Tag: Scripture

O Magnify the Lord With Me

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A passage that I have been meditating on this week is Psalm 34:1-4:

1 I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

And, every time that I quote those verses, one song comes to mind and I wanted to share it today.

Sure, we might be facing tough days and difficult moments, but our praise should continually be to God!

A Prudent Man

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A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. (Proverbs 22:3)
It is interesting to note that most often the opposite of a fool (who is made known by what/how often/how he speaks) is a prudent man. Prudent means “cunning” (Hebrew word aruwm). [There are other references for “prudent” in the Bible which uses a different Hebrew root word – I’m just looking at these few]
A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame. (Proverbs 12:16)
A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness. (Proverbs 12:23)
Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly. (Proverbs 13:16)
The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit. (Proverbs 14:8)
The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going. (Proverbs 14:15)
The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. (Proverbs 14:18)

Where am I Dwelling?

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Yesterday morning in my Bible reading, I came across a passage that really challenged and encouraged me and wanted to share.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” (Psalm 91:1, 9-10)

Where am I dwelling? Where am I abiding? To dwell and abide in Christ does not mean to flee to Him only when there is trouble. It means that when trouble comes, I am already there, because I have learned to daily live under His shadow.

Perfect Peace

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Continuing as two weeks ago, here is another picture verse! This time, I wasn’t playing with new layer styles. Instead, I tried my patience on erasing! 🙂 I wanted the background to be lighter and the foreground to “pop.” There is probably an easier way to do it, but I chose to erase the background (leaving only the barbed wire and grass), put a new gaussian-blurred background layer and then place a white layer on top (10% opacity). And then, one of my favorite verses.
Original

Edited

As always, C&C welcomed! 
Did this picture bring a specific verse to your mind?
(the other verse I was pondering was Isaiah 40:8)

His Way is Perfect

Published on by Amanda Tero8 Comments
I enjoy playing around with photography and graphics designing, but don’t make time for it near as often as I’d like. I finally sat down to play with some Scripture Photos. This time, I was trying to learn a few things by trial and error with Photoshop’s {many} layers. Some of them gave a unique look that I’ve not used before. So, one picture, three styles (to see them full-sized, simply click on the picture).
Original
Style 1
Style 2

Style 3

Now, I’d like your opinion. Which style is your favorite?

And then, as I’m totally experimenting here, please give your input (if you are or are not a photographer)! Does anything look awkward? Any suggestions? You can be critical – I don’t mind. 😉

~*~
“As for God, His way is perfect: 
the Word of the LORD is tried: 
He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him.” 
(Psalms 18:30)

The Holy Spirit

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In my Ephesians study, I came across chapter 4 verse 30, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” This made me curious about the Holy Spirit. Some people misuse the Holy Spirit, others seem scared of it. I did a quick search for the word “Spirit” (capitalized to indicate the Holy Spirit) and was very interested in how much God has to say about His Spirit! I thought you might be interested as well. I encourage you to look up the references. 

As always, feedback is welcome and I’d love to hear what the Lord has been showing you!
{This is by no means an exhaustive search.}
From the Old Testament
– The Spirit abides in people (Genesis 41:38; 1 Samuel 16:13; Isaiah 63:11)
– In the Old Testament, the Spirit “came upon men,” giving strength for fighting (Judges 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, 14:6, 14:19, 15:14; 1 Samuel 11:6)
– In the Old Testament, the Spirit “came upon men” for prophesy (1 Samuel 10:6, 10:10, 19:20, 19:23; 2 Chronicles 15:1, 20:14, 24:20; Ezekiel 11:5)
– The Spirit of the Lord departed from men in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Kings 22:24)
– The Spirit of the Lord spoke through men (2 Samuel 23:2)
– No man can direct the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 40:13)
– The Spirit sent people to minister for God (Isaiah 48:16, 61:1)
– The Spirit of God lifts up a standard (Isaiah 59:19)
– The Holy Spirit can be vexed (Isaiah 63:10)
– Ezekiel was “taken up by the Spirit” to see visions (Ezekiel 11:24)

From the New Testament
The Spirit and Jesus Christ
– Jesus Christ was led by the Holy Spirit, even as a young child (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12; Luke 2:27, 4:1)
– The Spirit of God descended on Jesus Christ in bodily form as a dove (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; John 1:32, 1:33)
– The Spirit of God was on Jesus Christ (Luke 4:18; John 3:34)
– Jesus Christ was quickened (made alive) through the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18)
The Spirit and the Apostles
– At Pentecost, the apostles spoke in other tongues by the Spirit (Acts 2:4)
– The apostles were led by the Spirit (Acts 8:29, 8:39, 16:7)
– The Spirit spoke to the apostles (Acts 10:19; Revelation 1:10)
The Spirit and Salvation
– The Holy Spirit works in us to recognize Jesus as Lord, Son of God (1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 John 4:2)
– The Lord gives the Holy Spirit to all who ask Him (Luke 11:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:8)
– The Spirit makes us sons of God (Galatians 4:6)
– A man cannot be saved unless he is “born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-6, 3:8)
– The Spirit of God dwells in believers (Romans 8:9, 8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16)
– The Holy Spirit is God’s seal of redemption (2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5; Ephesians 1:13)
– The Spirit is not received by works but faith (Galatians 3:2, 3:14)
– The Spirit is not kept by works (Galatians 3:3)
– The Spirit bears witness that we are children of God (Romans 8:16; 1 John 3:24, 4:13)
The Spirit and Believers
– We can be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)
– The Spirit reveals the “deep things of God” to believers (1 Corinthians 2:10)
– The Spirit of God can speak through us (Matthew 10:20; Acts 21:4; 1 Corinthians 2:4)
– The Spirit manifests itself differently in individuals’ lives (1 Corinthians 12:8-9)
– The Spirit sanctifies (2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2)
– Believers are to walk after the Spirit (Romans 8:1, 8:4; Galatians 5:14, 5:25)
– Believers are to be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14)
– Believers are to wait in the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:5)
– Believers are to mortify (deaden) the deeds of the body through the Spirit (Romans 8:13)
– Believers should exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:9)
– The Spirit gives liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:18)
– The Spirit changes us into the image of God (2 Corinthians 3:18)
– The Spirit strengthens us (Ephesians 3:16)
– Those who have the Spirit must work to keep the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3)
– Fellowship of the Spirit is possible, but does not come naturally (Philippians 2:1)
– We are to pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18)
– The Spirit and flesh are enemies (Galatians 5:17)
– We obey through the Spirit (1 Peter 1:22)
– We are exhorted to hear what the Spirit says (Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:19, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22)
– We can quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
– We can grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)
– We can tempt the Spirit {negative sense} (Acts 5:9)
The Spirit and the unsaved
– The things of the Spirit are not received by the natural (unsaved) man (1 Corinthians 2:14)
– Unbelievers do not have the Spirit of God (Jude 19)
The Power of the Spirit
– Devils are cast out by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28)
– The Holy Spirit has power (Luke 4:14; Romans 15:19; 1 Corinthians 2:4)
The Spirit in general
– There is but one Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4, 12:11, 12:13; Ephesians 2:18, 4:4)
– The Spirit of truth abides forever (John 14:16-17, 16:13; 1 John 5:6)
– The Spirit guides in truth (John 16:13)
– The Spirit is the Comforter (John 14:16-17, 15:26)
– God has poured out His Spirit in these last days {which references that it was not always so in the Old Testament } (Acts 2:17-18)
– The Spirit is love (Romans 15:30; Colossians 1:8)
– The sword of the Spirit is God’s Word (Ephesians 6:17)
– The Spirit speaks (1 Timothy 4:1)
– The Spirit is eternal (Hebrews 9:14)
– The Spirit is grace (Hebrews 10:29)
– The Spirit helps our infirmities and prays for us (Romans 8:26-27)
– The Spirit revealed God’s truths by the prophets and apostles (Ephesians 3:5)
– Romans 8 is an amazing passage on the Spirit and should be studied separately. 🙂
References to the God, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit (the Trinity)

John 4:24; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Ephesians 2:22; Philippians 1:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 1:11

In Awe . . .

Published on by Amanda TeroLeave a comment
. . . Of my God’s Creation.
Chimney Rock in New Mexico

Clouds in Colorado

The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For He is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psalm 95:5-7