I shared this post on my main WordPress site and wanted to share this with all of you here on my photography site, as well. I pray that it will be a blessing to all who read this:

Sometimes the circumstances of life can bring more times of sorrow than times of joy. Holidays are just not the same any more after we lose someone whom we love so dearly. However, we have a choice as to how we are going to respond when tragedies hit. Yes, we must allow ourselves time to grieve, and no one can put a time limit as to how long one should grieve, but we must not allow our grief and sorrow to rob us of the precious time that we can have with our loved ones who are still with us.

This is a lesson that I have learned over the past year. When my sweet Mom died on Resurrection Sunday/Easter of 2018, my whole world fell apart. Then I almost lost my older sister last December when her appendix ruptured and the doctors weren’t sure she was going to make it. Now she’s in the hospital again with an infection in her foot. She has been on kidney dialysis for over nineteen years, and most people who are on dialysis do not live for that many years. So in the midst of grieving the loss of my Mom I have learned to treasure every moment that I have with my older sister and with the rest of my family, as well. Sometimes sorrow and grief can blind us from seeing the blessings that we still have in life until our eyes are opened to realize just how short life is and that we must treasure our time with every one of our loved ones while we still have time.

So, dear reader, if your heart is heavy with grief and sorrow, stop right now and take some time to reflect upon the many blessings that you have in your life. If you have never heard the good news of the Biblical gospel, I encourage you to get a Bible (preferably a King James Bible), and read through the Gospel of John, the book of Romans, and whatever other book in the Bible that the Lord may lead you to read, and ask God to reveal the truth to you about His love and forgiveness and the hard truth about the fact that in spite of how good we think we are, we are all just wretched sinners in need of a Savior. He is waiting to wash you clean of your sin and guilt and will then cover you with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

If you have already come to the point of realizing all that Jesus Christ has done for you:

He lived a perfect sinless life that you and I could never live

He willingly went to the cross and allowed God, His Father, to pour out the full wrath that He has towards us because of our sins upon Himself

He died in your place and in mine to pay the debt of our sins –in full

He was buried, and three days later he gloriously arose from the dead in bodily form

If you believe all of that with your whole heart and have come to the point of choosing to place your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation and not in your good works, then, in the midst of your sorrow, take the time to thank Him for all that He has done for you this past year. Praise Him for who He is in spite of how difficult your life may be right now. Tell everyone about how faithful He has been to you through all of the hard times that you have faced. Share the good news of the Biblical gospel with those who have yet to hear of God’s great love, mercy, and grace.

In spite of how hard life may be for some of us, the fact still remains that He is indeed worthy of our praise for all that He has done to provide salvation for us all. However, salvation is a gift that must be received; it cannot be earned. For those who reject God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ alone, instead of being covered with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, they will one day stand before the Lord guilty and condemned to hell and will receive God’s wrath instead. A very sobering thought to end this post with, but I pray that it will cause you to seriously consider your eternal destination and the choice that is yours alone to make.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”(John 3:36)

A Blessed Thanksgiving Day from Reflections Of His Glory Photography to all of you in the United States.

Photo – ‘Wayne’s Lovely Garden – Yellow Zinnia – Psalm 105_1,2’ – taken by: MaryKDalke – Reflections Of His Glory Photography

Camera – Sony A6000 Lens – Sony 30mm f3.5 macro lens

Photo edited and Scripture added by MaryKDalke using Pixlr X free online photo editor