Sandy Seashore-Genesis 22:17

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“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore…”

It would be  completely impossible to count every grain of sand on a seashore and yet, that’s how many people* God longs to include in the members of His family.

When man was removed from the ultimate paradise we were meant to live in, death entered the world.  The sinful nature of mankind broke God’s heart because he loves the people He created yet, sin and holiness cannot exist in the same place.  A bridge had to be made to fill the gap for man to live in a loving relationship with God again as God intended.

Before Jesus, God established a family that started with Abraham.  God made the promise to Abraham that his decedents would be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore.  But God made a way for more than just the physical descendents of Abraham to be adopted into His family by providing Jesus.  Just as Abraham’s faith made way for him to become the father of the Jewish people, faith in Jesus allows us to also be adopted into God’s family.

When sitting on a beach, I’m amazed that someone like me, one who was lost at sea at one point in my life, pushed down and tossed in the waves of life’s chaos, is now a solid member of God’s family and my destiny is in His hands.  I cannot count the number of grains of sand and I cannot tell you what number I am in the line up of those adopted into God’s family, but I can give thanks daily that I am counted amongst the grains of sand and am one of His children now and forever, AMEN!

*We are adopted in God’s family when we believe that we can’t earn our way into holiness; we can’t ever be good enough on our own to go to Heaven.  This only comes when we understand that Jesus took our sinful nature to death on the cross with Him, and like Him, rise again into a new life (born again) to live eternally with Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit that will live with us to guide us and our prayers and counsel us all our days on earth.

House By The Sea–Genesis 1:26

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Genesis 1:26  Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,  and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Orange is not the favorite color of the majority yet few can ignore the breathtaking beauty of an orangey sunrise or sunset.  A sunset against a morning sky, over a peaceful sea, breezy palms and mossy, barnacle covered rocks is breathtaking even when the view is wrapped around man-made structure.  Though man kind has abused our God given command to rule over the earth, the ingeniuous ability to build shelter and structure amidst His beautiful nature is also the grand creativity of God’s hand.

Though I was unable to sit on the roof top deck of this old building, I long to find places like it.  They are platforms for overseeing God’s paintings, works of art He paints before us each day.  They are places to find Him and to find ourselves again in His presence, reminders of our volnerability and yet also the power given to us by the One who has the power to rule the peace and storms of the sea.

Sharp-shinned Hawk-Job 39:26

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“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom  and spread its wings toward the south? ”  Job 39:26

I love the story of Job (pronouced jobe, like probe).  His entire family died in one day, he lost the fruit of his land, his servants, his home and his stock.  When he received the news, his first reaction was to acknowledge that God gives and takes away, therefore, the name of the Lord is to be praised.  He then was stricken with pain and sores on his skin.  Again he acknowledged and trusted God’s sovereignty.

But when friends began to question what Job did to deserve this assumed punishment from God, Job too began to question God, though he was sure he’d not done anything to deserve his anguish.  As his pain increased and his friends persisted, increasinly he questioned God and even wished he could just die, a better lot in life than his pain and grief.

In chapter 38 however, after listening to Job’s laments, God helps Job realize that it is He that gives the strength to the ox, rain to the ground, food to the hungry lion, He’s the voice of the wind and as He states in the verse above, it is God’s wisdom that gives flight to the hawk.

I have not suffered the same immediate devastation as Job but I have lost a home, a business, a husband, and my step son just months after my late husband’s death.  It is not easy to say as Job did in the early chapters,  “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,  and naked I will depart.  The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:21) unless we look up and acknowledge life in God’s creation.  God is in control and orchestrates all things under the universe perfectly.

When Job acknowledged and accepted God’s Sovereignty, accepting that though he suffered and did not understand all that God allows in our lives, Job’s life was restored.  In fact, he bore more children and his wealth increased ten-fold.  I can’t tell you that I have ten-fold what I’ve ever had at its best in my life, but my life has been restored and healed from pain and suffering.  I’ve grown, matured, and learned more about God and myself in the hardest times than at any other times in my life.  I would not ask to go back to any of those seasons, but I would not wish I’d never experienced them either.

God is good and if I ever begin to forget that He knows what He’s doing in my life, seeing His beautiful creation around me reminds me and I have to say, “May the name of the LORD be praised” just as my friend Job did.

Well-watered Garden-Jeremiah 31:12

Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming to the goodness of the LORD— For wheat and new wine and oil, For the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all.

While the world offers joy and happiness to some measure, it also offers sorrow, brokenness, and turmoil.  The blessing to being “well-watered” is learning how to reap the abundant blessing from the LORD even in the midst of this world’s brokenness.  The LORD’s garden is lush, serene and beautiful.  This is where the Lord wants us to live even when we’re here on earth in the midst of chaos.

So how is it possible to “live” in this beautiful serene place even when we are going through heartbreak, stress, frustration or turmoil?  We must look here, taking our eyes off that which is hurting us, not ignoring it, but separating ourselves from this world to “live” in the one that is filled with the sweet aroma of Christ’s love.  We are to sing, praise and worship not because we “feel” like it but because God is worthy of our praise.  The magical thing is that in time, when we worship, sing and praise, our heart catches up to our action!

God’s garden is orderly, lovely and fragrant.  It is serene, peaceful, and abundant.  This is the life we are meant to live and though we will still know sorrow in this world, we can still dwell in the beauty, peace and sweetness of Christ.  Stay planted in the streams of God’s abundant refreshing river of life.  When our roots are planted by this source of refreshing, we will know the abundance of the Lord’s love for us and will dwell in His peaceful presence.  Keep looking to His beauty!

Hazy Morning Sun-Malachi 4:2

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“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.”

There have been times when I couldn’t shake off a bad cold.  Days of medicine, teas, and steamy remedies wouldn’t do the trick  like sitting under the warmth of the sun does.  The sun has many health benefits for us and all life on this planet.  But there is a Son whose healing runs deeper than that of remedy of sickness.  God’s Son heals the broken body but also heals the heart and fills the broken wounds of mistreatment and loss.  His healing comes when we revere His name and the result of healing is being filled with joy like the young calf frolicking in the field.

Faith is knowing that God IS at work and looking for where His fingerprints are left for us to see.  He leaves them for us as encouragement and without Light, we’d never be able to see them.  Adsense of light and faith in His presence and never-ending work in and around the believer prevents one from seeing His masterful work, His orchestration of circumstances.

God is a healer… so when we pray for someone to be healed and they die, does this mean that God didn’t hear our prayer?  Does it mean that our faith was not strong enough?  God’s word tells us that our days are numbered and God can choose how we will exit planet earth.  If one dies after prayers are lifted to be healed, is not our loved one more healed in Heaven than they could ever be here?  I can picture my loved ones dancing before the King of Kings with the energy and zeal of the well-fed calf frolicking in the fields of Heaven.  I can picture their once broken bodies healthy and filled with joy and energy, never to experience the pains of this broken world again.

The instruction here is simple:  revere God’s name.  And what is His name?  Healer, Provider, Almighty, Victory, Redeemer, Righteous, Friend–to name a few.  Be sure and find comfort in all that God tells us about Himself and we will find ourselves lifted above those things that trouble us here and will rise up with joy and healing in our hearts and souls.

Still Waters-Psalm 23:1-3

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“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.   He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.””

This passage is so often used in funerals but it is a passage for the living.  The Lord is my shepherd.  A shepherd not only loves his sheep but he knows everything about it.  He even carries a pouch to tend to the sheep because he knows that the sheep is inevitably going to get hurt as it goes along in it’s day to day life.

The Lord is our shepherd and his love and care for us is so much more than the shepherd and the sheep.  He likewise knows that we will make wrong turns, bad choices, or be caught up in the fears and turmoils of this world.  He waits for us to come to him in our broken state to tend our wounds and restore our soul.

When we go off track and turn to Him to be tended to, He will show us the right path, the path of righteousness, the path of right-ness.  And because He does this for His name sake, we can be confident that it’s a very good path.

Many think the walk of the Christian might be boring… walking along still waters brings peace and refreshment but the green pastures are for prancing!  Envision yourself in this beautiful, peaceful place, being still with the Lord who loves us as dearly as a shepherd.  When the soul is refreshed and restored, envision prancing playfully bare foot in the lush fields.  This is the life of the Christian–one of peace and one of freedom to live life in all it’s fullness, with the Lord who shows us how all for His glory and our good.

Evening Sky-Psalm 8:3-9 $30

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?  For You have made him a little lower than the angels,And You have crowned him with glory and honor.  You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,  All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

How is it possible to see all the beauty in the sky and earth and sea and not be in wonder of an amazing God?  And to think… He made all the wonders of the universe with love, creativity, perfect orchestration and yet holds such a special place for mankind in His heart.  Ponder such things–it can only encourage us!  There is NOTHING that is not within His reach or His care.  All things work together for the glory of His excellent name!  Be encouraged–He loves you!  We each fit perfectly in His perfect design and plan.  His big story is BIG.  Look beyond and above.  Give thanks and praise His mighty name which is above all the earth!

Morning Sea-Psalm 50:1 $30

The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and  summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

Funny how we so desperately want to be in control of everything in our lives.  We might think we are for a time but something will inevitably and eventually prove we are not capable of being in control of everything.  Life will hit us with the unexpected just as surely as the reliability of the sun will rise each morning!

The God who orchestrates the perfect rotation of the earth, the continuously sparkle in the stars, the rising of the sun and crashing of the waves knows everything about His children.  While we make choices and decisions on our own, God’s not surprised by any of them.  He is a good Father and allows us to go our own way for a time but always teaches us through it all and miraculously intertwines all of it into His big story of redemption of His people.

This is a broken world which means death will happen, relationships will be broken, loved ones will hurt us and we may lose all our possessions–all the result of the world’s brokenness.  But God’s plan, His big plan uses all these things mixed with His ingenious power and creativity, to eventually bring mankind and all of His creation back to the way He originally intended.

Know that this short time we are alive on this earth is but a twinkling of our eternal lifespan.  Ponder this small segment on God’s timeline and imagine where it might fit in the big scheme of things–a scheme that started with Creation and settles eventually in a New Heaven and a New Earth.  As He commands the sun to rise each day, as He is ever aware of each unique wave in the sea, He is aware of you and has a plan for your life.  Putting our trust in God gives us the desire to see Him glorified in all the joys and tribulations of this life.  Even if we aren’t fully aware of it, He is working all things for our good and His glory.

Windy Day-Ecclesiastes 1:6 $25.00 SOLD!! (2nd version available upon request)

“The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.”

Life is filled with changes.  Seasons remind us of universal changes.  The birth of a baby, the death of a loved one, all remind us of the inevitable changes that come with life here on earth.  It’s not avoidable and yet, many people find change difficult to handle.  It can even send us into deep pits of sorrow, depression or anger.

Life, like the wind, is going to blow things in and out of our lives on a daily basis, and at various times and seasons of our lives.  Some winds are breezes of unexpected delights, others are like tornadoes that plow in at the blink of an eye and rip away valuable pieces of our lives and even our identity.  Give thanks daily for what we have and for the God who sustains us in all seasons of life.

If we stand on the banks of a river on a windy day, we can feel the coolness of the breeze over the water and the warmth of the sun from both the sky and it’s reflection.  Both are blessings and refreshing.  If we are trying to accomplish something, like fishing or jogging along a path, the wind might cause us resistance and make our task more difficult but in these small tasks we’ve learned to accommodate the wind.  We can also develop skills to live with the winds of storms as these too are part of life here.

In the center of a tornado is a calm center called an eye.  If one were to slip through the walls of a tornado and land in the center, one would look up and see the sun beaming down on amidst a clear, blue sky while watching turmoil going on all around.  Focusing on the sun in the midst of a tornado could save one’s life.  Focusing on the Son in the midst of all that life blows our way is likewise how one survives the storms of life, storms that can/should be expected, storms that often bring changes in our lives.

Make a habit of acknowledging God’s goodness when life is simply bringing breezes and the habit of looking to the Son will be the foundation for growing, stretching and becoming stronger in faith and confidence in who we are and who God is, when we’ve survived the bigger storms of life.

Abundant River-John 7:38 $50

“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:38

I don’t know about you, but there are plenty of days when I don’t think of myself as having living water flowing within me.  A river of living water to me would be inviting and refreshing, encouraging.  Certainly most rivers are and this painting is of such a river, and yet when we belong to Jesus, we will have this river of living water.

The living water is Jesus.  He lives in us and we in Him.  This is refreshment and strength for us as we experience Him each day.  It’s also a river that flows out from us and can be an encouragement, refreshment and passion that blesses the world around us.  We are cisterns to be filled up and poured out.  Fill up on Jesus, our river of living water, and be refreshed and a blessing in your day-to-day living.

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