Things That Make You Go Hmm...

When God said, "Let there be light," (Genesis 1:3) in what language did He say it?

An image of the Sombrero Galaxy, located 28 million light-years from earth.

Why did He create light? He is all the light the world would ever need.


"And this is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5


"And the city (the New Jerusalem) had no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they might shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations of those who are saved will walk in the light of it; and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it." (Revelation 21:23-24)


"And there will be no night there. And they need no lamp, or light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light. And they will reign forever and ever." (Revelation 22:5)

Proof That God's Grace is Alive and Well

Heyyyy! I'm so excited and blessed to have been asked by my friends, Tim and Cindy Mrva, to be one of the devotional contributers for the monthly newsletter for their online Christian store, Halas & Phos, Salt & Light.

Please check out their virtual store, which has scads (scads is still a word, right?) of Christian merchandise, complete with cool t-shirts, homeschool curriculum, jewelry, Christian skateboards and even sunglasses with doves on the side and verses printed on the inside of the arm. Yep, gonna have to pick me up a pair of those. There's so much more I couldn't even list it all here.

They also have a ministry page with links to devotions, blogs, websites and stories that will surely bless you. And you can also sign up to receive their monthly newsletters by email, which will introduce you to new merchandise, let you know about sales that they're having and will also include a link to the monthly devotion.

Here's a little intro to the first devotion, hot off the press:

In the Driver's Seat? Scoot Over!

A while back I was driving with my 17-year-old son in the front passenger seat of the car when we came to an intersection. My goal was to turn right after a car or two had passed. Apparently, I was taking entirely too much time for my son’s taste as he thought it was safe to move into traffic, and he, in no uncertain terms, let me know of his wisdom on this subject. (Read the rest here.)

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?

Prayer Requests

Today is the day I get to pray for your needs. Just leave a comment with your prayer request or email it to me by clicking on the postcard to the right.

God bless,

Dorci

Friday Funnies - Your Turn

Nothing funny today, but I'll tell you what, since we're having a long, holiday weekend (at least here in the States, we are) hopefully doing something fun with our families, how about you come back here sometime over the 3-day weekend and leave a comment telling me something funny that happened to you...or something funny someone said..or something. Okay, one funny picture to get you started...

(caption idea?)

Have a safe and happy weekend.

Thursday Thanks - You!

This week, what I'm thankful for is not, in fact, a what, but a who, and that who is you. Yep, you..sitting right there..I'm talking to you. There would be no reason for me to do this if you didn't log in and click your way over here. It blesses my socks off that anyone would ever stop by. And when you leave comments, well, that's just like the the icing on the cake, sweet and the more the better. You know, like that coveted corner of the cake that has all the icing roses on it? Yeah, like that.

So to all of you who take time out of your busy day to stop by every now and then, thank you. I hope you feel loved.

The Persecuted Church in Vietnam

It’s the first Wednesday of the month and that means taking a look into one of the countries that is now listed among the restricted nations of the world, where professing Christ can mean torture, imprisonment or death.

This month we’ll take a glimpse into the communist country of Vietnam.

Currently, Vietnam is approximately 54% Buddhist, 22% non-religious, and 8% Christian. The government officially recognizes one Buddhist organization, the South Evangelical Church of Vietnam, the Roman Catholic Church and two Protestant organizations, which are The Christian Missionary Alliance and the Evangelical Church of Vietnam.

The government bans all unregistered groups, and it doesn’t allow anyone who belongs to an unauthorized religious group to speak publicly about their faith; likewise, foreign missionaries are prohibited from sharing their faith.

The churches that remain unregistered do so because of the extreme restrictions that are put on those that are registered. Known Christians are routinely harassed, arrested, imprisoned and tortured.

Underground Christians have to baptize at night in streams and will walk for days to acquire a bible or to hand them out. Despite the persecution, many are following Christ and there is a need for trained teachers and leaders.

The following is but one of the prisoner profiles listed on the website The Voice of the Martyrs. It is a story of Le Thi Cong Nhan, a Christian woman who is currently imprisoned for her Christian faith, and has been for the past two and a half years. It reads as follows:

“In May 2007, Le Thi Cong Nhan, a Vietnamese Christian and lawyer, was sentenced to four years in prison followed by three years of house arrest. Nhan was arrested and sentenced alongside Nguyen Van Dai, a Protestant church leader and lawyer. They are accused of a wide range of crimes; such as “conspiring with terrorists, in their efforts to promote human rights efforts, including religious rights and democracy.” They are also accused of compiling “evidence of Vietnam’s suppression of the Protestant religion and providing it to the U.S.-based Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam and the U.S. embassy.” Following Nhan and Dai’s sentencing, the Vietnamese state news agency accused the lawyers of “posting information on the internet … [and] painting biased and distorted pictures of the country and its internal affairs.”

To me, this speaks loud and clear about the fear that the government has about being revealed as a corrupt government who then turns that fear on its citizens by treating them in an absolutely malicious manner. Shoot, why would anyone want to promote human rights, for Pete’s sake, especially when they are religious rights and, heaven forbid, democracy? There is, to be sure, an evil force behind the persecution these brothers and sisters are facing.

You can find information on Prisoner Alert about others who are currently imprisoned in Vietnam for their faith, and there are addresses where you can write to each one.

Please keep this woman and the others in your prayers, that God will give them the strength to endure and to hold onto their faith no matter what.

"Remember the prisoners as if chained with them-those who are mistreated-since you yourselves are in the body also." Hebrews 13:3

Armour of God - Shoes of the Good News of Peace

Armour of God Part one, Part 2a, Part 2b, Part 2c, Part three


“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” (Ephesians 6:15)

There are so many ways in which to look at these words and I’ll take a look at as many as I can think of. If you can think of others, I’d love to hear them.

First, a bit about the footwear worn by Roman soldiers. They wore a heavy, leather sandal that was studded with hobnails on the soles for protection and for better traction on rocky ground. Don’t get ahead of me now.

Each day we get up out of bed and walk out into a spiritual battleground. And that battleground – the trials we will face each day – will probably be rocky to one degree or another. What kind of protection, if any, do we walk out with each day? Many a soldier has been stymied by inappropriate or poor footwear and increased casualties in war have been a result.

So how are we, soldiers in God’s army, to prepare ourselves to get through the battles that a day will bring as unscathed by the enemy as possible? This is where that “many ways in which to look at these words” come in.

1. We prepare ourselves by making sure that we are standing each day on the sure foundation of Christ.

We will walk through many types of terrain in this life – rocky, slippery, steep (up hill or down hill), dry, floods, fraught with traps, being surrounded by animals or finding ourselves all alone. None of us knows what a day will bring. But Jesus is our Rock. If we make the choice to intentionally stand upon Him as our foundation, He will carry us through in whatever trials we find ourselves.

And standing on the Lord means knowing Him through His promises, His warnings, His commands and the depth of His love for us through His Word. And God’s Word does not fill our minds and hearts by osmosis. We need to crack open our Bibles and read them. God’s Word and prayer are how we can “put on” the spiritual footwear we need to get through each day.

Remember, though, this is not meant to be a ritualistic, I-have-to-read-the-Bible today kind of thing. We are cultivating a relationship with our Lord. If you don’t love to read God’s Word, ask God to give you a love for it. It’s not just a book, it is God’s letter of love to you and God will use it to speak to your heart about the trial (or in many of our cases, trials) you are facing right now.

2. Daily maintaining a relationship with the Lord through prayer, and studying His Word, and asking for forgiveness of our sins so that we don’t allow those sins to become a wedge between the Lord and us will give us peace.

By continuing to abide in Christ we will know that we’re right with the Lord and that He’s with us in all that He gives us to do and in every trial we face His peace will reign in our hearts no matter the circumstances.

3. As we are given God’s peace, we can then take that peaceful spirit with us as we walk through each day.

I like the Bible in Basic English version of this verse, which says, “Be ready with the good news of peace as shoes on your feet;”

As we interact with the people God gives us each day, having been prepared by the Lord first thing that morning by sitting at His feet and letting Him speak to our hearts, giving us wisdom for the day and peace to lead us in our words and actions, we will then be able to effectively minister to others. Our kind words can be what gives someone else who’s having a bad day, or a bad life, the strength to go on another day.

(Let me say, too, that there are some people who believe that their “big” devotional time (and by big I just mean the main devotional time. How long that is is between you and the Lord) for the day needs to take place in the morning, and if you can and desire to do that, great. It can be a good discipline to do that if you know you’ll forget or won’t have the time or energy to do it later in the day. But if you can’t have your main devotional time of the day first thing in the morning, at least commit to starting your day by reading a verse and praying for God’s wisdom and direction for that day. It will set your mind on the Lord and your perspective on the things that come your way that day be godly and eternal.)

And others, believers and unbelievers, will watch us as we carry the peace of God through our battles. We can be a source of inspiration for our brothers and sisters in Christ to keep walking steadfastly in the trials they face, and we can be a light to those who have yet to know Christ as their Savior and Lord.

We can allow God to prepare us to bring the Good News of Christ - that He died on the cross to pay for their sins - to them as they see and desire the peace that we have, and we’ll be able to say that the same peace we have can be theirs as they invite Jesus Christ into their hearts and lives.