O teach us to remember
What we are, and whence we came.

Whence we came and whither wending,
Soon we must through darkness go,
To inherit bliss unending,
Or eternity of woe.

Jesus, merciful Redeemer,
Rouse dead souls to hear Thy voice;
Wake, O wake each idle dreamer
Now to make the eternal choice.

As a shadow, life is fleeting;
As a vapor so it flies;
For the old year now retreating
Pardon grant, and make us wise;

Wise that we our days may number,
Strive and wrestle with our sin,
Say not in our work, nor slumber
Till Thy glorious rest we win.

Soon before the Judge all glorious
We with all the dead shall stand:
Savior, over death victorious,
Place us then on Thy right hand.

Words: Edward Caswall, 1858.

A Mist…

This is not a complaining post but an observing post. It’s been interesting for me to observe things that happen when my house is upside down and everything is in a different place. When you add the reality that my mom is living out her last days on this earth to the upside down house I can see why I’ve lost my daily rhythm. Things that were such simple tasks that I didn’t even need to think about have to be written down on a list of things that I need to do. At the end of each day I have a nagging feeling that I forgot something.  I know that things will fall back to a comfortable everyday new normal again in the future. I know I will enjoy the results of all our hard work and looking at my new fresh floors. I know what the future holds for my mom even though the timing on earth is well out of my hands. “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able, to keep that which I’ve committed, unto Him against that day”. One of the things that doesn’t change is my slipping into speaking in song lyrics, and I’m glad about that because I enjoy it.

Do you ever find yourself speaking or answering someone with a phrase from a song?

Shine!

Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the LORD will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.

~ Isaiah 60: 1-2 (NKJV)

Be On the Alert!

1 Peter 5:6-10 (English Standard Version)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

I took these photos at the Dallas Zoo this past Friday. I was happy they were in an enclosed area. They look docile in these photos but we all know we would be their prey in the wilderness.

Hope your Tuesday is starting off well. As usual I’m trying to get my bearings re-established after being away…