This week Cee has asked us to bring Black & White animals aboard the ark. Click the icon above to see other black & white animal photos
Here are mine:
Geese in the Berkshires
Raven in Doolin
Sheep In Moll’s Gap
Sometimes I feel like Aragorn and the Rohirrim trapped behind the walls of Helm’s Deep. There are moments when it seems Satan and all his forces are gathering at my doorstep and all I can do is stand behind my defenses and push down the screams which try desperately to rise from the center of my belly, “WE ARE GOING TO DIE!!!!”
The truth is though I am not on the defensive! Christians aren’t on the defensive! The church isn’t on the defensive! Though Satan would like us to think we are outnumbered and losing, the Bible assures us we have already taken the high ground and we are fighting from the position of established victory.
Jesus said, “Upon this rock (the high ground), I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
Satan is the one behind the walls of Helm’s Deep and the armies of light (that’s us Christians in case you were wondering) are gathered at his doorstep and we are attacking his kingdom to establish light in the darkness. Any other perception is an illusion spawned by the power of the Dark One to confuse and hinder us from moving forward.
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[j]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-39
Don’t give up Christian! You are about to win!
photo by: C. Hase
It is time once again for Friday Fictioneers the flash fiction writing group led by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Click the word “Fictioneers” above and it will take you to her site. A quick click on the little blue froggy and you will be deluged in a sea of stories based on the photo prompt above.
Here is what I took from the picture.
Letters From Malta
by JE Lillie
What’s left of the ship still surfaces during low tide. I come to see it everyday, still amazed we all made it out alive. Paul said we would. God tells Him things and no one doubts that now.
When he got bitten by the snake after the shipwreck everyone was sure it was the gods’ judgment, but the man walks in the miracle. He didn’t even swell.
Now he’s been invited to the magistrate’s house. We hear there is dysentery there so of course off we go. Paul says “Every problem is just a miracle in disguise.”
This is a snapshot of Acts 28, Paul’s time in Malta.
Don’t run from it. Face your trial with the power of God rising within you!
The Perils of Pauline was a 1914 American film serial shown in weekly installments, featuring Pearl White as the title character. As the old-fashioned damsel in distress, Pauline was menaced by assorted villains, including pirates and Indians. Unlike today’s weekly programming (and even some of our movies, Pauline never used the so-called “cliffhanger” format in which an episode ends with an unresolved danger that is addressed at the beginning of the next installment. Although each episode placed Pauline in a situation that looked sure to result in her imminent death, the end of each installment showed how she was rescued or otherwise escaped the danger. It was such a new and unique idea that, years after, it was placed in the national archives as a cultural icon.
The apostle, Paul, had many such harrowing experiences. Only he wasn’t like the “damsel in distress.” He wasn’t cute and cuddly and looking for a hero…
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This week I feel the need to start this post with Cee’s fifth question which is always…
What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I am so grateful to serve a God who walks with His church through the deepest valleys (we have had some deep one’s this week read about it HERE ). No matter what we go through we always find Him not just waiting at the other side but walking with us through the fiery trial. God is so good and so faithful and He is an “ever-present help IN trouble.” Psalm 46:1
This week coming I am looking forward to getting back on track with my blogging and writing schedule. During the last month or so I have been rather spotty because of the pace of life and ministry. But I feel like I am getting on top of that and launching into a new phase of writing productivity!
Here I am, beginning that new phase by sharing my world and inviting you to share your world with others by clicking the icon above and flying over to Cee’s blog to read about other parts of the world that intersect there.
Here are the questions:
Complete this sentence: Never In My Life Have I….
Never In my life have I been to Africa or Australia or New Zealand or Alaska or Asia or…. well that should keep me going for however long I am to remain on this spinning orb of life.
Complete this sentence: My neighbour wants me to help her…..
My neighbor wants me to help her… Actually I do not think my neighbors want me to help them do anything. I live in the midst of a pretty huge DIY neighborhood and I seem to be the only one who cannot do most things himself.
Complete this sentence: When I was little I wanted…
When I was little I wanted to be a superhero. I would spend hours pretending I was Superman, Green Lantern or the Flash. I have learned though that being heroic is not about the grand sweeping gestures. It is about the commitment to walk a path of little faithfulnesses everyday. Without that commitment, no superpower no matter how awesome will make you a hero.
Complete this sentence: Will you come here to…
Will you come here on a regular basis? If so I commit to doing everything in my power to introduce you to a world of encouragement, hope and light!
Please click the Share Your World icon at the top of the post and it will take you to Cee’s blog so you see other people’s shares.
Lillie-Put 