Max Lucado on Forgiveness

I found this excellent teaching by Max Lucado on forgiveness, focusing on the life of Joseph.  In true Max Lucado fashion, he pulls together nuggets of truth from God's Word that help us see even more clearly Joseph's journey to forgiving his brothers, and how we can forgive, too. 

He expounds beautifully my last blog on forgiveness, so if you struggle in this area, and I think most of us do, I hope you'll be blessed by it.

Dorci

Our God's Alive!

"I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!"

Rev. 1:18

~Jesus the Christ

Happy Resurrection Day!
Dorci

Lessons From the Cross

As Jesus hung on the cross, bloodied and bruised and agonizing, His thoughts and purpose for us remained steadfast.  These are the words He chose to speak as His last before His work was done and just a few things we can learn from them.

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Luke 23:34

He showed us mercy and forgiveness and gave us hope that we can forgive no matter the circumstances, too. 
  

"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Luke 23:43

            He showed us grace and the hope of heaven.

"Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother."
John 19:26-27

            He showed us His compassionate provision. 


“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”   
Matthew 27:46

He showed us that even when we don’t understand we are to cling to the Father in the midst of our suffering.

"I am thirsty."
John 19:28

            He showed us humility.

"It is finished!"
John 19:30

            He showed us His completed work.  There is nothing left for us to do.


"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."
Luke 23:46

            He showed us complete dependence and trust in the Father for our

            eternal souls.


   
Question4U: What lessons do you learn from Jesus' last words on the cross?

Love and blessings,
Dorci

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

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,

Anatomy of a Sin

“City Worker Stole $100K”

“Con Man Offered 19 Excuses As To Why He Couldn’t Pay Back Investments”

“Ex-Teacher Guilty of Sex Charge”

Most of us would look at these current headlines in shock, maybe even with what we might think of as righteous indignation, and wonder how a person can sink so low as to commit these crimes. But sin doesn't take over a life overnight. It’s a process of giving in to temptations, justifying the acts and deceiving one’s own heart. And none of us are immune to it.

If we were in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago, we might see this headline in the local paper:

“Judas Iscariot Betrays ‘King of the Jews’”

“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests. And he said to them, ‘What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you?’ And they appointed to him thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.” (Matthew 26:14-16)

Why did he do it? Why would Judas betray this man--this friend whom he walked with for 3 years, who taught him, who trusted him, who had just knelt before him and washed his feet--for a mere 30 pieces of silver, the wages of a slave?

I think we find the answer in John, chapter 12.

Many are gathered in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus where a dinner was being given in honor of their friend, Jesus. Mary had just unsealed the lid of a very expensive jar of perfume and had washed the feet of the Guest of Honor with it, wiping them with her own hair.

Judas said, “’Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” John 12:4-6.

Instead of confessing to Jesus that he had given in to the temptation to steal from the money bag, Judas gave in to the temptation time after time, letting greed take over. And in 3 short years, Judas’ love of himself and of money became more important to him than any love he would have had for Jesus. And at some point evil took over as satan, the enemy of Jesus, entered into Judas Iscariot (Luke 22:3), carrying out the betrayal through him.  And by the time Judas' conscience caught up with him, it was too late. He had handed over the Son of God to His death.

(Yes, Jesus' death was planned for by God all along; yes, it is by His death that we are saved from our sins and are given eternal life, but I wouldn't want to be the one who betrayed Him, would you?)

Once again, instead of confessing his guilt to the one Man who would have forgiven him, Judas confessed to the chief priests and the elders who couldn’t have cared less. Guilt consumed him and he hung himself.

All of us are faced with the temptation to sin every day. Being tempted is not a sin; even Jesus was tempted, but He remained sinless. It's when we've given thought to the temptation, however brief, and choose to submit to it that we've sinned.

In the beginning, it may seem as harmless as taking a few coins here and there from a money bag, or looking at a picture on the internet every now and then that we know we shouldn’t, or flirting with that co-worker. If we continue to deceive ourselves, thinking it's no big deal, or we can handle it, we may look back someday and realize we've made the biggest mistake of our lives.

Whatever your temptation is, before it gives birth to sin and the consequences are more than you ever wanted to pay, confess it to the one Man who can and will forgive you, the God Who can help you, the Lord Who loves you--Jesus Christ.

The Secret World of Snowflakes and You

In the last week or two here in the U.S., people have shoveled, scraped and trudged their way through one of the biggest snow storms we (and when I say “we,” I mean “they,” since I’m from Arizona) have seen in quite a while. My guess is most of those people have seen enough snow to last them until December.

But as we take a magnifying glass and look at a single snowflake, we'll see that they really are fascinating little miracles. Just like precious pearls begin as something ordinary--a grain of sand, snowflakes also begin as something just as unpretentious--a dust particle, a piece of volcanic ash or sea salt.

As it falls through the atmosphere, each particle forms into a clear ice crystal, its individual shape and size determined by the various conditions, such as the altitude, temperature and humidity, that each particle encounters as it falls to the ground. The one thing that all snowflakes have in common is that they each have six sides or branches.

All of us are also born with an ingrained imperfection, that is, our sin nature. As we grow, the conditions we encounter, such as the family we grow up in, the experiences we have in life and even our own personalities determine the one-of-a-kind of person we become. But our sin nature continues to act as an irritant, wreaking havoc in our souls.

“’Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD,

‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Isaiah 1:18

Interestingly, crimson is deep, red color named after maggot-like insects called Kermes that produce the scarlet color. It’s a type of plant parasite that feeds on the leaves of evergreen oak trees. (Here’s another snowflake factoid to blow your mind: though snowflakes come in many different shapes, the snowflakes with branches like the ones in the picture are called Stellar Dendrite snowflakes. Dentritic means “tree-like.”) Our sin acts like those parasitic creatures, eating away at our joy, our lives and our souls.

The Lord tells us that though we have been stained with the blemish of sin, He will make them white as snow. But we are all individual clear ice crystals, if you will. What makes snow, and us, white?

As snowflakes fall to the ground and begin to gather together, the light shining into the snow gets scattered around inside and is reflected around all those unique six-sided snow prisms and the light that comes back out appears white. And the imperfections are no longer seen.

The Bible refers to the number six as the number of mankind, of incompleteness. Just as the one commonality among snowflakes is that they have six sides, we all have in common our imperfect humanity. Without Christ, we are incomplete and impure. But as we receive Jesus Christ by faith and become part of God’s family, His light shines into us and is filtered back out through the prism of our character, purifying our hearts and making us white as snow.

It’s amazing to me that God made snowflakes as a microscopic allegory showing us our need for Him. It’s as if He calls to us in the whisper of a tiny, almost secret world and says, “I know all about your weaknesses, your frailties, your sins, but the power of my love can overcome all that!” You have come through different backgrounds, different circumstances, different sufferings and different joys than anyone else. And the shape that your heart and mind have become through your own uniquely-designed life allows Christ to shine through you in the extraordinary ways He’s chosen just for you and the lives around you.

Praise the Lord!

Of the Sons and Daughters of the King

I was sitting in the waiting room of a lab this morning next to a woman who was passing the time by talking on her cell phone. She wasn’t talking overly loudly, but loud enough that I (and a few other people who were waiting) could hear what she was saying. She and the person on the other end of the conversation were obviously talking about a third person (something I don’t necessarily advocate, by the way) and the fact that this third person, a woman, just did not understand how valuable the Bible was to her and that the book of Ephesians would be helpful for her to read. My ears pricked up at this point. Then she went on to say that this woman just didn’t fully understand who she was in Christ.

The arrow was shot and stuck straight into my heart.

And I thought, “Do I fully understand, I mean really understand, to the point of how it affects not only my thinking but also my day to day living, the full scope of who I am, right now, in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Do we know that we are the “beloved of the Lord,” (2 Thessalonians 2:13b) that “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”? (Romans 8:37) Do we comprehend that Jesus calls us “friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”? (John 15:15b)

Do we remember that we are the bride of Christ, and that we can say with boldness and confidence, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”? (Isaiah 61:10)

And because we are espoused to the King of kings, we are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”. (1 Peter 2:9)

We, the royal sons and daughters of Christ, have been called out of the world, out of darkness and into His light, the truth. So do we live like royalty, or have we become accustomed to and comfortable with living at the level of the world’s filthiness?

It’s easy to forget who we really are in Christ when we are surrounded by the world and its filth and when there are so many people who are ready, willing and even eager to tell us otherwise. And slowly but surely that filth, if we allow it, infiltrates our lives and minds and even hearts. As we live, so shall we think and believe.

But through His Word God says to us “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial (satan)? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1)

These can be hard verses to live by in this world in which we now live, but we must interpret scripture through the Holy Spirit, as the beloved, the bride, the heavenly royalty to which we’ve been called and indeed are, rather than interpreting scripture through our flesh or through a worldly or even cultural understanding.

That is why we need to not just read God’s Word, but let it be absorbed into our minds and owned within our hearts so they may be used for their God-given intended purpose: to love one another and to glorify Christ and to make Him known.

When the woman had finished her conversation and sat reading her book, I almost turned to thank her and let her know that God had used her in my life that morning, but I didn’t, and soon she was called to the back. I’m glad I was quiet, though, because her reward will be greater in heaven, reward for simply trusting the Lord and living her life in Him.

In Jesus' love,
Dorci

Dibs

I decided to drag myself out of the house yesterday, and pulled my family along with me. I’d been hearing about the movie, Despicable Me, and a lot of people had been saying some good things about it. So, despite the fact that it’s an animated movie and my family consists of 3 grown men and me, I was able to lure them out from their t.v. and video game haze.

We were first in line and the moment the theater was clean and the doors opened, my oldest son headed inside and straight for the 14th row, middle seat, eyeing the screen first to make sure his aim was right. He sat down, I sat next to him, then my husband, and then our other son.

We had plenty of time to discuss snack selections. In all my movie-going years, I’d never had Dippin’ Dots before and I decided to take the plunge. So my husband and the oldest headed back down to retrieve the snacks. When they came back up the oldest had a thing of Dibs. He loves his ice cream. If we’d been at home he would have had a big glass of milk to go with it.

So we sat there watching Despicable Me, the youngest and me with our delicious Cookie Dough Dippin’ Dots, my husband with his movie theater popcorn, and the oldest with his Dibs. We laughed and laughed at the silliness on the screen. The laughing felt good and almost made me forget that I’d been feeling as though I could identify with the movie’s name. The enemy of God and of His children had been hard at work aiming those fiery arrows and getting some pretty direct hits, and I’d been weary from the combat.

I finished my Dippin’ Dots and shoved the empty container into the cup holder next to me. We laughed some more. And suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, without a word, my son handed me a single Dib. It was one of the nicest things anyone had done for me in a while.  It was made even more special knowing that my son guards his ice cream with the tenaciousness of a Rottweiler. I took it, without a word, smiled, and ate it. It was the best tasting Dib I’d ever had.

I think of the irony of it now. The enemy had been calling “dibs” on my heart and mind for weeks, making me feel useless and unloved. And with one symbolic “Dib,” one simple but kind gesture, God reminded me that I am loved and that He has called dibs on my soul and I will never belong to another.

“But now so says Jehovah who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel; Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

Psalm 27 A Song of Hope

"A Psalm of David. Jehovah is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, my enemies and my foes, came on me to eat my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an army should camp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this I am trusting.

One thing I have desired from Jehovah, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to pray in His temple.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His shelter, in the secrecy of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me up on a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies, my encirclers; and I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle. I will sing; yea, I will sing praises to Jehovah.

Hear, O Jehovah, when I cry with my voice; and have mercy on me, and answer me. My heart says to You, Seek my face; Your face, O Jehovah, I will seek;

Hide not Your face from me. Turn not Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then Jehovah will take me up.

Teach me Your way, O Jehovah, and lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies. Deliver me not over to the will of my enemies; for false witnesses have risen up against me, and he that breathes out cruelty.

I would have fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living.

Hope in Jehovah; be of good courage, and He shall make your heart strong; yea, hope in Jehovah."

Thursday Thanks - A Brand New Day

Today I'm thankful for new beginnings. No matter what the circumstances were yesterday, no matter what my attitude was, I don't have to stay there. I can start over today. God's mercies allow me to go to Him, ask for forgiveness, know that He hears me the instant my prayer is uttered, set my heart and mind on Him again, and start afresh. What a loving and gracious God we serve.

What are you thankful for today?

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

Do You Want Peace Now or Later?

In early 1999, I was a stay-at-home mom of two boys, ages 7 and 9. We had been living in our first house for about 7 years and God was blessing us with a new house that was in the process of being built. My husband had been an employee at his company for about 7 years, and there were rumors of layoffs. I told him that if he was laid off that he’d better call me before coming home to ease the harsh news. Within a day or two, I received a call from him.

He came home, started looking for a new job, and I started praying. Almost from the start the Lord gave me an incredible peace about the entire situation. We had no savings, I had no job and we had two children and a mortgage – the only peace that was possible to have was from the Lord.

God was good to give me the following verses to hold onto:

“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest-when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end-then you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.

And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:7-18)

We had already put money down on this brand new house, but there was so much in the air at this point with my husband being out of a job that there was no way in the physical realm to know if we would lose the house or not. But when God spoke these words into my heart, I knew that He was giving us the new house.

And that wasn’t even the end of the layoffs. My husband was hired and laid off about 4 more times in that same year before the house was ever completed. But I kept reading these words of Moses and knowing that they were meant for us, too. And the part that always stood out to me was this: “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God..”

The Lord reminded me over and over that yes, I am going to give you a land that is better than you could have ever imagined, but do not ever think that you have built this yourselves, it is a gift from Me. Remember to always be thankful for it.

And indeed, my husband secured a job that was better than we would have ever imagined having just before the house was finished being built. And the Lord moved us into a house with things we had not had in our previous house: some space, two bathrooms, carpeting in all the rooms, a garage for all the junk we were blessed with, and a beautiful, sparkly, new dishwasher. Yes! I was no longer the dishwasher! Well, at least I had help.

Compared to where we had been living, we really did feel like God had moved us into the land of olive oil and honey. We even have valleys and hills, and the Lord provided us with our own “fountain and spring” in our backyard in the form of a pool with a waterfall. Amazing and miraculous.

The Lord had given us what we needed in our previous house and we were careful to live wisely on the one income we had, no credit cards, and we tithed faithfully. And now He was blessing us with more. It was nothing of ourselves, but purely the goodness of the Lord.

There are many right now who have been laid off, or their incomes have been cut drastically, and they’re wondering what the future holds. I will tell you what the future holds. The future holds Jesus.

At the first sign of trouble, do you turn to Him or do you try to figure things out on your own? There is much peace that we forfeit by waiting to use God as our last resort. He should be the first place we go when we don't know what to do, and even when we think we do.

If you lack peace today, look to the One who holds everything in His hands. Go to Him for direction and then, when He tells you to, move in complete trust.

Be faithful with what He has given you and remember that it is He who has given it. And when He blesses you, take care lest you become prideful and think that your own hands have made it.

Praise His Name and remember Him. Seek Him in the day of trouble and in the day of plenty. Honor Him in all you do and He will take care of you.

Thursday Thanks - The Hope of Heaven

Oh, these bodies of ours. I don’t know about you, but I first noticed my body was beginning to..shall we say, “turn,” (you know, like that brick of cheese you forgot was lurking in the dark recesses of your refrigerator, behind the leftovers) when I was about 29. Nothing big, just the normal aging process beginning to show on my face. Oh, what a surprise my body had in store for me then! I can just picture my DNA molecules getting together on Saturday nights and discussing how they were going to morph and cause me all kinds of grief in the coming years.

Getting old is no fun. And it’s not any easier watching our loved ones get older. And it’s especially heartbreaking when they get ill and when they die.

But God’s Word says, (to paraphrase) Aha! But this is not all there is! I will give you hope by telling you that if you are my child then you have a special place here with Me in my home – your home! Mi casa es su casa!

Okay, what it really says is, “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

I feel a song coming on after that one. And:

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20-21)

Amen and amen!

I long for my new body and my new home with Jesus more than anything else. No more stiff joints, no more fatigue. No more headaches! No more tears, no more pain, no more suffering. And I long to see my loved ones who are already there. In this world we grieve for our loss of them, but God is good to give us the hope of heaven.

And so, I am thankful that God has made provisions for us in heaven, where we can be with Him forever, where we will laugh and sing and run and dance (we're doing this together, right, Ylisa?!)and worship, without thought of our bodies ever getting tired or old or weak. And all that we do will be for the purpose of glorifying our Lord forever! And not only has He prepared a place for us, but He has given us hope by telling us now! Through it all in this life, we have the hope of heaven waiting for us.

If you have somehow found your way to this blog and you don’t know where you’re going after you die, please go to the tab at the top entitled, “How to know God” and read the post. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ you can have your sins forgiven and have the hope of knowing that when that day comes for you to leave this earth you will be safe and sound in the arms of the Lord in heaven where He has prepared a special place just for you.


I couldn’t find a good video of Rich Mullins singing his song, “That Where I Am,” but I also love listening to a little bluegrass when I can.

Enjoy!

My Portion

You Are My Portion

"Though I may not wear the garments of princes,

You are my portion, you are my portion, Lord.

For you clothe me in your righteousness,

You are my portion, you are my portion, Lord.

Though I may not sit at the table of kings,

You are my portion, you are my portion, Lord.

For you feed me from the abundance of your hand,

You are my portion, you are my portion, Lord."

by Darrell Evans

Thursday Thanks - Suffering with a Purpose

Just when I feel I'm beginning to fall into my oh-so-familiar "why" pit, God reaches over and pulls me back out again. He's good to me that way.

So this week I'm thankful for the staff my Shepherd used to keep me from falling: a video of a young woman named Rachel, speaking in front of hundreds of women about her terminal cancer and her faith in Jesus.

Rachel was recently diagnosed with cancer for the second time. The first time it was breast cancer and this time the cancer is in her bones and liver and it is spreading. Her doctors give her 6 to 14 (I believe she said) weeks to live. She is married and has young children.

Her message helped me to gather in my mind all my own suffering and, once again, give it purpose: to draw closer to my God and to glorify Him. Is there any greater purpose in the world?

Thank you, Lord. And thank you, Rachel, for sharing your trials and the wisdom you've learned through them. You have fulfilled your purpose.

The video is 55 minutes long, and I promise you won't regret the time spent. You can find it on her website, Death is not dying.



Update - Rachel went home to be with Jesus on July 2, 2009. Please uphold her family in your prayers.

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)

The Long and Winding Road - Part 5

Parts one, two, three and four

Growing up feeling unloved can take a toll on a person. Research in the late 60’s and early 70’s showed that even young monkeys need affection in order to grow into healthy adults. And growing up feeling unloved and being abused will take a toll that only God can heal. And that’s exactly what God had been doing in my life the past few years.

Growing up I had learned that because I was unloved I must not be worthy of being loved. I must not be good enough, smart enough, perfect enough. I had to earn my way to love. And, oddly enough, that way of thinking was still cemented into my mind even after I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. And, of course, God knew that.

Two worlds were colliding: one being the mindset that I learned as a child coupled with being allowed to remain in this state of mystery pain with no answers; the other knowing intellectually that God was a God who professed His unconditional love for me by sending His Son to die to pay for my sins. My mind just couldn’t reconcile the two, and beneath the anger that I had been feeling was really fear and panic at the thought that I must have done something wrong and God had turned his back on me like so many others had.

But, instead, God had been in the process of showing me that His character remained true. He did love me unconditionally, and that, ironically enough, it was in the midst of those painful circumstances that I would learn that I don’t have to earn God’s love, that pain does not equal being unloved by an all-powerful God, and that God’s purpose, in part, in allowing this trial was to retrain my brain, to let go of the lies I believed and hold fast to the truth as I took it into my heart.

God was working out Romans 12:2 in my life: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.”

My mind was being renewed and I was no longer bound by the thinking that God can’t love me and simultaneously allow painful circumstances into my life. By the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in my heart, I was no longer feeling like I was being callously hurt by an unloving God.

My circumstances had not changed one iota, but my mind and my heart had. God had purged that ugly dross from my heart and I was in love with Him in a way that I had never known before. My heart was now free, in a way it never had been, to receive God’s unconditional love.



Our church’s women’s retreat was coming up and all I could think of was, “if I could only touch the hem of his cloak.” Like the woman who risked everything to seek out Jesus for healing with her issue of blood, I wanted to pass by the world with my eyes solely focused on Christ and on being so near Him that I could reach out and touch Him in a way that would allow His power to heal me – in whatever way He saw fit.

And I took that new mind and new heart to the women’s retreat. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but I believe it was during a prayer of repentance. Prayers of true repentance are probably one of the most over-looked yet most powerful things we can do. In that moment we humble ourselves and acknowledge, without excuses, our sins before a Holy God. And in doing that God can take us off the wrong path and set us aright.

And so I asked God for forgiveness for not heeding His words to “be strong and courageous,” for not holding onto Him for strength during this trial but rather attempting to find answers somewhere else. And because Hebrews 4:16 invites us to, “therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” and because I am a daughter of the King, a King Who loves me unconditionally, I boldly asked the Lord to somehow redeem those wasted years.

I believe that’s when I touched the hem of His cloak. My heart was free to not only receive all that God had for me but to be a vessel of His love and mercy and truth. During that retreat God put me on the receiving end of questions that before that day I would have answered differently. But I found myself thinking like my Lord and speaking the truth in unconditional love. And I was doing things that before I never would have done. I had decreased and He had increased in my life.

An important point to note is that when God spoke to Joshua the words “be strong and courageous,” it was just before he was to enter into the Promised Land. This newfound relationship with my Lord felt exactly like that - like I was entering into a Promised Land. This was how the Father desired His children to walk with Him: closely, with complete trust, freely giving and receiving love in all circumstances, willing to go wherever the Lord would lead.

And, like Joshua’s Promised Land, mine would also hold the enemy, lurking in the shadows, waiting to attack. And that’s exactly what he’s tried to do. God’s enemy has been working hard at every corner to undo all that God’s done by again trying to make me feel as though I’m unloved. But I will continue to be strong and courageous, to fill my mind with the truth found in God’s Word, and let it continue to wash over me and renew me still.

* * *

One of the most profoundly true statements is found In The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The words take me aback each time I read them as the powerful reality of them engulf me. Speaking of Aslan the lion, the Christ-like character in the story:

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you.”

He is the King I tell you. And He is good, through and through. Anything He allows in our lives comes from a love so great and a plan so good that we will never fully understand until we see Him face to face and all things are revealed. In that moment we will see the beauty of God’s handiwork in our hearts and we will fall down at His feet and worship Him.

But right now we are called to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), faith that we serve a merciful, gracious, benevolent, all-knowing, all-powerful God Who loves us more than we can ever imagine. And His ways are always in line with His perfect character. To submit to Him is to submit to a plan of the highest order.

So. Are you resisting God and His will? Instead of fighting to get out of the fiery trial, ask the Lord what He wants to do in your heart and life through it. What eternal treasures can you glean from it? Read God’s Word as you sit with the Lord and get to know Who He really is, not just who you think He is. Let Him purge the lies from your heart and take you deeper into your promised land. One way or another, faithfully, God will have His way in your life.

Resistance is futile. Time is short. Get going.

The Long and Winding Road - Part 3

(Part 1 and Part 2)

I think I started serving the Lord the same month I was saved and I’d been serving in one capacity or another ever since. But in about June of 2008, the Lord apparently knew it was time for some pruning.

The year before had been especially difficult. I had taken on even more ministry responsibilities, I was working part time, my son had started homeschooling (with a internet program that had the difficulty of an advanced college course and the confusion, at times, that left me and even the teachers scratching our heads as we tried to figure out the program), a number of interpersonal relationships had become strained, and by that time I had been suffering with daily headaches for just over two years. By the summer of 2008, I was stressed beyond belief and exhausted, physically and mentally, and spiritually I was hanging on by a thread.

So after earnestly praying for God’s will, He told me to take a break. Not only did I desperately need the rest, but the Lord told me that it would be a year of healing. So I reluctantly stepped down from all my ministry duties, we found a much better homeschool program for our son, and I set about seeking the Lord.

And after a while, I began to hear the voice of the Lord again. He spoke to me at first through song, specifically and unexpectantly, through Third Day’s cd, Revelation. We had picked up a copy after we’d gone to a concert and as I listened to it, the words began to melt into my heart like a balm from heaven.

Some of the songs are sung from the perspective of the Lord toward his children and some from a child to a loving Father. And as I listened, the lyrics seemed to echo the aching of my heart.

Let Me Love You

Ever since the world around you shattered
You’ve been looking everywhere for something more
Sometimes you feel like your life doesn’t matter
But it does
I tell you it does

Call My Name
It’s been so long since
You felt like you were loved
So what went wrong
But do you know
There’s a place where you belong
Here in My arms

Revelation
My life has led me down the road that’s so uncertain
And now, I am left alone and I am broken
Trying to find my way
Trying to find the faith that’s gone
This time,
I know that you are holding all the answers
I’m tired of losing hope and taking chances,
On roads that never seem,
To be the ones that bring me home
Give me a revelation,
Show me what to do
Cause I’ve been trying to find my way,
I haven’t got a clue

Run To You
If I run to you
Will you hold me in your arms
forevermore

And I started to realize that God was not only wanting to heal my heart from the pain of the last few years, but of the grief that an entire weary life had left me with. I listened to the words over and over and through them the Lord began to draw me to Himself and to soften my hardened heart.

What I hadn’t realized was that I was still angry about my past – my whole wretched, distorted, disjointed, ugly, lonely past. And I was resentful that God had allowed it, all of it. I was angry at God.

But God knew that and He didn’t turn me away, He didn’t disown me, He didn’t stop loving me, He didn’t even get angry with me. His love and compassion and grace and mercy were poured out onto me as He sought to restore me and our relationship and make me into the daughter He created me to be.

I had wrestled with God for far too long. Oh, there had been times before when I had prayed that God would deliver me from living in my past, from asking a million times “why,” and He had. But like a recurring nightmare, the past always kept creeping back into my present.

And so I began to take my eyes off my physical health and put them back onto my spiritual health, and I began to earnestly pray again.

“The opportunity arose when Moses killed an Egyptian for beating a slave (Ex. 2:11-12). Realizing the crime had been witnessed, he fled to the desert to escape Pharaoh's wrath. It was there that he came to the end of himself.”

The Lord used this excerpt from a Charles Stanley email devotion to remind me that, just like He did for Moses, God had used all the pain in my life to bring me to the end of myself. I had been in a desert of sorts and it was time to give up. It was time to not just let go of the past, but to die to myself altogether.

It was time to die to my feelings of having a right to a certain kind of life, even if others around me were experiencing that kind of life. It was time to die to my expectations, to my dreams, to everything I had wanted to live and to be, not because those things were bad, but because God wanted something better.

Moses’ life as the son of the Pharaoh of Egypt may have seemed like a good deal. And maybe he spent a large portion of the next 40 years after being run out of Egypt resenting God for removing him from that position and putting him in the desert instead. But God had a plan for Moses’ life, and living as Pharaoh’s son was paltry compared to what God had in mind.

And I now had a sense of direction, and I prayed for the better way – God’s way. I asked my Father to help me die to myself and to live for righteousness. And as I did, the Lord put these verses on my heart:

“Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:20-21 NIV)

I had served the Lord, but now I would truly know the Lord. Like Peter had admitted at the breakfast after the resurrection, I had loved the Lord in the sense of friendship, (and lately, not even that) but God was calling me to love Him with an agape love – a sacrificial love that was more intimate than I had ever known or imagined.

To be continued...