I Can Learn From Paul the Apostle

Man was born for adversity.
So why do I whine so loud when it comes my way? Why do I not take on challenges with vigor and an adventurous attitude knowing I will grow?
In the devotional Streams in the Desert, Mrs. Charles Cowan talks about Paul’s struggles. It seems to me Paul was dedicated to God enough that he didn’t need to go through bunches of hardship. But of course, I’m not God and didn’t know what Paul needed to make him all he can be for Christ.
In 2 Corinthians Paul talked of his difficulties in 5 parts:
1. We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed;
2. We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed;
3. Persecuted,
but not forsaken;
4. Persecuted,
but not forsaken;
5. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

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Rembrandt

Mrs. Happy Housewife inspired me. 🙂 She’s kind of like my neighbor blogger even though she lives hundreds of miles away! She’s like me and has a love for art expression through poetry, painting, music, writing, etc. There is a bunch of junk on Youtube that I hate but it also has some good videos that are helping me learn about art.
R.C. Sproul, a greatly respected theologian of today has a favorite painting of Rembrandt. I have also claimed it as a favorite too. It is called Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem. I found it on a website called Artchives. You can view the chronological order of his paintings from 1630 to 1669 from this site.
Here is some background info about Rembrandt van Rijn. He lived from 1606-69. He was the fourth of six children. His father was a miller and his mother was a baker. He painted at least 300 painitings in his lifetime. Here’s some more info about him.
This is a Youtube video you’ll enjoy. Rembrandt stayed busy in his life. This video contains just his self-portraits. Hmmm, makes me wonder if he was vain. I don’t know. But I’m glad that he painted himself alot so I can get a better grasp of his appearance.

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Looking For Answers

I look for God to show me things through the Bible. This morning I did a quiet time. There were various avenues I went down for Godly wisdom. Here’s where I looked:
2 Samuel 20 & 21
Hosea 1 & 2
the verse “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16:25)
Streams In the Desert devotion

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Starry Starry Night

I would like to dedicate this entry to Mrs. Happy Housewife. I love it when she takes a famous poem and couples it with a masterpiece.
In college one of my most memorable classes was humanities. The teacher was good and I learned world history that I hadn’t been exposed to yet.
In that class, my teacher Mrs. Lurz, took an old hit song from the ’70’s and told how it was about a famous artist, Vincent Van Gogh. The song is Starry, Starry Night by Don Mclean. The beauty and expression of two incredibly talented people combined so we could enjoy.

What a way to memorize the Masterpieces of Van Gogh; Listening to a peaceful song beautifully sang as a guitar is strummed.
Through YouTube, Don Mclean’s song, and through the artist’s own hand the world will listen now, much more than ever, to what Van Gogh tried to say through his paintings.

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