knew

"And to us who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us in the gospel, how unutterably sweet is the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows us completely.  No talebearer can inform on us, no enemy can make an accusation stick; no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our characters can come to light to turn God away from us, since He knew us utterly before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us."
-A.W. Tozer

take heart

"Arise!  Wake up.  Put your face in the sunlight.  God's bright glory has risen for you.  The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness; but God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you.  Nations will come to your light, kings to your sunburst brightness.  Look up!  Look around!  Watch as they gather, watch as they approach you: Your sons coming from great distances, your daughters carried by their nannies.  When you see them coming you'll smile— big smiles!  Your heart will swell and, yes, burst!  All those people returning by sea for the reunion, a rich harvest of exiles gathered in from the nations!  And then streams of camel caravans as far as the eye can see, young camels of nomads in Midian and Ephah, pouring in from the south from Sheba, loaded with gold and frankincense, preaching the praises of God. What's that we see in the distance, a cloud on the horizon, like doves darkening the sky? It's ships from the distant islands, the famous Tarshish ships returning your children from faraway places. Loaded with riches— with silver and gold— and backed by the name of your God, showering you with splendor.  Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings assist you in the conduct of worship.

When I was angry I hit you hard.  It's my desire now to be tender.  You'll know that I, God, am your Savior, your Redeemer.  I'll give you only the best!  Gold instead of bronze, silver instead of iron, bronze instead of wood, iron instead of stones.  I'll install Peace to run your country, make Righteousness your boss.  There'll be no more stories of crime in your land, no more robberies, no more vandalism.  You'll have no more need of the sun by day nor the brightness of the moon at night.  God will be your eternal light, your God will bathe you in splendor.  Your sun will never go down, your moon will never fade.  I will be your eternal light.  Your days of grieving are over.  All your people will live right and well, in permanent possession of the land.  They're the green shoot that I planted, planted with my own hands to display my glory.  I am God.  At the right time I'll make it happen."
-Isaiah 60 (The Message translation)

. . . what beautiful expressions of love & such pictures of hope God created in this passage!

luminous

the stars shine brightly, as those falling leave them need

. . . and i live ever bravely,

because you live within reach

to have you is the heaven i'm left with dim and ethereal memory of

to live with you- living together- is the only dream my mind does compose

each glimpse of beauty calls to mind all the secrets.

the evenings

I love the evenings, passionless and fair, I love the evens,
Whether old manor-fronts their ray with golden fulgence leavens,
In numerous leafage bosomed close;
Whether the mist in reefs of fire extend its reaches sheer,
Or a hundred sunbeams splinter in an azure atmosphere
On cloudy archipelagos.

Oh, gaze ye on the firmament! a hundred clouds in motion,
Up-piled in the immense sublime beneath the winds' commotion,
Their unimagined shapes accord:
Under their waves at intervals flame a pale levin through,
As if some giant of the air amid the vapors drew
A sudden elemental sword.

The sun at bay with splendid thrusts still keeps the sullen fold;
And momently at distance sets, as a cupola of gold,
The thatched roof of a cot a-glance;
Or on the blurred horizon joins his battle with the haze;
Or pools the blooming fields about with inter-isolate blaze,
Great moveless meres of radiance.

- Victor Hugo, from "A Sunset"

Beautiful Mercy

There is no pit too deep
that Jesus cannot reach
there is no sorrow so strong
that will overtake his beloved one
No pit too deep
That Jesus cannot reach
There is no sorrow so strong
That will overtake his beloved one

And He's brought me to the wilderness
Where I will learn to sing
And He lets me know my barrenness
So I will learn to lean
Yes He's brought me to this wilderness
Where I will learn to sing
And He lets me know my barrenness
So I will learn to lean

He's so kind
Oh beautiful mercy
Do what you have to do
Jealous Lover
Do what you have to do (You know the best way)