Shema - The Book!

Nearly 7 months after our unforgettable trip to the Holy Lands. It's finally finished!! 

I've been working on a photo book from the trip which has taken me a little longer then I planned.

8x10, full color, hardbound, image wrapped, 120 pages filled with photos, Bible verses, and memories! 

I had a good time remembering all the different things from the trip while I worked on each page. I am so glad I was able to meet and travel with this team and share this experience with them! 

Check it out, let me know what you think, and enjoy! 

Shema, 

Rose 

www.TheFocusPhotography.com

www.facebook.com/thefocusphotography 

Shema - Bible Study Tour! by Rose Finley - www.TheFocusPhotography.com | Make Your Own Book

Middle East part 2

How do you describe the feeling of walking through hundreds of gallons of water crashing over your head as you trying to stay standing, the powerful waterfall pounding you to the ground  under the water. Thanking God for this is small example of his all out, unconditional, unchangeable Love for me.  The love that drove him to the cross. The love that doesn’t know any better way to love then with all heart, soul, mind and strength, and the love that calls us to do the same in return. ALL OUT NO HOLDING BACK!

How do you descried the steady climb to the top of Mt. Sinai? The very same mountain that Moses climbed to meet God. The beautiful night sky lit up with uncountable stars and a bright moon that gave us enough light to see mountains around us and the path before our feet. Sleeping under the open sky as a falling star streaked by.  Waking up to see the sunrise over a magnificent view of the mountain ranges surrounding us on every side!  

How do you share the feeling of the hot sand under your feet and while the burning sun beat down on your head drying sweat before it reached your clothes. Standing there looking out over the vast desert with nothing to see but more desert. It was easy to understand why the Israelites were upset. To understand a little bit why they complained and grumbled so much during the 40 years. The desert valley all around me seemed barren of any living plant or animal. The ground unusable for growing anything. Not even a cloud in sight for shade or rain. Why would God bring his chosen people from the land of Egypt, the bread basket of the world to such a wasteland, and not only to bring them here but to keep them  here for 40 years?

How many things God had to teach them in the desert before they could enter the promised land. Through it all God was steady and faithful to his people, providing every need the entire time they were there.

How do you describe the detail and care that went into the writing of the dead sea scrolls? Each piece written with such precision and care that even the lines drawn on the page keeping the writing straight were done with exact measurements. Each work penned with perfection and accuracy. Looking over them not being able to actually read what was written on the page, but knowing what it meant. Knowing that not only did the people just right them, they studied them and knew the meaning of what they were writing. Do I, in my own life have such dedication and perseverance in my walk with God?

How do you share the understanding that comes when you see the places you read about, and hear the stories with a glimpse into the writers perspective or from the perception of Jesus’s disciples. To see and understand some of the history in the stories, learning that what you thought it meant wasn't at all what it was saying, finding that what it was really saying made so much more sense then what you actually thought it said in the first place. 

Everyday of the trip we were challenged.  Challenged by what we saw. Challenged by what we were taught. Challenged by the lives of Moses, David, Jesus and many more.

There was always something different and unique to learn and see.  

Shema, 

Rose

Gods photo-shopping!

This past week I was able to create two new photo's for a client!  
Taking old and kind of shabby looking photos and turning them into - a masterpiece! ;-)

Working on these photos and now seeing the end result reminded me of the way God works in our lives. Taking our ugly sin filled lives, our mistakes and failures, our victories and triumphs, our mistakes and high points an turning them into something beautiful like only he can do! 

Cutting.
Blending. 
Layering.
Combining.
Deleting. 
Adding.

Sometimes when we go through "bad" things we don't understand why, we question God, and even fight back. God understands and has a reason for each trial shaping our lives 

Even the good things we go through are being used by God to mold us! 
We are the work of his hands! In the end all the cutting, shaping, blending, adding and deleting, will make us into His masterpiece! 

Isaiah 64:8
Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clat, You are the potter; we are the all the work of your hand!

OK so I KNOW my photo-shopping could never compare to amazing ways Gods works in our lives every day to make us more like him....but even if they are not a "masterpiece" they are now clean and new! Here is some clean up I did for some Gazebos.

God Bless you today and this week as he continues to shape each of us into his own unique masterpieces!  

Rose Finley

www.TheFocusPhotography.com
www.facebook.com/thefocusphotography

The Eye of A Needle

             While on a recent trip to Israel I learn that the eye of a needle can also be referring to the small door inside of the larger door to the city gates. The small door was used to keep the city secure, opening only the smaller door made it so only one person and his donkey could get through. 

           The door in the photo is the Jaffa gate with a perfect example of the eye of a needle!

         As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
         
        “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

       “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

         Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

        At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

        Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

        The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

        The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

        Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

       Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

       “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Spending Time With God

Spending Time With God

              This is has been one of my challenges...
Making and Taking the time to build the most important relationship you and I will ever have. Our walk with Jesus Christ.

              Why is this so hard sometimes? Everything around me that seemed so important at the time zaps up any time I was meaning to set aside to spend time with God. Work, family, friends, sleep, these things and many more crowd the day and slowly begin pushing time with God out of the picture

             However, when you think about it, Spending time with God or lack of spending time with God effects every aspect of our lives. Our relationships, our work, our families. Our entire moral, physical and spiritual outlook on life changes depending on where our relationship with God stands.

            This relationship is the most important relationship we will ever have. It is the relationship we will base all other relationships around....the relationship we will base our lives around! It is this relationship that God uses to impact the world around us!

SO...
STOP asking yourself when the last time you really spent time with just God, nothing else, no phone, computer, friends, or church...just you and God. Stop asking and GO DO IT. Taking the extra time each day to hear from Jesus.
STOP asking yourself when the last time you got real with God or let God get real with you was, and GO, spend that time with God. Get real with Him, let him get real with you. Pour out your heart to Him. Let him pour out his love on you! Let him show you His way, His heart, His desires!

These are the things I know I have to do....but everything else always seems more pressing.
Then I ask myself....
How can you help others grow closer to God, if you aren't growing closer to Him in your own walk with God?
How can you impact the world around you for Jesus, if your life is not being impacted by him everyday?

Our time -My time- with God is the most important thing in this life. Taking the time to hear from Him each day will mold and shape your days into a strong and consistent walk with Jesus Christ!!

Goodbye 2011 ~

Goodbye 2011 ~ 
‎2011 has gone by WAY to fast, and 2012 seems to be coming in like a flood. 
In the last couple days of the year I kept remembering and looking back on the past 12 months!
I cannot believe all of the things God allowed me to be apart of this past year!!
It was amazing! I don't even know where to begin in telling about Gods faithfullness...Just when I thought the year was going to be long and boring. God opened the flood gates and purred his blessings out! 
Day after day God continued to bless me!  

 

I am looking forward to all the things he is going to do in 2012!

Middle East Part 1:

Israel

How do you describe the simplicity and yet amazing feeling of walking a path that Jesus walked. The feel of the cold stone of the Western Wall, listening to the people around you praying and singing. Watching as people slide their prayer requests into a tight space in the wall. I wanted to take one out and read the  earnest prayer of a Jewish worshiper. I wondered how different their prayers are then mine. I watched as the Jewish women walked backward away from the wall, as a symbol of not turning their back to God.  Do I have as much reverence and respect for God in my life?

How do you describe looking out over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Seeing the paths that Jesus walked the night he was betrayed.  Walking the streets of the Old City Jerusalem. David Street and Delarosa.  Seeing the remains of the pool of Siloam, where the blind man in faith did what Jesus told him to do and washed his eyes in the pool, which restored his site. Standing inside an olive press, hearing how Jesus stayed in a place called Gethsemane the night of his betrayel–an olive press. Walking beside, swimming in, and sitting out on a boat, at the Sea of Galilee, imagining what it would have been like to hear Jesus teach. Looking out over the wilderness where Jesus spent 40 days fasting and praying.   

How do you describe seeing the detail and care that went into the writing of the Dead Sea Scrolls? Each piece written with such precision and care that the lines drawn on the page to keep the writing straight were also done with exact measurements. Each writing was penned with perfection and accuracy. Not only did the people just right them, they studied and believed in what they were writing, and knew the significance of preserving it. Do I, in my own life have such dedication and perseverance in my walk with God on a daily basis?   

There is so much more I can say about each place. It would very quickly become an endless list of all the incredible things we saw and learned while here. It was an amazing trip filled with the places of the Bible and challenging lessons from the lives of the people who walked the paths before us.  

I’m not sure I could do any of it justice when putting my thoughts from the trip into words. So here are some pictures that will hopefully help you to see some of what I saw!

The Western Wall

Olive Press much like the one Jesus stayed at the night of his betrayal.

A garden tomb

David Street

The Pool of Siloam 

Mount of Olives Overlooking Jerusalem 

David Street Markets

The wilderness that Jesus spent 40 days in fasting and prayer

The caves and mountains of Kidron Valley where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Sea of Galilee 

Morning Devotions on the Sea of Galilee 

Shalom

Rose

Stay tuned to hear about Jordan and Egypt!