Category Archives: Promises

Dec18

Day 352 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…(NOT) Failure

Posted on December 18, 2025 by lsgrlr

This year has been a year. We have been dealing with the pain of loss and the repercussions of bad decisions made. Making the year feel like one failure after another. If you are anything like me, that feeling of disappointing God and your loved ones is the most horrible in the world, and wallowing in that devastation becomes a playground for the accuser of our faith to remind us of our failures, faults, and flaws. But God has been teaching me that our struggles and shortcomings do not equal failure. Not to God. Where we see the bad we’ve done, our limitations, and mishaps, God sees opportunity.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NIV)

Let me say it again (for those in the back): struggling and falling flat on our faces does NOT mean we are failing. It means we are being refined and molded into the image of Him whose thoughts toward us are good. Struggles suck (yeah, I did use that word), they are painful and uncomfortable, and they make us feel like horrible humans. But, praise be to God, who tells us our struggles are momentary and working in us to achieve eternal glory. Don’t despise the struggle, friends, it’s a sign that God loves us.

Today I am thankful for (NOT) failure.

Dec11

Day 345 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Mess and Filth

Posted on December 11, 2025 by lsgrlr

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Day 345 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Mess and Filth

Feeling like you need to clean yourself up, be less ungodly, or make better choices for God to hear your prayers, love you, or accept you? Well, check this out. King David killed a man and took his wife. Abraham lied and said his wife was his sister and sent her off to another man. Moses killed a man, then ran away. Peter denied Christ, not once, twice, but three times. Paul persecuted and put to death followers of Christ without remorse or guilt. Yet, God calls David a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), praises Abraham for his faith in Him (Hebrews 11:17-19), and allows Moses to glimpse His glory (Exodus 33:18-23). He makes Peter the rock upon which His church is built (Matthew 16:18), and Paul the doorway by which Gentiles find Him (Acts 9:15). Killers, liars, and deniers, these are the people God uses. Seems crazy, right? It’s not. You see, in God’s economy, our mess and filth don’t define us. Christ is not afraid of our dirt. In fact, it’s the reason He came.

Mark 2:17 (ESV) “And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.'”

Take heart, friends, you can be a mess, the messiest mess to ever mess. But you can NEVER mess up God’s plan for you.

Today, I am thankful for my mess and filth because God isn’t afraid of dirt.

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.

Jan18

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on January 18, 2015 by lsgrlr

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

1 Kings 15. “And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger” (Verses 29-30). Sometimes I think we only remember God’s promises when they come in the form of a blessing. We are quick to remember all the good things He says, but we brush over the bad as if they were never uttered. Then when we disobey and are punished according to what He said, we get mad and blame-y. Shaking our fists at God and asking the dreaded, “how could you” question. But God tells us the good and the bad, He gives us actions and their consequences. He is blameless we are the guilty party here. Us with our selective hearing, and selective reading. Choosing only to see and hear what makes us happy. Here it is in plain English. God told Jeroboam because he sinned his descendants would be wiped from the face of the earth (literally). What does verse 29 say… “According to the word of the Lord.” Jeroboam’s bloodline was demolished. God keeps all His promises, not just the good ones. We would be wise to keep that in mind.

Jan9

Random (hopefully inspired) Thouught

Posted on January 9, 2015 by lsgrlr

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

1 Kings 8. “And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” (Verse 10-11). This will be simple and true. When we prepare a place for God to dwell, He will come and live there. Solomon built God a temple and God took residence. Today He doesn’t need a physical house, but if we offer up our hearts, offer up our lives God will dwell in and with us. Now, that’s amazing GRACE.

Jan6

DAY 6 (2015)

Posted on January 6, 2015 by lsgrlr

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So true!

Today we got a raise at work thanks to the state of New York. New York raised the minimum wage and thus the company I work for gave all the employees a cost of living raise. I was so blessed because while I get paid well, it has been a tight lately it took me a while to find a job when I first moved here, so I blew through my savings paying bills. When I finally started to work, I started at a deficit so to speak. I prayed asking God for financial wisdom and He placed me in a company that rewards hard work, so getting promoted is not a struggle, but then today was an extra blessing that I just didn’t see come. Here’s what I realized: God hears and He understands and in His time he gives us just the right answer.

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

So what am I thankful for today? A God who hears and answers.

Jan5

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on January 5, 2015 by lsgrlr

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

1 Kings 4. “And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt.For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon” (Verses 29-34). Yesterday we looked at Solomon’s choice… He choose wisdom, when God gave him the choice of “anything”. But God took the blessing further, because Solomon’s heart was so for God, God then gave Solomon all the things he didn’t ask for. It is in verse 29 that I find the biggest blessing… God gave Solomon, largeness of heart. Solomon was not only wise, he was kind. I love that. When God says He is going to bless, He really blesses and He doesn’t do it half way. When Solomon chose God’s way, God gave him everything else. He does the same today. Choose wisely.

Oct12

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on October 12, 2014 by lsgrlr

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

1 Samuel 2. “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory, for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He has set the world upon them” ( Verses 6-8). This Chapter of Samuel is very interesting, it starts out with praise, but ends in a curse. Talk about the swinging of the pendulum from one extreme to the other. However, I am going to focus on the praise portion, you can read the Chapter on your own to find out, who the curse was against. Verses one through ten is a prayer of praise to God from the heart of Hannah. But verses 6-8 is a reminder that nothing is a loss to God. He breaks down and builds up, He makes the poor and the rich. He rises people high and keeps some low.. all for a PURPOSE. This means a lot to me because lately I have rolled out the, “why Lord”, question more than one time to God. Thank goodness that God is a loving Father, and not a short on patience older brother. He heard Hannah’s pleas for a child and reached down and gave her the desires of heart, and now ALL she can do is PRAISE. Life does not always makes sense and there will be days when we ask God “why”, over and over again. But fear not He has a purpose and one day He will turn our pain into PRAISE.

Oct10

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on October 10, 2014 by lsgrlr

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

1 Samuel 1. “Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli.And she said, ‘O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.’ So they worshiped the Lord there” (Verses 24-28). I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it must have been for Hannah to give up the one thing she had always wanted, a child. She was married, loved, but her inability to give birth left her feeling incomplete. She prays and asks God to open her womb and He does, she makes a promise to give the child to God. Here’s the amazing part, she really does it. She keeps her promise. She gives her one and only son to the Lord. I have made promises to the Lord, way less traumatizing than this, and still have had trouble following through with what I promised. I have even been known to make compromises to the promise in order for the impact to be less stunning to me. Hannah, GAVE her child to God. She did not add an amendment to the promise, she didn’t say, “Okay Lord, lets wait till he is an adult.” She kept her promise and God blessed her. However the blessing did not just stop there it spread, to all of Israel and to us as well. How? Samuel appointed David to be king of Israel. David is the forefather of Jesus. Through whom our sins are forgiven. Obedience, the gift that keeps on giving. Strive to be a Hannah.

Oct5

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on October 5, 2014 by lsgrlr

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

Ruth 1. “But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her” (Verses 16-18). I have always loved the book of Ruth. It is the ultimate Cinderella story with a God twist. It dawned on me that this story may never had happened had Ruth chosen the easy way. Naomi gave both her daughter-in-laws the right to go back home. The freedom to break their pledge with her and return to their families, to find new husbands, to have a chance at a new life. At first both insisted on staying, but Naomi insisted and thus Orpah left. But Ruth clung. I love this because many times that’s all God wants, for us to cling. For His children to hold on to Him and see what He has for them. If you have read the story of Ruth, then you know the blessing that awaits her because she clung, because she held on, because she choose to keep the commitment she had made. I am not saying that Orpah wasn’t blessed. I am not even saying that she made the wrong choice. But there is no story in the bible about her. Ruth clung and her story has been told from generation to generation. Want to leave a legacy, a story worth being told for generations to come… then CLING. See what God has for you.