March 25, 2015 by Adele Bower

Tears and Triumph

“Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey-riding on a donkey’s colt.’ ” Matthew 21:5

Tears

On that day…..the day we call Palm Sunday…..the Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on a small donkey. As the ecstatic crowd welcomed Him thinking He was the one who would free them from their suffering under a cruel and harsh rule, He wept.

“As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes.'”

Luke 19:41-42

The Greek word for weep is ἔκλαυσεν…meaning to weep aloud, expressing uncontainable, audible grief (“audible weeping”). He was sobbing; those around Him could have heard Him but the crowds were cheering.

Our Lord shed tears of grief and sorrow as He rode the small donkey into Jerusalem that day.

Triumph

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and makes war. ” Revelation 19:11

“On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written:

King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” Revelation 19: 16

Yes, Jesus Christ is coming again and in complete victory and triumph. He will not be shedding tears. As the King of Glory, He will be riding a white horse….not a small donkey. He will establish His everlasting kingdom.

Wishing you a blessed Palm Sunday with praise to Him.

‘Til He shouts!

March 19, 2015 by Adele Bower

My Best-Kept New Year’s Resolution

I don’t recall where I read the advice, but I was impressed and decided to take it.

It would be my 2015 New Year’s Resolution.

The writer advised reading through the entire Bible in a year using the New Living Translation- in Chronological Order. Since I love to read, the commitment seemed easy. After all, I’ve read through the Bible six times already, and once in another version of a chronological Bible. Piece of cake!

The New Living Translation of the Holy Bible

(Tyndale House Publishers)

Well, yes, it is as easy as a piece of cake (I’ve never really understood that phrase!); it’s easy to read the prescribed amount for each day…but it’s not easy to read what the Lord is saying in the part of His Holy word I’ve read so far…..Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Job, and Deuteronomy. (Remember, this is in chronological order. Insert Job here!)

It’s as if this is the first time I’ve ever read the first five books of the Bible, which is not the case. Is it the translation that has made it so vivid; is it my age; is it my spiritual level (???) at this time. What has made the difference? Maybe I’m not supposed to ask, know or care.

Parts of these glorious books of the Bible are truly heavy. The Lord God does not like sin and He makes it abundantly clear in His Word.

Therefore, I decided last month to temper this reading by reading from the New Testament each day, also. Praise the Lord, for His Grace which we are under and not the Law. Glory! I’m reading a chapter per day in the Gospel of Matthew to lead right up to Easter. I’ refreshed and encouraged.

This has helped me rejoice in what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us……

“For God [The Father] was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him [Christ Jesus] and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”

Colossians 1:19-20

We are reconciled (accepted) to God by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Okay, I think I can continue reading now…..while humming

“Amazing Grace…How Sweet The Sound”.

March 2, 2015 by Adele Bower

Feeling Important to Him!

“Devoted”

Today I posted my painting, “Devoted”, on my Facebook Timeline cover….and yes, I’ve posted it there before….several times. But today it seemed I needed to be reminded that I can make everything I do…..everything….significant and meaningful if I do it in His name…and what a glorious name it is:

“…and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God,

The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

In His Name

I finally learned after years of knowing Him as my Savior that He was ordering my days, my responsibilities, my talents, my family, my everything. That made me feel very happy and important. At the time I was caring for our three little children (all born the same year! ….not really, it just seemed that way because they were so close in age) and now that enormous responsibility became my ministry and my purpose. My energy was renewed. I had a focus.

As the years have passed I’ve seen Him change that purpose and focus to other things, but always in His name. He has called me to different ministries, taken me through them, then moved me on to another. That’s a good thing. It’s a very good thing because I accept them as from Him, and for Him. He is always there, reminding me of Colossians 3:17.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

‘Til He Shouts!

February 26, 2015 by Adele Bower

Let Me Stand By Faith

“Higher Ground”

8″ x 10″ acrylic painting by Adele Bower

Click here for information about this painting

” I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith, on Heaven’s tableland,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

___Johnson Oatman, Jr. 1898

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13

February 24, 2015 by Adele Bower

Me and the Pirate

“Shortcut”

12″ x 12″ acrylic painting on canvas panel.

Click here for more information about the painting.

When I was a little girl there was an acre or so of dense underbrush and trees between our house and the nearest one to the east. Since I liked nothing better than friends to play with and being a little bit too lazy to take the road nearby, I took a shortcut through the woods to spend the day playing with my friends who lived there. On either side of the woods it cleared quickly revealing well-kept lawns.

On the edge of the woods on our side, was a mound…..a large mound….about 6′ long and 2′ wide….overgrown with grass and weeds. I always wondered why Daddy left it there in our otherwise well-kept lawn, so one day I interrupted his work in his studio (he was an artist), and asked him.

He put down his paint brush, looked me straight in the eyes and told me the “truth”. The mound was the grave of the infamous pirate, Peg-Leg Pete and he dare not disturb it and I should be careful to do likewise and always go around it…..never, ever step on it.

I was convinced. I took his advice.

Late one evening I was running through the shortcut, trying to get home before Mama got really aggravated at how late I’d stayed over at my friends house…and not paying attention. I ran very close to Peg-Leg’s grave. Suddenly a big form with arms outstretched rose up out of the grave and chased me the rest of the way home.

I don’t remember if my big, teen-aged brother got in trouble for hiding under a pile of leaves on top of Peg-Leg’s grave, or not. I was too traumatized to care. After that I took the road route to play with my friends…..for a while, anyway.

My pirate adventure was only one of my brother’s tricks played on me, my sister, and our friends. But I got my revenge; I got his room when he went off to Texas A & AM.

January 31, 2015 by Adele Bower

53.3%

To See Each Painting Up-close Click Here

(They are found in “Acrylics and Oils” and “Abstracts” categories on the webpage.)

I painted sixteen paintings in the month of January 2015. The challenge was to paint one per day, 30-in-30, but considering life in general, I’m happy with managing sixteen….or 53.3% of the assignment.

If I would have presented that result to an instructor in art school or college, I would have received a failing grade, I’m sure. But out here in the real world, at least this past month, things happen…for example, two laser eye procedures. These procedures were totally painless but still took two days per eye…..one for the procedure, the other day to recover clear vision.

Then, of course, I took time to visit with our Granddaughter who was home for a few days from her studies in London, attend an annual dinner for an orphanage in Uganda we help support, have lunch with friends and dinner out with another group. You know how it is.

I set out to paint only abstracts, but wavered at times into the more representational, even creating four (on the last line of the photo above) in a graphic style, which I enjoy.

The point of the 30-in-30 challenge is to develop the habit of painting regularly.

Of course, even Christmas comes regularly.

January 22, 2015 by Adele Bower

Which Art Wins?

How do we measure what is good art?

Above you’ll see examples of my art: a watercolor , an acrylic landscape, an acrylic abstract, and a realistic oil portrait. No, I’m not asking you to vote on my artwork but to think about how we measure art.

Here is an interesting excerpt from a book I’m reading titled, The View From the Studio Door, by Ted Orland.

“In academia it’s considered a virtue to frame questions that yield clear, concise and demonstrably correct answers-answers that remain a constant no matter who responds to the question. But equally, there exists another entire universe of questions in which the answer changes as each new person engages the question. Questions that introduce value judgments and shades of meaning and degrees of certainty into the equation engage entire fields of human endeavor that fit poorly (if at all) within the prevailing educational framework. Like the arts, for instance. You can measure to a clear, concise and objective certainty the color of the sky above your head-but what is the color of the sky inside your mind? For Maxfield Parrish the correct answer was a cerulean blue; for Albert Ryder it was midnight black; for Beethoven is was F major. Making headway in the arts is a process of navigation without numbers. How do you measure what is Good? What happens when there are many correct answers to a given question? And what happens when some of those answers are profound, others superficial? Or when some are intellectually abstract, others searingly personal?

Those are not-pardon the pun-academic questions. If a roomful of students all arrived at the identical (and demonstrably correct) answer to a math question, it would be exemplary. But if those same students answered an artistic question by producing a roomful of identical paintings, something would be terribly wrong. Indeed, if the only things that counted were the things you could count, Haydn would clobber Beethoven 106-9 in the symphony playoffs, and the Museum of Modern Art would hang street banners declaring Whoever Paints the Biggest Picture Wins.”

Well, Mr. Orland said it well. Our opinion of any given artwork is subjective. My opinions, too.