DAY 352 (2014)

So true!

So it’s been a while since I have written a “DAY” post. There are many reasons for this: Life, worry, fear, laziness. Right about know you’re thinking those are perfect reason to write a post that reminds me that God loves me and has a plan and a purpose for me. It is in the moments that life is the hardest that we realize our need for God’s grace and love. Today as I spent time in devotion God showed me that not only are those times a time of realizing Him, but it is also a classroom. It is the place we learn about about ourselves, our limits, and our desperation. Today I ran into an issue that I was not expecting… I dislike those moments, because I make a  plan and I walk towards it, and then… BAM, out of nowhere something happens that I was neither planning for nor prepared for. Those moments, stink… can’t lie. Normally the plan of attack is to by-pass God (cause we’re am smart like that) and go straight to desperation. It is almost as if we think, “what bad decision can I make to fix this“. Today I have to be honest, the first option was desperation, but God in his ultimate wisdom slammed the door shut. This caused me to take a step back, pray, and ask Him to show me “the option that wouldn’t make the situation worse”. Then He did. What makes me sad is that it wasn’t my first option. My first thought wasn’t God what do you want me to do? Today I am disappointed to announce that my first thought was NOT take it to God. However, He loves me enough to get me to where I need to be. He led me to a solution that would fix the issue, but not make it worse. In fact it made it better in some ways, because it taught me a lot about someone I love (to that person.. THANK YOU). Life throws us curve balls, sometimes it feels like they’re all that’s being thrown. However, don’t despise the curve balls, take it to God. He’ll teach us how to catch them.

“But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears” (Psalm 18:6).

The lesson: God first (yup it’s that simple) 🙂

 

 

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

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

2 Samuel 12. “Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun'” (Verses 7-12). There is no such thing as a secret sin. God sees it all. We can hide and pretend like all is well to those in front of us, but not to God. He knows the deepest, darkest, and dirtiest of sins and secrets that we hold. The amazing part in all of that is, that despite knowing, He still wants to love us, He still wants to make us whole. This chapter got me, I know I have things that need to go, areas in my life that I hide from others. Which is silly since God sees it anyway. But I love the fact that even after this horrible sin that David committed, God still called David a “man after His own heart”. He punished David’s actions, but saw David’s heart. He does the same for us. Our sins will be punished, but our hearts will be seen by the One who knows our hearts the best.  That’s GRACE. 

SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO LOL…

Hahaha

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

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

1 Samuel 30. “Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (Verses 1-6). David is sent back from battle, only to find that his home had been invaded and the people captured. His wives have been taken, the people are distraught and want to kill David, even though what happened is not his fault. To say that life has dealt David a bad hand is putting it lightly: There is a king trying to kill him, he is shacked up with his enemies (whom he is secretly fighting against), and now his people (who he did not ask to follow him) want to stone him. What does David do? “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God”. Floored! I am floored. Right now life is a little tighter and harder than I have had it previously, but no one is trying to kill me. I am not shacked up with the enemy. Yet I have a hard time, “strengthening myself in the Lord my God”. My issues are not nearly as life changing as David’s yet his strength is in God, while I whine and complain. So today the lesson: let’s take a leaf out of David’s book of conduct. When life gets hard (and when it is incredibly good) find our strength in God. 

SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO LOL…

Lol…I can relate. But not gonna lie, I kinda like brisk, skin hurting air.

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

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

1 Samuel 28. “Now Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?’ And Saul answered, ‘I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.’ Then Samuel said: ‘So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? And the Lord has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines'” (Verses 15-19). Sometimes it is just best not to know. I am sure this is what Saul was feeling after he heard the words of Samuel. It is amazing to me that Saul knew his sin, knew he was in the wrong, but still persisted on believing that if he could just get rid of David, everything would go back to normal. His way of thinking is so illogical and so backwards, but it reminds me of humanity, we do this all the time, choose the way that “seems right to a man” the way that in the end “leads to destruction”. All Saul had to do was repent, and accept the consequences for his actions. He would have lost hos kingdom, but he would have saved his life, his soul, and his sons. But his need to to win didn’t just cost him, but it cost everyone around him. Here is a truth, sin is destructive. It doesn’t stop at destroying the sinner, no it’s aim to to annihilate everything. Beware of your heart, repent, and accept God’s punishment. Don’t let your sin destroy everything.   

SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO LOL…

I may not be right, but I am agreeable… lol.

DAY 314 (2014)

We make our plans, but God directs our path. Let Him be your journey’s guide.
(Picture by Lisa R.)

So I am about to tell you a God story. as you read the events you are going to think to yourself, “Clearly this girl does not have a good handle on the meaning of God story”. But follow me, I promise I have a point. Yesterday my mom and I went out for a bit. In the middle of our travels a light came on in my car. The light was a warning that my tire pressure was low. I did not have any idea how to put air in my tires (my boyfriend normally takes care of my car issues). I called Sears and they told me they could do it for free. So, today my mom and I went to Sears to have the tire pressure fixed. Since we were out and the weather in Western New York was unseasonably warm we decided to get a couple frosties from Wendy’s. I had a couple free coupons and decided today was as good a day as any to use them. We drove to Wendy’s, I pull out the coupons and begin reading (checking the fine print), at the same time I pull the key out of the ignition and lay it on my console. I then get out of my car,  hit the lock button, them shut my door. The moment the door went CLICK, something in my brain also went CLICK… I quickly started yelling at my mom, “Don’t shut your door! Don’t shut yo…” CLICK! Awww man! Yup, being the genius that I am I had locked the keys in the car. *sigh* . Then I remembered that my boyfriend had given my mom the spare key to the car (even from Florida he knew). However, home was 3 miles away. Yesterday the temperature here in Buffalo was 44 degrees, today the weather was 67 degrees. It was a beautiful day for a walk. So my mom and I made the 3 mile walk home, as we walked we realized what a blessing it was that today was such a gorgeous day. We thanked God for the exercise. We thanked God for the fresh air and the great conversation. Almost forgetting what had started us on this trek in the first place. We reached home retrieved the keys, and made the same trek back to the car (I am always surprised that the return trip always seems shorter). It dawned on us that neither of us were angry about the key in the car. We both thanked God for giving my boyfriend the foresight to give my mom the key to being with. We thanked God for free air in the tires. Once back in the Wendy’s parking lot I opened the door and retrieved my keys. Then we went inside to claim our prize… ice cream never tasted so good 😉 . What’s the point? Today should have been cold, but it was beautiful. Today I enjoyed free ice cream and free tire service. Not to mention I got my 10, 000 steps in. I enjoyed a beautiful day outside with my mother (who loves to walk by the way). The point: God takes care of us even if on this journey we lock our keys in the car of life.

“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Genesis 28:15).

The Lesson: If life locks you outside. Go for a walk, enjoy the day.

SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO LOL…

I know. I know. Cheesy, but don’t lie it’s hilarious too.

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

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

1 Samuel 22. “And the king said, ‘You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!’ Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, ‘Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.’ But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord.  And the king said to Doeg, ‘You turn and kill the priests!’ So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod.  Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep—with the edge of the sword” (Verses 16-19). Saul has fallen so far. It’s interesting to me the backwardness of his actions. In order to gain God’s favor he has decided to do ALL the things God had told him NOT to do. His version of reverse psychology. Let’s bring Saul’s action into today’s society. How many times do we do the same with friends, with family, and with God. To get attention we do the opposite of what should be done. Why? Because we know it will illicit a response, even if the response is negative. But what we don’t realize is, so will doing what is right. However, it is usually easier to do what is wrong. All God wanted was for Saul to sincerely repent, and his relationship with God could have been restored (not his kingdom, but his relationship). The same is true for us, to be restored all we need to do is sincerely repent. Sincerely recognize our sin and humbly repent. But our pride wars against humility. Thus many times we choose the opposite choice. Make the hard choice, choose to repent. Initially it will be painful, but the fruit it bears will be like nothing we have experienced before.