New Zealand is a beautiful country, rich with all sorts of nature and wildlife. Rocky shores dip into mirrored blue lakes, and evergreen forests form a windy ramp up to glistening glaciers. During our honeymoon in New Zealand, we’ve seen a nature that is ever changing, full of variety, colourful as a chameleon, and absolutely awe-inspiring. It reminds us of God. As we continue growing in our love for each other, we remember the tangible presence of God surrounding us. This was a three-person honeymoon: husband and wife, in the embrace of Christ.
A Testimony from Jerry (my husband):
I woke up to the warmth of the ray of sun peeking past the curtain. I shifted the curtain slightly, and the ocean sparkled playfully in the morning light. I yawned and stretched, carefully sneaking past my sleeping wife, and grabbed my Bible on my way to the gym.
I prayed that God would reveal himself and give us a passage for the honeymoon as I started jogging. With my feet pounding the treadmill, I reflected over the previous day. I felt supremely satisfied and asked myself – what exactly satisfied me so well? Having now finished my jog, I opened up my Bible and began to read.
[Psalm 103: 1-5]
1 Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your disease,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and
compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good
things
so that your youth is renewed like
the eagle’s
My desires were not satisfied by my experiences, but by meeting God through my experiences. During this honeymoon, I received even more revelation of God’s character through His word, combined with my experience of New Zealand’s beauty, His creation, and my journeying in marriage with my wife.
Psalm 104: Just wanted to share this Psalm along with some pictures from New Zealand as a devotional. We’ve put in a few of our own comments (in brackets), but we hope you will meditate upon this word yourself and see the glory of Christ in creation, as we have.
1Bless the Lord, O my soul!
(All my heart, my mind and my being,
Never cease to sing His praise)O Lord my God, You are very great:
You are clothed with honour and majesty,
2 Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
(You who are life,
Who gives life and being to all things,
Who gives all creation its purpose,
Whose life is the light of man
And the One who makes righteousness
Shine like the dawn,
Justice like the noonday sun
~ John 1:2-4, Revelation 4:11, Psalm37:6 ~ )
Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.
3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind,
(Walks on the waves of the sea,
Before whom the sun and moon
Stand still in their habitation
~ Matthew 14:25, Habukkuk 3:11 ~)
4 Who makes His angels spirits,
His ministers a flame of fire.
5 You who laid the foundations of the earth,
So that it should not be moved forever,
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters stood above the mountains.
7 At Your rebuke they fled;
At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
(Your voice, majestic and powerful,
Which is over many waters,
And breaks the cedars of Lebanon
~ Psalm 29:3-5~)
8 They went up over the mountains;
They went down into the valleys,
To the place which You founded for them.
9 You have set a boundary that they may not pass over,
That they may not return to cover the earth.
10 He sends the springs into the valleys;
They flow among the hills.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 By them the birds of the heavens have their home;
They sing among the branches.
13 He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the service of man,
That he may bring forth food from the earth,
15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man,
Oil to make his face shine,
And bread which strengthens man’s heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are full of sap,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the birds make their nests;
The stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high hills are for the wild goats;
The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.
(The Lord feeds the birds of the air,
Clothes in splendour the lilies,
and grass of the field,
Clothes man with His righteousness,
And satisfies him with His living water,
And the riches of His grace
~ Matthew 6:26-30, Isaiah 55:1, Ephesians 1:7~)
19 He appointed the moon for seasons;
The sun knows its going down.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
In which all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar after their prey,
And seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they gather together
And lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work
And to his labour until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your possessions—
25 This great and wide sea,
In which are innumerable teeming things,
Living things both small and great.
26 There the ships sail about;
There is that Leviathan
Which You have made to play there.
27 These all wait for You,
That You may give them their food in due season.
28 What You give them they gather in;
You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
29 You hide Your face, they are troubled;
You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord rejoice in His works.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the hills, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord.
35 May sinners be consumed from the earth,
And the wicked be no more.Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!
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