Tag Archives: life

Nov4

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

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

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

1 Samuel 20. “As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’ So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city” (Verses 40-42). I feel for David here, the bible said he wept more. His heart hurt more. Why? He was being betrayed by someone he loved and for no reason other than jealousy. The ironic thing is that Saul hated David, because he thrived, but David thrived only because he wanted to be pleasing to Saul. So Saul hated David’s sincerity toward him (that is the very definition of irony).  Life can be like that. You do your best to be pleasing and people can and will dislike you for it. Why? The world has been jaded and sincerity is not something people understand anymore, so when presented with it many times they will act adversely. Here’s the kicker: Be sincere anyway. Despite the amount of times David had a javelin thrown at him, despite his many near misses with death at the hands of Saul. David was always sincere, always respectful, always treated Saul as king. Our reaction should NEVER be dependent on the action of another, none of that, “I did it because he/she did that”. If you know what is right, DO IT. It doesn’t matter what the other person did. He who knows what is good and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17). Always choose to do what is right. 

Oct25

DAY 297 (2014)

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Fill in the blank...

Fill in the blank…

Today I saw the coolest sign it said, “I am thankful for _________…” It reminded me of the reason I started this blog. In 2012 life was less than stellar. I spent the majority of 2012 depressed, although you would not have known by looking at me. Years of being the “go to person” had taught me to hide my feelings like a pirate hides his treasure. But even if it didn’t show on the outside, I always knew what was going on, on the inside.  At the lowest point of my year, God spoke to me and told me I needed to develop an attitude of THANKFULNESS. As you can guess, thankful was not how I was not my prevailing feeling. But from that challenge this journey was born. In 2013 everyday for 365 days, I found one thing to be thankful for. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. In those 365 days, some days were easier than others to find a reason to be thankful. That year changed me from the inside out. It taught me to see past the situation I was facing and to see the “what” God was trying to teach me. If we see life the good, bad, and ugly from the perspective of God, then we are able to find a reason to give thanks. As we give thanks, we learn to appreciate what we have, even when it is not always what we want. I learned that thankfulness does not change my situation, but it will change how I view the situation. So today just a little encouragement to be thankful in the midst of whatever you are going through. Life does not always go according to plan, but sometimes plans changing can also be a reason to be a reason to give thanks,

“Thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, The Message).

So what am I thankful for today? I am thankful for God’s gentle reminder.

Oct23

DAY 295 (2014)

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Life is seasonal we change and we grow. We have to go through Winter to get to Spring. (Picture by Lisa R.)

Life is seasonal we change and we grow. We have to go through Winter to get to Spring.
(Picture by Lisa R.)

For all of those who read my DAY posts. I wanted to take this time to say I am sorry that I have not kept up with them. Someone very close to me recently said this, “you need to get back on that (meaning DAY posting) you don’t realize what a difference it makes and how encouraging it is.” The words touched me, but it they also made me realize something… That while, it is awesome that my posts encourages others, God uses them as a way to refresh and restore me as well. He uses them to remind me He has a plan, a purpose, a reason for the things that seem so unreasonable… so to all my readers 정말 죄송해요 (I sincerely apologize). Lately I have been feeling, meh. Nothing bad is happening, but things just feel, well, meh. Which explains the lack of writing. Because I have been so wrapped up in my “feelings”, I wasn’t really noticing the cause of my meh-ness (<–I think I may enter this word in the dictionary 😉 ), which is (and was) trusting, but not accepting. Yup it is as ironic as it sounds. God brought me here, told me He had a plan, confirmed in many ways that this was His direction for my so life, so I trust. But things aren’t falling into place the way I imagined, the road is right, but there are multiple paths and the right one doesn’t always have neon signs. So I am struggling to accept God’s choices. Today God used the change in seasons to re-teach me something I had forgotten. I am going to share it with you:

before The first picture is what all the trees in Western New York looked like at the beginning of Autumn. The leaves are brightly colored, the air is brisked. You feel as though you are living in a dream world. It makes your heart feel happy and light. after This is what that same tree currently looks like. See the life picture? Is it the same tree? Yes. However, the tree is going through a different season, a different period of its life cycle. It went from brightly colored leaves, to NO leaves at all. The tree is the same, but the season it inhabits is NOT. This does not only happen to trees, it also happens to us. However, our changes are more subtle, they are often times not as easily detectable as those of a tree in Fall, not even to the ones going through the change. Today God whispered this, “I am changing you. Bringing you to a new season in your life. Your leaves need to fall off in order for you to get where I want you to be.” Ahhhh… Life is seasonal, we have our Fall and then our Winter. But we have to go through Winter to get to Spring. And who doesn’t love SPRING?

“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Today I am thankful for seasons and change.

 

Oct20

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

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

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

1 Samuel 8. “And the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.’ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. And he said, ‘This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.  He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day'” (Verses 7, 10-18). Ever read the side affects of a prescription? Often times it makes you wonder if it isn’t better to just stay sick and let your body heal itself. These verses read to me like medicinal side affects. Israel cries out for a king, which seems silly since God was their ruler. Why would you forsake the maker of the earth, of you, for someone as limited as yourself? God surmises, that they had rejected Him. God relents, but then tells Samuel let the people know exactly what they are signing up for. He tells them this: basically the king will take the best of their things for himself, and not really give them anything on return. Uhmmm… that doesn’t sound like a fair exchange. Your are leaving, God, that gives you everything freely, for an earthly king that will take everything? Here’s the thing with medicinal products the side affects happens to less than one percent of the population that use the product, therefore the benefits outweigh the risks. However, when Samuel informed the people about the ways of the king, the behavior was not a one percent change, it was a FACT. The king WOULD do everything God prophesied. Here the risks outweighed the benefits by A LOT. Be careful what you ask for, anything over God is just not worth it. The side affect: “The Lord will NOT hear you.”

Oct16

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

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

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

1 Samuel 5. “Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.  And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again.  And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day” (Verses 1-5). I know I shouldn’t laugh, but there is just a great satisfaction in watching God, be GOD (of all). The Philistines mistook the victory against Israel as something they had accomplished on their own. It never once dawned on them that God may have been teaching His people a lesson. Okay, fine they are human I can understand why they misunderstood. But why, why would you put the God you know to have parted the waters, the God you know to have destroyed nations, next to your god who had done none of that? They next morning their god is on the ground, prostrate before the God of all. They take their little idol up and once again place him above God, who just moments before he was prostrate before… Philistines are not very bright. are they? The next morning not only is their god once again prostrate before the Lord of ALL, but he is broken, arms, head severed from torso. Get the point Philistines, no god above the ONE true, GOD. Here’s the thing, everyday society places all forms of “gods” above the One True GOD. We look at the state of the world and shake our fists at Him asking why He allows this, never once stopping to consider that maybe He is teaching us a lesson, maybe this is the consequences of our disobedience. No “god” above the God of ALL. PERIOD.