Category Archives: Truth

Jan14

Day 14 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…God’s Light

Posted on January 14, 2026 by lsgrlr

Part of my devotions took me to the book of Kings, 2 Kings to be more precise. Currently, I am in chapter 15. What I have been noticing about the kings who “did right in the sight of the Lord” is that they did right, but did not lead the people of God to do the same. In verse 34 of chapter 15, we meet Jotham, the son of Uzziah. He was twenty-five when he began his reign. Picking it up in verse 34, “And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all his father Uzziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.”

Smushed in between “he did what was right” and “he built the upper gates of the house of the Lord” is this statement, “Nevertheless, the high places were not removed.” Why is this statement one that requires acknowledgement? Because the people were not sacrificing to the God of their fathers, the God who brought them into their promised land, the God who gave them David, the God who has their good at heart in all situations. No, they were sacrificing to idols, false gods made by hand. A god of their own making, a god they could control.

We do the same today; we have places in our hearts, minds, or lives that are off limits to God. That place we try to hide from His view. That place where we’re like, “No worries, God, I got this.” However, we don’t have this; a god of our making is not God. If you’re wondering why you are not where you want to be with the Lord, why He isn’t opening the flood gates of blessings upon your life. Maybe take a step back and check whether your “high places” have been removed. We can’t move forward with God if we’re holding on to the world, to sin, to gods we have crafted in our image.

Surrender is the name of the game, friends. Give God that part of your life that you have locked away, let Him do His perfect work in your life, and I guarantee, God will make your dark places beautiful.

“Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'” (John 8:12).

So, what am I thankful for today? Light that takes away my high places.

Jan8

Day 8 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Lessons.

Posted on January 8, 2026 by lsgrlr

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Day 8 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Lessons.

Today, part of my devotions took me to Deuteronomy chapter 8. The entire chapter is a call to the children of Israel to remember the Lord their God. Not because they’re prone to forgetfulness (although history proves they are), nor because God was going on a trip to a faraway land and wouldn’t be around (our Father is forever beside us). No, it was a memorial, an understanding of why those forty years in the desert were necessary and what the consequences of forgetting and repeating the same mistakes would be.

Moses charges them to remember that their clothing never wore out, their feet did not swell, and when they were hungry, God provided them manna, which literally fell from heaven. All so they would understand that He could meet every single need they had. As I read this chapter, I thought to myself, forty years is a long time to learn one simple lesson. The truth is, in our humanness, we often want to rush the lessons, learn things quickly, so we can get to our promised land faster. But God doesn’t skimp on time, because the lessons are necessary, the waiting, the hurting, the pain, and the discomfort are all necessary. Why? So we don’t believe the lie of pride. So that when we enter our promised land, we know it wasn’t due to our own strength but to God’s.

“Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth'”(Deuteronomy 8:17)

Don’t try to hurry the lessons, friends, let God have His perfect will in your life, “that He might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.” (Deuteronomy 8:16)

So, what am I thankful for today? All the lessons.

Jan6

Day 6 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Gifts and Talents.

Posted on January 6, 2026 by lsgrlr

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Day 6 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Gifts and Talents.

Had an interesting conversation with my dad recently. He said God gives gifts and talents, and that those are two very different things. Gifts are spiritual and for the advancement of the church and the strengthening of the body of Christ. Examples include pastors, teachers, and prophets. Talents are physical human abilities that God grants you, such as being good at science, math, writing, or photography.

I’m on a journey of using the talents God has given me with my photography (site coming soon) and this blog (Journey of Thankfulness). What I’m learning is that God will bless the gifts and talents He’s given us when we are willing to use them for His glory. My mother always told me that I have the spiritual gift of discernment, and I can genuinely say that that gift has saved me and others on more than one occasion. Photography allows me to see the beauty in everything God has made, while writing allows me to express what He’s showing me and to share it with others. Here’s a truth: the enemy of our souls does not want us to use our gifts or our talents. He wants us to feel useless, as if we don’t have a purpose or a reason to exist. Here’s another truth: we are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

So, friend, if you’ve put your gifts under the bed or your talents on the shelf, pick them up and dust them off. God’s not done with them or you yet. He has a purpose for giving them to you. So don’t be afraid to use them.

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

So what am I thankful for today? God-given gifts and talents.

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.

Dec10

Day 344 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Flood and Fires

Posted on December 10, 2025 by lsgrlr

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Day 344 of Random (hopefully inspired) Thought. Today I Am Thankful For…Flood and Fires

Today God said lock in, and follow His way, His will, His desires, and make Him the number one in my life. I thought about what that meant and wondered if it was something I could really and truly do. The answer: on my own, no. But in the strength that I have access to through the blood of Christ, absolutely! Does that mean I will suddenly be perfect, or that all my problems will dissolve into the wind? No, no, it doesn’t. Does it mean I will always make the right choices, right decisions, and always be in line with God? No to that as well. What exactly does it mean then? Well, I am glad you asked. It means, Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.“

God doesn’t promise to remove the water and floods of our lives. He doesn’t say He will quench the fires that threaten to burn everything we hold dear. What He does say is, “I WILL BE WITH YOU.” He promises that the rivers won’t overflow us and the fire won’t scorch us, because He will be there wading through the rivers with us. He will stand with us in the midst of the flames. In this fallen world, life will never be perfect, but that does not mean disaster. It means we get to walk with God and let Him

turn our ashes to beauty like only He can. So, LOCK IN friends, hold on to Christ and let Him be your fourth man in the fire.

Today, I am thankful that Christ is with me in my floods and fires.

Mar13

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on March 13, 2015 by lsgrlr

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

2 Kings 23. “Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant” (Verse 3). Finally a king that does everything right. A king who not only loves and serves God, but leads his people to follow God as well. Josiah did not just get of some of the idols, he literally rid Israel of all of it. He lead the people back to real worship. This chapter is a reminder to us who call ourselves Christians of what the “call” is. We are not meant to just be nice, just be good, we are meant to lead people to God. We are meant to tear down idols and show people the truth of Christ. Today I am convicted by this king’s action… I pray you are as well.

Mar11

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on March 11, 2015 by lsgrlr

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

2 Kings 22. “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read— because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched. But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Concerning the words which you have heard— because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place. So they brought back word to the king” (Verses 16-20). So I am going to implore anyone that reads this post, to turn around and read this entire chapter. The king of Judah is perched to rebuild and repair the house of God. He sends his servant to the priest to gather the money to pay the workers. The priest gives the man the money, but he also gives him the book of the law, after reading God’s word the king tears his clothes in repentance, for sins that he did not commit. But as the leader of the people he implored God on their behalf. Above is God’s answers to the king’s query. Here’s the take away, sin has a penalty and it is inescapable… But so does obedience and repentance. It’s just a matter of which price we choose to pay. So choose wisely.

Mar10

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on March 10, 2015 by lsgrlr

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

2 Kings 21. “And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, ‘Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies'” (Verses 10-14). God punishes sin always, what we don’t release is that punishment can come in the most natural of ways. Boss tightens the reigns, financial situations come about. The goal of the trials is not for us to whine, but for us to cry out for forgiveness, and seek the Lord. Don’t run from the trial accept that they are there to bring change, and to draw us to God.

Mar6

Random (hopefully inspired) Thoughts

Posted on March 6, 2015 by lsgrlr

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

2 Kings 19. “Thus you shall say to your master, Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land” (Verses 5-7). God will always take care of His name, and take care of His people. The king of Assyria was threatening the people of God, telling them that God was not on their side, that God was not strong enough to save them. But God proved the man wrong, when He defended His people, and won. It is easy to feel like we are somehow greater than God, but everyday He proves us wrong, in the most simple of ways.

Feb28

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on February 28, 2015 by lsgrlr

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

2 Kings 17. “So they feared the Lord, and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away” (Verses 32-33). If I could name these verses something, I would call them the ‘human condition’. Why? Because it is a picture of us, we love God and believe in Him, but give our service and devotion to others. Read the verse, “they feared the LORD, yet served other gods.” We do that everyday, and all the time. We love God, but can’t let go of a boyfriend, a job, or the money. It’s hard sometimes to let go of the tangible for the truth of a God that dwells inside our hearts. But every time we let go of Him for something else, we fall and falter and realize our choice was wrong. It’s a horrible cycle, but it has a solution: Serve God and Him only. Yup, it really is that simple.