Yield

In order to serve God we must first yield our hearts to him.  While walking my dog the other day I came across the pair of trees pictured above.  God impressed upon me that in order to follow him I must be willing to bend and conform to his ways.  I must be willing to cast away that which pulls me away from him.  It is my prayer today that God would reveal those things which distract my heart from being fully his and help me to loose the bonds that keep me from yielding to his will. 

Joshua 24:22-24

²² Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.
²³ “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”

Luke 19:37-40

Luke 19:37-40


³⁷ When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁸ “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

⁴⁰ “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

It is my prayer today that I would not fall silent.  Happy almost Easter!

Work in Progress

We are all works in progress, thus I thought is would be fitting to post this painting before it is entirely complete.  While painting this I was thinking about God's presence passing over us.  Moses experienced this while hidden in the cleft of a rock.

^{Exodus 33:18} Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
²¹ Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

After this experience Moses's face glowed with the glory of God.  It was so bright that it had to be covered with a veil.  We have the opportunity through the Holy spirit living in us to shine with the light of God.  My prayer today is that I would allow God to shine through me and that I would always be willing to be: God's Work in Progress.

Question to ponder.  In what way is God working on you and through you?

Children of God

Philippians 2:15

so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.

I snapped this shot while hiking with my family a few weeks ago.  I was struck by the contrast between the crooked old tree and the joy of the two boys climbing it.  It is my prayer today that I will never lose my sense of adventure and that I would pursue God with the enthusiasm of a child.