Tag Archives: wisdom

DAY 268 (2014)

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So true!

So true!

Yesterday I went for an interview. It is for a really good company, I previously applied for the same position with the company. I even went as far as flying to NY from Florida to do the testing. However, a week after I was informed that I was no longer a candidate for the position. I was disappointed, but I let it go. Yesterday when I sat with the interviewer he pulled up my info and then got this rather quizzical look on his face. His expression said, “What the heck?!” So I asked, “Why do you have that expression on your face?” He laughed and said, “I have never been able to control my expressions. I have gotten in trouble a lot for that.” I told him I’d like to play a game of poker with him… 🙂 . He laughed and then said this, “I don’t understand why you didn’t make it through the last time. You passed the testing.” Huh… we continued the interview (I did not have to take the test again… Yay!). On the drive home I started to wonder as to why God had closed a door that could have had me moving to Western New York  with a job to come to? Then my mind ran across my friend Karla. Why is this so important? I wrote a post about her recently (not sure of the DAY). She is a friend that I had invited to church on multiply occasions, each time she told me no. However, she finally said yes in July. Had the comapny hired me I would have left Florida in March, never attempting to ask her again. Then my mind ran across Miss A. Miss A was a patient who previously had gone through chemo, was found to have resolution of the disease. However, several months later in April was diagnosed with a new very aggressive form of cancer that literally has a six week window of life expectancy (that is the standard prognosis for most people diagnosed with this form of cancer). During that time I bought her a devotional because I felt that God told me to do so. It is now September and Miss A is not only is alive, but walking and talking on her own (which is miraculous). Here’s what I realized God had a reason that was BIGGER than I could have imagined. His purpose was eternal. Today Karla has inherited a peace that she says she can’t explain. Miss A’s husband once told me that both he and his wife read the devotional everyday. It’s the first thing they do every morning. Yesterday the interviewer said something else that floored me. “When a door is closed it is ALWAYS for a reason”.  He’ll never know how true his words were. God had a much better plan.

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open” (Revelation 3:7).

Lesson: Let God shut and open the doors as He wills. The outcome will always be worth it.

Side story: Today I got a phone call for Final Interview… God’s got a plan 🙂

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)

Judges 12. “Then the men of Ephraim gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, ‘Why did you cross over to fight against the people of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you with fire!’ And Jephthah said to them, ‘My people and I were in a great struggle with the people of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands.  So when I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the people of Ammon; and the Lord delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?’ Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, ‘You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites'” (Verses 1-4). Ephraim did not help Jephthah go to war, but wanted a part in the glory of what God had done in Jephthah. It wan’t that Ephraim felt bad for not participating, as much as a “How dare you win without my help” attitude. Instead of repenting for their lack of  compassion they opted to war against God’s judge (bad idea). God will use whosoever is willing, Ephraim was NOT willing and Jephthah was. If you don’t want to miss out on what God is doing, then be a willing vessel. 

DAY 264 (2014)

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Only God can truly answer this question...

Only God can truly answer this question…

So today while perusing my FB page, I stumbled upon a test that asked this question: How Awesome Are You? Well, being the curious person that I am, I decided it was important to find out “scientifically” how awesome I really was… 😉 .  I clicked the link and took the test, the results. I am… 99% Awesome. I am sure right about now you’re all thinking, “Well, duh… you can’t argue with science…” 😉 Okay, probably not. After I took the test (and got my laughter under control) it dawned on me how silly we are as a people to try and quantify things. How can you figure out awesomeness? How can you quantify smart, stupid, happy, sad? You can’t. All these emotions, feelings, and actions are felt and exhibited by ALL human beings. We ALL fluctuate between moments of extreme awesomeness and moments of absolute stupidity. They can NOT be quantified or even properly defined.  Why? Because only God knows the “TRUE” heart of man.  Then I had this thought, “If we know it is illogical why do we do it?” (Yup, I thought a lot today… my head currently hurts). The only answer that seemed to fit was: To have control. We human being like control, don’t believe me. Have you ever fought over control of the TV remote, when you really didn’t have a show you wanted to watch? Have you ever gotten upset when someone told you to do something you already planned on doing? Control. We all want to have it. We like to know our strengths and our weakness. We want to call our own shots. The problem with control is that it can never be completely held or owned by any human, not even by the most powerful of mankind. There is only one person who can claim complete and totally control, and that is GOD. Here is the truth fighting for control only leaves us unfulfilled and needing more. Because no matter how much control we have it will never be enough. My advice live life and leave the controlling to God. He’s the only one with COMPLETE control. He will get us to our “real” awesomeness 🙂 .

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9-10).

Lesson: Stop fighting for control. it is a losing battle. God is creator, controller, and chief executive office (CCCEO). Uhmmm, let Him do His job.

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)

Judges 8. “Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.’ But Gideon said to them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you'” (Verses 22-23). I love these words. Why? Gideon didn’t believe the hype. He knew exactly who had rescued Israel, he knew who the TRUE leader was and thus he proclaimed, “not me, but GOD.” Have ever heard a really good pastor/teacher? One who just brings you into the presence of God, one that just makes you want to open your bible, and go over every word he just said? Here’s a newsflash, it is not the pastor, it is God’s spirit moving you to a place of communion with Him. However many times we mistakenly think it’s the vessel and not the one pouring into the vessel that deserves the praise. Sometimes to the determent of our pastor/teachers who are just as human and we are, and therefore prone to believe the hype. Remember Gideon’s victory? Well so did he. He was totally aware that he had nothing to do with the win, and that God had everything to do with it. Here’s the lesson: Our pastors are just the vessels, it is God who deserves the praise.

DAY 251 (2014)

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wpid-img_43486069322766.jpegI am currently looking for employment. This morning I woke up thinking about what will happen if God does not supply that need soon. In other words I woke up worried, and fearful. Worry and fear, a disease that I am trying to get under control. I struggle with my humanity a lot, because what I see is limited. My view of any situation sees only the here and now. Worry and fear seep in when I am focused on just the situation. This morning I woke up only seeing things from my perspective, from my limited view. Then I walked to my “quiet time spot”, sat down, opened my bible and spent time taking my fear and worry to the Lord. Sigh of relief… Let me back track a little, prior to moving here I spent some time with the Lord and He laid on my heart the need to walk in wisdom and confidence. Wisdom calls us to put what we know to be true into action. What do I know to be true? God is MORE than able to meet my every need. Confidence says that I can live without “fear’ and “worry” because I have confidence in what I know to be true (wisdom). See how He prepared my heart to combat what He knew this change would produce? This morning as I read His word He led me to Proverbs 16:3, Proverbs 3:5-6, and Psalm 9:10. Read them for yourself, it will help your perspective (if you don’t have a bible borrow one from a friend, if your friends don’t have bibles, get new friends).  After my time with God I was able to go through the rest of my day without fear or worry. Did my situation change? No. What did? My perspective. Spending time with God isn’t about changing God’s mind or trying to talk Him into doing things “our” way. No spending time with God’s grows our confidence IN Him, and our knowledge OF Him. Wisdom and confidence.

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The lesson: Live what you know to be true with confidence.

DAY 179 (2014)

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Beauty is NOT the physical. It is the HEART. (Picture by Rose Starr)

Beauty is NOT the physical. It is the HEART.
(Picture by Rose Starr)

I haven’t posted a “DAY” for a while. Not for lack of inspiration or learning, but mostly because I felt what I have been learning lately is something that God is doing in me (not that it won’t be shared later, but for now it is between God and I). However, today I was perusing my FB page and saw a letter that my friend Rose posted. The letter is written by Rose’s 13 year old daughter Hope, who recently came back from a missions trip to Haiti. I found Hope’s view of what true beauty is to be refreshing and very God centered. Her very simply and straight forward point of view, made me realize that God’s view of beauty is truly NOT the physical, but the heart. Here is Hope’s perspective (I hope it blesses you as much as it blessed me):

Haiti was not what I expected… Everyone told me how beautiful it was, and yes, parts of Haiti were visually pleasing, but the streets of Port-Au-Prince were not very pretty at all. Dirt, trash, and people did not just line, but filled the hot “pavement.” And oh, the smell! Everyone we saw seemed so poor and I wanted to help them. Haiti IS beautiful, but not visually – Haiti is beautiful in the people. The sweet spirits of the children, who just want to be loved, made Haiti beautiful. And the love the caretakers have for their children. The miraculous work God is doing in Haiti, and His unstoppable, never-ending love for every single person there was wonderful to see. It was amazing to hear unbelievable stories from missionaries living in Haiti. And I loved spending time with the children and doing VBS. Our team was spectacular, and each member has such a strong calling to help people and spread Jesus’ love, which is so inspiring. I love them all so much! Leaving Haiti, I feel sad, as if I’m leaving home, but I know that the experience is one I’ll remember all my life, and Haiti will always be in my heart and prayers. Haiti is a beautiful, yet broken country that needs help. So please pray that the country will be healed. Haiti wasn’t what I expected, it was better. Thank you to everyone on the team!
~Hope Starr

“‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ they asked Him. ‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read from the lips of children and infants You, Lord, have called forth Your praise'” (Matthew 21:16).

So what’s the plan? Child like faith.

DAY 166 (2014)

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Okay so today’s post will be a little different. Today was busy, but I manged to get a lot done. I dealt with some very nice people. And some NOT so nice people. During my interactions with the friendly people my thought was, “I am so happy I got to interact with this person today.” But with the NOT so nice people my thought was this:

happy

Some days are like that. Thank God for His infinite wisdom when creating us. He knew the kind trouble we’d get in if people could hear our thoughts at times. Hahaha.

“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are His” (Job 12:13).

So what’s the plan? Uhmmm… taking thoughts captive 😉

DAY 148 (2014)

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FriendshipEver just have a great conversation with a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while? Lately I have been feeling lonely, and it is not for lack of friendship. I have really great friends here and really great people who I get to hangout with. I am not craving friendship, what I am in desperate need of is fellowship. The unity that comes from spending quality time with someone of like mind, a kindred spirit so to speak. I have five very close friends who fit that description. People who have walked through fires with me, and I with them (Shannon, Amy, Erica, Linda, Stephanie, and Christmas, aka Chrimma) opps seems as though I can’t count… six, six very close friends from who I have learned a lot 😉 . Today I had the awesome joy of talking with one of these awesome ladies (the one I get into the most trouble with), Christmas. It was like having water poured into my thirsty soul. The bible talks about the importance of having fellowship one with another, true fellowship. Today after my conversation with my friend I felt refreshed, renewed. She reminded me of things I knew, but had forgotten. I told her about what God was teaching me, what He was doing. I told her about how I was scared, but willing because I know it is God that is doing the leading. Then she said this, “You said this to me once and it is something I have always remembered. Go where the peace is.” I had forgotten that saying. But it’s so true. There are times when the future you are walking into seems so unrealistic, but yet you have this unexplainable peace that this is the right direction. I call it God-peace, because only God can make the uncertain seem certain. Today I took a breath and released all my stress and all my fears to God. The choice I have made does scare me, but I also have peace, God-peace. And if God is for me, what have I to fear? Thanks Chrimma I needed that.

“Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country” (Proverbs 25:25).

So what’s my plan. Go where the peace is.

DAY 127 (2014)

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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)

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

Have you ever just “missed it by that much”? I feel like that’s how things have been working lately (and no for the record I am NOT whining). It is an observation that I am making about recent events in my life. Lately it feels like I always come really close, but still miss the mark. Normally I would be upset, but recently I have discovered that this is a tool that God has been using to break down certain walls and barriers that I had built up. Walls that need to be broken in order for me to get to the next leg of this journey. Remember yesterdays post? Let go of the past to take hold of the future. Missing the mark means that I have to seek help, and not only seek it, but not be afraid of it. Why would anyone be afraid of help, you ask? Because needing help somehow translate to failure. What I have been slowly learning (really, really, slowly…poor God I feel bad for Him) is that asking for help is not a sign of failure, on the contrary it is a sign of maturity. Because when we ask for help we put what’s necessary before our pride. Recently I needed help and didn’t ask for help, because I was too stubborn. The outcome? It got waaay worse before it ever got better. We are not called to be an Island, we are not meant to stand alone, we are meant to help an be helped.

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed” (Ecclesiastes 4:9).

So what’s the plan? Break down walls.