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

God Treasure

Years ago I lost the diamond from my wedding ring. I looked down at the ring one day and there was only a gaping hole where a diamond once sat. I had no idea how long it had been since it dropped out and I had no idea where to start looking. The diamond was relatively small and I knew it would take a miracle to find it, if I could at all.

I could have given up and bought a new one. Heck, I could have even bought a bigger one, but it wouldn’t have been the same. It wouldn’t have been the diamond I was married with. So I started praying and I asked my friends to pray. 

I adopted a new posture of walking through the house, the yards and the garage with my head down, eyes scouring the ground. At night, when it was dark, I’d shine a flashlight through the house hoping to see a glint of a sparkle from my little diamond. I crawled on the ground, running my fingers through the carpet fibers trying to feel for a marquise-shaped pebble. I looked through the bed sheets, through the closet, under the couch cushions, everywhere I could think. And I kept praying.

Each day that went by it looked less and less like I’d find my diamond. A week went by, then two. Then one Wednesday night, I got in the car to drive to church. I glanced down near the pedals and saw a glint of something reflected by the overhead light. I thought maybe it was a wadded-up foil gum wrapper or something. I bent down and picked it up. It was my diamond.

How it ended up down there I’ll never know. And how, after driving the car for two weeks, it didn’t get kicked hopelessly under the seat, I’ll never know, either, except that the Lord heard our fervent prayers and rewarded my perseverance.

Most of us would search as earnestly for earthly treasure—treasure that is worth relatively very little. I wonder what would happen if we searched as fervently for God treasure? Colossians 2:3 tells us that in Christ is “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” There is wisdom and knowledge that cannot be found with a Ph.D., an MD, or a DVD. Only God holds these priceless treasures and He gives them to those who seek Him.

God says that “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6b

Seeking God is not a Sunday morning project. I may never have found my diamond had I looked once or twice and then given up. And we won’t find much of God if we only look once or twice a week, either.

The hunting grounds God has given us for His treasure are His written word and the ground at His feet as we commune with Him in all kinds of prayer. And the peace and joy we experience as we walk with the Lord through this life’s hardships, receiving His wisdom and knowledge for all aspects of our lives, is a treasure that far outweighs any temporary earthly bobble, no matter how shiny.

Don’t forfeit your treasure! Seek Him and be truely rich.


Q: With what piece of wisdom has God blessed you recently? 


All for Him,
Dorci

No Rubbernecking!

After taking off almost a month from blogging, I’m back, and so happy to be!

If you’re a subscriber, first, thank you so much! And, if you haven’t actually been to the blog lately, I want to invite you to come back and check out some changes, including new songs on the playlist and some great links. I’ve also added a box where you can suggest blog topics that I’d love to have you fill out. This blog is for you and I pray you are encouraged in the Lord by it. Now, let’s dig into the Word!

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“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You.”

Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

Every now and then you see a news story about someone driving off the road and into another vehicle that has stopped off to the side. At first I think, didn't they see that car?  But the odd thing is, when a driver becomes focused on something on the side of the road, he will actually begin to veer off the road toward that object.

As I write this, there is a lot going on in the world that we can begin to fix our attention on—violence in the middle east, and most recently, anarchy in Egypt, a sky-rocketing U.S. debt, increasing acceptance of sin to name just a few. Even in our own lives, and more personally, many times in our own hearts, there is conflict, pain and uncertainty.

When we begin to focus on these things, our minds will follow and at first that will cause us to slow down our progress on the path the Lord has set us on—following and serving Him.  Eventually, we'll veer off onto a wrong avenue and begin a journey down a dark road of despair. Soon we'll look back and find that much of our peace is gone.

But we have the sure promises of God.

God has given His children the promise that if we keep our minds focused on Him we will have peace. If instead of focusing on problems, we immerse ourselves in His Word and let it penetrate into our hearts, continually praying to Him for wisdom and strength, and allow Him to take care of the battles that rage around and even within us, we will find that He is faithful, we will learn to trust Him more and more, and His peace will reign in our hearts.

It’s not always easy to do, especially when we get blindsided with difficult news or we encounter a turn we didn't anticipate.  I think we have to begin our journey every morning making a new commitment for that day to focus on the Lord. And one day our journey will be over and we’ll greet the Lord and say, “I’m home!”

God bless!




Photo attribution to Stuck in Customs on flickr.

Yes and Amen

At least three times a month I decide to quit blogging. And yet here I am again. Hope springs eternal, I suppose. And so does the Fountain of Life. If you tire of hearing about the ways an extraordinary God moves in and through an ordinary life, namely, mine, you might as well move along to a food or decorating blog, or go back to watching your favorite re-runs of I Love Lucy or your RPG’s.

Here is where we’ll participate in the ultimate Role-Playing Game--our own lives. Here is where we’ll leave the world behind and scratch and crawl our way to the hem of the Master’s robe and find healing for our souls. Here is where I hope to reveal the wisps of an all-powerful Holy Spirit breathing life, hope, meaning and even holiness into an otherwise meaningless albeit sometimes odd existence.

I couldn’t get by without the promises of God. Although He is well-acquainted with our own failings, we serve a faithful God Who loves us enough to want to calm our fears by telling us of His promises over and over in His Word.  And we can count on those promises as sure as if they have happened.  "For all the promises of God in Him (Jesus Christ) are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us."  (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Years ago, early on in my walk with the Lord, I began to struggle with how I could ever serve the Lord. I desperately wanted to be of use, but I had no discernible talents. I couldn’t sing or play an instrument, I couldn’t teach, I wasn’t even one of those out-going people who felt comfortable just jumping into a role.

The Lord heard my prayer about it one day and the Holy Spirit put some words on my heart that I knew I had heard spoken from scripture, but wasn’t familiar enough with them to even know which book to find them. So I started doing a word search from the few words I could remember. I finally found it and it turned out to be Jeremiah 29:11, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

So I held onto that promise and sure enough, the Lord blessed me with many ways to serve Him.

And now, here I am again, almost 20 years and one very worn-down body later, wondering what I can do to be useful in the hands of the Lord. How can I serve Him when even cooking dinner has become a challenge? The answer? I don’t know. I think that’s why three times a month I change my mind about blogging for the kingdom. I want to do something, if even a small thing, for my Father Who saved me from so much.

So I’ll hold onto His promise again - that He knows what He’s planned for me, and that those plans are to prosper me, not to harm me as satan would have me believe. No, my Father has planned to give me hope and a future. After all, I’m still here, right?

Are you holding onto that promise for yourself?