Colors and symbols to encourage us and remind us of Christ

** *Play, theword is alive, on the playlist player to the right, click on the > key until the title shows then arrow down to it.

When you think of colors or symbols of christianity, you probably think of red, black, and white, a cross, the wordless book (red,white,black,green,blue and gold). But, actually all of creation can be considered a symbol of Christ and a reminder of him. When we look at the flowers, plants, trees, animals and humans we should just be in awe, that the creator of all this, and the solar system KNOWS us, our name, how many hairs are on our head, our natural hair color (for me that is big, as my color keeps changing), he knows the imperfections in our skin that no one else sees, he know how many freekles we have, he even knows our true weight (thank goodness He keeps a secret!!). In our homeschool we have studied creation, and we are working on plants. We are learning about the plants that are mentioned in the bible so we can really appreciate the meaning of the scripture and we can see "proof" of the significance and relevance of the bible today. That is the biggest excuse I hear for people not to be "convinced" of God, is there is not enough compailing evidence and proof. Well, I do not know what you need as proof. The fact that man cannot even engineer grass yet, we tried and failed at cloning (copying the life he made and reproducing it), the fact that we cannot even name and identify all the living creatures.

The colors that stand out to me and what I use as their significance and the places they are seen. Truly let the scriptures that remind us over and over, "Lo, I am with you". God being omniscient and knowing us, knew we needed "signs and sightings of things of him" so he gave us those in colors and in nature. He even gave us knowledge and creativity to make rememberances out of the words.

Blue-"Hope"-We see it in the sky; in our bodies (look at your hands, arms, legs, and neck; see the veins. What color are they? When are you without your body? He tells us, Never alone, I will always be with you. I am at hand. You can even feel, the veins press your finger against your arm or neck, feel that swiggly feeling, that is Christ!!! (the blood that was shed to preserve your life).

Red-"Love, Restoration, Christ"-we see it in the flowers like poppies, roses, impatience, vinca's. At sunset, it is like Christ saying good night, see you in the morning. When you get angry or embarrassed, it is a reminder that He still loves you. Christ's blood that was shed on the cross for those who sinned and will sin. (us). Can be seen in a rose petal, many are shaped like a droplet.

Green-"rest, growth,life" I love spring when everything that was brown and crispy, "springs to life", the first signs we see. I think of the thick green grass of pastures like in Psalms 23, the green herbs that we love so much, the green plants that we put in the ground and soon will bring us food that we do not have to get from Wal-mart which puts green $$$$ in our wallets!!!, I think of growth, when we spend time in prayer and in studying the word, we make time for nature and resting in God.

Purple "Grace, Royalty, prosperity" deepness, like Christ's love, If you have ever seen fresh blood drawn and placed in the refrigerator, it is a very deep violet color, sometime it looks purple and I think about Christ's blood layered over me, that gives me Grace (favor) with the Father who sees the perfect, living blood of his perfect son. I love packages with purple ribbons, it reminds us that package is surely given freely because we have favor with the person that is giving it. Grapes-purple, full of sweet juice, Jesus taught many lessons with grapes. Many churches use grape juice in communion to signify his blood, which makes me think of my wedding in which we had communion to start our marriage off with Christ and with the love and grace and each time after that when we take communion it is very special to us that we took it on our first day as husband and wife. I think of lavender flowers, they have such a wonderful refreshing, and calming aroma and having grace and forgiveness is much like taking a deep breathe and inhaling this wonderful aroma.

Circles and Gold- Purity, preciousness, completeness, unending- I love the fact that our wedding rings are "old fashion" gold circular bands. Complete circles to remind us that on our wedding day Christ made the convenant with us, for us that our marriage was closed and secured. We were one and there was no end of one of us and beginning to the other, we complete each other. If one falls short the other meets them to complete the circle, that is what keeps a marriage together and strong. Purity rings are gold and circular too, purity is such an important thing for people we need a reminder to keep ourselves pure until we commit to the other "Christ ordained relationship, marriage". I think of the sun as precious and complete, we need the sun for heat, and light and energy, plants need the sun, it completes our hope from yesterday that it would rise again, and just as in scripture it sets and another day, another gift from God, that he is keeping us here one more day.

Roses-"Love, tenderness, encouragement" they come in a rainbow of colors and each one is symbolic of many things. I like to look at the structure of a rose, soft, rounded flowerhead, even the petals are significant, individuals that come together to form and amazing shape. Strong wide stem, of glorious green, to symbolize life and growth, nutrients flow from the root to the flowerhead allowing for enjoyment and rememberance. Even the thorns on a rose are significant, they are pointed and cause for reluctance of grabbing the stem, they can be removed with a skilled and careful hand, much like God does with sin and strongholds in our life, he prunes the thorns of so that we can be more approachable and be enjoyed more. The thorns are also a reminder of the Fall, they were part of the curse God gave Adam for the disobedience in the garden. The sin caused them to be separated from God and the perfect place He created for them, just like the thorn separates the admirer from the beautiful feel and smell of the rose. Also the thorn is a reminder of the crucifition of Christ, when they used a crown of thorns to mock Christ, the thorns pricked and cut his head and brow, just and they do when we press them into our fingers when we grasp the stem of the rose. Sometimes life hurts alittle, but it is worth the experience of the wonderful experience of being close to the Creator and Healer. Prayer can have some of the thorns removed so that it does not hurt as bad, but He can heal the pain. He he will make the memory of the moment of healing as pleasant as the aroma of the rose.