Friday, January 29, 2016

A bit of color


Looking through the Blackberry leaf I see the sharp thorns that cover the bushes. There is a spot of red, as if a smear of blood. A bit of blood has been shed by many while gathering the ripe tasty blackberries.

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 
Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 


Fall colors still endure with the hearty blackberries. One rancher uses goats to remove the thorny briar bushes from his land. They eat anything.

Act 10:11  And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 
Act 10:12  Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 
Act 10:13  And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 
Act 10:14  But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 
Act 10:15  And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 

Act 10:34  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 
Act 10:35  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. 
Act 10:36  The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) 
Act 10:37  That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; 
Act 10:38  How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. 
Act 10:39  And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: 
Act 10:40  Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; 
Act 10:41  Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. 
Act 10:42  And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. 
Act 10:43  To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. 
Act 10:44  While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 
Act 10:45  And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
Act 10:46  For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 
Act 10:47  Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 
Act 10:48  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. 


A bit of blue color, a scrub jay on the winter oak. He must have found some sort of algae salad?

Psa 102:7  I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top. 

 

Perched high on a limb the red - shouldered hawk watches for any movement. He also sees a guy in a red flannel shirt with a camera approaching him, but he is standing his ground.

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

Php 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 
Php 1:28  And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 
Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

A short walk


Bare trees shiver in the pool mirror. Already some have buds ready to burst forth in new life.

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 


Drooping stems of ther marsh marigold come alive with designs. The hieroglyphics of  fish swimming, and one caught in a net?

Ecc 9:12  For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. 


Turning the image left or right reveals to me a face of a man. A bomb shape above reminds me of the perilous times we live in. Nuclear power in the hands of nations who hate us. America should be in God's hands, but there is a great divide of right and wrong; those who make wicked choices and those who obey God. I choose to trust in my LORD.

Psa 9:16  The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. 
Psa 9:17  The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. 


 I always look for Randy the goose with the broken wing. 


The Tule lake goose watches from a ledge his friend below.

Heb 13:17  Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. 


A graceful pair of swans live on the river. God provides for them all.

Psa 84:11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. 
Psa 84:12  O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. 



Monday, January 4, 2016

Faces of Winter


A face on an old fallen tree limb seems to cry out in travail. 

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 


Winter cattails shed their seeds like a sheep being sheared.

Act 8:32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 
Act 8:33  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 
Act 8:34  And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 
Act 8:35  Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 


The golden reed leaves are all reaching forward together bowing over the pool of water.

Act 8:36  And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 
Act 8:37  And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 
Act 8:38  And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 
Act 8:39  And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. 


Woodpecker holes pockmark the horse faced tree limb. Do horses have vanity? They have passions but people who trust in horses and machines seeking power are vain apart from the Lord.

Psa 20:5  We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions. 
Psa 20:6  Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. 
Psa 20:7  Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. 


Randy the grounded goose stays on dry warm rocks as the Tule geese paddle to shore. The LORD takes care of this goose and how much more will he take care of you?

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 
Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one. 


Faces of wood. I see a bearded old man, or is it a smiling cat?

Psa 133:1  A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 
Psa 133:2  It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 
Psa 133:3  As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.