Lara Love's Blog, page 130

A Simple Call

A friend called me to check in on me. She knew I had been going through a hard time and wanted to see how I was and to update me a bit on her own life. She loves the Lord with all her heart, loves to talk with me about the Lord and the Bible, and she prays to no end for countless people including myself. She cheered me up in her simple call to me. She gave me a little reprieve from my sadness and solitude that day. Know what this makes me think of?

How we have such a wonderful opportunity with o...

Help Me Now!

Please read Psalms 46 just below and open your heart to the message the Lord so lovingly, tenderly, graciously, kindly, comfortingly, preciously, and generously gave me to share with you. I am excited over how I believe the Lord will encourage you with this message!

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, ...

Unthankful & Discontent

“Forgive me for not being thankful,” I prayed. “Forgive me for not being content.” I had tears in my eyes as I prayed in repentance.

The Lord blessed me with His provision and protection for a season of my life, but I had gone from being thankful to feeling restless, discontent, and unthankful. I wanted to move on. I wanted change. I wanted to get out of where I was and get to wherever I would go next. I kept looking forward as though there were something better, easier, more comfortable. I want...

Praise Resolution

After taking a walk with the Lord after which I felt a bit down and disappointed because my time with Him hadn’t measured up to what I had hoped for coupled with my recent sadness over a super big loss, I told Him this: “…you are so faithful and I want to be thankful all the time. Even when I’m not happy with my circumstances, I want to praise you.”

This was a really big step forward for me. A big faith and love step. Faith in God and love for Him are to go hand in hand, and when all is well, an...

Don’t Miss Your Blessings

“You’re so sad missing what you want that you’re missing what you have,” the Lord spoke to my heart.

I won’t go into the details. That’s not the point. This is. The Lord was right. He always is. And I believe what He told me is true for many of us. Sometimes we’re so focused on what we want or what we lost or what we don’t have or what we haven’t yet gotten if we’re going to get it that we miss the blessings right in front of us He gives us each and every day.

Honestly, I’m prone to getting my f...

Losing Our Thanksgiving

One day I realized I had been losing my thanksgiving. I wasn’t purposely doing it. I wasn’t even conscious of it. Until the Lord used one of His children who shared with me about her own thankfulness to the Lord to help me see I had been letting my thanksgiving slip away. For several days or so, I had been consumed with my struggles and was becoming less thankful to the Lord in my words and actions – and in my heart.

A few days of losing my thanksgiving may not seem like a lot to you, but it’s a...

Spirit-Led Serving

A long-time sister in the Lord early one morning lovingly listened to me pour out my heart about some challenges I faced. I told her up front I felt raw and fragile and feared being judged by anyone. She did something so beautiful, tender, and kind. She listened, she loved, she said, “Oh, Lara” with such deep heartfelt compassion, she promised to pray for me, and she said she wished she could give me a hug.

She didn’t try to fix me. She kept her response to me loving, simple, and short. We told ...

Persevere!

I pray all the time, yet I know it’s not enough to pray as in a healthy relationship listening not just talking is so vitally important. Most especially when it comes to the Lord. We can and should pray, pray, pray. But we must, absolutely must, listen to the Lord both in His Word which is the number one way He speaks to us as well as listen to His Holy Spirit as He speaks to the hearts of His children always and only in line with His Word. I have learned to keep my spiritual ears open which is ...

Be Raw, Be Real

Sometimes when we go through hard stuff, we want to wrap a big thick comforter around ourselves and burrow down under it so nobody can see us. We want to hide our hurting hearts, our troubles and struggles, our worries and sorrows, our anger and bitterness, our wide array of emotions. We want to bury our broken hearts and broken down lives so nobody knows. We want to poke our heads out from our covers when nobody is looking just long enough to grab and gulp in a few breaths of fresh air before w...

Self-Control

Control has a bad reputation, doesn’t it? Perhaps you’ve heard people say things like, “That person needs to stop being so controlling.” “He destroyed his relationship with her because he was too controlling.” “I have a problem with being controlling.” There is most assuredly a negative form of control that is sin against God because our flesh tries to exert control over others instead of submitting ourselves to God and loving and serving others instead. But there is a vitally important type of ...