“The Sovereign Lord…He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”
Isaiah 50:4 NIV
I hope for each of you a very blessed 2022! May joy ring supreme in your ears! Your eyes glow with heavenly delight! Your nostrils detect the fragrance of the morning dew while your lips pursue praise and Thanksgiving for others in places where it counts or leave it unsaid.
May each day find duties for your hands! Paths of purpose for each step you take!
Happy new Year!
thedailylily.com 
Beautiful picture above of the cypress trees,sun, and water. Thankful the Lord awakens us each morning. Happy New Year to all! 🥳✝️🙏
Thank you Tammy! The photo was taken near your home of the beautiful Albermarle sound by my son, Chris. Sweet memories for me of the trees and water.
Happy New Year to you and your family.🎊
“Awakens me morning by morning awakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.” I often find my senses are awakened by nudges in my mind that just gently breezes through. When I pause to listen I hear the joy notes in the random thought. My eyes are aglow with blazing flames when I connect my actions to the instructions.
Morning by morning I hear and action pursues. When the story is told or acted upon by others I often find God, the Father, Jesus, the Christ, and Holy Spirit, the counselor is acknowledged by how my action was acknowledged as the spark that started the fire of showing God’s love. That’s beauty for all.
Yet, there are people that prefer to leave out the tale of nudges from a human person that they might have acted on and that gave the spark because it just gives God to much credit! No way is God going to get my praise because it may bring me shame or other various flaws might be revealed. .
Our story of nudges that have benefited us just might resemble a man with a similar flaw named Nicodemus found in the Book of John Chapter 3.
“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. Nicodemus confesses, not only his belief, but that of his fellow Pharisees and rulers. The miracles of Jesus convinced them, even if they would not admit it, that he was a teacher sent from God. He came for information, and Jesus recognized it…”
I would like to encourage us not to become discouraged by the shame and denial of others. Their light that has been hid under the basket because God sees and He knows the hearts of men, women and children and knows just how to deal with each one. And, reward us for acting on the spark we heard.
I love a story told my Bill Gather, prolific song writer. He was greatly hurt by an unnamed someone that saw the love/spark he had often given them not only go unacklowledged but twisted into accusing Bill of giving for wrong motives. What did Bill do? He took a time out by a common duty of grass cutting or the like with a few thoughts of his own flashing through his mind. But, Bill heard the nudging of hearing and allowed God to handle the accuser while he handled the pen and keys of his giving. What a song he penned and gave to the world that keeps on giving and teaching.
VERSE 1
“There have been times when giving and loving brought pain
And I promised that I’d never let it happen again
But I found out that loving is well worth the risk
And that even in loosing you win.
CHORUS
I’m gonna live the way He wants me to live
I’m gonna give until there’s just no more to give
I’m gonna love, love till there’s just no more love
I could never, never out love the Lord…”
Happy new Year to all as well.
I agree with Tammy about how beautiful the photo is. It is so amazing these trees are so adaptable to different conditions; thriving in this large body of water, or able to still thrive on land. Giving beauty and their oxygen wherever they are growing/placed.
They seem to be a good illustration of Sara’s words, “That’s beauty for all.” and the words from Bill Gaither’s chorus, ‘I’m gonna live the way He wants me to live”
As believers in the Cross of Jesus the Cypress tree nudges us thru symbolism that Hope in death remains as given by many Bibical scriptures among these.
John 17:3 ESV “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
Revelation 14:13 ESV “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
“Trees are some of the most potent symbols in the natural world. … As a potent reminder of life and death, the cypress tree stands between the worlds, literally and figuratively pointing toward immortality and hope as a powerful response to human mourning.”
Yes, “May each day find duties for our hands! Paths of purpose for each step we take!”
Today, it’s been raining most of the day in my area. It’s the first day of 2022! I feel prayers and blessings are flowing in abundance for one another. I find myself reading on repeat the scripture quoting an action of The Sovereign Lord.
“The Sovereign Lord…He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”
Isaiah 50:4 NIV
I wonder and ponder why are we often not hearing and doing. Another prophet quotes God, ““My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13 NIV
His people have forsaken the living water and made themselves a cisterns making themselves the star of their own show and it’s broken and has no ability to hold living water. A broken cistern can’t hold God’s blessings. It seems to me we need to hear God and follow His instruction very closely in 2022. Our nation and nations need the rain of God saying whomsoever will come drink of this living water. I’m pouring my spirit out on your sons and daughters.
“May each day find duties for our hands! Paths of purpose for each step we take!”
As a hands-on, feet to go/do type of person, I think these are inspiring words that Sara wrote.
This is a favorite scripture of mine, illustrated on a calendar that hangs in my house: “The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life.“ Proverbs 11: 30 (I think the of 2 cypress trees helps illustrate this as well)
Hands and feet can make a difference.
Some thoughts I had regarding:
Bill Gaither‘s hands held the handle (or wheel) of a lawnmower (his feet either walked or pushed the pedal) to perform his good deed.
Dorcas (Acts 9) made clothes and was noted for her being “full of good works and acts of charity. “
Martha served a dinner (maybe more) in Jesus honor (John 12:2)
Boaz planted fields of grains and the needy, like Ruth, gleaned there.
The Bible was written by those using their hands.
Sara uses her fingers to tap out these messages for us on The Daily Lily.
And so many different types of good deeds are done, and multiplied out to others, via people’s hands and feet today.
Proverbs 11:30 ESV “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.”
Debi gives us this scripture from Proverbs and illustrations of godly men and women that follows the pattern to continue to grow the tree of life. The tree of life adds names from our seeds/deeds hopefully!
I’ve a story to share with you of a tree that sits at the end of a bridge that connects one county to another over the Albermarle sound in eastern NC. These trees of our blog clothed in the beauty of the setting sun are thriving very near the not so pretty tree in my opinion of the old tree I’m sharing.
The heir, of the older generation, that now owns the land where a tree stands near the bridge. The heir now lives miles away decided to invite the locals of the area in the county of the tree to come out and hang a Christmas ornament in honor of their loved ones. Then she requested take a photo of your ornament and name the one you are honoring and paste on FB. Many did and the tree owner was well pleased.
Then she decided to come to the area a night or so before Christmas Eve with music and spirit to sing and name aloud the loved one’s names hanging on the tree. I imagine it was a lovely remembrance for those that participated and attended the gathering.
I heard some of the names read as it was recorded for online and even heard names I have known over the years. It was a lovely community gesture. It did invite me to ponder the tree of life as found in God’s Word.
“In Revelation, the tree of life represents the restoration of the life-giving presence of God. Access to the tree had been cut off in Genesis 3:24 when God stationed mighty cherubim and a flaming sword to block the way to the tree of life.“
Revelation: 22 “And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever.
6 And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.
7 “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Symbols of trees and hanging names of ones that have left the earth recorded on a Christmas ball where headlights of cars crossing a bridge might feel festive or make one proud of their deeds yet may have the potential of awakening us to examine our deeds starting a new year, 2022! Proverbs 11:30b from Debi’s quote “…and whoever captures souls is wise.”