“Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31

Dear Lord,

Sparkling with dew in the early morning sunlight,
the bountiful blooms upon this tree….

caused me to stop and take a picture.
I was blessed by Your sharing it with me.

Obviously, You love flowers and do decorate some trees…
with variations of them–artistically designed to please.

Jesus, You said that if men didn’t praise You, then, the stones would immediately cry out. We, as living stones, (true believers), and all creation, participate in that glorifying shout!

P. A. Oltrogge 

At Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem:

“Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:

“’Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’

“And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’

“But He answered and said to them, ‘I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’”

Luke 19:37-40

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“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

1 Peter 2:4-6

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“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.”  Psalm 95:1; “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.” Psalm 98:4; “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!”  Psalm 100:1

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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” 

John 1:1-5

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“…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. 

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”

Colossians 1:12-20 

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“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” 

Hebrews 1:1-4 

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There are many commentaries on what Jesus meant about the stones or rocks crying out. The following is by Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div.

And Matthew 28:2 records, “And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.” Did you catch that? Before Jesus’ resurrection and the stone covering the entrance of his tomb was rolled out of the way, there was not just a mere earthquake, but a “great earthquake.” And what happens during an earthquake? Science tells us earthquakes are usually caused when underground rock suddenly breaks along a fault. The rocks move and shift. They were saying, or “crying out” very loudly that Jesus had risen from the dead!

Scriptures: NKJV or as noted

…and it can be said that all creation…even these small stones, tell of the Creator….

“For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense. For even though they knew God [as the Creator], they did not honor Him as God or give thanks [for His wondrous creation]. ” Romans 1:20-21 AMP

“Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!”  …from Psalm 107

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Romans 10:8-13

Jesus is our Cornerstone!

…photos/Porch of the Lord

…a message of encouragement today at: http://www.givehim15.com