August 30, 2020

 

These are photos I took when I was working on a vignette for a post about The Secret Garden. 

We can lock people out and hide secrets, like Mr. Craven from the book, but there are no secrets from God.

"But the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, on the road to [Egypt by way of] Shur. And He said, 'Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?' And she said, 'I am running away from my mistress Sarai.' The Angel of the Lord said to her, 'Go back to your mistress, and submit humbly to her authority.' Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, 'I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.' The Angel of the Lord continued,

'Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall name him Ishmael (God hears),

Because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your persecution (suffering).

He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man;

His hand will be against every man [continually fighting]

And every man’s hand against him;

And he will dwell in defiance of all his brothers.'

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, 'You are God Who Sees'; for she said, 'Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?' Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me); it is between Kadesh and Bered.

Genesis 16:7-14 (AMP)

 

Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalm 139:7-10

"The Lord your God is with you,

    the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you;

    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,

    but will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

Our God loves us and sees no fault in us: "He will no longer rebuke you."  Yes, he knows all of our secrets we hide away from the world, and he sees us as white as snow, as blameless.

I enjoyed today's devotional because it's full of hope.  How about you?

Until next time...

Blessings!

Ricki Jill