Renewing hope in hopeless times
Been doing some fun stuff with my photos and experimenting with various artistic filters. Here is St Stephen’s church at Majors Creek. The church is very old and the filter applied adds to the old feeling for me.I like this one especially.
One fun thing about the many filters available is that any photo (good or bad) can be turned into something spectacular.
“‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.’” Psalm 51:17 NIV
God brings beauty out of brokenness. When every exit we try to take is blocked and we come to see that He alone is our answer, we make a life changing discovery: when God is all you have – God is all you need!
‘The Lord longs to be gracious to you…therefore He waits…’ (Isa 30:18 NAS)
There are certain prayers God won’t answer for our own good. Unanswered prayer is God’s gift…it protects us from ourselves. Unanswered prayer protects…breaks…deepens…and transforms. Past unanswered prayers, which left us hurt and disillusioned, act like a refiner’s fire to prepare us for future answers.
“…I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:16 NKJV
Just because you don’t recognise the path you’re on doesn’t mean that God’s not leading you. He’ll be there when everybody and everything else has failed you. He’ll be there for you in the dark places.
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
“When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1:3-4 NLT
Character building is a slow process; it happens day-by-day. Whenever we try to escape life’s difficulties we short-circuit the process, delay our growth, and end up with a worse kind of pain. So, be open to change; and pursue it!
“How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out.”
(Romans 11:33
We can’t explain why God closes some doors and opens others, or how He
can take evil and use it for good. But He does, and He usually doesn’t
explain it to us. We’re liberated from the tyranny of having to have
all the answers. We can say, “I don’t know, but I trust the One who
does.”
The tree tenaciously hangs on. It seems to be out there inviting the winds to try and blow it over. I was fascinated on a recent trip visiting friends in Oregon to go on a drive along the Columbia River Gorge and see not only the beautiful water falls but massive rocks, moss clinging the the vertical sides, and trees continuing to grow in most inhospitable crevices in the rock.
It’s a good reminder to me that wherever I am and whatever I’m doing and whatever is happening to me, I can have hope as my “roots” grown down into the Rock, who is God himself.
Have a good day!
God is good, all the time.
“I sat alone because Your hand was on me.” Jeremiah 15:17 NIV
Being alone isn’t always a bad thing. Your greatest spiritual
victories come from the battles that God calls you to fight when
you’re alone. Most times He outlines and clarifies His plans for your
life when there’s nobody else around. When God sidelines you, consider
it an honour, glean all you can, then keep moving forward.
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:8 NKJV
God is waiting for us to make requests of Him in prayer. He never gets tired of us coming to Him! He is able, willing, and ready to act on our behalf.
Last Dec I had a wonderful couple of days driving down the Great Ocean Road along the southern coast of Victoria.
The twelve apostles are truly spectacular! The beauty was overwhelming! I could only praise God that I had the opportunity to see with my own eyes some of God’s wonderful artistry!
If you ever get a chance to drive down this road, do so. You’ll be glad you did.
