Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”
-Isaiah 37:20
Posted by: jakinnan | July 30, 2014
07/30/2014 Scripture
Posted by: jakinnan | July 29, 2014
This Is Our Future
It’s the great company at the party in Titanic that brings such happy tears. It’s the boys making it safely home in Apollo 13. It’s Maximus reunited with his family. So the fellowship finds Gandalf alive—no longer Gandalf the Grey, fallen beyond recovery in the mines of Moria, but Gandalf the White, whom death can never touch again. So Frodo and Sam are rescued from the slopes of Mount Doom, and when they wake, it is to a bright new morn. This is our future.
After he laid down his life for us, Jesus was laid in a tomb. He was buried just like any other dead person. Family and friends mourned. Enemies rejoiced. And most of the world went on with business as usual, clueless to the Epic around them. Then, after three days, also at dawn, his story took a sudden and dramatic turn.
Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples . . . ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'” (Mark 16:2-7)
Jesus came back. He showed up again. He was restored to them. He walked into the house where they had gathered to comfort one another in their grief and asked if they had anything to eat. It was the most stunning, unbelievable, happiest ending to a story you could possibly imagine. And it is also ours.
– John Eldredge, Epic
Photo: Mike Rush
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: beauty, Christ, faith, God, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, love, nature, ocean, personal, photography, Ransomed Heart, salvation
Posted by: jakinnan | July 29, 2014
07/29/2014 Scripture
Now I will walk humbly throughout my years
because of this anguish I have felt.
Lord, your discipline is good,
for it leads to life and health.
You restore my health
and allow me to live!
Yes, this anguish was good for me,
for you have rescued me from death
and forgiven all my sins.
For the dead cannot praise you;
they cannot raise their voices in praise.
Those who go down to the grave
can no longer hope in your faithfulness.
Only the living can praise you as I do today.
Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.
-Isaiah 38:15-19 NLT
Posted in Daily Scriptures | Tags: Bible, earth, faith, God, health, life, nature, personal, photography, salvation, survival, waterfalls
Posted by: jakinnan | July 28, 2014
What Will You Do In Heaven?
What will we do in heaven? The Sunday comics picture saints lying about on clouds, strumming harps. It hardly takes your breath away. The fact that most Christians have a gut sense that earth is more exciting than heaven points to the deceptive powers of the Enemy and our own failure of imagination. What do we do with the idea of “eternal rest”? That sounds like the slogan of a middle-class cemetery. We know heaven begins with a party, but then what? A long nap after the feast? The typical evangelical response—“We will worship God”—doesn’t help either. The answer is certainly biblical, and perhaps my reaction is merely a reflection on me, but it sounds so one-dimensional. Something in my heart says,That’s all? How many hymns and choruses can we sing?
We will worship God in heaven, meaning all of life will finally be worship, not round after round of “Amazing Grace.” The parable of the minas in Luke 19 and the talents in Matthew 25 foreshadow a day when we shall exercise our real place in God’s economy, the role we have been preparing for on earth. He who has been faithful in the small things will be given even greater adventures in heaven. We long for adventure, to be caught up in something larger than ourselves, a drama of heroic proportions. This isn’t just a need for continual excitement, it’s part of our design. Few of us ever sense that our talents are being used to their fullest; our creative abilities are rarely given wings in this life. When Revelation 3 speaks of us being “pillars in the temple of our God,” it doesn’t mean architecture. Rather, Christ promises that we shall be actively fulfilling our total design in the adventures of the new kingdom.
– John Eldredge
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: beauty, Christ, God, heaven, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, love, nature, ocean, photography, salvation, Sunset
Posted by: jakinnan | July 28, 2014
07/28/2014 Scripture
Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
for the Lord!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
for our God!
Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
and smooth out the rough places.
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
The Lord has spoken!”
-Isaiah 40:3-5 NLT
Posted in Daily Scriptures | Tags: Bible, earth, faith, God, life, love, mountains, National Park, nature, personal, photography, salvation, survival, Washington
Posted by: jakinnan | July 28, 2014
07/27/2014 Scripture
For I hold you by your right hand—
I, the Lord your God.
And I say to you,
‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.
-Isaiah 41:13 NLT
Posted in Daily Scriptures | Tags: Bible, faith, God, life, love, nature, personal, photography, salvation
Posted by: jakinnan | July 26, 2014
What Jesus Offers
Late into the night, early in the morning, walking down the road, in the middle of his supper, at home, abroad, Jesus offers. His time, his words, his touch, flowing like the wine at Cana. To appreciate the reality of it all, remember, this is not Superman. Remember his loneliness, his weariness, his humanity. This is utterly remarkable—particularly in light of the fact that this is a man on a life-or-death mission. He is lavish with himself.
And that’s the key, right there—that giving of himself. That is what is so precious. Moses offered leadership, and tirelessly. Solomon handed out the rarest of wisdom free of charge. Pilate seemed willing to toss to the crowds anyone they wanted. But Jesus gives himself. This is, after all, what he came to give, and what we most desperately need.
– John Eldredge, Beautiful Outlaw
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: beauty, Christ, faith, God, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, love, nature, New Zealand, personal, photography, Ransomed Heart, salvation, survival
Posted by: jakinnan | July 26, 2014
07/26/2014 Scripture
God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out.
He created the earth and everything in it.
He gives breath to everyone,
life to everyone who walks the earth.
And it is he who says,
“I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness.
I will take you by the hand and guard you,
and I will give you to my people, Israel,
as a symbol of my covenant with them.
And you will be a light to guide the nations.
You will open the eyes of the blind.
You will free the captives from prison,
releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.
-Isaiah 42:5-7 NLT
Posted in Daily Scriptures | Tags: Bible, earth, faith, God, life, nature, personal, photography, salvation
Posted by: jakinnan | July 25, 2014
Some Larger Way
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way. (J. R. R. Tolkien)
The Sacred Romance calls to us every moment of our lives. It whispers to us on the wind, invites us through the laughter of good friends, reaches out to us through the touch of someone we love. We’ve heard it in our favorite music, sensed it at the birth of our first child, been drawn to it while watching the shimmer of a sunset on the ocean. It is even present in times of great personal suffering—the illness of a child, the loss of a marriage, the death of a friend. Something calls to us through experiences like these and rouses an inconsolable longing deep within our heart, wakening in us a yearning for intimacy, beauty, and adventure. This longing is the most powerful part of any human personality. It fuels our search for meaning, for wholeness, for a sense of being truly alive. However we may describe this deep desire, it is the most important thing about us, our heart of hearts, the passion of our life. And the voice that calls to us in this place is none other than the voice of God.
– John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: beauty, Christ, faith, God, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, love, nature, personal, photography, Ransomed Heart, salvation, survival
Posted by: jakinnan | July 25, 2014
07/25/2014 Scripture
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
-Isaiah 43:1-3 NLT
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