El Roi.. The God Who Sees Me

El Roi means “The God who sees me.” Ro'iy in the original Hebrew can be translated as shepherd, or as seeing, looking, or gazing. In other words, when we feel most invisible and forgotten by everyone else, we can remember that God does see us.

We all face circumstances that can leave us drained but when you trust in God to lead you through them, you will come out of your circumstances with a better understanding of who God is as well as who He is to you. You'll begin to see how He was and still is with you thru it all. You'll experience His unconditional love for you.

There was a time in my life when I felt I had lost everything I had worked hard for and most importantly I felt I had lost everyone in my life except my ferret Koda Bear, now deceased. Before his passing many years ago, there were days I was afraid to say good morning to Koda for fear of what I might find when I woke up. There were times when I felt alienated by everyone around me and there were times when I felt I couldn't tell anyone what I was going thru for fear of how they might take it. I feared they would condemn me rather than offer to help or to pray with me. Rumors went around that were not true and I didn't know how to counter them with anything other than the truth, which is what I stand for yet it never seemed to be enough. Unfortunately the truth isn't always what people want to hear so they draw their own conclusions. This caused me to steer clear of people and retorted to only talking to God for a few years. I alienated myself and threw myself strictly into reading the Bible and praying. Music is my passion and I had lost interest in music and in watching tv. I had no desire for anything but to read, pray, go to church and talk to Jesus.  That's not a bad thing but it's a hard thing when you feel you have no one else you can talk to.

What I've learned during that time of really drawing nearer to God is this.. When it feels like all else has fallen away, God is always near and when we draw near to Him, He will draw nearer to us. He is the God who sees us and He is able to change things in the blink of an eye. He never leaves us nor forsakes us and in Him there is total freedom from whatever is causing our fears. Fears cancels out faith and faith always cancels out fear.  We only need to trust Jesus for when we ask we shall receive. God is good! He's going to give us the desires of our hearts. This doesn't mean you'll get exactly what you're asking for but when we seek Him first, He will change our hearts desires to meet His own. 

Through His word and prayer He has taught me how to open up to Him while holding nothing back. He's shown me how to love with no condemnation. He's restored family, relationships and friendships as well as bringing more family, relationships and friendships into my life.  The things I've lost in other areas He's graciously restored in more ways than I can count.  What did I have to do? I had to let go and let God work. I had to trust in Him and then have faith and believe that He is everything He says He is and will do all that His word says He will do.  I also had to give Him praise, honor, and to glorify Him even in the midst of my trials, and in my circumstances I had to be content in knowing that God is in control of ALL things.

God will restore what we have lost when we allow Him to move in our lives. He is the God who sees. He has restored many people and things in some areas and some are still a work in progress but I know He will fulfill my life in the best way He has planned, according to His plan for me.

We sometimes tend to forget that He alone is in control when we surrender all self unto Him. This includes the giving of every part of our lives and the depths of our hearts desires. If we can do this and trust Him, He will make our paths straight and conform our will to His. His desires will become our desires and in turn we will become more like Jesus Christ in knowing how to love and how to accept His love. It really is all about love and God is love.

The greatest commandment is to Love! Look around you and if you see someone or hear of someone that is hurting, struggling or in need please take a moment to pray and see if God is asking you to be the one to reach out to them with God's love by physically helping or by praying over and for them. We may not know what someone may be going thru or has gone thru and we should never make an assumption of thinking that we do. Unless we ask that person directly and they tell us, we just don't know. Hearsay and gossip breeds fires and rumors. Just ask the person instead of drawing your own conclusions about who they are, what they're about and what's going on in their life. Pray for them and then pray a hedge of protection over them. After all..that's what Jesus does for us. He goes before us to make intercession to our Father on our behalf. Angels are sent to fight our battles while God gives us strength and peace to wait for His answer. 

Don't misunderstand me. We should never enable bad behaviors to continue. We should pray that if the person is not willing to listen to us, then ask for God to send someone along their path that they will listen to. 

Love without condemning.  Judge from a righteous spirit and not a fleshly one. For by what rule we measure we too will be measured.

Prayer sets us all free! When we pray for others God will answer our prayers too. Always remember that there is nothing hidden from your heavenly Father for He is the God who sees.

What Does "Be the Salt of the earth" truly mean?

 

Salt Stings.

Anyone who has ever felt it in an open wound knows that instantly. It burns, it cleans, and it refuses to pretend the injury isn’t there. Salt preserves by confronting decay, not by politely coexisting with it. It does not make peace with rot. It stops it.

That’s why Jesus’ words land harder than we usually let them.

When we hear “you are the salt of the earth,” we hear a compliment. Dependable. Pleasant. The kind of person who keeps things civil. We hear “nice” when we think of being salt.

That is not what the Hebrew people heard. To them the salt wasn’t seasoning. It was survival. They had no refrigeration, no backups, no second chances with food. If meat wasn’t salted, it spoiled quickly. Salt stood between provision and loss, between nourishment and hunger. Without it, decay won.

When Jesus called people salt, He wasn’t talking about flavor.

He was talking about preservation.

About slowing what naturally falls apart.

Salt was also weighty. Valuable. It was measured, guarded, traded. Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt—worth your weight in salt wasn’t a figure of speech; it was a paycheck. Salt meant cost. Importance. Worth. Salt meant covenant.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, salt appears in sacrifices and binding agreements. A “covenant of salt” signified permanence and loyalty—something that would not spoil, fade, or be abandoned. Salt sealed promises. It declared, this will last.

Salt was never about being flexible or agreeable. It was about faithfulness. Stability. The kind of presence that holds the line when everything else begins to erode.

Jesus adds a warning we often gloss over: if salt loses its saltiness, it becomes useless. Not boring. Not outdated. Useless—because it can no longer do the one thing it exists to do.

Salt that doesn’t preserve is just dust underfoot.

To a first-century listener, salt wasn’t flattery. It was responsibility.

What does Salt man to you?

It means You matter because You preserve.

You are needed because You slow decay.

Your presence keeps things from spoiling completely.

Not loud.

Not flashy.

Not always comfortable.

But essential.

That’s what salt meant to them and it's what salt should still man to us.

And once you hear it that way, the verse stops being about being “nice people” and starts being about faithful people—standing firm in a world that naturally falls apart which makes far more sense than assuming Jesus was just using the word salt to compliment.