Never Alone...

Sometimes when I open the Bible, I feel at a loss as to what could be relevant to my today in these words.  Especially, when I open to books like Amos in the OT.  By faith I read on, with the prayer,’ may I have eyes to see, ears to hear, heart to receive, mind to perceive, soul to fill, and strength to heed my Lord and praise be my God’  Amazingly God always replies with a peace beyond understanding… and His relevance of His Word to our today’s.  Do believe the passion in me to illustrate God’s Word as the Living Word of God relevant to every breath we take in our today’s, struggles to find that truth in some of the harsh scriptures of the OT.  These must never be taken out of context, and we also must never forget that God is NOT DONE YET.  Godspeed remains.  I share with you today’s quiet time, and how the OT, found its way to be a peace for today… God always answers our prayers, HIS way- Godspeed indeed:

Bible this morn open at Amos 1:1-2:16.  What he saw concerning Israel 2 years before the earth quake.  “Judgment of Israel’s neighbors” and on through ‘Judgment on Israel’ CH3 “Witnesses Summoned Against Israel”  3:7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants and prophets. 8 The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken—who can not prophesy?

<><<><<>< Noting- 3:3-6 notes rhetorical questions.  Amos builds up to the statements of vv7-8 to explain why he is speaking such terrifying words.  EACH picture cause and effect, using figures drawn from daily life—and culminating in Divine action (v.6)

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This- these- therefore, how these O.T.  prophesies are our LIVING Word today?

 <>< CH4 “Israel Has Not Returned To God”

V13 He who forms the mountains, creates the wind and reveals His thoughts to man, He who turns dawn to darkness, and treds the High Places of the earth—The LORD God Almighty is His Name.

CH5 “A Lament & Call to Repentance” In part from Chapter…

This is what The Sovereign Lord Says:…

“Seek Me and Live,…”

“Seek The Lord & live,…”

…7,10,…

…Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil

Seek Good not evil

That you may live

The Lord Almighty will be with you,

Just as He says He is.

Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.

…”I HATE, I DESPISE your religious feasts….”

“…But let justice roll on like a river righteousness like a never-failing stream!”…

CH6
Woe to the complacent” (how continues through the book, and will read on from)

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In these God directly addresses Israel with the charge of unfaithfulness.  Summarizing and rejecting the current practice of religion in Israel.  The institutions were not wrong in themselves; it was the worshippers and the way s they worshipped that were wrong.  The people had no basis on which to come to God, because their conduct reflected disobedience.

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Faith and TRUST in God Almighty is NOT about Religion—

Perhaps, that is the “LIVING” WORD to take from these harsh judgments chapters of the prophet Amos.  Also in these are the foreshadowing seen in “The Day Of The Lord’ v18-27.

The simplicity of the TRUTH of God is in the two choices we have to make in this life.  LOVE MUST be sincere. (Rom 12:9. See context vv9-21) These N.T. passages reflect Amos O.T. prophesy here, and Isaiah’s. 

Our call from then, OT to NT, today and forever remains simple—

“Love The Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and spirit. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself’

We are NOT to turn the Truth of God into ‘our’ way—therefore ‘our’ religion as fits Gods ways into ‘ours.’

Cause and effects from our daily lives – culminate ‘our’ divine action applied.  ACTUALLY we apply it by ‘our’ choices.

GOD is GOOD—in Him there is NO darkness at ALL.  God is LIGHT, in Him there is NO darkness at all.  Every time we choose to step into the dark, we choose to step away from God’s light.  His love remains.  We need to choose to live in it.  It’s our choice.  That is how Sovereign our God is!  He gives to us an indescribable GIFT.  We though must choose to accept it—and to keep it by abiding in it. 

Whenever i having feelings like darkness is consuming the way,  the a choice to not stay there alone may be made.  All have this choice. No prejudice or judging. Simply a Call on Jesus- He is our light,  Gods light as our Emmanuel- GOD with US—in our hearts may indeed be the light of the knowledge of the glory of God as found in the face of Christ (words inspired by life verse 2 Cor 4:6)

Be careful how I choose to live… is Gods LIVING Word from the OT judgments this morn.  For not one letter of the law has been removed—our indescribable gift, thank God,  comes with a blanket—GRACE.

Jesus our sacrifice, for what we could never overcome alone.  God; knows, loves, cares, will NEVER desert us or leave us alone.  He will always show us the way out.  IF, we choose to stay in the dark— that is our choice. 

God can LOVE you while there, but He can NEVER join you there.  The light can ONLY dispel the dark.  It can not have any union with it.  Physics impossibility is a life impossibility too.  The God News, GOOD News remains no matter what we choose.  TRUTH remains absolute TRUTH whether we choose to believe it or not.

 Its NOT about religion!!!!!  Its about LOVE.  God so loved… He gave… That NONE shall perish.

NEVER ALONE

‘Seek Me and live…’

Gods LIVING Word—God breathed to be our breath of life—for all eternity blanketed by His GRACE LOVE & FELLOWSHIP

Triune of God; Son, Father, Holy Spirit equals Emmanuel—God with us our choice in Jesus’ name.

For it is in Jesus’ name The ‘Amen’ is spoken which means ‘it is done’.  Amen and Amen- Godspeed.

The prayer;

Thank You God for reeling me back to see Your Divine nature, reality, truth, love… way.

Thank YOU for Your indescribable Gift of life through Jesus Christ in Your NEVER ending love, grace and fellowship.

Forgive me the errors of my ways—specifics NOT written here, but YOU know them on my heart.  Make within me a pure heart O Lord.  Mercifully remove any offensive ways in me.

Guide my way to meet You where You are and Your call on this heart.  Be my wisdom and discernment and ability to apply it to Your gifts and talents given in a manner that they multiply TENFOLD for Your Honor and Glory.  Show me each baby step even to take God, holding my hand.

God- may Your exceedingly more than I dare imagine—be my continued way.  Therefore- by faith – NOT sight… abide in it --- then Your Truth shall even set me free… ALL free that abide there.  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Thank YOU for Your LIVING WORD, God breathed and relevant to EVERY breath we take in our Today’s – Godspeed.

what is Godspeed?

The morning view... 

Sometimes... seeing is believing.  Sometimes it is the opposite of that.

we walk by faith not sight... Godspeed.

in haste of a long to do list, am simply literally sharing journal pages this morn of what have come to title this time "In His Light...Before The Dawn"  This morning it was literally that. To enlarge any image, simply click on it to read it easier.  I don't know what Godspeed is exactly.  I don't know that any of us do... Chris Rice in a song reflects on that as he looks at a fly on a screen...'three pounds of brain to...' well yah, comprehend God.  Good news is, God's got it ALL under control... Godspeed.

my journaling:

 and the day before as referenced here

I never mean to offend any, and surely hope not to be thought loony for my sharing.  It is what it is.  Read at will and in it all... simply takes God Word as Truth.  As you hear it prayerfully in your heart, as He speaks it to yours.  Test the spirits.  For this one thing we may always know in God's Good Spirit... He is Light, in Him there is NO DARKNESS at all.  Is the choices before you light, or dark? 

May we all choose Godspeed

this a way that a distraction in an artist view may turn into...

something hoping to do, even though no room for it on the to do list, it makes it way into the day

Godspeed...

"Seeded With Mary's Memory" Alla Prima Oil by Karen Ann Hitt 

until it blooms...

that lit' shadow of a tree today... photo doesn't pay it justice,  shall paint it soon.

Crepe Myrtle is in bloom.  Always love when it comes into bloom – for the tree represents much.  It was a long hoped for tree in my Florida yard.

- loved seeing it referenced in the Bible—and the thought that a piece of the ancient of times could be in this families yard,

Well, as said, meant a lot.  

 It  a tree, could never afford to buy. So it stayed on the wish list. 

One day at the home improvement store getting some essentials, looked over in the clearance plants on a rack.   

The Plants that are one step from the trash heap—

they either sickly or out of bloom or have some trait

that has them marked for removing them from being with the ‘worthy’ plants.

There was a stem of a small tree.  The label read crepe myrtle.  It had no leaves let alone a bloom—and very few out reaching branches.  It was a pretty sad specimen of a tree –and of the beloved crepe myrtle at that.  The label said it had lavender blooms.  It was in a good sized pot, and almost as tall as me.  Now that think about it – it looked a wee bit like me at 13—minus the unruly hair.  A bean pole, limbs not yet filled out or caught up to its trunk.  The Crossed out price tag, scribbled in $30… stepped away from the find—that still a lot of money for me— saying still can’t afford this find.

As went on to pick up some more so called essentials at the store, the shadow of a crepe myrtle tree kept tugging at me.  I went over and starred at its hopeless state—couldn’t stand thinking it would end up as trash—

sighed,

Put it in my cart, took out another not quite essential item for today, and brought it home.   

Yes, it brought laughs from family…

’mom, what is that?’ 

I proclaimed ‘it’s a crepe myrtle in my favorite shade, hoping can nurse it till it blooms.’  

 No volunteers to dig out the large hole needed,  so began to dig, set it in the center of largest plant bed, flanked by palms and plumbago around the edges, camouflaging its nakedness, while nurturing and pampering its hoped growth.

The life of this tree made me think of the Scripture in the Bible passage of a fig tree.  That Scripture always seemed harsh that Jesus would say such.  I often read it in hopes of better understanding it…

Stating in the passage, three years; three years is ample time – it shares, give it one more...  Call me patient or perhaps persistent, though many a season it has been lovely, It just may have been four years before it starting looking like a Crepe Myrtle. It kept hanging in. 

It now has been approximately fifteen years plus since planting that shadow of a tree.  Children have since grown and gone off on their own, so to speak.  The crepe myrtle now reaches up and out past the palms, and is indeed the prettiest of the 26 trees in this yard… in my humble opinion that is.   

It is still reaching for its full potential; it certainly is lovely when its lilac colored flowers come into bloom.  So glad it wasn’t given up on, or left as a hopeless case.

Who or what are you looking at today that tempts you to say it’s hopeless, a loss cause? 

Is something tugging at your heart string to tell you that it’s not ___???

That’s the truth speaking, whispering. 

Don’t give up on something that its full bloom season in life hasn’t had its chance to bless your life with it yet. 

Exceedingly more than you can imagine just may be the blessing at hand if you nurture it. 

As is this tree, the prettiest on the land – Godspeed.

If you are the one doing the giving up or the one being given up on--- be not afraid. 

"Scent's of Spring" plein air oil by K Hitt copyrighted (lilacs)

Look up, 

pray.  

 Fertilize the good,

 that its full potential may be had,

 Don’t only look at the bad…

EVER

That is NEVER Gods plan-

Look for the good

And you’ll find it

And it

Will grow and bless

Your caring hands…

Love never fails

God- is love-

In Jesus’ name the

Amen is spoken

And it is done.

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Bible is bookmarked at Jonah 1:1-8… it makes me as uneasy as the passage of the fig tree sometimes.  Hope to not go in the opposite direction of God’s call on my heart, and wind up in the belly of a big fish--- or be a fig tree with no fruit on the verge of being cut down.  

Isn't it just like Godspeed, and Fine timing, for God’s Artist eyes in me to notice and remember the story behind the beautiful Crepe Myrtle tree in front of me.

Yes, the Crepe Myrtle tree is in bloom.

Thank you God.

Hope indeed remains in You

I pray to hear, heed your call. 

I pray for us all that may be on the verge of doubt or giving up on – or being given up on—

that the sweet scent of a bloom comes to heart and the good is held on to and nurtured,

That when its blooming seasons comes- there is great joy in getting to be in its full bloom.

More joy than known today-

or could have ever imagined.

The book of Jonah intro reads: 'The book depicts the larger scope of God’s purpose for Israel, that she might rediscover the TRUTH of His concern for the WHOLE CREATION and that she might better understand her own role in carrying out that concern.'

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Yes, am reminded that what may look like a shadow of a tree today

Ready to be thrown away even

With being given a chance on new life 

with the nurturing of ALL that is Good in it

Come into full

Beautiful blooms

Exceeding more than could have ever imagined.

How nice the Crepe Myrtle tree is in bloom

Godspeed.

Prayer: Father, thank You…. In Jesus’ name Amen

Luke 20:38 ‘He is not the God of the dead,

But of the living,

For to Him

ALL are alive.”-Jesus’ red letters

AMEN my Lord

Amen

Artist Studio Life- Oil - By K. Hitt copyrighted (sharing blooms)