Job: Chapter 28

Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?

Crestone Needle | Colorado

Naturally, we can search for silver and find it. We long to discover gold, we do so and refine it to make beautiful things of great worth. We mine the iron we find on the earth and smelt from that ore to create copper. Man has put light where there is darkness, we have lit the world so that darkness does not rule the night. We venture to all corners of the earth and discover the limits of creation, we search deep in the darkness to discover the fine ore that was hidden from our eyes long ago. What we see on the surface of the earth are beauty, nature, wonderful things that bring joy. But underneath all things at the core are refined through fire and heat. We spin on the outskirts of a great ball of fire. Even the falcon's eye has not seen that which is beneath, proud beasts have not put hoof nor paw to this, even the lion who is considered kind has not passed over this coveted thing. Man breaks the rock and overturns all mountains by the roots, we seek high and low in a search for this thing that cannot be found. With our eyes, we see all the beauty of this wondrous creation and witness glory, yet we cannot see that which is hidden. We dam up streams to bring them to a halt and control them, we ensure nothing is hidden through bringing light to it - but this still cannot be found? Thus, where is the wisdom found that alludes to man? What foundation flows wisdom that we may drink it in like water for the mind and soul? We cannot comprehend just how vital wisdom is, we cheat ourselves by pursuing the above tangible things that are shiny and of monetary value. Wisdom is not found in the land of the living, the depths of the earth say, 'It is not in me,' the ocean floor says, 'It is not with me.' You cannot purchase it, regardless of all the gold of Ophir, nor precious onyx or sapphire, anything you offer cannot validate a purchase of this allusive trait. There is no equal to it, it cannot be traded for nor exchanged. If it cannot be bought, regardless of your purchase price, how then do we attain it? We live in a world that is valued through what we can buy, how do we comprehend something that isn't bought? Where does this wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding? If it is hidden from even the sharpest of eyes that fly through the air, how might I find it? It is concealed. Not even the Angel of Death knows where it is found, they say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.' They tell us that God understands the way to it, and He knows its place. He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. God described this to us: "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding."

Wisdom, where are you? We all have a yearning deep within us that seeks wisdom and the knowledge of understanding. Yet, we do not seek it with all the vigor of the person who longs and is driven to be successful. (This concept of being successful is something each person has to evaluate within themselves, success is not the same for every person.) In Genesis 3, Satan used the concept of wisdom and knowledge to tempt Adam & Eve in the Garden. With the knowledge of good and evil, if we could decipher this perfectly, life would look a lot different. No man can fully understand the concept of wisdom because no man is perfectly wise. The pursuit of wisdom is often vain because we never reach the point where we do not make mistakes, which would be the ultimate goal of being wise. However, there is something we often forget, we are broken and sinful people and cannot attain perfection through ourselves. We cannot become perfectly wise, it is impossible. It is my belief that becoming wise is something that we do over time and through many, many mistakes. If it wasn't for all the mistakes I have made in life, I would not be the man I am today, I would not have acquired wisdom through making the right choice, wisdom is learning from the mistakes you have made and not getting caught in the same mistake the next time it is brought before you as a temptation. Seeing the truth, not the lie, is wisdom. Understanding the consequences of the choice and choosing to seek that which is likely less exciting or pleasurable at the moment for something more valuable in the future, is wisdom. The crafty serpent will seek to lure us into situations we cannot escape, he will tempt us with all the pleasures of the world, he will catch us in his snare and seek to devour us, we will fall but we can be lifted up and brought out of the darkness through someone who is perfect. This does not mean we will not fall again, but we can be acquiring wisdom through our poor choices and learn to follow that which gives life, not death.

Dear lord, we seek and do not find wisdom on a daily basis. There are so many opportunities for me to learn, yet I do not. I seek things that never satisfy long-term, only my temporary satisfaction is fulfilled, teach me to learn the art of wisdom and understanding. Patience and foundational truth often evade my thoughts, place them at the forefront of my mind. Amen. 

All images © 2015 - 2021 Jordan Tackett

Job: Chapters 25-27

Bildad Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous

Keystone Resort | Keystone, Colorado

All power and all things are with God. He creates peace and pain, agony and joy. He is the author of all things. Do you dare to try and quantify God? The light He created touches all things and from his mouth, all things were made. How could you, man, possibly be right before God? You are born of woman, not God. You are born into sin and therefore cannot be pure. Even the moon is imperfect in the sight of the Lord, the stars shine impurely, how could you - a man - consider yourself more than the moon and stars? You are nothing but a worm!

Job Replies: God's Majesty Is Unsearchable

Well, how can I ever thank you for all of your wisdom? Amazing! You have helped the man with no power by giving him nothing! Remarkable how you have uttered so many words with no weight behind any of them. All are naked before the Almighty God, none can hide from His presence. He stretches the sky and covers the areas he wants to cover, he brings the moisture from the oceans to the clouds and tells the rain when to fall, he shades the moon with clouds and covers its light. He tells the darkness how far it can go and commands the light to overtake the dark in His time. The foundations of Heaven tremble and fear the sound of His rebukes. He makes the seas still, He shatters all countries that he chooses, merely by His voice He commanded the winds to make Heaven as it is, He commanded Satan to be gone and it was so. We know almost nothing of Him, but look at what He has done and see more of Him. We cannot comprehend His power; we should fear it greatly.

Job Continues: I Will Maintain My Integrity

With God as my witness, He who has made my soul bitter towards Him, for as long as I continue to breathe and there is life within my body, and the Holy Spirit remains within me, I will not utter false words and I shall not deceive Him. My integrity is all I have left, I have been left in the darkness with no forecast of light in my future, I will not let go of it. Whoever rises up against me, just like you, my friends who offer terrible advice, should be counted as the unrighteous. Those who are cut off from God, like me, what is their hope? Will God hear me as I cry out in the night? Will I take delight in Him? Will I call upon God regardless of circumstance? Let me instruct you on the ways of God's hands: All of you have seen these things for yourselves, why do you all live in vain now? The wicked man receives this portion: If they have many children and children of their children, yet they are not given enough food to feed those within their family, they fall upon the sword and are lost. Though they may be blessed with riches untold and pile up luxuries unlike any others, the righteous will wear it and the innocent will divvy up their money. The wicked man builds his house on a foundation of vanity, his life is fleeting and meaningless without a foundation of the eternal. Terror overwhelms his thoughts and the east wind blows and he is swept away, out of place, and cannot find the meaning behind his life. He will flee from this power and chases him away from any joy.

Dear Lord, there are many challenges I face on a daily basis that attempt to steer me away from my integrity. It is a challenge to live a life of integrity day in and day out. There are many echoes within my mind and heart that yearn to be rebellious whether it is towards others or you. I know your majesty if never-ending and I cannot comprehend who you are fully, continue to show me glimpses of your glory during my daily life so that I might continue to choose you over the world. Amen. 

All images © 2015 - 2021 Jordan Tackett

Job: Chapters 22-24

Eliphaz Speaks: Job's Wickedness Is Great

Arapahoe Basin - Colorado

Are you arrogant enough to believe you profit God? Clearly, you have profited yourself and God has found no pleasure in your 'right' actions. Therefore you must not be acting rightly, He profits not from your blameless ways, not that I believe for a second that you are blameless. Do you think he punishes you due to your fear of Him? He judges you because you have honored Him? Your evil is rampant within your heart, even though it isn't obvious to man, but God sees the iniquities of your ways. You allow your brothers to suffer, you strip those who have nothing and leave them with less than before, you've withheld food from the hungry and stuffed your coffers with a surplus, those who are thirsty are offered nothing but the door. Widows come before you and you refuse aid, the fatherless child cries and you turn away, this is why you are surrounded by tragedy - because of your actions! Will you stay on this trodden path that many wicked men have walked and continue to consider yourself upright? Look to the heavens! Does not God reign above all and see all? Or, are you cynical enough to believe that there is a veil between yourself and God? Perhaps you believe your true self is not visible to the Almighty? God blessed your house with riches and wealth beyond your worth, now you shake your fist at God because he has stripped away from your ill-gotten gains? You are lying to yourself! Agree with God's judgment of you and be at peace, listen for instructions from His mouth and store those words in your heart for the rest of your days. If you return to the Almighty and rebuke the life you have lived He will bless you abundantly. Merely remove injustice from your house and seek redemption, then he will bless you with gold and precious silver. You must pay your vows and then God will shine His light on you. He saves the lowly and delivers even those like you, who are not innocent, you cannot be saved by the cleanliness of your own hands.

Job Replies: Where Is God?

God has appointed me with this suffering and I do not understand His ways. I have held my ground and suffer on His foundational truth. However, I am bitter, my heart weighs heavy and I have been groaning for His presence. I yearn to be with Him and lay my case before the Almighty that He might bring me out of this darkness. I have many arguments I can bring before Him as to why I don't deserve that which has befallen me. If this opportunity were presented He would answer my contentions and I would understand His response. However, I press forward and He is not there, I look around in every direction and I cannot see Him. But, He knows the direction of my feet and He will bless me in the end. I have withstood these trials and treasured His commandments as morsels. His plan is the only plan, how can I rebuke it? Regardless of my opinion, He is God, God does what pleases Him. All that said: I am terrified at the thought of Him currently, He has weakened my heart and I am silenced in the weighing darkness.

Why doesn't the Almighty judge those who openly rebuke Him? Evil moves through people like snakes in the ground on earth, they make they're living off the pain and suffering of others and seek only to gratify themselves. Those who know Him still contend with the suffering of the world, why is this reality? There are many who are suffering within the world and it seems they are never restored from their agony. There are others who rebel against God and seek to watch the world burn. The adulterer waits for the cover of night and veils their face, they seek to strip pleasure from those who are weak and frail. They move in the shadows and live a life that is built on lies. They take advantage of those who are unable to see the lies in their eyes. Yet, God prolongs their days by His power and He watches their ways. They are raised up for a time and then disappear, eventually, they are brought low and gathered up like everyone else. If this isn't true, show me the truth?

Dear Lord, sometimes it is hard to find you through the veiled darkness that I have before me. I see you only through a cloud of my own sin and it keeps me from understanding you more and more. I fear you and I love you, I seek you and I run from you, I cherish you and I despise you, I am always changing my perspective on you so that it fits my own agenda. Change in me the way that I see you and your love. Amen. 

All images © 2015 - 2021 Jordan Tackett

Job: Chapters 20-21

Zophar Speaks: The Wicked Will Suffer

The Moon

The thoughts within my head answer the questions I have about you. I must hurry this process along and end this debate. Do you not remember that since Adam was placed on earth that the wicked prosper for but a short time? They only experience a temporary fulfillment of joy that is not everlasting? Yes, as a mortal man he may reach new heights and experience happiness abounding - to a point - but he will perish forever like his cattle's excrement in the field. So temporary will his existence be that those who saw his attained glory will forget him like mist on the mountain. He does not lay a foundation, he merely builds up a house that shall soon be forgotten in his children and their children after them. Evil always comes to a stopping point and all who fell under his silver tongue will be forgotten. The stomach of evil prosper does not settle, it is uneasy and regurgitates all that he has swallowed during his tenure. He will not see the rivers of flowing honey or taste the everlasting life that can be found outside of himself. He yearns for a life of fulfillment but it never satisfies. After he has eaten and tasted the fruit, there is nothing left. All is vanity, in the end, he will ask questions about why life was seemingly wonderful from the outside but painfully empty within. God will reveal all his iniquity on the day of death and the earth that blessed him with riches will turn against him. All his possessions will flee from him like flowing water over the rocks and cease to be his. This is what the wicked man will receive from God - vanity of vanities on a foundation of vanity.

Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper

Listen to me, again. Find comfort in the words I am about to say, then continue to mock me after I have spoken. When did I say my complaint was against man? I am impatient with God - not man. Look at me! You see nothing but offenses and shudder at the condition of my flesh. You say the wicked suffer, but why do they grow old and fatten themselves on the fruits of God's creation? They grow mighty in power and prestige among the worldly. Their children are blessed before their eyes as well as their children. Their lineage does not even think about fear nor do they condone any idea of suffering, it isn't even in their language. Their cattle are fattened and produce great yields, their children dance in joy, they sing joyful songs and enjoy happiness while rejoicing in their splendor. They curse God and tell him to stay away from them. Why do we need God? Who is He? They say. This is their lot in life. Yet, how often is their luxurious livelihood taken from them? When does God snuff out their blasphemy of Him? You tell me that God stores up these iniquities and will bring wrath about their house someday. They do not care if their house falls after they have reaped what they sow, as you said, they seek everything they can in the moment. What is it to them if their children or grandchildren suffer pain due to their personal transgressions? They are not seeking to teach God, they are seeking to soak up as much satisfaction as they can for as long as they can. One man dies in prosperity and is placed in the ground the same way as the man who never experienced prosperity, both are bitter and to what end? There is merely foundational truth that satisfies any man, regardless of their lot in life. How are you possibly going to comfort me with empty nothings? You speak nothing but false utterances and hearken your ear to anything sweet that you hear from "spirits".

Dear Lord, it is hard to watch the wicked prosper. The idea that they are furthering themselves from you by never truly experiencing a "need" is not a comfort to my heart when I think about their actions (actions I to experience). Show me how to exercise humility and see that they have earned their blessings, even if they haven't earned it rightly, show me how to show them grace. Show them how to experience your grace even within their prosperity. We must stop drawing enemy lines and learn to hear before we speak, offer grace before critique. Lord help me to love anyway. Amen. 

All images © 2015 - 2021 Jordan Tackett

Job: Chapters 18-19

Bildad Speaks: God punishes the wicked

Arapahoe Basin | Colorado

Why don't you stop searching out for the words you know are true and say what you truly feel. Consider your words before you spew out such blasphemy. Why do you consider us meaningless and without wisdom? Who are you to look down on us? Look at yourself, you have torn yourself apart in anger, yet you plea with God that you are righteous. Fool, God does not bend His will to your feelings. Clearly, God is judging you for your sins, He has put out the false light that you have hung above your head, God does not allow the wicked to portray themselves as righteous. This man attempts to walk strongly but God minimizes his strides, he has schemes that God foils. He destroys himself through his own pride and allows himself to be trapped by the world around him. His paths are wicked and they are riddled with traps that will be set upon his flesh. He is brought before the Holy One and is consumed by his own sin, he falsely believes in his own righteousness and throws himself before God as an unholy being who will be consumed in the lake of fire. He is removed from all light and the presence of God and is condemned to eternal damnation. These are the ramifications of false righteousness before our God, clearly, you do not know Him as I know Him.

Job Replies: My Redeemer Lives

Why must you continue to tear me down and break me apart with your fruitless babble? Ten times you have done this, do you not feel ashamed for your actions? What level of pride do you have within you? Even if what you say is true, that I have erred against God almighty, then it is between myself and God. He is the judge and jury, there is no other. Why do you zoom in on my sins and continue to break me down in disgrace as you argue against me? Know this, God has put this on me and placed barriers around me so that I can not commune with Him. It is His doing. Listen! I have cried out: Violence! But I hear no response, I call for help but there is no justice from the Judge. He has placed me in a basilica and placed a moat around it with no bridge, thus I cannot escape. He has blotted out the light within me so there is only darkness within my prison. He has taken me from His presence and ripped the crown from my head. God has ripped me from the roots and taken everything away from me, I have no identity anymore. He has put those who are close to me further than an arm's length, those who knew me for who I truly am are estranged from me. My family has failed me, my best friends condemn me and are long gone, no one knows who I am anymore nor do they care. Even my own wife does not recognize my own breath when I speak, she speaks evil against me and screams for me to curse God and die a fool. Have mercy on me, friends! God has touched me with His hand and given me what has befallen. Why are you mimicking God and pursuing me? Are you not satisfied with my flesh being broken? Do you seek my soul to be burned in the fires of hell as well? Someone allow me to write these words for all to see and speak of these days! They need to be in a book and remembered forever! I know that my Redeemer is alive and that He will return to the earth. He will come long after my body has been destroyed and returned to the dirt, yet I will see God and my eyes will behold his Glory one day. Oh, that day should come now! My heart yearns to be reunited with my creator and Lord. Judgment is coming, wrath brings the sword, the root of all things is found in God - you all must prepare your hearts for the coming of the King and pursue Him.

Dear Lord, I am stuck within a vicious cycle of falling away from you and then pleading to find your presence. I have in my life many things I pursue that are not You. I know the truth and I understand it within my heart, mind, and soul. But, my knowledge does not lead me towards you. Purify within me a clear mind and a pure heart that can feed my soul the eternal things and steer away from the worldly. Amen. 

All images © 2015 - 2021 Jordan Tackett

Job: Chapters 16-17

Job Replies: Miserable Comforters Are You | Where Then Is My Hope?

Shenandoah National Park | Virginia

I have already heard what you are saying and have received it, where is the comfort in your words? It isn't there, nor do you mean to be comforting. Will you ever stop speaking out against me? What is working within you that provokes a response of despair? If roles were reversed, and I looked into your eyes and saw the pain and misery I currently endure, I could join with the others and break you down whilst pridefully shaking my head at your failures. I could build you up with my words and strengthen your brokenness. I wish you would encourage me, as I hope I would do for you in your time of need. If I talk about where I am currently, I am discouraged and my pain does not become lessened. If I stay silent about my predicament, I find no solace nor comfort in it. What am I supposed to do? I am wired, I am worn, my shoulders are being weighed down and I can no longer bear this burden. God has turned all my company against me and no longer do any of you support me in a helpful way. He has broken my body down to its very core and I have been whittled away as a carpenter cuts at a block of wood. Yet, I have not been perfected into something beautiful, I am not a piece of art, I am hideous to behold and not worthy of anything but to be cast aside like trash. I was living a life of ease, then God came and seized me and has thrashed me again and again. He destroyed all that I was and has condemned me to a life of suffering. I have wept for such a long time that it is normal, my face is red with pain and tears, I no longer resemble the man I once was. Darkness prevails where light once did, even though I have no violence in me. I pray to God that He would be my witness and testify for me and not against me. I plead my case and wish that others would do the same for me. My final days are approaching and I shall go away to the place where none return from and my life will be complete.

Not only is my body broken, but my spirit is also as well. My path leads only to the grave, my days are complete and I merely await the coming of my death. Clearly, there are many who mock me and my gaze is turned toward them as they break me down with their words and judgment. How long must I continue to be immersed in their rude behavior? I beg you, Lord. Show your support for me in a public way, write it in big bold print and send it signed: God. Who else will defend me if not you? You have closed the door to their hearts without allowing them to understand my calamity and have led them astray in their beliefs. Their children will remember this betrayal and be lesser for the actions of their fathers, do you want that? Everyone who looks on me now trusts me not, they see me as a sinner who is without saving and shall be condemned to hell. I am nothing but the physical body that you gave me, Lord. I am covered in shame from head to toe, I am no longer considered a man that has a spirit of the Lord within me, I am nothing but a hell-bound sinner who has betrayed the God Almighty. Those with reputation spit on me, they turn their back on me, those who consider themselves upright are appalled at what is happening to me because in their meek minds they believe that I have brought this upon myself. Who is truly righteous among us all? Really! Someone, who is man, shows me his righteousness before God and proves that you are pure. Call on God to send an angel who can prove someone's righteousness, I dare you. We will not find a wise man among all of you. The desires of my heart are no longer attainable, all my plans have been cast into the depths of the sea and cannot be returned to me, I no longer can decipher between what is darkness and what is light. If I cast out all hope and attempt to pray for a royal burial, what other hope do I have but to be six feet under and live the remainder of my days amongst the worms, where is the hope in this? If I allow death to become my ultimate hope, where is the hope? I see no hope in any of these options. I see no glory in death for my case.

Job 17:11 - "My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart." | I resonate with this sentiment very closely at the current time in my life. I feel as though I have come to a place where I can no longer make plans and pursue the desires of my heart for a lack of knowing whether or not I have a future. Yes, everyone says you should plan for the future regardless of your circumstances. However, I don't believe that those people were in the current predicament I find myself in today. It is easy to say things like that when life is good and you have no thorns in the flesh if you will. I do everything I can to put cancer on the back-burner and pursue things like a relationship or continue with rock climbing as I did before, or hike mountains, enjoy friendships, etc. But, there is a stigma to all these things, there is an inescapable underlying knowledge and aroma in the air that is contaminated and cannot be overcome, I have stage IVb metastatic melanoma and the odds of me seeing many more years is highly unlikely. How do you continue to live normally within that environment? I do everything I can to do it, but it isn't realistic. I recall 27 years and 6 months of time where the idea of cancer, or dying, never even had a millisecond within my thoughts. Now, I cannot escape these thoughts even when I sleep. I lay my head down and it is before me, I wake in the morning and it is as if I never slept, the fog covers me without seizing. I know the foundational truths that God promises me, I know how much He loves me, I know that my afflictions are eclipsed by His glory, but I do not know how to release the grip that my hands, mind, and heart have on my disease. 

Dear Lord, I pray that you would give me the strength to overcome this disease. I hope that you will continue to grant my doctors and consultants the knowledge to be able to attack my cancer in a way that will work and be able to destroy those cells. Be by my side during this time and be my shield against other sins in my life that try to creep back into my heart. Guard my heart against worldly things and set in me a perspective beyond this world. Amen. 

All images © 2015 - 2021 Jordan Tackett

Job: Chapter 15

Eliphaz Accuses: Job Does Not Fear God

Tenney Crags | Colorado Springs, CO 

If you are so wise, why do you answer with silly lies that spew from your mouth? Clearly, you are speaking hot air to all of us. Why do you babble on when we are speaking on the very serious matter of where your soul is heading? Keep your trivial religion to yourself and utter not anymore empty gossip before us as we try to speak of spiritual things that will endure forever. You know why you speak like this, your sin taught you. You have sinned far beyond anything you would want to admit and it has blinded you from the truth. You have chosen to allow your tongue to do your evil bidding. Look at you! Your tongue has betrayed your religion and it convicts you of blasphemy. I am not condemning you, you condemn yourself with every word! Are you Adam? Did God mold you from the dirt and knit your fig leaves? Surely you must be him who came first since you are all-knowing. I suppose you sit with God in His counsel and He seeks your advice on things of the universe? I surmise that you and God have limited our wisdom, in one of your many discussions, and you are far beyond us? What is it that you perceive to know that we do not? Who are you to us? We have lived longer than you and have become wise throughout our long years. Do you not believe that God is comforting you? Does not the word of God invade your every moment? Your heart and eyes are turned from the Lord and shout in blasphemy against Him. Mankind, ha. What a joke, we are nothing before God. He created us not to be pure, but to be unrighteous. God does not even trust His angels, let alone His fallen creation. Not even the Heavens are pure in His perfect sight! Yet, you call yourself Holy, someone who has surely sinned against God in such a grievous way that He is punishing you for it. Come clean! Listen to my stories that have been passed down from wise man to wise man: Those who are wicked will live in pain for all their lives. They will hear evil in their ears and even in days of prosperity the angel of death will come upon him and destroy all that he has prospered. The man will be left begging for food among those who are considered untouchable. Darkness is at hand and he will know it. He will not know peace or comfort, fear and anguish will mark his days and he will see that all prevail against him in the shadows. No one will be trusted and he will speak out against all those who know him. All of this will be due to him because he spoke out against God and chose to live his life in evil and not in purity. He defied the almighty God with his sin and transgresses against Him openly. This man will not reap wealth nor riches, he will lose all his possessions and be counted among the lowly. He will not be able to escape from darkness, even though he may see a light far off in the distance. His own mouth will condemn him for all his life, never escaping the concept that he was right in his heart. Please let him not believe in the emptiness of his argument against God, it will end in him being empty. He will never fully grow into the person he is called to be and he will be barren. There is nothing good that can come from this man and he will only give birth to evil.

I believe we can learn a lot from this passage and reflect on where we do not fear God. I know that when I sin against God I do not count it as a transgression that is truly evil. I shake it off and count it as something that is covered by grace. Well, this is true, but it is done out of deceit and evil. I do not truly trust God that He has the best plan for my life and thus I rebel. Then, after rebelling, I rarely (if ever) truly understand what it is I have done. I have sinned against God, the creator of all things, Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end, the God who calls me son, and I repay Him with rebellion? Wow. I am stupid. How dare I come before God and ask Him to forgive me of my sins when in my heart I don't fully regret them? Well, I am not pure in heart and mind, therefore I will continue to rebel and I will sin throughout the rest of my days on earth. So, to quote Paul: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" [Romans 6:1] YES! Let's do it! … Just kidding. No, no we should not. When we grasp this concept of wanting to sinless but still show that grace is overflowing and covers our lives, we must remember that we should be wanting to grow in righteousness because it will bring us closer to God. The ultimate goal in life should be cultivating our relationship with God, sin is a barrier between us and God, therefore we should kill the sin within us every time it is noticed. Now, we will never be sinless, it is impossible. But, we can grow more and more in our relationship with God and expose all the selfish and evil things within us and seek victory over them through God's strength and ability. He is the God of all things, He can eradicate sin without even expending a single iota. The more we cry out to God and expose our sins to those close to us the better we can grow in becoming what God calls us to be, free from sin and praising His name throughout our days. Regardless of circumstance, we can always seek to glorify God, how will you do this during your week?

Dear lord, I pray that you will open the flood gates of my sin and put them on my heart. Show me where I am twisting your will into mine and expose the darkest parts of my inner self. Allow me to be free from sin which weighs me down on a daily basis. Release me from the darkness that is upon me and allow the light to encompass all parts of my life. Amen. 

All images © 2015 - 2021 Jordan Tackett