Tag: sacrificial love

March Hope Whispers

Trudy Den Hoed24 Comments

Truths That Breathe Hope

❤️ God’s Love Faithfully Remains With Us ❤️

“Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid or terrified because of them,
for the Lord your God goes with you;
He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV

❤️ God’s Love Graciously Forgives Us ❤️

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, 
the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”
Ephesians 1:7 NIV

❤️ God’s Love Fully Frees Us ❤️

“Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah,
His blood poured out on the altar of the Cross,
we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments
chalked up by all our misdeeds.
And not just barely free, either.
Abundantly free!”
Ephesians 1:7 The Message

“When I’m kicking and screaming
When I struggle believing
God, You are always faithful
No matter what
When my eyes cannot see it
And my heart doesn’t feel it
God, You are always faithful
No matter what
No matter what…”

Spring Breathes Hope

The robins are here! Yes! Even though we’re still having cold days, it’s a sign that breathes life and hope. We so need that in these troubling times, don’t we? What part of spring breathes hope in your heart?

🦋 “And springtime rallies at the touch of the breath of God.” – Unknown

🦋 “Spring is far more than just a changing of seasons; it’s a rebirth of the spirit.” – Toni Sorenson

🦋 “A life without love is like a year without spring.” – Octavian Paler

Our Suffering Matters to God

All the violence, abuse of power, and painful losses in this troubling world is devastating. So many are suffering loss and pain at home and abroad. Because of this, we may tend to beat ourselves up when we murmur over our own troubles and struggles.

Do you ever minimize your own troubles because others have it worse? Do you ever feel selfish when you feel complaints in your heart over your own suffering? This month God used this blog post to remind me our struggles are always valid to Him. And it’s both necessary and healthy to acknowledge and grieve our own suffering. – Your Suffering Is Valid, Even When Others Have It Worse by Shannon.

“I understand what we are trying to do when we play down our troubles because they are small in comparison to what others are experiencing. We’re trying to put things in perspective so we can be grateful, avoid feeling sorry for ourselves, and be compassionate to others. However, I think minimizing our troubles can sometimes be harmful. It leads us to ignore our feelings, which can increase our stress, cause feelings of self-doubt, harm our self-esteem, and heighten our anxiety.”

“We’re not required to choose between acknowledging either our suffering or their suffering; we can acknowledge both our suffering and their suffering.”

Shannon from Of The Hearth

Nature Retreat

“Perhaps the butterfly is proof
that you can go through a great deal of darkness
yet become something beautiful.”
– Beau Taplin –

“Just when the caterpillar
thought the world was over,
it became a butterfly.”
– Chang Tzu –

I’ve been thinking lately of how a butterfly must struggle first to become beautiful and freed to fly. So this month my heart feels nudged to share some of the butterfly photos I took in 2012 at the butterfly house and to remember why I named this site Freed to Fly.

March Hope Whispers

Trudy Den Hoed20 Comments

God Promises Us

“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.”
John 3:16-17

“And if the Spirit of Him who raised
Jesus from the dead lives in you,
He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit, who lives in you.”
Romans 8:11

Hope Quotes

“God doesn’t sweep the broken up into a dustpan and discard it. In order to reach the broken in our world, God Himself broke, allowing His own Son to die a broken death on a cross for us. God brings beauty in the broken. God loves the broken. God uses the broken.” – Elisa Morgan

“We can trust that our Painter is exposing us, lifting us onto His brush, placing us in the intense pressure between the bristles and the canvas for something more beautiful that we can imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21).” – Becky Elie

“Your Heavenly Daddy loves to be with you. Not because you are doing anything for Him, but simply because you are His.” – Renee Swope

Nature Retreat

“Stop every now and then.
Just stop and enjoy.
Take a deep breath.
Relax and take in
the abundance of life.”
~ Anonymous ~

Thank you to my brother John
for these stunning photos.
🙂 Please respect copyright laws. 🙂

Hummingbird Nest in My Brother’s Backyard
The eggs are as small as coffee beans.
You can see how small the nest is compared to the thorns. An average nest is only 1.5 inches, about the size of a large walnut.
Las Cienegas National Conservation Area
Did you know a Pronghorn can run up to 60 mph?
Black-Tailed Prairie Dog
Old Historic Ranch also at Las Cienegas NCA

God Hears Our Cries and Yearns For Us To Open Our Eyes to His Bottomless Well of Love

Trudy Den Hoed28 Comments

Do you feel alone, rejected, and misunderstood?  With nowhere to turn? Like even God has left you?

When Abraham sent away Hagar and Ishmael, they wandered in the desert. Aimlessly. With a canteen of water and some food that soon ran out. Now what?

As their bodies dehydrated, they became weak and lethargic. Hagar couldn’t bear seeing her son die, so she hid him under one of the bushes and distanced herself. She sat down and sobbed. Doesn’t anyone care?

Then an angel called to Hagar, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.”

Hagar was physically weak from lack of water and spiritually devastated of hope. But God graciously reminded her that He hears. And He lifted her head and opened her eyes to see a well, and hope surged through her soul. She got up, filled her water skin, and gave her son a drink.

While man-made wells can and do run dry, the well of Jesus’ love is bottomless and will never, ever run dry. It’s available to each of us, waiting for us to drink freely from it. It’s full to overflowing of:

Yearning love that “longs to be gracious” to us.

Selfless, sacrificial, and redeeming love that came down to become “an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Unconditional, nonjudgmental, and freeing love that holds “no condemnation” for those who believe in Him.

Replenishing, restoring love that says to those whose hope has dried up, “I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.”

Healing love that heals our broken hearts and binds up our wounds.

Compassionate, understanding love that “empathizes with our weaknesses.”

Never-abandoning love that says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Unfailing love that reaches to the heavens and is priceless.

Sometimes our grief-blinded eyes and our pain-crushed hearts can focus only on the pit of our misery rather than the hope God places right in front of us. The hope that He sees and hears us always. The hope that His love is faithful and will never reject us.

If you are having a difficult time, may Jesus hold you up and strengthen you. May He lift you and carry you when you can’t go any further. May He each morning not only open our eyes to His never-emptying well of love, but also empower us to drink from it.

“But whoever drinks of the water
that I will give him shall never thirst;
but the water that I will give him
will become in him a well of water
springing up to eternal life.”
John 4:14

God Loves You
by Jaci Velasquez

“In the quiet, love is reaching.
It`s yours to hold,
Be still and know that
Even when you`re lost and lonely,
And hope is gone, you`re not alone.
Far beyond the understanding,
There`s a hand that leads,
If you believe.
Through the darkness, see the light.
Remember God loves you.”