#Reflecting Christ

[nuggetsfromgodsword]

The Crown of Life: A Promised Gift

DATE POSTEDThursday, December 26, 2024, and I was blessed to be at Mariposa at Hunter Road, San Marcos, TX when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. My Footnote will tell you how to find and read any and all episodes that I have shared over the years. TODAY’S SCRIPTUREQuoted from The Living Bible (TLB) and found in James 1:12-16 THE SCRIPTURE READS12 Happy is the man who doesn’t give in…

[karisumawrites]

Don't shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him. - C.S. Lewis

[karlestrovanarcisso]

Pray in silence and cry heavily if you must. For our tears are filled with unspoken words only God can understand.

[elodieunderglass]

Thanks for this ad, tumblr, much to think about

[love-others-despite-differences]

[thomastanker02]

Christianity is not about taking the moral high ground, and thanking God that we aren’t horrible sinners like the rest of the world.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Becoming a follower of Christ means becoming more aware of our failures, and of how we fall short of God’s holy standard. It’s a life of acknowledging that we can’t get to heaven on our own, and giving our lives to the only one who can make us righteous before God.

It’s when we do this that, while we don’t become lights of the world, we are able to point to the one who is.

His light fills us to the brim, to the point where we run over. This is how Jesus continues to shine his light in this dark world, through his children.

We are not the light, but are called to be witnesses of the light. We are called to carry out the deeds of our Father in the light, because he is the light. What is done in the light, cannot be done in darkness.

This means that we must live holy, as he is holy. We must let his light shine in this world, because it desperately needs to hear his message. This world of darkness must be lit up with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian life is a life of imitating Christ the Lord. His love that he has shown us both on the cross, and in how he lived his life, demands a life long response. It’s through our humbleness before him that we become the lanterns of the Holy Spirit to shine in this world of darkness and decay.

The Christian life is not a life of perfection or self righteousness, but a life of constant repentance and humility before the Lord. It’s acknowledging the futility of trying to be righteous in our own, and letting his righteousness flow through us.

We can’t let the light shine if we dim it with the mask of our self righteousness. God is trying to call those around us to himself, not to his to servants.

It’s through Christ we are saved, not ourselves or our works.

Let’s start acting like it.

God bless, Jesus loves you ✝️❤️

[s0fter-sin]

(cw non-sexual kink, cis male tiddy sucking)

nikolai takes one look at ghost - at the stiffness he holds himself with, arms held rigidly at his sides as he glares ahead, each breath carefully measured to make himself unnoticed - and knows it’s been too long since he’s checked on his boy

all it takes is a single look, catching his bruised and tired eyes, and ghost all but slumps. nikolai turns, heading towards the 141’s private rec room and he doesn’t need to hear the near-silent footsteps to know ghost’s following. he pulls him down onto the couch, bringing him into the circle of his arms even as he weakly tries to pull away

“don’t need it, nik; don’t have time…” ghost argues but it’s hollow at best

“hush, sweet one,” he soothes his halfhearted protests and thumbs his mask up above his lips. “always so nervous; so lost...”

he tugs his shirt up, showing off his belly and the heavy swell of his hairy pecs; nipples already pebbled. he cups the back of ghost’s head, his thumb brushing over his exposed jaw and ghost is helpless to follow as he gently leads him to latch onto his breast

“i have you,” he promises

no matter how big he is, in presence or in stature, nikolai is bigger; encompassing his whole body in warmth and safety, the familiar scent of cologne and motor oil filling his senses just as the heat of his tit fills his mouth

ghost’s eyes roll back and he nuzzles deeper into his chest, sinking into him and lets his mind empty as he suckles

-

soap didn’t mean to. he didn’t mean to walk in on something not meant for his eyes. he just wanted to check on ghost; he’s been so distant lately, different from his usual bad days and he doesn’t know how to help him but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to try

but he didn’t mean for this; for guilt and a heated, confused want to chase through him as he enters the rec room and realises nikolai got to ghost first

realises they’re not just necking on the couch; that ghost’s lips are pressed tight to nikolai’s furred breast and not moving away, a gentle hollow thinning his exposed cheeks as he sucks, his throat softly bobbing as he swallows

nikolai’s cupping the back of his head, fingers drifting through the blonde hair at the nape of his neck and he looks so fond; like there’s nowhere he’d rather be than on their broken in couch with ghost curled around his body, sucking what must be a deep ache into his tit.

then nikolai looks up at him, frozen in the doorway and soap-

soap runs

-

nikolai gives soap a few days before he tries to talk about it; gives him a chance to come to terms with what he's seen. it's almost adorable; how deep soap’s flush grows when he sees him, how he stumbles over his words and can’t quite make eye contact

but it also tugs at him that he feels the need to shrink, to brace himself from whatever punishment he thinks is headed his way; shoulders hunching in, arms wrapped almost defensively around his body before finding whatever excuse he can to run from him

run from himself

he wishes he could wait for soap to come to him but he knows lost boys and their fear of coming in from the cold

nikolai keeps himself gentle as he uses his bulk to corner soap; stopping him from running but also using it to show how easily he could hide in him if he just let himself give in. if he let him take care of him the same way he takes care of ghost

"but... but it's wrong," soap whispers, fingers tangling with a gold cross at the hollow of his throat (a cross so similar to one he’d melted down all those years ago), but he speaks with such clear longing; eyes wide where he stares up at him, all but begging to be told otherwise and it almost breaks nikolai's heart

"no, lovely boy," he denies softly and soap shudders as he cups his face and backs him up against the corner; hugged by both walls and nikolai himself. "there is nothing more natural."

he caresses soap's cheek. he feels him shake under his touch, his eyes already growing dewy, and chances drifting his fingers over his bottom lip. soap's breath hitches and he looks up at him with so much fear - so much trust - and hesitantly opens his mouth to let them sink inside

nikolai doesn't press them too deep, doesn't threaten his throat, but they are thick and wide; filling his mouth and comfortably weighing down his tongue

with a small, involuntary moan, soap closes his lips around his fingers and nikolai catches him with his body as he goes limp. he coos as he starts sucking; wrapping his other arm around his head and brings him into his body, hidden and safe and small

"my good, lovely boy," he whispers and soap lets out a cracked whimper. "you are not wrong."

he isn't ready yet, much the same way ghost wasn't ready at first. but feeling soap tremble and suckle at his fingers, nikolai knows he'll soon have another boy tucked safe to his breast

[retourpresdetoi]

hey mouthwashing analysts, do we maybe want to think a bit before comparing a full grown man, who is just heavily disabled, to a baby? like a literal infant? especially when there's a stronger metaphorical/psychological/symbolic avatar for the baby and pregnancy already present within the narrative? (multiple even!)

[bxriles]

I’m sure that this is not a hot take and that a lot of people feel the same way but like…

The question “does it have spice?!🌶️🔥” makes me want to jump off a cliff. I’m out here looking for gothic book recommendations on Reddit, tumblr, and goodreads and WHY is this the first question so many people ask 😭

Look, I love erotica as much as the next person but come on. There have got to be other things that matter when recommending books or choosing to pick one up, my GOD.

[lovelylouise25]

[karisumawrites]

Heavenly Father, each day I am at the receiving end of Your generosity. Grant me the grace to also be generous in kind and in spirit to the needy.

[karlestrovanarcisso]

How blessed we are when our soul finally learns to find contentment and satisfaction in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[jm-photos]

Serenity.

instagram

01.18.2025 Guanabara Bay Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[love-others-despite-differences]

Even though God already knows its important to talk about it with him, I never understood This before but think Of it like this you can see whats happining in your Friend or coworkers life From social media but its so much more exciting when they want to tell you about it

To have a relationship with god we must be intentional about knowing him Not only through The bible( even though its very important) but through prayer as well

[thomastanker02]

We often wonder why God is silent towards us.

Why is our Lord and Father silent when we consistently pray to him, and ask him to bring us closer to him? Why does he not answer our prayers, and we remain feeling distant from him?

But heres the thing. We end up being so caught up into trying to get an answer from God, that we forget that it’s in the silence that he often speaks the loudest.

God is anything but distant from us. In fact, he is closer than the very air we breathe, closer than our own skin. If someone where this close to you, they wouldn’t speak to you in a normal volume, they would whisper.

This is how God often speaks to us, through gentle whispers in our hearts and souls.

Remember the story of Elijah. The Lord had sent a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire down from heaven. But God was not in any of these. Instead, he communicated with Elijah through a gentle whisper.

It’s there where Elijah communed with the Lord, and where God strengthened him.

It’s in silence that we can finally make out the gentle whispers that God is sending to us in our times of need and despair.

But situations can obviously differ depending on the person. God’s silence towards us can mean many different things.

Silence could be a sign that you need to get right with God. There still could be sin creeping into your life that you may not know about.

Silence could mean that God is preparing you, and building up your faith. It can mean that your faith will still be rooted in him, even when you don’t have the answers to anything that you are looking for.

Silence can mean a call to humility. God doesn’t owe us anything. If he decides to not give us an answer, or answer a prayer, then we must be content with his will. The silence can be an act of spiritual discipline, meaning that you’ll be growing stronger in him day by day.

While there are many reasons as to why the Lord can be silent to us, one thing remains clear, it’ll always be what we need.

A good father doesn’t give his children everything they want, but everything they need. The Lord will always give us what we need to get us back on the right track with him, or to build up our faith.

Nothing that God does is meaningless.

So I urge you, cling to God in the silence, and let his word your light in what appears to be a dark place. You will soon hear from him again, and when you do, he will be saying, “Well done”.

God bless, Jesus loves you ✝️❤️

[essektheylyss]

It is the point in the quarter in which I calculate how badly it would ruin my GPA if I simply did not turn in my last assignments.