Philippians
2:5-11

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  (6)  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  (7)  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  (8)  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  (9)  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  (10)  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  (11)  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

For other scriptural teaching and lessons go to Settled In Heaven Ministries

What Do You Trust In?



"Unbridaled Spring Morn"  by Eva Barkman  (c) 2011


Psa 20:5-7 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.



Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.    



Who do you trust in?  Making money?...building fame?....everything centering around you and what effects you?...political power?...false gods?...if it's any of these or any other worldly item, they will all turn to dust and then, what will you do?  Imagine, putting all of your trust in one certain person or thing, and then when you truly need them, they fail you and leave you alone to flounder.  Now, you're alone without any support.  Alone!


It doesn't have to be that way.  The "Lord saves His annointed,"  the people who believe in Him.  The "Lord fulfills your requests (petitions)," if you're a believer, and you pray to God with sincerity, He will answer your prayer....although, He will answer your prayer in a way that is only good for you (and it may not be exactly what you wanted), but you will eventually see how good His answer was for you.  In other words, He has your back.  You, as a believer, can rest assured that He knows the beginning to the end, and how it affects you.  He won't leave you to flounder.


Trusting in the Lord, Jesus Christ, we can "rejoice in our salvation."  We can know that He is always with us in the form of the Holy Spirit.  He will never leave us.  What a sense of peace a believer has in knowing that we are not alone.  Believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and never be alone again. 


If you have questions on trusting in Christ or how you can have salvation, there are many sources to help you.  Leave me a question and I will do my best to answer.  Contact a Bible believing church near you to learn about Christ.  Or, here are a few links to obtain good information on salvation.

http://settledinheaven.wordpress.com/all-about-salvation/

http://www.intouch.org/resources/content/topic/how_well_do_you_know_god 

http://www.lwf.org/site/PageNavigator/jesus/who_is_jesus


                                      

Angels Are Among Us

Luke 1:26-35 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, (27) To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. (28) And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (29) And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. (30) And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. (31) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (34) Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (35) And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.


The photo above is one of my favorites of my fine art photography.  When I see a likeness, such as a statue, of an angel, I think of peace and the sense of being protected.  There are angels among us who guide us and help us.  There have been many good and bad angels through history, as you can read about in the Bible, but one angel, who had one of the most important jobs to do was Gabriel, and the message that he had to deliver to Mary the mother of Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer.  The above verses tell the story.  A very important message, told by an angel, about the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Praise our great God for this important message and the very important birth that will save us from eternal death in Hell, if we only believe in Jesus and accept Him as our Savior.  

Light of the World

John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.


This is a portion of an acrylic painting that I did a few years ago, called "Coming Into the Harbor."  I love to paint nautical scenes, especially lighthouses.  I hate the dark and have always loved the daytime...maybe that's part of the reason I love lighthouses...I guess also, it may be that a lighthouse always reminds me of our great Lord, who is the light of the world to all who will see Him (the saved).  When things get dark and depressing, it's a blessing to have the one true light of Jesus Christ to guide your way.

If you have not received salvation from eternal death and darkness, all you have to do is open your heart and eyes to the light of Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Savior.  In return for this, you will receive everlasting, wonderful eternal life with the One True God in Heaven.  You will also receive a peace that surpasses all human understanding.  Even though a Christian still has the everyday problems that everyone else has, we have this wonderful peace, in knowing that Christ is our Savior and that He is always with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit, guiding and protecting us through life, and preparing us for a wonderful eternity with Our Lord.

If you have any questions about all of this, please ask me....or visit a Bible believing church....you can also check out my husbands blog "Settled In Heaven," which teaches about salvation and many Biblical principles. 

Please open your eyes and heart to Jesus before it's too late.

His Greatness

Psalms 145:3-5 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. (4) One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. (5) I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.


Have you ever taken time to go outside and really LOOK around you.  Take in the air that you breathe...look at the sky, the clouds, the sun, the awesome colors in the sunset and sunrise...the warmth that you feel on your face from the sun...the sound of the birds of the air, their songs...the butterflies, ladybugs, lightning bugs at dusk...the pallet of colors of all the flowers, their fragrance, the buzzing bees that go from one to another bloom...the tall, majestic trees, the shade that they provide............
 
For many believe that this all came here from a big bang, a big collision of something.  What a shame for those who don't believe in the one and only true God as the only Creator of all.  Please read the following verses and tell me who is the one true Creator. 
 
Genesis 1:1-31 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (3) And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (4) And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. (5) And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (6) And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. (7) And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. (8) And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. (9) And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. (10) And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. (11) And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. (12) And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (13) And the evening and the morning were the third day. (14) And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (15) And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. (16) And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. (17) And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, (18) And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. (19) And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (20) And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. (21) And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (22) And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. (23) And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. (24) And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. (25) And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (29) And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (30) And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. (31) And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.


Genesis 2:1-4 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (2) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (3) And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (4) These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens...

"Calvary" He Did It For Us.

Welcome to my new blog and my first post.  All are welcome here...whether you be someone who is saved and have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, or someone who is not saved and is looking for something to make a life-changing difference.  I hope that maybe I can help you on your journey.

This is a portion of an acrylic painting that I did a few years ago.  The name of it is "Calvary."  When Jesus was crucified on the cross, He had two other crosses on each side of him with theives being punished for their crimes.  The one thief asked Christ to remember him...at that time Christ told him that He would see him in paradise (Heaven).

Luke 23:42-43 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. (43) And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

We can be that thief...do you see how easy it is....to just ask Jesus to be our Savior and let Him into our heart and learn to trust in Him.   You can feel that overwhelming change in your heart.  When you accept Him as your Redeemer, you will begin to feel joy and peace in your life...this is the Holy Spirit, which God gives us when we are saved, to help us and guide us in this life....but, do you know the best part of trusting in Jesus...someday, you will spend eternity with Him in Heaven.   If you have questions, please feel free to ask...I will try my best to help you and explain.

Now to the painting; I chose only to paint Christ's cross in my painting...I was putting the focus on Christ's crucifixition and showing what He did for us.  The red paint on the Mount is a picture of His blood that He shed for us.  The sky is dark to show the ultimate sadness of all of His people (what they totally did not understand is that their great Lord would rise again in 3 days, spend 40 days with them here on earth, and then ascend into Heaven to be with God the Father).  There is a bright shining break in that dark sky that illuminates down from the heavens, which represents God the Father in Heaven.

Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I will try to answer your questions, but I also have to suggest another blog, done by my husband, which is a Biblically based blog written from a sovereign grace perspective.  It's a great blog to get some answers from.

http://settledinheaven.wordpress.com/