Find Rest and Refreshment For Your Souls

Plein air watercolor by Lee Boynton

Jesus said, "Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to Me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn My ways and you'll discover that I'm gentle, humble and easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in Me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear. (Matthew 11:28-30 Passion Translation)

Humility and Faith

If you bow in God's awesome presence, He will eventually exalt you as you leave the timing in His good hands. Pour out all your worries and stress upon Him and leave them there, for He always tenderly cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

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Growing in Grace

They will still thrive, bear fruit and prosper in old age (Psalm 92:14)

Olive trees in southern Italy, photo by Catherine Libeert

My friend Catherine took this photo of these olive trees on her travels in Southern Italy over the holidays. She was amazed to hear that the trees in this grove are all between 1000 - 2000 years old and are still bearing abundant fruit. Did it cross her mind that some were planted when Jesus walked this earth? She didn't say.

We celebrated my father's 98th birthday on January 5. Catherine sent this photo the next day, not knowing it was the day after my father's birthday. The moment I saw Catherine's photos of these trees, I thought of my father. He is like these ancient, gnarled trees -- still thriving, bearing fruit and prospering in his old age.

Dad, Grampa Bob

Psalm 92:12-15 (Amplified Bible)

The righteous [good people] will flourish like the date palm [long-lived, upright and useful];

They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon (or like one of these olive trees) [majestic and stable].

Planted in the house of the Lord,

They will flourish in the courts of our God.

[Growing in grace] they will still thrive

and bear fruit and prosper in old age;

They will flourish and be vital and fresh

[rich in trust and love and contentment];

[They are living memorials] to declare

that the Lord is upright and faithful [to His promises].

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Open My Eyes, That I May See

Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me

Watersong, Bedford, VA, Pleinair oil painting by Lee Boynton

You are God's work of art, His poem

Ephesians 2:10 (Passion Translation)

We have become His poetry, a recreated people that will fulfill the destiny He has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it.

My mother was a poet. She wrote this poem about me when I was in my late teens or early twenties.

In Praise of a Quiet Daughter

a mother of six blesses 

the child who 

accepts the world

the way things are.

The child of quiet contemplation

The stargazer

the serene

The True Believer

who is the waterlily

that becomes the brook

filling and refilling

replenishing her faith.

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And the Soul Felt Its Worth

Point Reyes Pines, Plein air oil painting by Lee Boynton

Your Are God's Workmanship

Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified Bible Translation)

For we are His (God's) workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above -- spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].

From my Spirit-filled Life Bible

Word Wealth: Workmanship Greek: poiema, from the verb poieo, "to make." (Compare "Poem" and "poetry.") The word signifies that which is manufactured, a product, a design produced by an artisan. Poiema emphasizes God as the Master Designer, the universe as His creation (Romans 1:20), and the redeemed believer as His new creation (Ephesians 2:10). Before conversion our lives had no rhyme or reason. Conversion brought us balance, symmetry, and order. We are God's poem, His work of art.

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