The Lord is My Shepherd

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. – Thomas Merton

The Lord is my Shepherd Who guides me-Psalm 23

January 18, 2008January 18, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: Art Photography, Church, Encouragement, Jesus, Photography, Psalms, Quotations, Scritpure Leave a comment

Our Fathers

Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best;
but God disciplines us for our good,
that we may share in his holiness—Hebrews 12:10 

Because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.. –Proverbs 3:12

 “Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
       so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. 
For he wounds, but he also binds up;
       he injures, but his hands also heal.—Job 5:17-18

January 17, 2008January 17, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: Art Photography, children, devotion, Life, love, People, Photography, Scritpure 1 Comment

Uniqueness of Christianity

Christianity with its doctrines of humility, of forgiveness, of love, is incompatible with the State, with its haughtiness, its violence, its punishment, its wars.-Leo Tolstoy 

Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I myself have founded empires, but upon what do these creations of our genius depend?  Upon force.  Jesus alone founded his empire upon love, and to this very day millions would die for him.-Napoleon Bonaparte 

The cross of Christ is the still-point in a turning world.  Everything before leads up to it, everything that follows flows from it.  It is the climax of the story the center-piece of the whole drama-T.S. Elliot 

The essential fact of Christianity is that God thought all men worth the sacrifice of his son.-William Barclay

January 16, 2008January 16, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: Art Photography, Christianity, devotion, Jesus, love, Photography, Quotations Leave a comment

Remember When You Leave This Earth

You have made my days few;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Each man’s life is but a breath.
Selah(pause and ponder this)—Psalm 39:5 

Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing you have received, fading symbols of honor, trappings of power, but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage–Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

January 15, 2008January 15, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: Art Photography, devotion, Encouragement, Life, People, Photography, Quotations, spiritual, Thoughts 1 Comment

Children Are A Gift

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a Gift from him.—Psalms 127:3 

We will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.—Psalm 78:4 

It is easy to love those who are far away. It isn’t always easy to love those who are right next to us. It is easier to offer food to the hungry than to answer the lonely suffering of someone who lacks love right in one’s own family.  The world today is upside down because there is so very little love in the home, and in family life. We have no time for each other. Everybody is in such a terrible rush, and so anxious…and in the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.-Mother Theresa

January 12, 2008January 15, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: children, devotion, family, Life, love, People, Photography, spiritual, Thoughts Leave a comment

Let All Things Their Creator Bless

Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!—Psalm 117

Let all things their creator bless,
and worship him in humbleness,
O praise him, Alleluia!
Praise God the Father, praise the Son,
and praise the Spirit, Three in One:
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
-from All Creatures of Our God and King-words written by Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

January 11, 2008January 11, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: Art Photography, Christianity, Life, Photography, Psalms, Quotations, Scritpure, songs, spiritual Leave a comment

Jesus Spent Much Time Healing The Sick

He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
His understanding has no limit.
The Lord sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.–Psalms 147: 3-6 

Our Lord Jesus spent much time in healing sick people, and in the natural course of events it happened that the last thing He did with His kind hands was to heal a bad cut.  (I wonder how they could have the heart to bind His hands after that.)  In this, as in everything, He left us an example that we should follow in His steps. -Amy Carmichael

January 10, 2008January 10, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: Christianity, Encouragement, Healing, Inspiration, Life, love, Missions, People, Photography, Quotations, Scritpure, suffering Leave a comment

By His Wounds We Are Healed

But He was pierced for our transgressions.He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishmentthat brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.—Isaiah 53:5  

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
Was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Yours the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior,
It is I who deserve Your place;
Look on me with Your favor,
Promise to me Your grace.
-from O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, written by Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153)

January 9, 2008October 13, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: Art Photography, Canaan in the Desert, Christianity, Church, Encouragement, Healing, Jesus, Life, love, Photography, Religion, Scritpure, songs, spiritual, suffering, Thoughts Leave a comment

What To Fill Your Minds With

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.—Philippians 4:8-9

Love is born of an earnest consideration of the object loved—Thomas Aquinas

January 8, 2008January 8, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: Christianity, Church, Encouragement, Life, Photography, Quotations, Religion, Scritpure, spiritual, Thoughts, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Write Me Into Your Story

 

Jesus,
They say You walked upon the water once
When you lived as all men do
Please teach me how to walk the way You did
Because I want to walk with You

Jesus,
They say you taught a lame man how to dance
When he had never stood without a crutch
Well, here am I Lord, holding out my withered hands
And I’m just waiting to be touched

Jesus,
Write me into Your story
Whisper it to me
And let me know I’m Yours

Jesus,
They say You spoke and calmed an angry wave
That was tossed across a stormy sea
Please teach me how to listen, how to obey
‘Cause there’s a storm inside of me

 

Jesus,
Write me into Your story
Whisper it to me
And let me know I’m Yours

Jesus,
They drove the cold nails through Your tired hands
And rolled a stone to seal Your grave
Feels like the devil’s rolled a stone onto my heart
Can You roll that stone away?
-(song lyrics from Rich Mullins’ Jesus)

January 7, 2008October 13, 2008 by ryanmthurman Categories: Christianity, Inspiration, Jesus, Photography, Religion, songs, spiritual 3 Comments