Tag: #christianblog

GOD’S LOVE

Welcome to hopetoinspireyou.com’s 400th reflection! My heart is filled with gratitude to God for providing weekly inspiration for the last eight years. Thank you for being a part of this ministry through faithfully reading and your encouragement. Book #3, God’s Compassion Illuminated should be available before year end. 

 

God is love! God and signs of His love are all around us. Our lives should also be reflections of His love that we share with one another.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  –1 John 4:16  (NIV)

And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. –1 John 4:21  (NIV)

God, who existed from the beginning of time, is love. His love is lavished upon us daily because we have the privilege of being children of God. We have the responsibility to spread that love to all we encounter.

 

How many times do we miss God’s love that is right in front of us?

It was a question a friend pondered and shared while I was visiting. I was glad I finally followed through with going for a walk with this friend. We joked ahead of time that we probably wouldn’t get too far because of possible frequent stops to check out “hearts” I might find along the way. It was a beautiful fall day, so after our walk, we sat on her deck, which consisted of a huge array of plants, herbs, vegetables, and more. I was most impressed with the many unique crops that they were growing, many from seeds. As I looked at the vegetation life before me, I pointed out two heart shapes that stood out to me. This was one of the biggest! Continue reading “GOD’S LOVE”

DECISIONS

Something you may not know about me is that I have difficulty making decisions. Do you have that problem too?

Since I think I’m not the only one, I’ll ask the question,

“Why do we struggle with making decisions?”

  • Do we want life to go smoothly?
  • Do we take personal responsibility for the way things turn out?
  • Do we think we have control over the outcomes?
  • Do we try to make the most of our time as we rush around?
  • Do we try to be people pleasers with our decisions?
  • Do we fear making a wrong decision? Continue reading “DECISIONS”

FOCUS

“You can focus on what’s missing from your life, or you can focus on the blessings that already exist in this moment.”            —Panache Desai

 

I recently came across this quote that I thought held wisdom to share. It brought me encouragement and went along with a conversation I had with a friend this week.

 

Continue reading “FOCUS”

LIVING WELL

With recently celebrating another trip around the sun in September, as well as celebrating hopetoinspireyou.com’s eight years of weekly reflections, this quote seemed appropriate to share this week.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Have you wrestled with the meaning of life?
Why did God create you?
What is the purpose of your life?
Is there more to life than just the humdrum of daily routines? Continue reading “LIVING WELL”

AMAZING THINGS

Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.  –1 Chronicles 16:24  (NLT)

It seems appropriate to share that Scripture today as my website, hopetoinspireyou.com, celebrates its eighth year of publishing weekly reflections! September 5, 2014, was the date the first reflection, “An Unexpected Phone Call,” was shared as a test to see if God would provide weekly inspiration for this endeavor. My heart is filled with joy to say, “God sure has!” Eight years later, you are reading reflection #396! Continue reading “AMAZING THINGS”

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

A deacon friend shared a story of something he witnessed that led him to think about our relationship with God. I found it a relevant message for us all to reflect on.

He was preparing his thoughts to minister at the nursing home that houses dementia and Alzheimer’s patients when suddenly God ministered to him. He looked out in the courtyard and saw a couple in their 80’s holding hands. The husband comes every day to visit his wife. He felt he was “witnessing true love.” “What a beautiful example of unconditional love. As soon as he leaves, she won’t even know that he was here.” He continued, “At this moment, I am truly witnessing God’s love and compassion, as two hands are locked together, so peaceful. It’s like time has stopped.” The scene replayed several times in his mind throughout the day.

Continue reading “UNCONDITIONAL LOVE”

BUTTERFLIES

While at Lake Ontario, spending lots of time outside writing and communing with the Lord and His beautiful creation, there were two monarch butterflies that kept me company flying around. I take lots of pictures of nature because it’s so beautiful and I want to remember it forever. I was proud that when I finally decided to take a picture of the butterflies, I successfully got a few. A few days later, another opportunity came along for taking pictures, which inspired this reflection. Continue reading “BUTTERFLIES”

WATER REMINDERS

Ever since I was a young girl, I remember experiencing a closeness to God while spending time at the seashore. I am still in awe of being near bodies of water, whether it be the ocean, a lake, or a river. It never grows old; rather, it is life-giving and refreshing for my spirit.

 

Eight year old me on the left enjoying the beach at North Wildwood, NJ

 

The still young me being refreshed in spirit at Lake Ontario

 

It has been a nice exercise to reflect on why I enjoy it while searching Scripture. What makes God’s creation of water areas so special to me?

 

The water reminds me of God. Continue reading “WATER REMINDERS”

DROPLETS

This reflection is inspired by a text message I received from a dear friend. She was sharing thoughts about my reflections and books, but I see her analogy as something applicable to us all.

How many times do we think the little things we do aren’t important?
How often do we feel we don’t make a difference in life?

 

Consider some little acts of love and kindness like…

…holding a door open for a stranger.
…saying a friendly hello to the person in the hallway.
…taking a few minutes to call a widow.
…making cookies for the new family in the neighborhood.
…thanking the leader of your small group.
…sharing how someone’s life impacts yours.

 

Can you see the heart (love) in the puddle of water to the right vs the dry on the left?

 

How do these little acts of love and kindness affect your life? Let’s consider that each of those little things you do for others is represented by a droplet of water. As you keep doing more little things for more people, your droplets begin to form a puddle. Sharing more of God’s goodness, love, kindness, forgiveness, and compassion makes the puddle turn into a stream. Day by day, as you continue touching more lives, the stream will become like a river. Soon God will turn your droplets into a flood, which is a flood of His love that you want to keep sharing with all those you meet. It becomes a way of life.

How do these acts of love and kindness affect the recipient’s life? I believe it affects them in the same way as it does your life. One by one, in those acts of kindness, the droplets of water from different people in their life will form a puddle. As they receive more kindness, their puddle will grow into a stream, and then into a river, as they will be flooded with God’s love.

One by one, people’s hearts will be changed, both the giver and the receiver. We will see the magnitude, depth, and power of God’s love. He works through us all, making His presence and love known and felt by so many.

 

When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.” –Exodus 16:14-15 (NIV)

The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. –Exodus 16:35 (NIV)

When the Israelites were wandering in the desert for forty years, God provided little for them in the way of manna. Daily, God would provide just what they needed. God made the little turn into enough to sustain the Israelites for forty years.

 

Photo courtesy of april Xin under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

“When the sunshine of loving kindness
meets the raindrops of suffering,
the rainbow of compassion arises.”  
–Clive Holmes

 

The same day I was penning this reflection, a deacon, who ministers at a nursing home sent me a text that relates to the little things we do. “One of the aides just came up to me and said, ‘I was sitting around the corner, taking a break, and texting. But I started to listen to what you were saying, and I texted to my friend, I hope you have a nice day.’  I listened to your words about simple kindness. Thank you.”

We never know how God will use our words or actions to grow those droplets into bigger blessings for His glory!

 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ” –Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

Keep in mind that any act of love and kindness we do for someone is also done unto the Lord. Do you see Christ’s face in all your brothers and sisters?

 

 

 Be encouraged this week to remember…
…that little is big unto the Lord.
…that God turns our little droplets into rivers.
…to be faithful in the little.

 

…that God produces the harvest in our lives.
…that God is working through you.
…to sow seeds of God’s love.

 

Lord, you’re so kind and tenderhearted and so patient with people who fail you! Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness. –Psalm 103:8 (TPT)

 

Note: I might not post a reflection for a week or so to allow more time to work on Book #3! Feel free to come here and read any archives. Thanks!

THE CEDAR TREE TREASURE

I received another special treasure from a friend that I consider a masterpiece from nature. Once again, I was in awe and wonder at God’s creations where I see His presence and love shining forth. It made me think about how all of creation gives glory and praise to God, the Creator.

This is from a cedar tree that was on my friend’s property. He knew I would appreciate having this to add to my heart collection, which God uses to remind me of the importance of love in our lives. Notice the outside is heart-shaped as well as there being a red heart-shape on the one side. I find it quite unique to see the wood grain color present in the rectangle area on the bottom right of the red heart. This is what the tree heart looked like when I received it. Continue reading “THE CEDAR TREE TREASURE”