Wishing you, dear gardener, a happy Thanksgiving and a beautiful day filled in the simplest ways with God’s blessing!

While God creates in rich, wide, deep, and complexly intricate ways, layered over time and space and intellect, His ways are profoundly simple. How refreshed I was this fall in learning the “5 Solas” inspired by Martin Luther’s work, capturing the simple essence of God’s provision.

Savor them here at-a-glance, paired with garden glimpses…
then get along to the complex work of consuming leftovers!

5 Solas

Sola scriptura

by God’s Word alone.

Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day…They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.
Deuteronomy 32:46-47 NIV

Sola gratia

by grace alone.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
Ephesians 2:8 NIV

Sola fide

by faith alone.

“Look at the proud one, His soul is not right within him, But the righteous will live by his faith [in the true God].
Habakkuk 2:4 AMP

Solus Christus

by Christ alone.

It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:10-12 NIV

Soli Deo Gloria

for God’s glory alone.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:14 NIV

H A P P Y    T H A N K S G I V I N G
So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace! We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!
Galatians 1:3-5 The Message

Many thanks to the dear friends who let me capture flowers from their gardens and lives in these photos, and to EvanTell Ministries, who inspired me with the “5 Solas.” For more to read, click this EvanTell message.

Photo Credits: ©2017 Shelley S. Cramm

“Horseshoe Flower” from the garden of Jiggs & Jo Ann Gardner, Essex, NY, visit www.joanngardnerbooks.com … and I am so grateful to have visited them this year!