Awesome Expressions

"Awesome Expressions” is my way of using my camera to show my appreciation to God for giving us such beautiful surroundings to enjoy. One of the ways of thanking Him for all He has done, is to grab my camera and photograph His awesome creations. And then share them - along with some of the encouraging messages that God has given us in the Bible. Getting into the Bible daily and staying close to the Lord is so important today in these troubled times. By reading God’s Word, and getting to know our Creator, we can feel confident that our Lord is still in control. . . in spite of all the chaos around us. He has a plan. I have read the end of the Book. And it has a very good ending for those of us who belong to Christ!

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Deborah Henry

Psalm 104:5-9

"He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth."

I love Psalm 104 which tells of the miraculous workings of our God. Thinking about and witnessing the way He created this earth to work so perfectly, makes me want to praise and worship Him continually. How blessed are those who follow and obey the one and only living God - the Creator of the universe!

Psalm 104 is described by Charles Spurgeon as “the nature-lover’s psalm.” A nature lover, who sees God in all things. One who can’t view a majestic snow covered mountain peak, a beautiful babbling brook, a peaceful path through the forest, the crashing waves of the sea, a full moon peaking out from puffy white clouds, or the beautiful autumn colors without praising the Creator of all things.

“I know of no place that seems to bring out one's joy and praise better than when standing by the side of some rippling brook that tumbles down the fissure among the rocks and seeing the animals come to drink and hearing the birds blithely sing among the brances or hanging over and dipping into the stream. Even the reading of this psalm may be like a cool and refreshing breeze to us; and our sould may, in imagination fly away with David as we also praise and bless our God.”

- Charles Spurgeon

Deborah Henry

A recent trip to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee was a bit dicouraging due to the rainy weather. I had plans of photographing some beautiful mountain scenes while I was there, but instead I was unable to see the mountains as they were hidden by thick rain clouds. However, as I was driving around I began to see the beauty that those overcast skies were creating. It made me realize how similar that is to our Christian walk.

When we are going through trials and are consumed by them, we find it very difficult to imagine that there is beauty in the dark clouds of our life. But there really is! The beauty is that our trials are “refining” us. We are being sanctified! That is a beautiful thought! So, keep your eyes on Jesus and you will be able to rejoice on those rainy days!

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:1-5

Deborah Henry

Deborah Henry

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Psalm 141:2

There is nothing more encouraging and uplifting than getting together and praying with your Christian brothers and sisters. It heals and soothes our spirit. It pleases our Lord, as it is His request that we pray without ceasing. It is the only way to communicate and form a close relationship with Him. And It is a loving and unselfish act when we pray for others. When I pray, I like to have my Bible open to the Psalms. Praying through a Psalm is my way of keeping focused on the Lord. The Psalms remind us to to surround our petitions with praises!

"By praying the Psalms back to God, we learn to pray in tune with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." -Ben Patterson

I was having a tough time coping with the loneliness and grief after losing my awesome four-legged best friend. Smokey had become my loving “roommate” and sole companion after losing my husband. Now without Smokey, it became unbearable to be alone in my empty house and I started sinking into depression. Then one day when I was feeling sorry for myself, this hymn started running through my head and wouldn’t stop . . . “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll . . .” Horatio Spafford suffered a loss like none could imagine when he wrote “It is Well with My Soul.” I am sure his hymn has encouraged a countless number of Christians

through the years with the beautiful soothing

words and melody. Sometimes our days can

look pretty bleak, and sometimes we don’t even

feel like reading our Bible or praying. That is

when we should sing! Psalm 46 tells us that God

is our refuge and strength and that he is present

in our sorrows. Therefore, continually sing praises

to our Lord and He will lift your spirits.

We are blessed to live in a country so diverse in topography that no matter where you go, there is beauty. “God’s invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - are clearly seen.” (Rom. 1:20) On a recent road trip I saw so many beautiful scenes, that it made me wonder how anyone could possible deny the existence of God. How can anyone view such beauty without acknowledging the supreme Artist behind it all? When I was young, I loved to ride my horse up to the top of a hill that overlooked our little Connecticut town. I’d ride the trail up to an open field and tie my horse to the lone tree in the middle of it. I would sit under that tree for the longest time gazing in awe at the view before me. Even though I had not yet come to know God, I knew He had to exist. How else would all this beauty get here? So, I would sit there and thank Him. And to this day I continue to thank Him every time I walk out my door and see the beauty surrounding me. His wonderful works, everywhere I look, have always been a reminder that he is always there!