View allAll Photos Tagged picmonkey
Two commemorative crowns - the 1965 Churchill Crown and the Silver Jubilee Crown.
I just wanted to wish the lady on the coins 'A Very Happy 90th Birthday.'
Howards travel group ex Hong Kong Citybus Leyland Olympian F18HOW (L808SNO, FS6392). Posed in front of the imposing Fiddlers Ferry power station in Warrington.
Thank you for your appreciation, Gail * Special thanks to my wonderful flickr friend who introduced me to this site. Namaste !
What terrible weather we are having this week....it is grey, wet and cold, struggling to get to 10 degrees!
Did we have summer four weeks ago?
In His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stated; "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them [even the " least " commandments], he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven " (Matthew 5:19). Throughout the entire message, Jesus was explaining and expounding and magnifying the Ten Commandments. He was showing that this spiritual law was a living law-like the law of gravity or inertia. When you break it, it breaks you!
We have seen, therefore, that when men or nations break the first commandment- " You shall have no other gods before me " (Exodus 20:3)-they bring an inevitable penalty of suffering and wretchedness upon themselves and their posterity. Men cut off from the true God are empty, frustrated and miserable. And whether by the awfulness of war, personal violence, sickness or simply the rotting of corruptible human flesh, the ultimate fate of all men cut off from God is an ignominious death-with no hope or promise of eternal life thereafter (Romans 6:23; Rev. 21:8).
" You shall have no other gods before Me " (Exodus 20:3), The second commandment tells us how to worship the true God, what pitfalls to avoid in our worship, and of the continuing blessing or penalty that comes to our progeny as a result of the way in which we worship Almighty God. " You shall not make for yourself a carved image- any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them, For I, the Lord [Eternal] your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those that love Me and keep My commandments " (Exodus 20:4-6).
Physical human minds want some physical object-some " aid " to worship-to " remind " them of the invisible God. Yet that is exactly what is forbidden in this commandment! Jesus said; " But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him " (John 4:23). Notice that it is only the " True " worshipers who are able to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth. Many others attempt some form of worship, but because they limit their worship by a false concept of God, it is largely in vain. " God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth " (v.24). The instant that human beings set up any representation of God, they deny what is essential in God. When a man invents his own mental or physical image of God, he automatically limits in his own thought and worship the God who will not be limited! God is the essence of all power-wisdom and love, He is limitless.
" You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God " (Leviticus 26:1). God was and is against every form of idol or image used in worship. However, lest some misunderstand, note that God does not condemn art or sculpture, but rather the setting up of any picture or image or representation " TO bow down to it. " In the original command in Exodus 20:4-6, God is not condemning every picture and image, but, as the command continues, " you shall not bow down to them or serve them. "
So it is the use of art or sculpture as a form of worship or " aid " to worship that God condemns! The real basis of all idolatry is that self-willed man-kind refuses to surrender himself to worship the true God in the way that He commands! Not knowing the true God, then, nor having His Spirit, human beings think they need some " aid " or representation to help them worship their humanly devised concept of God. The second commandment forbids the use of physical " aids " or " helps " in worshiping the invisible God.
No one really knows God as Father- no one who is living in daily communion with Him- needs a picture or image to help prayer. If someone thinks he needs this kind of help, he has not come to know God- and undoubtedly is not filled with and led by the Spirit of God. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His (Romans 8:9). God gives His Holy Spirit only after genuine repentance and baptism- and only to those who " obey Him " (Acts 2:38; 5:32). Very few men today, are not really acquainted with God, they have not surrendered themselves to obey God. God to them is very far off- unreal- nebulous and instead look to a physical reminder in front of them to help them realize that He exists and is there to hear their prayers.
The second commandment itself, obviously prohibits the use of anything that represents God or could easily become an object of worship. Yet many of us employ representations or so-called pictures of Jesus Christ in our homes and in our worship. These pictures of Christ have in no way any similarity to the way Jesus Christ really looked. Jesus- when in human flesh- was a Jew (Hebrews 7:14). The word of God inspired the apostle Paul to write: " Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?" (1 Corinthians 11:14). Yet most of the so-called pictures of Jesus show a man with long hair. This is not the Christ of the Bible! So most crucifixes, pictures and images of Jesus are in total opposition to every description given of Him. They give a " false impression " of the true Jesus Christ in every respect. In Isaiah 53:2, He inspired Isaiah to describe His human appearance: "He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. " As a human being Jesus was a normal, healthy, perhaps, because He was a Carpenter, rugged looking young Jewish man in His early thirties.
However, if we think of Jesus' appearance at all, we should think, in general terms at least, of the way He looks today. He has described this for us in Revelation 1:14-16: " His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes like a flame of fire...and His countenance was like the sun shining with radiance and with power. "
Perhaps, many say that they don't worship these pictures or images, but this false pictures and false concepts of Christ undoubtedly comes into their minds quite often when they think of Christ or pray. These false pictures and statues actually come between them and Christ. They separate the worshiper from Christ! Anyone who uses such images or pictures of Christ are breaking the second commandment and greatly limiting their concept of the living Christ.
PLEASE DO NOT SEE OR USE THESE IMAGES I HAVE CREATED AS ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR WHAT THEY ARE, ART! thank You!
Paper dolls - Miss Roux in Blue Velvet
Mixed Media:
Pan Pastels
Tombow markers
& PrismaColor pencils.
Stickles glitter gel-glue accents.
Love is like "magic" and it will always be,
for Love still remains life's sweet mystery!
Love works in ways that are wondrous and strange
and there's nothing in life that love cannot change!
Love can transform the most commonplace
into beauty and splendor and sweetness and grace!
Love is unselfish, understanding and kind,
for it sees with it's heart and not with it's mind!
Love is the answer that everyone seeks --
Love is the language that every heart speaks --
Love can't be bought, it is priceless and free,
Love like pure magic is a sweet mystery!
- Helen Steiner Rice
My Flickr friend Shirley Elliott posted a great shot of a chap on his Harley - I gave it a tweak in PicMonkey - She has very kindly let me share the end result.