Dear brethren, do you groan within yourself, eagerly awaiting our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23)? It is well you do. Let us have the confidence of Paul that God, having begun a good work in you, will bring it to completion (Phil. 1:6).

As Solomon asserts in Ecclesiastes, “the end of a matter is better than its beginning” (Ecc. 7:8).

Yes! While we are blessed to have been called, humbled to be among the elect, our life in these tents is fraught with tribulation. Yet our trials here cannot compare to what God has prepared for us (1 Cor. 2:9). And such should be our focus, remembering that nothing can separate us from God’s love for us (Rom. 8:38), and that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us so He can come to take us to be with Him (Jn. 14:2-3).

Let us rejoice in this knowledge that, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed; we will put off this corruptible flesh and be clothed with incorruptible bodies (1 Cor. 15:52-54). Then we will go to be with Him forever, where there will no longer be pain nor tear, no illness or death, where God will be our temple and our sun; and indeed, the end of the salvation God wrought in Christ for us will be even better than the beginning!

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, December 30

"Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." Ecclesiastes 7:8

Look at David's Lord and Master; see His beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at His Father's right hand, expecting until His enemies be made his footstool. "As He is, so are we also in this world." You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire, or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ shall appear you shall be like Him, for you shall see Him as He is. Be content to be like Him, a worm and no man, that like Him you may be satisfied when you wake up in His likeness. That rough-looking diamond is put upon the wheel of the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much- much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowned; the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with trumpet's joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God's people; and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. "They shall be Mine," saith the Lord, "in the day when I make up My jewels." "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof."

Isaiah
Chapter 28

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?

26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.

28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.

29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

Why the pilgrims came to what would generations later become America: To worship God in accordance to the dictates of their own conscience (refer to the Mayflower Compact)

Why a group of persecuted Christians that have become known as the Mayflower Church are seeking asylum in America: Same reason as the pilgrims of whom America is a product.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/texas-churches-pledge-to-sponsor-exiled-mayflower-church-members.html?utm_source=webapp&utm_medium=notification&utm_content=headline&utm_source=onesignal&utm_campaign=2023-03-05

And asylum was eventually granted to them surprisingly under the Biden administration of all administrations
https://www.christianpost.com/news/chinas-mayflower-church-members-resettled-in-us-after-3-years.html?utm_medium=notification&utm_content=headline&utm_source=onesignal&utm_campaign=2023-04-08

Isaiah
Chapter 18

1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.

4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.

6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

Where the Sun Waits for Our Names

They stand at the edge of tomorrow,
not asking what comes next,
but listening for the echo
of a promise older than breath.

The water keeps their reflections.
The earth keeps their footsteps.
the flowers keep their stories —
each bloom a memory
that chose color over silence.

They do not speak of destiny.
for they know:
The future is not a path to follow.
but a seed to tend,
watered by gratitude,
rooted in lineage,
opened by song.

And when the sun lowers its voice
to the hush of evening,
it will find them still there—
four hearts, one heartbeat,
holding the world in place
the way love always has:
quietly,
together,
enough.

Rush Limbaugh - The True Story of Thanksgiving:

https://officialrushlimbaugh.com/the-story-of-thanksgiving/

#RushLimbaugh #Pilgrims #MayflowerCompact #Mayflower #Bradford #Capitalism #Productivity #Plymouth #GreatPuritanMigration #Puritan #HappyThanksgiving #Thanksgiving2025 #Thanksgiving #History

Believer, what do you count as gain? Is it material wealth? Notoriety? Acceptance from those around you?

In light of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord, these are but rubbish (Phil. 3:8)! Our calling is higher and of higher value than anything from the world. It is not for us to love the world nor the things in it (1 Jn. 2:15-16), but to love Christ, and through Him, our Father in heaven.

Do not set your sights on the things of this world; they all shall perish. Neither lay up treasures for yourself here (Mt. 6:19). This is not our home. One day, we will part, and any earthly treasures will remain behind. As Job stated, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there” (Job. 1:21). But when we seek our treasures here, we expose the desire of our hearts, that we long not after God. Forget not, you cannot serve two masters (Mt. 6:24).

Instead, let us put these things behind, seeking the righteousness which is by faith, so we may know the power of Jesus’ resurrection, also knowing the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil. 3:9-10). He left us an example that we should follow in His steps (1 Pet. 2:21), entrusting ourselves to God (1 Pet. 2:23), and dying to sin that we might live to righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24).

——————
Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, November 22

"The power of His resurrection." Philippians 3:10

The doctrine of a risen Saviour is exceedingly precious. The resurrection is the corner-stone of the entire building of Christianity. It is the key-stone of the arch of our salvation. It would take a volume to set forth all the streams of living water which flow from this one sacred source, the resurrection of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; but to know that He has risen, and to have fellowship with Him as such- communing with the risen Saviour by possessing a risen life- seeing Him leave the tomb by leaving the tomb of worldliness ourselves, this is even still more precious. The doctrine is the basis of the experience, but as the flower is more lovely than the root, so is the experience of fellowship with the risen Saviour more lovely than the doctrine itself. I would have you believe that Christ rose from the dead so as to sing of it, and derive all the consolation which it is possible for you to extract from this well-ascertained and well-witnessed fact; but I beseech you, rest not contented even there. Though you cannot, like the disciples, see Him visibly, yet I bid you aspire to see Christ Jesus by the eye of faith; and though, like Mary Magdalene, you may not "touch" Him, yet may you be privileged to converse with Him, and to know that He is risen, you yourselves being risen in Him to newness of life. To know a crucified Saviour as having crucified all my sins, is a high degree of knowledge; but to know a risen Saviour as having justified me, and to realize that He has bestowed upon me new life, having given me to be a new creature through His own newness of life, this is a noble style of experience: short of it, none ought to rest satisfied. May you both "know Him, and the power of His resurrection." Why should souls who are quickened with Jesus, wear the grave-clothes of worldliness and unbelief? Rise, for the Lord is risen.

Rise With Me, Little Blossoms

Wake now, little blossoms,
I feel you dreaming beneath the soil.
The moon has climbed her silver path,
And she is calling your names softly
as softly as my grandmother once called mine.

Stretch your colors toward the night.
Let your petals remember their stories.
Mother Earth is waiting to wear your beauty,
to feel your songs rising
like warm breath against her skin.

Do not fear the darkness
I walk with you, child-flowers,
and the spirits walk with me.
Together, we will scatter light
across these quiet fields
until even the stars lean closer.

Come now, awaken.
Bloom with me in this sacred hour.
Let us shine together beneath the full moon.
You in your radiant colors,
and I in the grace of the ancestors
so the world may know
That beauty still chooses to live.

Art by Serin Alar

Song of Solomon
Chapter 5

1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.

8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.

13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.

14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.

15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.





Song of Solomon
Chapter 6

1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.

2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

3 I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.

4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.

5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.

6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.

7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.

8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.

9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.

10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?

11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.

12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.

13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.

Song of Solomon
Chapter 2

1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

A Spotted Orbweaver spider (Neoscona crucifera) descended from a tree branch at sunset and created an intricate web between a coneflower below and the tree branch above, settling in its center for a warm November night while basking in the glow of the Halloween lights. #SpottedOrbweaver #Orbweaver #NeosconaCrucifera #SpiderWeb #Spider #Halloween #Spooky #Entomology #AnimalBiology #Biology

My hybrid tea-rose opened a colorful bloom after a night of frost, signaling that autumn is not over yet and providing a splash of yellow & red illuminated by the November sun. #Rose #Euphoria #Flower #Autumn2025 #Autumn #Gardening #PlantBiology #Biology

alert to #LowCarbohydrate #Carnivore and #SugarFree #Health Freedom! #SatietyRules #carnivorediet #lowcarb #nocarb #nocarbs #keto #ketodiet #yes2meat #meatheals #ProperHumanDiet #beef #eggs #butter #realfood #NSNG (No Sugar No Grains) #NotVegan #salt #steak #chickenburger
Do NOT purchase tillamook-butternaise! They put sugars and seed oils in! List of Ingredients:
Butter (cream, natural flavor), Mayonnaise (organic #soybean oil, organic egg yolks, water, organic distilled vinegar, salt, organic #sugar, organic rice vinegar diluted with water to 9% acidity, organic cider vinegar, organic mustard flour, mustard oil), Seasoning (salt, #brownsugar, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, paprika spices [including celery seed], #sunflower oil).

Rider of the Dusk

When the sun dips low and the sky turns red,
A silent rider lifts their head.
On a blue horse born of cloud and flame,
They ride the trail without a name.

The wind remembers where they roam,
Carving paths between stars and home.
Birds above cry songs once sung
By our ancestors when the world was young.

Each step echoes in the sacred land,
Where spirit walks with an open hand.
The flowers bow, the grasses lean
They know this one, the in-between.

Neither lost nor truly gone,
This rider waits till the night is dawn.
For those who see with open eyes
Will ride with them beneath the skies.

Serin Alar

Bob's posts are always so beautiful!

The Waltz of the Wildflowers (again)
https://bobneville.substack.com/p/the-waltz-of-the-wildflowers-again?publication_id=3531328&post_id=176773314&isFreemail=true&r=1maoyr&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Christian, when you are in need or in dire straits, or just in general, do you call out to God your Maker? Do you acknowledge Him as your Maker?

God is creator of all and by His will all things exist (Neh. 9:6; Rev. 4:11). The earth and all that is in it belong to Him (Deut. 10:14; Ps. 24:1). What shall man give to or do for God, or what do we have to offer Him that we did not first receive from Him (Acts 17:25; Rom. 11:34-35).

We are but vessels of clay, made for the Potter’s good pleasure (Rom. 9:19-24). Should we not then look to Him in and for all things? It is He who gives us joy. It is He who causes us to sing. It is He who gives songs in the night.

Let us lift up our voices with the songs He gives, that He might be glorified as He desires and deserves.

——————
Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, October 19

“God, my Maker, who giveth songs in the night." Job 35:10

Any man can sing in the day. When the cup is full, man draws inspiration from it. When wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plenteous harvest or sends home a loaded argosy. It is easy enough for an Aeolian harp to whisper music when the winds blow- the difficulty is for music to swell forth when no wind is stirring. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but he is skilful who sings when there is not a ray of light to read by- who sings from his heart. No man can make a song in the night of himself; he may attempt it, but he will find that a song in the night must be divinely inspired. Let all things go well, I can weave songs, fashioning them wherever I go out of the flowers that grow upon my path; but put me in a desert, where no green thing grows, and wherewith shall I frame a hymn of praise to God? How shall a mortal man make a crown for the Lord where no jewels are? Let but this voice be clear, and this body full of health, and I can sing God's praise: silence my tongue, lay me upon the bed of languishing, and how shall I then chant God's high praises, unless He Himself give me the song? No, it is not in man's power to sing when all is adverse, unless an altar-coal shall touch his lip. It was a divine song, which Habakkuk sang, when in the night he said, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Then, since our Maker gives songs in the night, let us wait upon Him for the music. O Thou chief musician, let us not remain songless because affliction is upon us, but tune Thou our lips to the melody of thanksgiving.

Brothers and sisters, do you find yourself wrestling with sin and feeling sorrowful for it? Good! This means your conscience has not, as those who fall into deceit, been seared (1 Tim. 4:1-3).

Sin in our lives should cause us grief, as we know it causes God grief. And this grief should lead to repentance, and repentance the seeking of forgiveness. As God tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”(1 Jn. 1:9). Of course, this requires us recognizing our own sin, which should be the case with all Christians (1 Jn. 1:9).

Yet despite our sorrow, we have hope. Though Paul himself exclaimed, “wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”, he also proclaimed that in our minds, we still serve God, and there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom. 7:24-8:1).

Praise God for the sorrow that brings repentance!

——————
Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, October 13

"Godly sorrow worketh repentance." 2 Corinthians 7:10

Genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the Spirit of God. Repentance is too choice a flower to grow in nature's garden. Pearls grow naturally in oysters, but penitence never shows itself in sinners except divine grace works it in them. If thou hast one particle of real hatred for sin, God must have given it thee, for human nature's thorns never produced a single fig. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh."

True repentance has a distinct reference to the Saviour. When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon sin and another upon the cross, or it will be better still if we fix both our eyes upon Christ and see our transgressions only, in the light of His love.

True sorrow for sin is eminently practical. No man may say he hates sin, if he lives in it. Repentance makes us see the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally- as a burnt child dreads fire. We shall be as much afraid of it, as a man who has lately been stopped and robbed is afraid of the thief upon the highway; and we shall shun it- shun it in everything- not in great things only, but in little things, as men shun little vipers as well as great snakes. True mourning for sin will make us very jealous over our tongue, lest it should say a wrong word; we shall be very watchful over our daily actions, lest in anything we offend, and each night we shall close the day with painful confessions of shortcoming, and each morning awaken with anxious prayers, that this day God would hold us up that we may not sin against Him.

Sincere repentance is continual. Believers repent until their dying day. This dropping well is not intermittent. Every other sorrow yields to time, but this dear sorrow grows with our growth, and it is so sweet a bitter, that we thank God we are permitted to enjoy and to suffer it until we enter our eternal rest.

A Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) visits a Zahara Sunburst flower (Zinnia elegans) for an afternoon lunch of nectar in a Virginia garden during his journey south to Mexico. #MonarchButterfly #Monarch #Butterfly #DanausPlexippus #ZaharaSunburst #ZinniaElegans #Flower #Nectar #JourneyToMexico #AmericanMeadows #Gardening #PlantBiology #AnimalBiology #Biology

Believer, there will come a day when “the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light” (Isa. 13:10). This is the day of the Lord, when He returns in anger to “punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity” (Isa. 13:11). What an interesting picture that those who walk in darkness now will be in literal darkness then.

Yet we are told that after, we will have no need of these celestial bodies to provide us light. There “will no longer be any night” and we “will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine” us (Rev. 22:5). What glorious imagery! At that time, we will reign with Him forever (Rev. 4:5)!

Zechariah paints a similar picture, when he tells us, “In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light” (Zech. 14:6-7).

We have a blessed future on which we focus and in which we have our hope. For we will be united with Him in glory, and be with Him forever. Let us make this our focus, as we keep in our minds that in that time of darkness, “at evening time there will be light.”

——————
Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, October 4

"At evening time it shall be light." Zechariah 14:7

Oftentimes we look forward with forebodings to the time of old age, forgetful that at eventide it shall be light. To many saints, old age is the choicest season in their lives. A balmier air fans the mariner's cheek as he nears the shore of immortality, fewer waves ruffle his sea, quiet reigns, deep, still and solemn. From the altar of age the flashes of the fire of youth are gone, but the more real flame of earnest feeling remains. The pilgrims have reached the land Beulah, that happy country, whose days are as the days of heaven upon earth. Angels visit it, celestial gales blow over it, flowers of paradise grow in it, and the air is filled with seraphic music. Some dwell here for years, and others come to it but a few hours before their departure, but it is an Eden on earth. We may well long for the time when we shall recline in its shady groves and be satisfied with hope until the time of fruition comes. The setting sun seems larger than when aloft in the sky, and a splendour of glory tinges all the clouds which surround his going down. Pain breaks not the calm of the sweet twilight of age, for strength made perfect in weakness bears up with patience under it all. Ripe fruits of choice experience are gathered as the rare repast of life's evening, and the soul prepares itself for rest.
The Lord's people shall also enjoy light in the hour of death. Unbelief laments; the shadows fall, the night is coming, existence is ending. Ah no, crieth faith, the night is far spent, the true day is at hand. Light is come, the light of immortality, the light of a Father's countenance. Gather up thy feet in the bed, see the waiting bands of spirits! Angels waft thee away. Farewell, beloved one, thou art gone, thou wavest thine hand. Ah, now it is light. The pearly gates are open, the golden streets shine in the jasper light. We cover our eyes, but thou beholdest the unseen; adieu, brother, thou hast light at even-tide, such as we have not yet.

Spirit of Stillness

In the quiet fold of the earth,
she stands—
not moving, yet moving the world.
The wind leans in to listen,
The grass bends as if in prayer.

Her gaze is a horizon,
endless and unbroken.
It holds the patience of stone,
and the tenderness of rain.

She does not chase the moment—
she becomes it,
letting silence bloom around her
like wildflowers after snow.

And in that stillness,
you feel it—
the pulse of a spirit
too vast to be held
and too gentle to break.

Serin Alar

Breath of Mother Earth

The girl lifts her face,
welcoming the pure breeze,
fragrance of flowers mingling with birdsong,
her heart beating gently with the rhythm of the earth.

Mother Earth extends unseen arms,
embracing each breath, each strand of drifting hair.
She listens to the whispers of streams,
to the forest calling from a thousand years past.

Each inhale — a gift of strength,
Each exhale — a prayer of gratitude.
She smiles.
as if she has become part of the soil,
part of the sky,
eternal, free.

Serin Alar

Whispers of Gratitude

She lays her cheek upon the ground,
where flowers bloom, where life is found.
Her breath becomes a gentle prayer,
a hymn of thanks for earth so fair.

The grass leans close to hear her song,
The blossoms nod and sway along.
In every leaf, in every hue,
She feels the world embrace her, too.

No gold, no crown could she demand,
for all she needs is in her hand—
the sky, the soil, the sun, the rain,
the sacred bond that shall remain.

And softly still, her spirit knows,
gratitude is the seed that grows.
For every whisper to the land,
returns as love from Mother’s hand.

Velin Rael

Song of a Hummingbird

I am but a flicker of wings,
a heartbeat carried on the wind.
Today, I fly not alone—
My brothers and sisters circle with me.

We find the blossom,
a crown of colors at the world’s center,
It's nectar sweet as morning rain,
Its fragrance is a hymn to the sky.

We do not quarrel,
Beauty is endless when shared.
One by one, we drink its light,
and in return, we give it flight—
a halo of shimmering feathers.

Listen: in our dance around the flower,
You may hear the secret of joy—
that even the smallest souls
can guard the universe with love.

Serin Alar

Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, August 28

"Sing, O barren." Isaiah 54:1

Though we have brought forth some fruit unto Christ, and have a joyful hope that we are "plants of His own right hand planting," yet there are times when we feel very barren. Prayer is lifeless, love is cold, faith is weak, each grace in the garden of our heart languishes and droops. We are like flowers in the hot sun, requiring the refreshing shower. In such a condition what are we to do? The text is addressed to us in just such a state. "Sing, O barren, break forth and cry aloud." But what can I sing about? I cannot talk about the present, and even the past looks full of barrenness. Ah! I can sing of Jesus Christ. I can talk of visits which the Redeemer has aforetimes paid to me; or if not of these, I can magnify the great love wherewith He loved His people when He came from the heights of heaven for their redemption. I will go to the cross again. Come, my soul, heavy laden thou wast once, and thou didst lose thy burden there. Go to Calvary again. Perhaps that very cross which gave thee life may give thee fruitfulness. What is my barrenness? It is the platform for His fruit-creating power. What is my desolation? It is the black setting for the sapphire of His everlasting love. I will go in poverty, I will go in helplessness, I will go in all my shame and backsliding, I will tell Him that I am still His child, and in confidence in His faithful heart, even I, the barren one, will sing and cry aloud.

Sing, believer, for it will cheer thine own heart, and the hearts of other desolate ones. Sing on, for now that thou art really ashamed of being barren, thou wilt be fruitful soon; now that God makes thee loath to be without fruit He will soon cover thee with clusters. The experience of our barrenness is painful, but the Lord's visitations are delightful. A sense of our own poverty drives us to Christ, and that is where we need to be, for in Him is our fruit found.