Lessons Learned ~ An Open Letter to My Dad

Dear Dad,

When I saw you last, you laid in a comfortable room all your own in a beautiful home. The first time I walked through it I knew Jesus had hand-picked that home and that room just for you. 

Dad, you would have loved it.  Your room kept watch over a gorgeous collection of plants and flowers in the big backyard. Oh, how I wanted to be able to walk through the gardens with you, enjoying the sunshine and the beauty of every rose and daisy. 

No doubt our conversation would have meandered with the gardens.  We’d eventually ponder much weightier issues like the world’s problems and how to solve them.  We always had the answers, didn’t we? 

And our conversation would have invariably settled on the mysteries of the universe, and of God.  This conversation would have gone very differently than all the others, though.

For thirteen years I prayed for you.

And when we were finally able to enjoy those weekly gabfests on the phone I did my best to steer as many conversations as possible toward the Lord.  I tried to explain to you historically, intellectually, logically and emotionally why Jesus is the only way to salvation, the only way to heaven.  And you’d always say you were trying. 

The end of every conversation would come, and I’d let my words offering you Christ hang in the air as a gift, desperately hoping you’d take them, but you never did.  I always hung up thinking if only I’d said it differently... 

If I could have I would have forced them on you as a parent forces a child to eat his broccoli and drink his milk. 

Soon after you had gone, I realized the mistake I’d made all those years.  And all I wanted to do was grasp one day to do it over. If I could I would have done it all over.  I’d trade in some of those conversations, some of those awkward attempts at apologetics, and take a meal to you. 

I’d take a jar full of jelly beans to your apartment and set it on the table next to your chair. While I was there I would have cleaned your apartment and done some laundry, if you’d let me.  I’d frame some pictures of your grandsons and hang them on the wall. 

I’d buy you a proper journal so you didn’t have to write your soulful words on the scraps of paper and backs of old envelopes we found scattered around your apartment.  I’d have you over for dinner more often so Eric and Sean could get to know you better.  We still grin and tell each other your favorite joke: So a horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, “Why the long face?” I can still hear that high-pitched almost giggle you reserved for jokes you thought were especially hilarious.

I would have shown you the love of Jesus I tried so desperately to tell you about.  I thought I’d have enough time, but I didn’t. 

Time is always short.

You might not have let me do those things, but I wish I had tried.  I wish I had used the short time we had together to show you how much I loved you and how much I appreciated you.  I would have shown you that you were worth loving and you were worth dying for.

I loved our conversations, but I wish I had used the time putting feet to my words, enriching both our lives even more.  And maybe, just maybe it wouldn’t have taken until just five days before you went to be with Jesus to give Him your heart.  Maybe those acts of love would have opened your eyes to the truth sooner.  But they were opened, and I am so grateful.

You taught me that lesson, Dad.  I don’t always remember it, but you taught me that life is short, and sometimes it’s over much sooner than we ever thought it would be.  And sometimes our words are just words until we bring them to life. 

 

I can picture you now, tending the garden of your dreams and having long conversations with everyone who stops by to smell the roses. I'll be there soon, and when I am, I’m coming to your house, Dad, the one prepared just for you.  I’ll clean it, top to bottom.  I'll set a crystal vase overflowing with fresh flowers on your table.  I’ll bring you some jelly beans and we’ll talk. 

Your loving daughter,      @

Dorci                               ~\~

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

1 John 3:18

The Way of Love

Tommy’s taken some time out of his successful life as a doctor, spending the day out on the golf course with his buddies when he receives an alarming phone call from another part of the world. 

His son, Daniel, is dead. 

And all at once, a life that seemed to have every duck carefully placed in a row was upside down.

And thus begins a father’s journey in the movie The Way with Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez.   It is a poignant look at a man who has been caught up in the world’s version of success and has, ironically, become somewhat cynical and bitter.  And when the unthinkable happens we see the ensuing inner struggles of a man who suddenly realizes he doesn’t have things figured out quite the way he thought.   

FYI - If you haven’t seen the movie yet, this will contain some slight spoilers. 

The last time the two men spoke they were engaged in an awkward conversation as Tommy drove his son, Daniel, to the airport. Daniel tells his dad about the journey he’s going to make and, in an effort to try connecting with his dad, asks him to come along.  Tommy cynically laughs it off, saying that not everyone has the luxury of taking time off from work to do such a thing. 

And now the time was gone. 

Tommy makes the pain-staking trip to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to retrieve his son’s body and his belongings.  Daniel had just begun his journey on the road of El camino de Santiago, The Way of St. James, a pilgrimage that millions have traveled over the last thousand years.  The journey can begin on any of a number of paths, but the destination is always Galicia, Spain, where some believe the remains of the apostle James are buried.  Depending on the origin of one’s journey, the pilgrimage can take weeks to months. 

Tommy arrives in France and decides to have his son’s body cremated for the return trip.  He begins looking through his son’s backpack at the things he’d chosen to take with him on his journey of discovery.  It’s perhaps the first time in a long time that Tommy had taken a few moments to really study his son. 

And we can’t help but think about how we’re spending the days of our own short lives. 

Tommy decides to honor his son by taking him on the journey anyway.  He throws the backpack over his shoulders, the box of ashes tucked safely inside, and he sets out to make the 500-mile trek in his son’s stead. 

Tommy reluctantly picks up a few friends along the way, each of whom has their own reasons for traveling The Way.  But their reasons seem rather selfish and superficial compared to the heavy burden that Tommy carries. 

The others approach their goals half-heartedly, but Tommy remains steadfast in his mission to do this last loving act for his son. 

As they all reached their destination together, it occurred to me that the only one who successfully accomplished what he set out to do was the one who, in love, set out to do something for someone else. 

It was too late to reconcile with his son, but through choosing this unselfish and loving act he gains much more—a heart of forgiveness, humility, love, and peace.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."  John 13:34

Jesus made this statement to the apostles the evening He had washed their feet.  He didn’t just say He loved them, He became their servant.  That is what God says love really is and this is the way we’re to live our lives. 

It’s love that gives us the strength to do the hard thing--the ability to lay aside our pride and our own lives in order to finish what God’s called us to do. 

We are all on a journey called life, and loving others is what makes life worth living. The specific ways we’re called to sacrifice throughout our lives may sometimes go against all common sense.  Sometimes we may just not feel like it, just like Tommy didn’t feel like going on the trip with his son.  But God says that by choosing to live a life of sacrifice we’ll gain a lot more that we ever gave up.

As I watched the movie I couldn’t help but also make comparison to Christ and the road He walked in our steads, too.  Like the story, while we were dead in our sins, Christ embarked on a journey for us, a journey we couldn’t take ourselves.  He journeyed to the cross and laid down His life for us to purchase our souls from hell. 

It was His love for His Father and for us that kept Him steadfast on the road to an agonizing death.  But to Him, the reward of giving us eternal life made the journey worth it.

Question4U: What is one thing you can do to live your life more unselfishly?

Blessings and Love,

Dorci

Riding Bicycles and Other Wild Adventures

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalm 139:9-10

I must’ve been no older than five or six.  I held onto the handlebars of my little two-wheeler for dear life, glancing back at my dad as he pushed me down the center of our cul-de-sac.  I was wobbly and unsure.

Sure enough, after a few practice runs, I looked back and saw my dad standing there where we had started with a proud grin on his face.  It was a scary and thrilling moment.  I rode on for a bit and then turned around and peddled back to him.   

Now I am grown up and, inevitably, the time came that I didn’t need my dad anymore.  But now I have my heavenly Father and I will never outgrow my need for Him.  He guides me and never lets go.

 

Those first risks I took on a child’s bike were preparation for the more formidable adventures I have faced since.  Now, instead of facing a scraped knee, the Lord and I face wild waves in a darkened sea, swinging rickety bridges, and flames leaping from the mouths of volcanoes. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Funny how sometimes I’ll get through one of these adventures (we’ll just agree to call them that) and keep on going, forgetting to look back to see where my Father is headed, or if He’s still standing back there, waiting for me. 

I can put my brain on auto-pilot in the morning, assuming all is status quo, not realizing I’m headed straight into a tornado. 

I need to go back and grab my Father’s hand again.  I can’t go through these adventures without Him and survive.  Not well, anyway.  There’s a lot He wants to teach me along the way, like how to love and forgive when I’m staring into the jaws of a crocodile, or how to trust and even have joy when I'm climbing a vertical rock. 

And one fine day, I’ll sit down with my earthly dad and tell him about all the adventures the Lord and I had and what I learned.  And I’ll thank him for trusting me with my first push. 

Q: What great adventure are you and Lord having and what is He teaching you?

Jesus Is Alive and So Is Our Hope

Well, it's been another grueling week.  How about you? 

And while I have been far less than faithful and all my frailties have been the bed of nails I've walked on this week, God has, as always, been faithful to love me, to forgive me, to be right beside me.  He takes ahold of my broken heart and cradles it like a helpless, newborn babe. 

This God, this Maker of the Universe, this Lord who reigns on high and yet is humble enough to be born into one of these frail, limited bodies and then to die, loves me.  And He loves you. 

So, to enter into the weekend, I'll leave you (and me) this verse:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who according to His great mercy has regenerated us again to a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading,

reserved in Heaven for you by the power of God,

having been kept through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time;

in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little while, if need be, grieving in manifold temptations; 

so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of

Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love;

in whom not yet seeing, but believing in Him you exult with unspeakable joy,

and having been glorified, obtaining the end of your faith,

the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:1-9 NKJV

Amen and amen. 

God bless you,

Dorci

The God of the Secret Place

Since the time I was very young, the circumstances of my life have always dictated maintaining a level of secrecy. It was never a conscious effort, but society’s taboos and lack of compassion and understanding silently say to the abused or to those who are caught in a sin things like Aren’t you over that yet? or We don’t talk about things like that. And so you don’t. And it begins to seem easier to live in defeat than to face your giants. Shame sets in and you learn to stuff it down deep somewhere where no one will see it, and maybe if you stuff it down long enough even you will forget it’s there.

But God sees. There is nowhere that is secret enough to hide from God. We can’t stuff our pain down far enough that He does not go further still. Jeremiah 23:24 says, “’Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD.’”

The Lord sees your pain. He is your El Roi—the God Who sees. And not only does He see, but He is also a God of understanding, compassion and mercy. He longs for you come out from the shadows of pretense and worry and pour out your heavy heart to Him. The pain sits in your heart as a lump in the throat, suppressing words and acts of love.

I know it takes courage to face that pain again. It takes courage to go through life-saving surgery. But God is a skillful surgeon. Just as He is able to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow (Hebrews 4:12), He is also able to divide pain and sin and leave a heart more whole than it was before.

Trust your God again. Stop worrying about that thing that has left a part of you broken, or even pretending it’s gone when you know it isn’t, and fall on Jesus again. He is a God Who is able.

“Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)

Do you see that, my friends? He LIVES to intercede for us. Jesus Christ rose not to just return to the comfort of His Father’s side, but He lives to continue to make intercession to His Father on our behalf. He sees our secret pain and He sets about restoring our heart.

But we have our part, too, and that is to be honest with ourselves and with the Lord. There will be work to do. With His strength, there will be forgiveness to offer, bitterness to let go of and sins to be nailed to the cross. And then there will be joy to behold.

Don’t wait until tomorrow. Enough tomorrows have passed. Begin your new journey today and walk in the light of life.

"Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart." (Psalm 51:6)


God bless you on your journey,

Just Give Me Jesus!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled weekend for this important announcement:  Jesus loves you!

I was talking to some friends about how noisy the world is and how sometimes I am overwhelmed with all the do's and don'ts, the criticism and rejection.  Sin abounds in the world and temptation is ever lurking.  Life is hard and painful and exhausting....and sometimes, I just want to shut all that out and say, JUST GIVE ME JESUS!

My dear sister in the Lord, Anne Graham Lotz, evangelist Billy Graham's daughter, wrote a book and recorded a DVD set of teachings called Just Give Me Jesus.  Every now and then, when life just gets to be too much, I think of her teachings and say, "Just give me Jesus!" 

Oh, how I hope this gives you a measure of comfort in your life right now in those hard-to-reach corners of your heart that have become weary...those places you try to ignore and hope they'll go away on their own..those places you've tried filling up with anything other than Jesus Himself. 

He is waiting to fill them up, to fill you up, with His love and His good and faithful character. He is complete and He is all you need. I pray that after listening to the precious words of Anne Graham Lotz you will be inspired to draw closer and dive deeper into the God Who created you for a purpose and loves you over and above anything you could ever imagine.

Just let the world go, let Him have your cares, close your eyes and let Him love you. 

An Extravagant Love

There is one love that surpasses them all, the love story of all love stories. A love that overshadows all other loves, one that has been since before time and always will be, and that is God’s love for you and me.

God is the genesis of all love. His love is pure, it is perfect, it is constant. It is unconditional and selfless. All He has done and ever will do stems from His unwavering love for us. He has poured out His love on us so lavishly that sometimes we hardly notice it.  Nevertheless, He’s been wooing his Bride since the beginning of time.

He gave the sun to warm us, the stars to shine and lead our way. He gave us galaxies to discover, mountains to climb, caves to explore. He gave the oceans’ waves to ride and summer's smell of fresh-cut grass. He paints a new masterpiece to wake us and another to send us to bed. He gave us cool breezes rustling through leaves.

He gave us one another as spouses, as parents and children, and as friends. He gave us language that we might speak and pen our love for one another. He even gave us fragrant roses, diamond mines and cocoa beans.

He called one man to be the father of His people that He might show His amazing love to and through them. And He never left them. He led them through the desert to the Promised Land, provided all their needs and came to their rescue time and time again.

Then He gave another Man to show His love to all the world; He gave His only Son over to death to purchase our souls from hell.  He then raised Him from the dead, showing us His power over death and gave us hope.

And though it could never contain Him, His Holy Spirit dwells within our hearts, even the very darkest, most broken recesses. He leads us and ministers to us, counsels us and comforts us. And He rescues us time and time again.

He is our Knight in shining armor, sparing nothing to go after us, revealing Himself to us over and over until we let Him in and His love is ours and ours is His. He has given all the universe, and imprinted the farthest reaches with His everlasting love.

This is a picture taken by the Hubble telescope of the center of the Whirpool Galaxy, which is located approximately 31 million light-years from our Milky Way Galaxy.  The radius of the Whirpool Galaxy is approximately 38,000

light-years. This center, thought to be a black hole, stands perpendicular to the spiral nebula. 

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting

love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Jeremiah 31:3

He Hears You When You're Praying

I thought I had shared this story here before but I couldn’t find it when I searched.  Whether you've heard it or not, I pray the Holy Spirit will speak to your heart in a fresh and personal way.

*       *       *

My husband and I were facing our second Christmas after we became Christians. Just a few months before I had quit my job to stay home and raise our son, who was a little more than a year and a half.

On paper we didn’t have the money to support ourselves, but I felt strongly that God wanted me home and I wanted to be there. We had faith that He would honor our obedience and that He would take care of us.

That faith was tested as Christmas day neared and we had no money to buy gifts for our precious son. He was still so young that he really didn’t understand that he would be missing out on Christmas morning, but we knew. And so I turned to the Lord.

I sat down in the living room one day while my husband was at work and just talked to the Lord. I was open and honest and poured out my heart to Him. I told Him we had no money (of course He already knew that) and that I knew the only way Eric would have any presents on Christmas morning would be if He gave them Himself, and so I asked Him if He would do that very thing. As far as I know, no one else knew about our situation.

Christmas morning came and we still hadn’t found a way to buy presents. My husband and I and our smiley, little Eric got up and started our day like it was any day, making breakfast and going about our usual routine, but joyful to celebrate the birth of our Lord.

And then there was a knock on the door.

All three of us went to the door and opened it. It was our next door neighbor. She explained that they had looked out their front window and noticed that in their driveway there was a Christmas tree and some boxes. When they went outside to have a look, they saw that there were some lights and ornaments for the tree. And there were gifts.

But she said they knew the gifts weren’t for them. They had two daughters who were older. The gifts were for a little boy, our little boy. She said they knew we went to church and thought maybe someone from the congregation had left them for us and just missed our driveway by one. (Personally, I think it was a divine “mistake,” so that God could reveal His grace in the eyes of our neighbors, too.) They handed us the tree and the gifts and I stood there stunned with tears in my eyes.

My Father had heard my prayer. I had reached out to Him in faith and He had blessed me by blessing our son…His son. He hadn’t seen it as a silly or frivolous prayer. What He saw was a heart that believed in Him and was reaching out to Him in faith in a time of need.

We set up the tree, gave our son his gifts and sat in awe as we comprehended the heart of our Lord. It was His birthday and yet He was blessing us. That was 20 years ago and it’s still the most precious Christmas I've ever had. In the world’s eyes we were poor, but in Christ we couldn’t have been richer.

I hope you know God loves you and He hears you when you call out to Him.  And I hope you know the riches of Christ this Christmas and always.

“Blessed be the LORD, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. The LORD is their strength, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed. Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance; shepherd them also, and bear them up forever.” (Psalm 28:6-9)

Blessings!
Dorci

You Are The One

"When Jesus had said this, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you shall betray Me.' Then the disciples looked upon one another, wondering of whom He spoke. But there was one of His disciples leaning upon Jesus' bosom, the one whom Jesus loved."  (John 13:21-23)

"Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."  (John 20:2)

"Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following (the one who also leaned on His breast at supper, and said, 'Lord, who is he who betrays You?'  Seeing him, Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, and what of this one?'" (John 21:20-21)

I love that the apostle John refers to himself over and over in his account of Christ as "the one whom Jesus loved."  Not that Jesus loved any of the other apostles less, but John saw himself first and foremost as one who was loved greatly by his Lord.  It would seem there was never a doubt in his mind of Jesus' love for him.

John was confident of Jesus' love at the last Passover meal when Jesus announced that one of them would betray Him.

He was confident of His love in the dark hours of confusion that followed Jesus' crucifixion and death.

He was confident of the love that Christ had for him even when a brother tried to point a critical finger at him. 

In all circumstances he knew he was loved by the only One Who really mattered.

I hope you know, too, that you are the one whom Jesus loves.  No matter what hardship you face now or in the future, no matter what you've tackled in the past, you are loved by the Lord.  There is no one He loves more than you.  If you had been the only inhabitant of earth, He would have come and died for your sins just the same. 

If you are a disciple of Christ, I hope you'll walk in faith and pure confidence at all times that you are the one whom Jesus loves. 

The Foreshadowing of Yom Kippur

I love that the events of the Old Testament are a centuries-long love story between God and His people that foreshadows for us an even more intimate relationship with God through the coming Christ and the grace and mercy that is given through His sacrifice on the cross. God initiated relationship with a people that He chose for Himself - the Israelite nation that began with one man, Abraham. He then initiated relationship with the whole world by one man: Jesus Christ. What began as a relationship between God and man through law thousands of years ago is now a relationship of love and grace and mercy that is written on the hearts of all people who have received forgiveness through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Although I was not born into Judaism, I personally feel a special kinship with the Jewish people because Jesus Christ was born out of the line of the Israelites and the day that I received Him as my Lord and Savior is the day I was adopted by the Father as His daughter. Because of that, I’ve always been interested in understanding Jewish observances and how they are a picture of my Lord, Jesus Christ.

For 24 hours beginning at sundown today, Jews all over the world observe Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, which is a day of fasting, repentance and prayer to atone for their sins. Atonement means, “satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.” The Jewish people consider it one of the, if not the holiest day of the year. The Day of Atonement is described in Leviticus, chapter 16, where the Lord spoke to Moses and told him that his brother, Aaron, was to make atonement with a young bull as a sin offering for himself and his household, and a ram for a burnt offering.

Then, Aaron was to take two male goats from the Israelite community. One goat was sacrificed to the Lord for a sin offering for the people. The blood that was shed was sprinkled on the atonement cover (or mercy seat – the cover of the Ark of the Covenant) to make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites.

The other goat, the scapegoat, was then presented alive to the Lord. Aaron was to lay both hands on the head of the goat and confess over it all the sins of the Israelites. Then the goat would carry the sins upon itself and be sent out into the desert.

And to the people, God said, "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: on the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or an alien living among you- because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community. ‘This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.’ And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses.” (Leviticus 16:29-34)

At one time a law was given that a literal goat be given as a scapegoat to carry the sins of the Israelites far away from them. This foreshadowed the Messiah Who would be our scapegoat, taken from within the Israelite community. Yet He willingly gave Himself as a sacrifice as He took on the sins of the world and removed them from us as far as the east is from the west. He also is the Son of the Father, the High Priest, who makes atonement for us, just as God commanded the Israelites all those thousands of years ago.

And at the moment His work on the cross was done, the foot-thick veil that separated the Most Holy Place, the place where God resided and only priests were given access, was ripped from top to bottom. No longer would God’s dwelling be separate from His people because of their sins, but rather He would now reside in the hearts of His people because Jesus Christ made atonement for them all. God was inviting us in to Him for a relationship through grace rather than through law.

                                                    The Tabernacle

And no longer do we have to deny ourselves for the purpose of atonement. Works no longer satisfy as payment for our sins because Christ has made the supreme sacrifice and now only that will satisfy our sin-debt. But, the sons and daughters of God who have His love written on our hearts willingly die to ourselves – to our own personal desires - so that we can gloriously live for Christ, realizing the far more amazing plans He has dreamed for us. The work of forgiveness is done; the privilege of relationship with God through Jesus Christ has begun.

I hope you’ve made that transformation from observing God through religious law to knowing Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, by accepting the forgiveness of your sins by His blood sacrifice for you. If you haven’t, you can do that right now by praying to Him.

And now that we’ve been given the privilege of entering into the most intimate of relationships, one that was paid for us with a very precious price, one that takes place not on the outside, but in the very depths of our heart, we must never neglect it. To treat our relationship with Him with anything other than the utmost of respect and honor and glory is to trivialize the ultimate act of selfless love given to us by our Savior.

I hope we use the precious and fleeting time we’ve been given in this life and the gift of our salvation to let God’s glorious love live in and through our hearts every day of the year until the day in Heaven when we bow before Him – our very Mercy Seat.

The Gift of Suffering

I was sitting in church yesterday listening intently on what was being said when the spoken words dimmed a bit, just for a moment, and the Lord whispered to my heart. It was one of those moments that I often have, when the Lord speaks out of what is being said, but He personalizes it just for me. Maybe it’s for you, too.

I can’t even remember exactly what was being said at that moment, but I thought about the time when my life here on this earth is over, and I am living in eternity. There’s no way for us to understand just how long forever is, no way to comprehend the infinite with our finite minds. But I know that in comparison this life is just a blink. While we’re living in it, especially when there are deep trials and suffering, it seems to last forever. But very soon, it will be over, and we’ll only remember it as a vague dream, something that lasted for only a short while, but it was a time when we had the chance to learn how to love.

God tells us in Matthew 6:19-20, “Do not lay up treasures on earth for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up treasures in Heaven for yourselves, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.”

It’s hard to say exactly what those treasures will be, but I know that as this blog’s scripture in Colossians says, all treasures that will last into eternity are found in God through Christ. They are the wisdom and knowledge of God that we obtain by walking with Him while we’re here. They are the things He whispers to our hearts when we’re still, and listening. They are the pure gold and silver character that will remain as we go through trials and the dross of anything less than godliness is taken away.

And that’s what the Lord was saying to me – that every trial, big and small, has been masterfully used by God to remove that which cannot enter into heaven, the fear, the unforgiveness, the pride, the selfishness, all those are being whittled away. And as they diminish, there is more room for His character in me, the treasure of a pure heart of love and compassion, and out of those I can do His will, in His strength, and store up even more treasure, the fruition that comes from being a part of God’s work here on this earth.

Through all my times of kicking and screaming and whining and complaining my way through trials, God remains steadfast in His love and in His patience to bring about in me a godliness that will store up treasures I can’t even imagine because He wants to bless me with a richer, fuller, more intimate experience of worshipping my Lord as I live with Him forever.

No Greater Love

Today is Memorial Day when we recognize and honor those men and women who have bravely given of themselves physically, mentally and emotionally to make our country and our world a better and safer place to live.

There was a time, though, when our men and women were returning from Vietnam, that the sentiment toward them was not so favorable. And because of that many of them felt the need to hide who they were, so they donned their civilian clothes before leaving the plane that carried them home. They walked through the airport with no fan fare, no congratulatory handshake, no respect given for the great sacrifice they had offered while doing the job they were called to do. It was a sad and shameful way to treat our countrymen and women.

I hope that we learn a lesson from that time in our not-so-distant past, and that we soberly remember with a sense of awe and gratitude what our men and women in uniform have done for us, though we are a stranger to them. I pray that we, as a country, never walk that road of ingratitude again, but that we give our servicemen and women the highest respect that is due of one who gives of themselves under the banner of our own Stars and Stripes.


And I pray that those of us who consider ourselves as soldiers in another kind of service - service to the Lord of lords - will also remember one another as we serve on the front lines of this battle of another kind, a battle of unseen, dark forces, a battle waged in the Spirit. The world will not support us, but we must support one another.

We must love one another, pray for one another and when one of us is down we must come quickly to the aid of that person and help them in whatever way we can. If they need prayer, pray with them. If they need a hand to hold or arms to embrace, offer yours. If they need words of encouragement, pray for wisdom and then offer what the Lord has given you.

I pray that each of us is part of providing an atmosphere of support for one another so that no one needs to feel ashamed in reaching out for help. None of us knows what a day will bring and whether or not we will be the one in need of a helping hand.

“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:16-18)

The Search for Love

In peeking into the avenues that brought my readers one day, I saw another interesting Google search which was a full-on question. (Rest assured I cannot know the names of those doing the searching.) It was a good question – a question we’ve probably all had at one time or another - and I’d like to try to answer it.

The question was, “god, will I find love in my life?”

Now, since I don’t know the identity of this person, I don’t know if he or she is asking the God, the great I AM, the Father God of the Trinity, the Father of Jesus Christ, or an unknown, ethereal deity with a little “d.”

Know this: love and joy and goodness and everything that is truth and light have one Source: God, the Father Who created the heavens and the earth and you and me. When Jesus walked the Earth He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me." (John 14:6) We have relationship with this God Who is the source of all our needs through belief in His Son, Jesus Christ.

It’s unfortunate that we have but one word in our language for “love.” We can say we love Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, but we also say we love our children. There is parental love, romantic love, and the love of a friend. And sometimes we can get stuck looking for one particular kind of love that feel we’re lacking in our lives.

I was not fortunate enough to be blessed with parental love as I grew up. Oh, I lived with both my natural parents, but they lacked the capacity to truly love the way a parent normally would…the way a child needs. And that’s a kind of love that can’t be replaced in any way, except by the love of a greater Parent, my Heavenly Father.

We can search and search all our lives for one kind of love or another, but all will fall short of the perfect love of the Lord. Even very good and loving parents will fail from time to time; the love of a near-perfect spouse (if you can find one!) will not always satisfy; and very loving children will not love at all times.

But God says His love is like this:

“Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn't selfish or quick tempered. It doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails!” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

God loves you in this unbegrudging, abundant, magnificent way, all the time.  

So my answer to you, Dear Reader, is that yes, you will find love, and you can know that love right now if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. God sent His Son for the express purpose of knowing Him and His love.  If you do know Him, if you are a believer, then turn to Him and allow Him to fill that empty space inside with His overflowing love. No matter what other love we may find on this earth we will continue searching and trying to fill that empty space with everything under the sun until we allow ourselves to be filled with the purest and most satisfying of all loves found only through Jesus Christ. All others will ever fail in comparison to the mighty, unending love of our Lord.

And anyone who He chooses to bring into our lives is but our chance to shower the love we have received from our God onto them, to show them that kind of love that is kind and patient, supportive and loyal, hopeful and trusting.

May God bless you in your endeavor to know more and more the Greatest Love: our Lord Jesus Christ.

What's Your Main Thing?

I think it’s a good idea to stop what we’re doing every now and then and take stock, once again, of our faith. It’s so easy, in the craziness of our lives, to put our heads down into the work, our noses to the grindstone, and not look up for so long that we don’t even realize that maybe we’ve left our first Love behind.  At some point the work itself has become the objective instead of relationship with Christ.  But without the love of Christ everything becomes rote, legalistic, meaningless and directionless.

The back streets of religious tangents are endless: our work, our service, our relationships, bible studies, even our own personal devotion time and prayer can become dry and monotonous without the spring of life that can only well up from the perfect love that flows from a close and intimate relationship with the Lord.

All these outward works can be done in the flesh and for a long time they won’t look any different than doing them in God’s strength. But as time goes on the inner life of a partnership with Christ, or lack of it, will be apparent as you begin to wear out and your works show less than abundantly fruitful.

Those outward things are not what our faith consists of; they are what flows from our faith in Jesus Christ. If in taking stock you realize that your faith has drifted away from the Lover of your soul and onto anything else instead, sit with the Lord and redirect your faith back onto Him. Let all else fall behind your Lord and seek Him and Him only. Fall in love with your Heavenly Father again. Give Him your whole heart and make Him the main thing once more.

“'Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?' Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" (Matthew 22:36-37)

Love Came Down At Christmas

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“Love came down at Christmas.”

These words have made their way to the forefront of my mind more than a few times in the last couple of weeks

The eternal God, the great I Am, Who had no beginning and has no end, Who is all-sufficient unto Himself, Who created all things great and small, sent to us His only Son, Whom He loves with an inconceivable love, in the form of a tiny, soft, cuddly baby boy.

Love was encased in a manger that morning.

As his mother and step-father stared breathlessly into the face of their brand new, precious little gift as all parents do, they were privileged to look into eyes swimming with love. They held love, wrapped in a blanket, and waited for him to demonstrate to them, and to all of us, the true meaning of love.

(Read the rest on the Halas and Phos devotional page here.)

Blessings to you!
Dorci

Armour of God - Girding With the Truth

Armour of God Part one.

As we continue on our journey to our own Promised Land, remember that there will be attacks by the enemy along the way. But God has given us tools, so let’s begin to understand the usage of each piece of spiritual armour, clothe ourselves in it, and master it.

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,” (Ephesians 6:14a)

I’m going to stop mid-sentence in this verse so that we can focus on truth, which is a weighty piece of armour all by itself.

But first, let’s take a quick look at the words “stand” and “therefore.”

Greek Word Lesson Alert!

Stand - “abide, appoint, bring, continue, covenant, establish, hold up, lay, present, set (up), stanch, stand (by, forth, still, up).”

Therefore – this word should always cause us to look back to see what it’s there for.

Verse 13 said, “Therefore, (because we wrestle against spiritual wickedness - vs.12) take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

So, we need to keep abiding in our relationship with Christ so that we can withstand the days of evil, or the days of trials - the days we are attacked by the enemy and our faith is tested so that at the end of our lives we are still found standing boldly in Christ, proclaiming His Name to all.

Okay, onto the armour.

When Paul was writing this letter to the Ephesians, it was common practice in that day to “gird the loins” or gird the waist. Because the men in those days wore long tunics, in order for them to work or fight efficiently when they went into battle, they had to pull up the hem of their garment so that they didn’t trip on it and that allowed them to move about freely without stumbling. So girding about was the way they readied themselves.

The first thing we need to do to ready ourselves is to know the Truth with a capital T. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

In order for Him to make a statement like that He either had to be off His rocker or He had to be God, claiming that He was the personification of all truth.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

We can only stand in the strength of Christ if we have already come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, Who is the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth.

So, do you know the Truth that is Jesus Christ? He is the only begotten Son of the Father who loves you so much that He came to earth, born as a baby in a humble stable, to live and then die as payment for your sins. All you need to do is ask for forgiveness for your sins, accepting Jesus’ payment for them.

“For He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son; in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

If you would like to read more, please click on the tab at the top entitled How To Know God.

If you have truly received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, don’t ever let the enemy tell you that you aren’t saved.

“And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who called you, Who also will do it.” (1Thessalonians 5:23-24)


Next up: Breastplate of Righteousness

What Does God Treasure?

It's funny the different ways people will sometimes stumble onto this blog. Many times it's by Google searches looking for "God" or "treasure" or some combination of both. The other day someone did a Google search on "what does God treasure?" Now that was an interesting question.

What does God treasure? God owns everything. He owns the heavens, the stars, the planets, He owns it all as far as the eye can see and further. But God tells us what He treasures:

"Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.." (Exodus 19:5)

The Lord commanded Moses to speak these words to the Israelites but I believe that this is still what God treasures today: someone who has a heart that is completely, wholeheartedly devoted to Him. Why? Because He loves us! In the same way that it brings a parent great joy when his child loves him enough to do what he asks, it also brings the Lord great joy when His children love Him enough to listen to Him and do His will.

And, by the way, the word "peculiar" used in this verse doesn't mean weird or strange the way we have come to think of it. It means uncommon, distinctive from others, belonging exclusively to some person. God wants each of us who receive Him to be set apart from the world, that is, that we would love the Lord over the temporary things of the world, and belong exclusively to Him.

God gave this promise to the Israelites first, and then with the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, believers in Him became grafted into that family of those who would be set apart for God and treasured by Him.

That is what, or should I say who, He treasures: a devoted child whose heart is on fire for Him. It is, after all, a living, breathing relationship that we were called to the day we gave ourselves to Him. What good is a marriage when there is no relationship? What good is there in a parent/child relationship when there is no love? And what good does it do to receive Christ by faith but never listen to His voice, never go to Him and ask what His good and perfect will is and for the strength to carry it out?

But those who cherish their Lord enough to continue daily in honoring Him to the best of their ability with their thoughts, actions and words, they are God's treasure. They are a special people unto Him that He can use to bring His love into this world by being His feet and His mouth and His hands.

The one who would wholeheartedly follow the Lord is the one whom God treasures because He loves us and desires more than anything for us to love Him, too.

Is There Still Passion?

I had a post all set to go for today. In fact, I still have it minimized on my computer.

But I woke up this morning thinking about Mel Gibson. No, not like that. I was thinking of a recent interview I saw him do on The Tonight Show. Mel talked about his impending divorce from his wife of 20-something years and the fact that they've been separated for the last 3. He admitted that he'd done a "hatchet-job" on his marriage and he was willing to take the blame for its failure.

Then he confirmed the rumors not only that yes, he is dating that beautiful woman people have seen him with, but yes, she is pregnant with their baby.

I thought of all that and then tried to reconcile it all with the man who wrote, produced and directed the movie, The Passion of the Christ. It is without a doubt the most heart-wrenching, powerful, emotionally raw and most realistic movie -even using the Latin and Aramaic languages- ever made about Jesus Christ. I've only been able to watch it again one more time since we saw it in the movie theatre and my eyes were closed for much of the scouraging scenes and my stomach was sick for most of the movie.

That was my Lord suffering and dying for my sins.

The man who made that movie had to have poured out his heart and soul into it. He reportedly spent millions of dollars out of his own pocket to make the movie because no movie studio would take a chance on it. He endured criticism for everything from holding private screenings for certain individuals, to the opinions held by many that the movie was too violent, to the controversy surrounding his original desire to have no subtitles, to the attacks of others who claimed that the movie was anti-semitic.

But he made the movie anyway. It seemed there was a passion that moved Mr. Gibson to make that movie. He even thoughtfully chose to be the hand who hammered the nail into Christ's hand because, he explained, it was his guilt that nailed Him to the cross.

Indeed. And it was mine.

So what has happened? How has he gone from a man who so desperately wanted to tell the story of Christ's crucifixion, giving us all a glimpse into what it could have looked like for an innocent Man to be nailed to a cross for our own sins, to a man who admittedly ran his marriage into the ground, and now, before he is divorced, is openly dating another woman, and has gotten her pregnant. And he's on a talk show talking about it.

Of course everything I just wrote I thought about this morning in a matter of seconds. And the thought that lingered, that led me to the computer to write something different to you today was, what has happened to our love for God? What happened to the love that Mel Gibson seemed to have? What is happening to the love of self-proclaimed believers in Jesus Christ in this world?

How can we say we love Christ and hate our brother?

How can we say we love Christ and get divorced - something that God says He hates!

How can we say we love Christ and harbor unforgiveness?

How can we say we love Christ and go about our merry way, doing our thang, never even considering if that thing is God's will, never even going to Him and asking the Lord what His thing for us is?

Are there people left out there who still love Jesus Christ with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their strength and with all their mind? We don't even seem to respect God anymore. I hear Christians use God's name in vain; I hear Christians whine about having to go to church (which is anywhere believers in Jesus Christ gather), I hear Christians complain about helping a brother in the Lord.

Where is our love for the God Who sent His Son to die for our sins?

Has our love grown cold? Have we tip-toed into the world just a little bit too much? Have we been affected by the world rather than us affecting the world? Are we just afraid to look different? Are we afraid to have some of the types of attacks that were aimed toward Mel Gibson directed at us?

The Lord has increasingly put on my heart that times for all of us are going to get more and more difficult. The world is going to turn against the Christian faith more than it ever has. There is going to be a shaking of our faith, and if we're sitting on the fence when it happens, we may not know on which side we'll end up.

Please, I implore you, if you have been on the fence with your faith, one foot in the world and one foot trying to live a Christian life and yet not doing very well at either, get off the fence and get back to your first love - loving your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let's ask to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that we are overflowing with His love so that it spills out all over everyone around us. Let's love God enough to desire to do His will, to be Jesus' eyes and ears and arms and feet on this earth. Let's have the mind of Christ.

Ask God for forgiveness for the sins you've been committing and for going your own way.

Love your brother.

Work on your marriage.

Forgive those whom you need to forgive.

And then lets get back to regular prayer and ask God what He wants you to do today, and then do it! How does He want you to spend your...His...money? Does He want you to take the time to tell someone, maybe a co-worker, maybe a neighbor, maybe a relative, that God loves them and sent His Son to die for them, too?

If you find that your love for God has waned, ask Him for it back.

Let us be the salt and light in this dark and lonely world. Let us be the example of loving unconditionally, not just when everything is going our way or when others are loving us.

I pray we seek to be Spirit-filled and love as Christ loved - passionately, joyfully, wholeheartedly, unabashedly, sacrificially, without thought for ourselves, but thoughts only of others and for their good.

And if you're hearing for the first time that God loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for your sins and you want this relationship with Him, click on the How to Know God tab at very top.


"Therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be weary and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Hebrews 12:1-4)

Love in Surround Sound

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:17b-19

Thursday Thanks - God Always Loves Me

(Don't be afraid, I'm just changing the name of our Thursday edition a little bit. )


So, this week I'm especially aware of how thankful I am that God knows me and loves me anyway. No "ifs," no "buts," no "onlys," no "maybes," no nothing.

He just loves me.

He knows me better than I will ever know myself. He knows the way I think, the way I feel; He knows my quirks, my weirdnesses, my goof ups, my snarkiness, my tendency to procrastinate and be lazy, all those and more, and He loves me not one iota less than He would if I were less quirky or less lazy.

Thank you, Jesus, for your great and incomparable love for me. Thank you that I can always be secure in the knowledge that you love me, no matter what.

"For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)


What are you thankful for?