Amen Holy Father - Armenian hymn - Soloinstrument - Duduk

THE FATHER HOLY,

the Son Holy,

the Spirit Holy.

Blessing to the Father

and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit,

now and forever

and unto the ages of ages.

Amen.

I pour out my heart to you, o Lord.

(The duduk is a traditional Woodwind instrument indigenous to Armenia)
(WikipediA)

His Voice

His voice, as the sound of the dulcimer sweet,
Is heard through the shadows of death;
The cedars of Lebanon bow at his feet,
The air is perfum'd with his breath.
His lips as a fountain of righteousness flow,
That waters the garden of grace,
From which their salvation the people shall know,
And bask in the smile of his face.

Love sits on his eyelids, and scatters delight
Through all the bright mansions on high;
Their faces the cherubim veil in his sight,
And tremble with fullness of joy.
He looks, and ten thousands of angels rejoice,
And myriads wait for his word;
He speaks, and eternity, fill'd with His voice,
Re-echoes the praise of her Lord.

His voice, as the sound of the dulcimer sweet,
Is heard through the shadows of death;
The cedars of Lebanon bow at his feet,
The air is perfum'd with his breath.
O thou in whose presence my soul takes delight,
On whom in affliction I call,
My comfort by day, and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my all.

Jesus reigns forever

(click on the picture for higher resolution)

He is risen...

Dear Jesus,
Thank you for being trustworthy. You told your disciples that you would rise from the dead and you did. You told them that you would be with them always till the end of times and you are. You are alive and you hear my prayer. I cannot imagine a life without you; so Jesus my savior and redeemer, I call upon you and ask you to hear my prayer for those who do not know you and cannot pray for themselves. Have mercy upon them and save them from eternal separation from you. Lord have mercy and help me not to despair but hold on to you even when reality seems impossible.
In your precious name, Jesus
Amen


When searching the Net for a picture that could tell about the resurrection of Jesus Christ I came across a Chinese artist called Dr. He Qi.
You can find more pictures by He Qi on the following link.
http://www.heqigallery.com/

Sincerely yours Ida

Good Friday - No Words

(click on the image for higher resolution)

A picture of Joseph and his child or Jesus and his child?

Dear Reader,
I found this picture on a Russian site for art and the only explanation I have found about the picture is the title "St Joseph and the Christ child". I'm afraid I don't have the painter’s name, and maybe it is an icon and the painter is unknown.

What do you see in this picture? The moment I saw it I was struck by the tenderness between a Jewish man and his child and the connection between a father and his child when they look at each other. And then my eyes fell on the cross.
Would a Jewish man carve a wooden cross and give his son as a toy? Never. The Romans used to kill their enemies with that barbaric instrument of torture. It was a hellish construction that was made to cause the most possible pain and agony for the victim. Indeed not a toy .But the painter is telling us yet another story in the picture and if you have read your Bible you know that Jesus would die on a cross 33 years later. Joseph is holding his son in his arms and in my imagination Jesus is not just his foster son but his very own son and his wish for his child is only the best life can bring. Joseph has his Tallit (prayer shawl) on and maybe he has just prayed for and blessed his son with a prayer for protection and guidance from God.

Before I saw the title of the picture, I thought it was the other way around; that Jesus was holding a child. You know the story about Jesus gathering the children; blessing them, and telling the disciples and the mothers that the children belong to the Kingdom of Heaven, right? In my mind as much as Joseph is holding Jesus; Jesus is reaching out to Joseph and with his hand reaching up to Joseph face he says "I'm holding you because of my cross" The cross was not on Joseph's list of what Jesus should achieve during his life but on God's list over what he could do for mankind the cross was number one.

Easter is just around the corner and we are once again reminded of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and HIS atonement for our sins. But not only at Easter is this fact but also every other day of the year. Man was created in the image of the Son but man can never become Christ-like if it were not for the cross. Jesus is holding us up before God saying:
It is finished; I have done the ultimate sacrifice for every man and from now on Salvation is free for the one accepting it" Joseph is holding Jesus in the picture but Jesus is holding you and me in real life; because of the cross.
Sincerely yours
Ida

He Who Kneels ...

(picture found on the Internet,)

The Prayer List

Dear God,

You know the people I pray for and you know the list of people I have; that I mention before you in prayer. Some of them are close to me and will always be in my prayers until the day I die.

Some are acquaintances, living far away and I will never meet them but you have still put them on my list because who else would pray for them. Who else would mention their names before you if I don’t? Some of them don’t know you and they rebel openly and say that you do not exist. Some are your children and they struggle with terminal diseases and broken families. Some call themselves Christians but they don’t know and don’t want to know Jesus as their savior. You have opened my heart for people in a far away country that I would never have thought about, if it had not been for you; urging me to pray for them.

And so I hear one has turned his heart to you. After 20 years he has realized that what he looked for in the world was what you had all the time. You patiently waited for him to come back. And I’m glad and I pray that you protect his faith and guide him to follow you no matter what happens.

But then again I see those who have been on my list for 20 years and they are further away from you than ever before. My heart is aching. I’m so disappointed and so sad to realize that nothing has moved their hearts, nothing has shaken their stubbornness. And I ask Lord how long?

I beseech you Holy Spirit to open their hearts to Jesus so they can see who he is and that he is the only one who can save them and turn their lives around.

Dear God, I couldn’t live one millisecond of my life if it wasn’t for your grace and mercy. So I ask and pray that you will do a miracle in the lives of those on my prayer list. I pray that you will bless them and keep them from all evil and that you will draw them to you and save them. You know all of them and you love them all; more than a mother loves her child; more than anyone can imagine. I rest them in your hands.

In Jesus name, amen.