Tag: love

THE CREATOR’S GIFTS

 

God’s first gift to us was this world and all of creation that is in it.

For through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.  –Colossians 1:16-17  (NLT)

God created the heavens, the earth, and everything in them: the sun and the moon, the light, the waters, the dry land, the vegetation, the birds, and the livestock, to name a few. He filled the earth with everything good, each in their own way giving praise and glory to Him.  Continue reading “THE CREATOR’S GIFTS”

ENGULFED IN DEEP WATERS

How I relish being engulfed in God’s presence and love while vacationing at a lake-front cottage on Lake Ontario, where the beauty of God’s creation is endless. My spirit was filled with oneness and unity with God while spending a week there in the quietness. Well, actually, it wasn’t quite so quiet this time. Most of the days, Lake Ontario sounded like a mighty ocean as the wind made the waves the highest and most violent I’ve seen there. It never ceases to amaze me how God made this lake to sometimes be as still and calm as a sheet of glass and other times a sea of endless, tumultuous waves. It is beautiful to experience both and see how God is present in both. Isn’t that the perfect parallel with our lives? God is present with us each moment, in both the difficult storms of life and in the peaceful, calm times of our lives too! Continue reading “ENGULFED IN DEEP WATERS”

PAINFUL TIMES

A friend sent me a picture of something fascinating along with a short text that I felt was too amazing not to share with you. She said, “Please excuse the awkward picture of my foot, but I literally just dropped my cell phone on it and look what happened. God’s love during pain!”

 

A perfectly shaped heart blood blister!

 

I am once again in awe of God! How could such a perfectly shaped heart blood blister appear on my friend’s toe? The words “God’s love during pain” echoed in my mind. What a perfect reminder that “God’s love during pain” is with us. Continue reading “PAINFUL TIMES”

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”

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”

GOD’S PROMISES

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  –Romans 8:28  (NLT)

Does that verse sound familiar? It might, if you were paying close attention to last week’s reflection as it was a verse I shared. I recently watched a short video, which I find so powerful, that mentioned this verse. Truth be told, I keep listening to the video because it inspires and encourages me. I want to live this out daily in my life. Continue reading “GOD’S PROMISES”

TREE OF LOVE

Recently I received an unexpected, unique treasure from a friend. He was cutting wood at his camp and saw this masterpiece.

 

 

He thought of me because he knows God keeps putting hearts in my path daily. The hearts are reminders of God’s great love for me and to love others with His agape love.

This masterpiece was formed by the growing together of two lilac trees. Each tree “happened” to have part of the design that formed a perfect heart shape on the inside grain when the two trees became one.

~How did God make that happen? Continue reading “TREE OF LOVE”

SEPTEMBER REFLECTIONS

The month of September is special to me for multiple reasons. September is the month God planned for me to make my entrance into this world. In His infinite goodness, God created me and fashioned me in my mother’s womb. He wants all of us to know, love, and glorify Him by our lives on earth and to spend eternity with Him.

I have been blessed to know the Lord throughout my entire life and have felt the most growth in my relationship with Him during the last few years. As I have journeyed through the years, His presence in my life has taken on a deeper relationship. God’s great love is what I have experienced so powerfully recently with the way He reveals Himself to me.

 

 

I was reminded of these verses from the story of Esther: Continue reading “SEPTEMBER REFLECTIONS”

SACRIFICE

Does it seem like your faith, trust, and love of God are tested almost daily?  How well do you fare in obedience to the Lord?  God provides a great example for us in the man Abraham.  It is powerful to see how Abraham’s obedience foreshadows Jesus’ obedience to God in one particular story.

 

Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.  “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”  “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”  –Genesis 22:1-2  (NLT) 

Abraham and Sarah were barren and childless until they were in their 90’s, way past childbearing years, when God blessed them with the gift of Isaac.  After waiting so long for a child, imagine you hear God say to offer that child as a burnt offering to the Lord. Would you be obedient? Continue reading “SACRIFICE”

COMPASSION

Jesus’ ministry on this earth concentrated on love: loving all people no matter their circumstances or what they did or failed to do.  It was an unconditional, pure love that we are to emulate in our lives too.

Compassion is another important charism Jesus shared with so many which God modeled for Him. We, in turn, need to follow in their footsteps sharing compassion in our lives.

 

One definition of compassion is sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. The word compassion in Hebrew and Greek includes a broader definition “to love, showing pity and mercy.” Compassion is a form of love for those who are suffering or vulnerable, which leads us to take action. Continue reading “COMPASSION”