Jesus Loves You - Be Encouraged!

Psalm 42:11 (NIV) Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Is it possible at this time of the year where joy is sung about, expressed, dramatized, shared among family and friends that some may be downcast?  Yes, it is, perhaps even you.

Today I want to encourage you to look to the God that created everything you see.  How's your faith? Have you recognized God in the midst of your life? Even as troubles, sickness, bankruptcy, addictions, heartache, etc. are at times part of this life....I want you to look to the Author of Life. He's not an imaginary friend or he's not an excuse to go to church on Christmas Day. NO...he has loved & known you before you were even born. Perhaps you find that hard to believe...but that is what the Word of God tells us.  Don't rationalize it, excuse it, dismiss it, but press in and receive by faith what he is telling you. No one loves you like Jesus!  This little child, born in a manger, grew up, lived, and then died for you & for me...because he loves us! Receive his love.....keep your focus, your gaze upon the Creator.  He made you...knows you better than anyone else...knows you better than you know yourself.  Rest in his arms.....Let the joy that God gives well up in you……His  love, joy & peace….rest in him! Merry Christmas!

God bless you!~Liz

www.lizrod.com

Share Christmas

Luke 2:11-12 (NIV)

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Surely as the Christmas Season begins, even this weekend you will begin to hear "Christmas songs" sung in our churches.  Some will begin to experience anxiety...you know.....it's Christmas and we have to buy gifts and we're in a recession, etc.  I propose that you apply more of yourself in the gift than your wallet.  Personally...I love when someone bakes me cookies....I know they took the time to prepare the cookies, bake them, wrap them...and all the while thought of me. Those kinds of gestures bring joy to my heart.

Be creative this year....invite someone to Christmas Program and then take them out for coffee...chat about the simplicities of life....keep your conversation on what's really important....people...laugh....smile  at a stranger walking down the street...that may be the only smile they receive...bring a cake to the elderly couple in your neighborhood....invite friends & family to your home...it does not have to be a three course meal....perhaps coffee & tea..and some cookies.....that's why He came....Jesus...born in a manger...for you & for me!

God bless you!~Liz

www.lizrod.com

Thank you for the Gentle Whisper

Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)

'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

I'm doing household chores around the house....one of the things I do often (for those who know me) is make lists.  I'm pretty organized... :) anyway...as I am making my list I reach our to grab a "straight edge" to draw some lines...I grab a card, make my lines, toss it back to my piles....and oh boy....you know that moment when the Lord speaks to you.....well...

The Lord said...pick up the card and pray for those girls.....  You see it was a card with a photo of about 300 girls from Africa.  A card had been given out a few weeks back so we would remember to pray. So...I grabbed the card and read the Scripture Verse on the front...and that became my prayer.

Today I want to pray for your loved ones also who do not know the Lord. Yes..they may know of him...but have never really understood the message of Salvation.  We are sinners in need of forgiveness....and a Savior has come to rescue us.  His name is Jesus.

Lord....may they call to you and know that you will hear and answer.  A heart broken and yielded to you, you will not turn away.  Speak to them of great and mighty things that they do not know of.  Cleanse them of the sin they have committed against you.    Bring healing to their soul and may they desire a right relationship with you their Maker.  Let joy be found in their homes....rejoicing....just like in heaven when even just one comes into right relationship with You!!

Lord forgive us for carelessly forgetting to bring to you those we love and that you love even more.

God bless you!~Liz

www.lizrod.com

Pray

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NIV)

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Is not easy to pray for someone who is irritating you....who seems to be coming against you.....who perhaps is purposely trying to harm you....BUT the Word of God calls us to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44).....I challenge you this morning to ask God to help you pray for that one who as far as your concerned deserves no prayer at all....BUT God who loves you and picked you up and saved you...did the same for YOU (Romans 5:8).....so with the help of the Helper.....PRAY...pray that men would be saved and come to the knowledge of Truth! The Apostle Paul (previously Saul) was an enemy of the Truth...until God got a hold of him and changed and transformed him for the Glory of God!

God bless you!~Liz

www.lizrod.com

Read about His love For YOU!

The bible says in  Romans 3:12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there

is no one who does good, not even one." Listen to what Jesus says....Matthew 19:17 "Why do you 

ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter

life, obey the commandments." Yet if we break even one commandment....the Bible says

James 2:10 

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. So what becomes of us.....a people who rebel against the Creator.....we don't respect him.....we show no love for Him.....we say we do but our lives prove us wrong.......we can't even keep the commandments.....We're in trouble....how do we get reconciled with God......Well we can humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are in desperate need.....we cry out to God and say HELP ME.....you see the Lord is Holy....we are not apart from God....God loves us so much this is what He did.....the Father sent his Son Jesus.....the Scriptures say...."For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 

John 3:16-18

This weekend Christians all over the world (the world God created)

remember.....rethink...recount....what the Lord has done for them.  It critical that we not only remember it as a story but embrace it and dive into the Lord's hands.....recall that what we could not do for ourselves (be saved)...He has done it for us at the CROSS.....He waits for us to acknowledge our need for Him........He looks down and sees a people who need direction....a people He loves.....a people He calls to......a people He died for!  Ask the Lord to forgive you of your sin.....it's what separates us from Him......He waits for you....He loves you!

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

God bless you!~Liz

www.lizrod.com

Must Abide in Him

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit,
He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. "You are
already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. John 15:1-8 (NASB)



What have you been trying to do on your own? Manage your own life, take care of an elderly loved one, raise the children alone, grow in the ministry the Lord has asked you to be part off, just live....the list goes on....We all want to do good things.......BUT apart from God we are just "doing".... and the truth is--it's exhausting! I want to stay refreshed & have strength that comes from the hand of God...I want to move in the direction the Father says to go in...to accomplish what He wants me to do ..... I MUST ABIDE IN HIM.... Strength will rise when we wait upon God....We must rest & wait on Him--stay connected to the One who orders our steps! Read His Word today and be refreshed!




God bless you!~Liz
www.lizrod.com

Test | Trust | Believed | Provision | Blessing

Genesis 22:1-19 Abraham Tested

Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
(TEST) Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region ofMoriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. 

(TRUST) We will worship and then we will come back to you." Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 

(BELIEVED) Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." 

(PROVISION) Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham
called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." 

 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time (BLESSING) and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring al l nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.


God bless you!~Liz
www.lizrod.com

Just sitting in the car

Tuesday as I sat in my car eating my delicious McDonalds :) ...I wanted to refresh my mind on the "Be Inspired" I had sent out that morning....it was Psalm 63.  I became overwhelmed with joy....you see it was many years ago that I did not know the Lord...never would I have reached over in my car to pick up the Word of God....  I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that this Word is truly all I need in this life...filled with instruction, direction, pointing me to the Savior of my soul, revealing to me as I read it...how this Awesome God who not only created the universe, but created me too....loves me sooooo much.  You see....when I was in sin, a rebellious child against the Father...He still died for me!  He loves me....and you know...he loves you too...get right with God....He died for you...to pay the debt for your sin that you could and can not pay.

Psalm 119:52

I remember your ancient laws, O LORD, and I find comfort in them. Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge.

God bless you!~Liz

www.lizrod.com

The Right Door

John 14:6-7 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Greetings from Sunny Florida!

This morning my husband & I went downstairs to get some breakfast. We decided to bring my son some breakfast since he was sleeping late.

So...we go upstairs...we put our key in but the door is not opening...we try again and again and a man and a woman answer and said..."yes, can I help you". Well immediately I got a pretty scary feeling that something was not right.

My husband is right next to me and we look at each other and said..."oh, we must have the wrong door". But the door did say room Number 403....but I second guessed myself and said...perhaps its 304 and we made a mistake. But all the while I am thinking who are these people...that's my room....it was a weird...almost horror like feeling....I'm thinking...someone is in my room and my son is in there. So I tell my husband let me go to the floor below and you stay here. 

So I go downstairs and sure enough a lady answers the door....now I am afraid!!! I yell at my husband from the floor below---THAT'S OUR ROOM-- Ok...I pictured myself and my husband running through the door to rescue my son..... So as I am ready to go upstairs again...my husband says "where is our car"? Should it not be out front? 

 WELL....you see we were at the right door but the wrong building. Well the scary feeling left and now I felt silly.....but reminded.... Sometimes at one time or another we all stand at a "door" a "road" thinking it’s the right one...we are even convinced of it....but the Lord, the Creator has made it very clear...he does not want us to be deceived.... Read what the Word of God says...

Make sure you are at the right door...then walk in and spend eternity with the Master!

God bless you!~Liz
www.lizrod.com