Stained Glass

Dear friend,
The picture above is one of my favorite pictures of stained glass windows. Yesterday I came to think of some Bible verses that are connected to the angel with the crown.

In 2 Timothy 4:7-8 it says
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will award to me on that day - and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

In 1 Peter 5:4 it says
When the Chief Shepherd appears you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

In Revelation 2:10 it says
... Be faithful even to the point of death and I will give you the crown of life.

When my crown is given to me one day I think the place for it will not be on my head but at the feet of Jesus. He is worthy of it.

Sincerely Yours,
Ida



(This stained glass window can be found at the Woodlawn Cemetery, New York City. It is photographed by art historian Lee Sandstead. You can find his gallery here; http://www.sandstead.com/gallery.html. Click on the picture for a higher resolution)

I just love this Lady!

Her name is Mary Maxwell and she knows how to deliver a speach.

???

What now?

100919 Election Day.

Today I have used my right to vote (as every four year) in the political election of our country.
I live in one of the privileged countries of this world where I have the right to chose from more than one political party and I can trust that the election is not manipulated.
And I pray;
Oh Lord have mercy on my country because the sin of this nation stands before you in all its horror. Wickedness is increasing to a level where your judgment will hit our nation hard if you would not grant our nation yet a time of mercy.
Oh, Lord forgive us and have mercy. Give us more time; a time of grace; a time to repent as Christians; a time to stand in the gap for this nation. Lord have mercy; Lord have mercy.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness - Chris Rice

Leny's Art ...Lord, I thank you ...

Dear Friend,

The photo above is created by my Blog friend Leny from the Philippines.
She has her main Blog at http://mychikara.blogspot.com/.
She is a single hard working mom, devoted to her children. She is also a fellow Christian who has experienced God's love and care for her through tough times and good times.
She has allowed me to use her pictures and with this one I join her in gratitude for all that God has done also for me. And most of all for his salvation through Jesus Christ.

Sincerely yours,
Ida

(click on the photo and you can read the text better)

You Were Born to be Loved

Dear Friend,

I found this song on
siuo7's YouTube Channel

Try to sing along in Japanese. It's fun.

Sincerely yours,
Ida

You Were Born to be Loved - Yuuka Matsumoto

きみは愛されるため生まれた
kimi wa aisareru tame umareta
(you were born to be loved)

きみの生涯は愛で満ちている
kimi no shougai wa ai de michite iru
(your life is filled with love)

永遠の神の愛は われらの出会いの中で実を結ぶ
eien no kami no ai wa　warera no deai no naka de mio musubu
(God's eternal love is shown through our relationships)

きみの存在が 私にはどれほど大きな喜びでしょう
kimi no sonzai ga　watashi niwa dorehodo ookina yorokobi deshou
(your presence gives me such a great joy)

きみは愛されるため生まれた
kimi wa aisareru tame umareta
(you were born to be loved)

今もその愛受けている
ima mo sono ai ukete iru
(you're still receiving the love now)

Soweto Gospel Choir - Amazing Grace

Crisp bread for the sheep.

Dear Friend,

There is this piece of paper haunting me now. I found it among the “treasures” in my Bible. And of course, I had forgotten all about it.
I went to Bible classes ten years ago. (how time passes so quickly!) When the pastors prayed for us students I wrote down some of the prayers. In a way it was like prophesies and now I wonder if they ever will come to pass.


1. Your faith will be like crisp bread for the sheep…
2. You will gather many children around you …
3. You have more of God in you than you realize …
4. There is a dignity in your faith …
5. Your faith will flourish …
6. One day your faith will have appreciation …
7. You will become a midwife to spiritual children …
8. You are a precious pearl …
9. You will paint with words …
10. You have to walk one step at a time …
11. There will be joy; and there will be an open door …
12. There will be a road cleared for you …

I might have to explain the “crisp bread for the sheep –thing”; because I think it is only understood by those involved with farming or keeping sheeps. If you want any animal to come when called upon the easiest way is to make them believe that there is food at the end of that call. If you do the same thing every time you call for them they know at that sound that there will be food for them. Well sometimes you have to make them move between feeding time and so the same sound will make them follow for example when changing to another grazing area. Scraping one crisp bread against the other will attract them to follow.


Living your faith in a way that other people would like to follow Jesus is like the crisp bread attracting the sheep. St. Francis of Assisi said to his disciples before sending them out into the world: Go witness to the people. And if necessary, use words.

And then I sigh. Twelve statements from ten years ago that should have been fulfilled by now? Life doesn’t always turn out the way you want and things happen that never was predicted, but that has never stopped the plans of God. So I wonder how much of these words came from God through those precious pastors. Was it wishful thinking and them being kind to me or were they greetings from the most High what he had in mind for me? Do I have the qualities to fulfill those 12 statements? No, I don’t think so. I alone trying to achieve anything of those statements would result in failure. It is only the Holy Spirit that can fulfill anything in my life that was assigned by God. And I have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit.
So I just have to look hard on these statements and confess to God that I have accomplished little of what was said ten years ago. Can I have another chance please?

Sincerely yours,
Ida

G.R.A.C.E.

G. God's
R. Riches
A. At
C. Christ's
E: Expense

Mercy: is when God does NOT give me what I deserve.
Justice: is when I get what I deserve.
Grace: is when I get what I do not deserve.

No Fuss

I have had a habit to stick a lot of paper, cards and bookmarks in my Bible. Today I sat down to do an inventory of my “treasures” I found a clipping with a summary of all the healings that Jesus did and where they were mentioned in the four Gospels. I thought I knew them all but one in particular was a question mark. In Luke 14 it says:

“ On Sabbath when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.

There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away.”

I looked up “dropsy” in my dictionary and it was explained as a “pathological accumulation of fluid in tissues and body cavities”. I was sure I had read this chapter in Luke before but now it appeared as something new or at least something I had totally forgotten. How strange. But even more strange is that I’m having the same problem with “accumulation of fluid” in my legs and it is rather painful at times. For the moment it is to be looked upon as a minor ailment but even so it is very unpractical at times. For instance in the early morning if the phone rings and I’m upstairs and have to hurry down to answer; It is painful to hurry downstairs when your feet and ankles are hurting. One step at the time while the phone keeps ringing but just so long that when I reach for the receiver it stops. So I have stopped the hurrying part because I can see who the caller was in the “Logger” on my desk and eventually can call back later.

#

As always my mind wondered away to the man with edema and that moment with a rather rapid healing process. No fuss.

1 Jesus took hold of the man

2 Jesus healed him

3 Jesus sent him away

He was an anonymous man suffering from edema and he was caught in the middle of a fight between Jesus and those who searched for a moment when they could accuse Jesus of doing something wrong and worth death penalty.

Was this man going to be healed or sent away because it was Sabbath? Was he also going to commit a crime if he was healed on a Sabbath? A lame man who stood up and walked away with his bed had been scolded because it wasn’t allowed to carry a bed on Sabbath. No joy whatsoever over the fact that he just had been healed from a life long illness. So there was tension in the air.

But Jesus knew whatever he would do it still wasn’t enough to convince the opponents. If he didn’t heal the man they would accuse him and if he did heal the man they would still accuse him;. so he turned his eyes to the man with edema; and with no record of questions asked he healed the man and told him to go.

#

- I would like that very much Jesus. No questions; no reproval; no nothing. My legs and feet would just stop hurting, My ankles would be even more slender than before, (I have never had that you know)and I could get my shoes on again without pressing them on.

- Oh, … well … No fuss would be just fine with me too.

In your name Jesus,

Amen.