Illustrated Truths continued...

Psalm 56

Lord, have mercy on me; all day long the enemy troops press in.

So many are proud to fight against me; how they long to conquer me.

^3-4 But when I am afraid, I will put my confidence in you.

Yes, I will trust the promises of God. And since I am trusting him,

what can mere man do to me? ⁵ They are always twisting what I say.

All their thoughts are how to harm me. 

⁶ They meet together to perfect their plans;

they hide beside the trail, listening for my steps, waiting to kill me.

 ⁷ They expect to get away with it. Don’t let them, Lord. In anger cast them to the ground.

⁸ You have seen me tossing and turning through the night.

You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle!

You have recorded every one in your book.

⁹ The very day I call for help, the tide of battle turns.

My enemies flee! This one thing I know: God is for me! 

 ^10-11 I am trusting God—oh, praise his promises!

I am not afraid of anything mere man can do to me! Yes, praise his promises.

 ¹² I will surely do what I have promised, Lord, and thank you for your help. 

¹³ For you have saved me from death and my feet from slipping,

so that I can walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

 

1 Peter 3:3-4

New International Version (NIV)

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

I love this quote from Kid President.

It is similar to others I have heard.

 

"Nobody cares about how much you know,

until the know how much you care."

 

and

 

"It's nice to be important,

It's more important to be nice."

 

It all reminds me of what The Bible taught us...

 

Philippians 2:3-5

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

 Let each of you look not only to his own interests,

but also to the interests of others.

Have this mind among yourselves,

which is yours in Christ Jesus,

Isaiah 66:7-9 spirit illustration

This paper-cut out illustration is a branch-off from my previous post...

http://thelostsocklife.blogspot.com/2014/04/jeremiah-17-7-8-spirit-illustration.html

I am using clippings from obituaries in the newspaper as the blooms from the flowers. To me, this symbolizes pain from loss of a loved one not being in vain. God does not give death the last word. From the pain of loss comes new growth and new hope. Isaiah 66:7-9 says, "Before her pain came, she delivered a son. Who has heard of such a thing? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once?... I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born." Just as the pains of birth come, so follows new life. Nothing good comes easily. Nothing strong is built quickly. Sacrifice births life and peace. Look at the cross. 

Sometimes tragedy happens to us and we are left with nothing but questions and possibly doubt. Personally, Through death my faith grew. Our perspective changed. We live still... But in a new light. I believe more now in what I can't see, trust more in the unknown, and cling to hope for new life and second chances. I will never know why The Lord too my husband from his family at the young age of 35. But I will never selfishly want him to return the this world of death, because I know where he is nothing ever dies. It is hope I hold to and faith in eternity that keeps me moving. I refuse to let death defeat me or my family and the life we are still living here on Earth. God is not done with us... We still have a purpose. God is using us for His kingdom and we are gonna keep making life.