by Carol Roberts | Aug 30, 2016 | Love
There are people who can speak thousands of words stating what they will do but time passes and nothing happens. It takes more effort to deliver such promises than the actual deeds themselves.
An act as simple as giving up a seat on a train to an elderly person or holding a door open for a woman whose arms are full of groceries says more than empty words.
We are to demonstrate love at all times. Love is free and it takes very little effort to show. Actions speak louder than words.
1 John 3:18
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
by Carol Roberts | Aug 30, 2016 | Hope
It can be heart breaking sometimes when situations and people all around change. Friends move away. People we hang out with are one by one developing new interests. Places we usually go to enjoy things together or places of worship change where we no longer fit.
These horrible empty feelings of not belonging anywhere can become debilitating. God has equipped us to serve yet there is no place to be involved.
We have been called by God to serve yet there are times when our services are not needed anywhere.
There are still ways to be productive even when we feel there is no place to belong. Pray is the number one thing to do. It’s an opportunity to seek God’s face alone. It’s a time when we can temporarily set aside all the things we do and take inventory of how much God has blessed us. It’s a time to catch up on phone calls and emails to people we have not spoken to in a long time. It’s a break from being busy in order to reevaluate our talents and skills and do some fine tuning.
The television is never a good use of time and neither is the gossip mill. It’s a time to draw closer to God. The time sitting alone in prayer is like getting a refreshing rain on a hot dry afternoon. Sometimes it’s how we view things. We are not taken out of the loop and tossed aside as much as it is God loves us and wants to reward us with refreshing time alone with Him.
When God is ready it will be a natural thing to serve and our services will be very much needed. We will fit because God made it that way. There will be peace, acceptance and purpose.
Doors may not be closing at all. It is a much needed vacation that we take with Jesus. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Philippians 4:8-9
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from Me—everything you heard from Me and saw Me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
by Carol Roberts | Aug 29, 2016 | Encouragement
Have you ever known a person that is too good to be true? Their words melt like delicious butter into a craving heart. They know exactly what to say, the right tone to use, the most empathetic expressions and emotions. Who can help but to find those type people believable because they grab hold of the heart. The next encounter will be one where this person will say only enough to leave you wanting to hear more.
You will do anything to defend them when others speak unkindly about them. You will go overboard spending every last dime to reward them for things they haven’t even earned. You spend many hours praying them through things they have trusted you to know. This includes their tears and their needing you desperately. While you are spending such time alone with them heavily on your heart they are giving their pitch to another unsuspecting person. The world refers to them as con men. The Bible refers to these people as deceitful liars.
Deception is a trick of the devil that works very well and has stood the test of time. While you are focused on this con man, God has rewards for you that you are missing. There will become a day when you realize the words of this con man will never materialize. Even if he comes through with a promise, what you get is not what it seemed and you still come up empty.
The absolute worse thing is when a con man comes in the name of our Lord. Their words like, I pray, I care, the Lord loves you all turn sour when no actions ever unfold. The Bible says to run from these people when they come in the name of the Lord.
If a person is too good to be true then he is absolutely a lie. Run to God. Don’t look back. If you look back, you will surely turn into a pillar of salt because you will 99% of the time not be able to break away again.
Run to God as fast as you can. God will deal with such people who use others as trophies. Remember Lot from the book of Genesis? It wasn’t until Lot was removed that God dealt with the evil people. God will handle these con men too as soon as we get out of the way. The key is to remain focused on God and do not look side to side.
Psalm 145:19-20
He grants the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cries for help and rescues them. The Lord protects all those who love Him, but He destroys the wicked.
by Carol Roberts | Aug 27, 2016 | Hope
There are times in life when things seem to dry up. No peace comes and situations go from bad to worse. Prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling and come back on us like a brick. The more we pray the worse things get.
The people around us do not understand nor do they care because their needs are getting met. The friends we were there for through thick and thin are not there for us because they don’t want to get involved. We are quickly finding out that our friend was never our friend at all even though we have always been there for him.
There is no feeling of belonging. Organizations have all the volunteers they need. They say come back another time but they will take our donations. There are no opportunities to praise and sing because a small group will do all that on our behalf. We are allowed to stand behind the small group and move our mouths as a courtesy.
There are times in life when these moments go on an on for years. These times of feeling cast aside by everybody and everything happen and our only recourse is God Himself.
This is why God tells us to seek Him first. Our solutions are not in the earthly problems being resolved but instead being wrapped in God’s arms in all situations. God never changes, therefore our peace is in Him no matter what happens or for how long.
We can prayerfully look at these situations to see if God would prefer we remain or move on. Otherwise we are not to concern ourselves with the rejection or acceptance of others but to remain in Him and He in us. It is in Him we will find our peace regardless of the length or intensity of the situations. Jesus loves us.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
by Carol Roberts | Aug 26, 2016 | Love
Genuine love comes from the heart and is received through the heart. There is nothing worse than a person who throws around the words, “I love you,” like chicken feed. Love that comes in the form of words only will create a void to a person whose heart is sincere. The more they say words the bigger the void because it doesn’t reach the heart of the person who is sincere.
There can be people who have very rough personalities but a sincere heart. Many times when such a person expresses only a handful of words or one action will last a lifetime because of a genuine heart.
A person can never love enough on the outside to make another person feel it on the inside unless both hearts are genuine. Imagine how Jesus feels every day Who gives His best love only to have people walk away.
1 Corinthians 13:1
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.