Gates of Paradise

Revelation 3:7
He openeth, and no man shutteth.

Jesus is the keeper of the gates of paradise and before every believing soul He setteth an open door, which no man or devil shall be able to close against it. What joy it will be to find that faith in Him is the golden key to the everlasting doors. My soul, dost thou carry this key in thy bosom, or art thou trusting to some deceitful pick-lock, which will fail thee at last? Hear this parable of the preacher, and remember it. The great King has made a banquet, and He has proclaimed to all the world that none shall enter but those who bring with them the fairest flower that blooms. The spirits of men advance to the gate by thousands, and they bring each one the flower which he esteems the queen of the garden; but in crowds they are driven from the royal presence, and enter not into the festive halls. Some bear in their hand the deadly nightshade of superstition, or the flaunting poppies of Rome, or the hemlock of self- righteousness, but these are not dear to the King, the bearers are shut out of the pearly gates. My soul, hast thou gathered the rose of Sharon? Dost thou wear the lily of the valley in thy bosom constantly? If so, when thou comest up to the gates of heaven thou wilt know its value, for thou hast only to show this choicest of flowers, and the Porter will open: not for a moment will He deny thee admission, for to that rose the Porter openeth ever. Thou shalt find thy way with the rose of Sharon in thy hand up to the throne of God Himself, for heaven itself possesses nothing that excels its radiant beauty, and of all the flowers that bloom in paradise there is none that can rival the lily of the valley. My soul, get Calvary's blood-red rose into thy hand by faith, by love wear it, by communion preserve it, by daily watchfulness make it thine all in all, and thou shalt be blessed beyond all bliss, happy beyond a dream. Jesus, be mine for ever, my God, my heaven, my all.

Devotional by Charles Spurgeon

Oh, I love this one!

A new kind of tag

Since retiring it seems There is no place like home, and I am thankful With A Grateful Heart to God. I love to spend time on my computer, trying to share Encouragement From My Heart, and finding Tidbits and Treasures. I often find myself recalling Meditations and Memories and reading about Signs, Miracles and Wonders of God. I could be a better Keeper of the Home. I love to share Songs From My Journey on Wordsong Collections with Songs of Faith In Christ Alone. In my Neck of the Woods, the surrounding scenery reminds me that I need to give More Love To Thee.

I would love to visit Pollywog Creek, Daisy Cottage, Smiling Sally and tickleberry farm. I hope many of the sweet friends I have made will be Forever 'n Ever 'n Always, and that maybe one day we can enjoy Praise and Coffee. I enjoy reading Nanna's Reflections, A note from Theresa and Connie's Thoughts From the Heart.

Life From My Point of View is too short for certain time consuming tasks. There are many other sweet friend's wonderful blogs that I love to visit. They are all listed on my sidebar.

This is a new way of tagging people. If you see yourself in the story consider yourself tagged and play along only if you want to. If you decide to join in you need to write a story using as many blog names as you can. It's a bit of a challenge but fun. Thanks Nancy for including me.

I just realized, mine is not exactly a story, which would be much more difficult. Oh, well, the best I could do ~

"Somebody's Praying" By Ricky Skaggs

Just a pretty video I found at You-Tube ~





Visit Amy's Signs,Miracles and Wonders for more music videos.

Word Filled Wednesday

The Last Remaining Forest of Biblical Cedars, Cedar Forest, Lebanon, Middle East

Ps 92:12 -
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

I wrote a song, setting this verse to music with others, that I need to complete. Some of the chords are difficult for me to play.

To enjoy more Word Filled Wednesdays visit Amydeanne

Image courtesy of All Posters

He Humbled Himself

He humbled Himself.


Jesus is the great teacher of lowliness of heart. We need daily to learn of Him. See the Master taking a towel and washing His disciples' feet! Follower of Christ, wilt thou not humble thyself? See Him as the Servant of servants, and surely thou canst not be proud! Is not this sentence the compendium of His biography, "He humbled Himself"? Was He not on earth always stripping off first one robe of honour and then another, till, naked, He was fastened to the cross, and there did He not empty out His inmost self, pouring out His life-blood, giving up for all of us, till they laid Him penniless in a borrowed grave? How low was our dear Redeemer brought! How then can we be proud? Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed; see the thorn-crown; mark His scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills; see hands and feet given up to the rough iron, and His whole self to mockery and scorn; see the bitterness, and the pangs, and the throes of inward grief, showing themselves in His outward frame; hear the thrilling shriek, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it: if you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus, you do not know Him. You were so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God's only begotten. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you, bow yourself in lowliness at His feet. A sense of Christ's amazing love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt. May the Lord bring us in contemplation to Calvary, then our position will no longer be that of the pompous man of pride, but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him. Pride cannot live beneath the cross. Let us sit there and learn our lesson, and then rise and carry it into practice.

Devotional by Charles Spurgeon