Category Archives: Encouragement

Feb24

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on February 24, 2015 by lsgrlr

I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

2 Kings 14. “For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel. And the Lord did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash” (Verses 26-27). I don’t know if you all see the subtlety of these verses. But if you read the entire chapter you will. God never said He would wipe Israel out, in fact His promises to them have always been the opposite. Although their actions and love of sin and disobedience would have given God the right to change His mind, He chose instead to keep His promise. This is comforting to me, I am not always obedient. I fail, I fall, and I make more mistakes than I care to admit, but despite all that God is ALWAYS faithful to do what He promises. Rest in the knowledge that our God is an immovable, unchanging ROCK.

Feb23

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on February 23, 2015 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

2 Kings 13. “Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet” (Verses 20-21). The power of God. Ever felt dead, lifeless? Like nothing you do means anything? Rub up against God, yeah it sounds odd, but that is the kind of power that emanates from Him. He can bring life to our dried bones, He can revive our lifeless state. The man in this chapter was dead, but his dead body touched the bones of the “man of God” and death left him, and he regained new life. So the statement stands, want to feel alive? Touch God.

Feb18

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on February 18, 2015 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

2 Kings 10. “However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan. And the Lord said to Jehu, ‘because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.’But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin” (Verses 29-31). There are days that I want to apologize to God that we are the instruments He has to use. This scripture is a great minder why. It is so easy for us to turn away, so easy for us to forget what God said, what God did. Jehu obeyed and followed God’s plan until he felt like doing his own thing. We do the same in a bind, when we are scared, when God is showing Himself powerful on our behalf, we listen we obey. But the moment He tells us to do something outside of our plans, we act as though we don’t understand. The beauty and awesomeness of God is that He, “remembers our frame, He knows we are but dust”, this is why we are not consumed. Today let’s not use God for our own gain, instead let’s obey His word and spread His love to a world in need of Him.

Feb17

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on February 17, 2015 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

2 Kings 9. “Then Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, ‘Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?’And he said to them, ‘You know the man and his babble.’ And they said, ‘A lie! Tell us now.’ So he said, ‘Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, Thus says the Lord: I have anointed you king over Israel.’ Then each man hastened to take his garment and put it under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, ‘Jehu is king!’ (Verses 11-13). This section of scripture makes me smile. Why? Well Elisha sends his servant to anoint Jehu king. Jehu’s servants think Elisha is crazy, thinks anyone associated with Elisha is crazy. They tell Jehu that what the man said was a lie, and then proceed to do exactly what Elisha’s servant said to do. Why is that? Who would listen and obey a crazy person they thought was lying to them? No one. Here’s a truth just like Jehu’s servant, we ALL know God is just, we ALL know God is truth. These beliefs, no matter how hard we try to push them aside are deep with in us. Our creator, created us to know the truth, even if we choose not to acknowledge them. We all know that God is truth, we all know that there is more than what the world offers. Instead of fighting God, we should embrace His will, He really does have the best for us, because He knows us best.

Feb6

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on February 6, 2015 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

2 Kings 7. “Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, ‘Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.’Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, ‘Now look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?'” (Verses 17-19). Note the underlining theme… “just as the man of God said”. If God said it, it will happen. We get so caught up in the right now, and the things happening in front off our eyes, that we forget God’s promises. He promises that His plans are good, He promises that He has a plan. He promises that He is for us, and not against us. He promises to walk with us through the fires, and the floods. Whatever God says, He will do. The problem is that we want it on our terms and on our time table. But God is always right on time. So take heart and remember it will happen, just like God said.

Jan25

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on January 25, 2015 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

1 Kings 21. “So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house'” (Verses 27-29). God forgives. Always. I want to interject my very human opinion here, Ahab did not deserve forgiveness, but God promised that if we come to Him with a contrite heart, He would forgive. Ahab humbled himself before the Lord, and God’s forgiveness means that the heart of the kings was genuine. However, God did not completely remove His judgment from Ahab’s house, he just removed it from Ahab. We are responsible for our own sins, and our own actions. God will not judge us based on another’s action, He judges us based on our hearts before Him. And even if it hurts His judgments are right.

(side note: there was a lot in this chapter… that I wanted to talk about. So please read Chapter 21. And Let me know in the comments, what you got from the chapter)

Jan23

DAY 23 (2015)

Posted on January 23, 2015 by lsgrlr

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The fences of our past aren’t meant to keep us out. No, sometimes they are saying…fight to get in.
(Picture by Lisa R)

I have been in training in my new job for close to three months now. The training is pretty intense, but really fun at the same time. One of the many things that we get as a result of the training is constructive criticism. Our trainers will monitor us and tell us what we did good, but they will also tell us what we did that was NOT so good. I am not bad with criticism, but that does not stop that stinging feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you hear you didn’t do something as perfectly as you thought you did. I have been pondering the feedback lately, and I had this thought; as much as I may dislike it, as much as it may make me feel uncomfortable, in the end it really is for my benefit. Then I compared the discipline of my trainers to the discipline that God sometimes gives, and I realize if my sinful, very human trainers discipline and give feedback for my good, how much more does God. God who created me, and loves me so much that He sent His son to die. I realize that when the trial and hard times come it is a form of God drawing the line and teaching me to move in a different direction. Don’t despise the discipline of God. Because if our human parents and leaders do it for our good, then God does it for out GREATNESS.

“My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His reproof, for whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3″11-12).

So what am I thankful for today? A loving God who disciplines me for GREATNESS.

Jan23

DAY 22 (2015)

Posted on January 23, 2015 by lsgrlr

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It is a gift from God.

So just so you know, I did not flake out yesterday on writing a post. In fact I had every intention of doing so, but for some unknown reason I could not stay awake when I got home. So I laid down to nap and didn’t wake up till morning. It was awesome!!! Therefore I am catching up on yesterday, today. Had I written this post yesterday it would have been different, but as I was reflecting on what happened last night. With me crashing like an elderly person, this scripture came to mind, “God gives His beloved sleep”. I needed it I have been so overwhelmed lately that my sleep had been fitful at best, but last night I slept, really slept. I woke up refreshed and ready for the day. It made me realize even our sleep is important to God, and when He knows we need it He gifts it to us.

“It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones” (Psalm 127:2).

So what am I thankful for today (technically yesterday)? A God that knows us so well, He knows when we need sleep.

Jan21

DAY 21 (2015)

Posted on January 21, 2015 by lsgrlr

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We can’t do it alone, we all need help on the journey.
(Picture taken at House Of Hope, S. Korea)

So I got the best compliment ever today from a friend. Our friendship has had ups and downs and for a while, we weren’t as close. But a little while ago we repaired the rift in our friendship and took steps toward regaining our closeness. Today we were texting back and forth and she said the coolest thing, I think anyone has ever said to me. She told me that God had used me to help put her back on the right path. Now to some reading this it may not be a big deal, but let me explain why it is. I don’t always feel like I am doing the right thing, or saying the right thing. Especially with this friend, because I felt like I let her down a lot in the friendship. The beauty is that God restored it, and even in the midst of my insecurities and not doing it right, she still was able to find a “good”. After that text I realized God really does redeem our mistakes, He gives us beauty for ashes, and restores what the locust has taken away.

“The LORD says, I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you” (Joel 2:25).

So what I thankful for today? Friendship.

Jan20

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on January 20, 2015 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

1 Kings 17. “And Elijah said to her, ‘Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah'” (Verses 13-16). Where God guides, He provides. A truth I have been struggling with lately. Sometimes God’s small whisper is just there to remind us that we need to trust, need to believe. We need to know and remember that He ALWAYS does what he promises. The woman did not run out of flour. God’s supply is never ending, in the time of our need, He shows up with all we would ever need, and then some.