Hope for America

Posted on by Dorci

Hi Everybody. In case you haven’t heard, Pastor Greg Laurie has announced they’ll be hosting a one-day Harvest Crusade – Hope for America – on Sunday, November 16th at 6pm at Utah Valley University.

The same campus where Charlie Kirk fell asleep to this life and woke up in the arms of Jesus, Pastor Greg and his team desire to bring the promise of Christ and revival. He explains it all in the video below. (Technical glitch. Please scroll aaaall the way down. Lol)  

And he’s asking all of us to be praying at 3:20, am or pm, your choice. Why 3:20?

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to His power that is at work within us,”
Ephesians 3:20

 

Through our prayers, let’s all be a part of this amazing move of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of everyone who attends, whether in person or online at harvest.org, their youtube and facebook channels, and on the Harvest+ app. If you want to go in person, you can sign up here.  God bless you all.

Heavenly Father, we look forward to seeing your power at work through your servants, that you would do immeasurably more than all we ask or could ever imagine. We pray you would give them what they need to put on this event in such a short amount of time. We pray you would go ahead of them, binding the hand of the enemy, and preparing the hearts of everyone who hears your message, bringing countless souls to salvation, and that others who have been away from you would recommit their lives to you. We pray for revival in Jesus’ mighty name, amen. 

“Do you love Me?”

Posted on by Dorci
If we want to take steps closer to Jesus, that may mean moving away from others who don’t share that love of Christ. It’s sad, it’s heartbreaking, but a reality. It is a choice that will determine our path. We keep loving them and praying for them, but we must decide, do we want to follow Christ at all costs?

Will we love Him, choose Him, follow Him, above all else?

As Jesus asked Simon after His resurrection: “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” John 21:15a

Do you love me more than you love the others? Do you love me more than your vocation? Do you love me more than you love anyone or anything else?

I think, at this time especially, He asks us, “Do you love me more?”


Heavenly Father, give us wisdom, and the strength and courage to love you more, to follow you no matter what. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.

Stand Firm

Posted on by Dorci

Today I feel like I have about, oh, a million and one thoughts and feelings running through my mind. It’s a day of grief and sorrow for so many reasons, for events from long ago and some much more recent. And woven throughout all those thoughts and feelings are prayers to and thoughts of my Lord Jesus and of so many of the precious, Holy Spirit-inspired words He’s given us for times such as this. 


“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your Father in heaven'”
Matthew 5:43-44


“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:21


“Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.”
Psalm 37:7-9


“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Ephesians 6:10-18


“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling the labor pains intensifying for some time now. The enemy knows his time is short and he’s prowling, and besides the obvious destruction we see, he’d love nothing more than to cause destruction in the hearts of believers by using those events to lure us into hatred, then resentment, and then bitterness, ultimately hardening our hearts.

But Jesus warned us:  “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:12

And that brings me to one particular thought over all else that overwhelms my mind today. May our God and Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by the indwelling of His precious Holy Spirit, bless you and keep you.

 

“Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Mark 13:13

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you.” 
1 Cor. 15:58a

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”
1 Cor. 16:13

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.”
2 Cor. 1:21

“…because it is by faith you stand firm.”
2 Cor. 1:24b

“Stand firm, then…” 
Gal. 5:1b

“Stand firm then…” 
Eph 6:14a

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters…stand firm in the Lord”
Phil. 4:1a, c

“…that you may stand firm in all the will of God…”
Col. 4:12b

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith…”
1 Peter 5:8-9a

“You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”
James 5:8

“So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm…”
2 Thessalonians 2:15a

 

What God’s Doing – Cementing

Posted on by Dorci

The last year and a half have been something else. It’s been a long journey slogging through marshes, dark, creepy forests full of eyes glowing in the dark, deep shark-infested waters, rocky, steep exhausting climbs and riding avalanches down the other side. And that’s on top of an exhausting three years, on top of an excruciatingly painful fifteen years, and so on and so forth. 

Up until the last year and a half, I handled the stresses pretty well; not perfectly of course, but I’ve held on to Jesus through it. But this last trial has been different. It’s a long story in itself, but suffice it to say it came just as I felt I was finally coming back from the stroke, and it came on with vengeance. One thing after another, after another, after another…

I’ve prayed my heart out until I’m blue in the face. I’ve been worried, upset, frustrated, at the end of my rope. And yes, I’ve gotten angry. I’ve lobbed up those prayers we sometimes pray when we feel up against a brick wall – “Why God? Why more? Haven’t I had enough?!” And there have been days I’ve wondered what was the point. Why keep praying? Why keep trusting? 

Then this morning at church we sang a song that reminded me of a truth Peter spoke as many around them started to become disillusioned with Jesus and walk away. 

Jesus asked the Twelve “You do not want to leave too, do you?”

“Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'” (John 6:67-68a)

It seems not only in my life, but in the lives of so many others, the trials and suffering of all kinds is ramping up. The time to Jesus’ return gets closer every day, and God is preparing us. God is cementing our faith in Him and giving us a strength we’ve never known before. 

Yes, the journey can be confusing, frustrating, painful, and some days it can be downright maddening. It can creep up on you like a riptide and threaten to carry you away. I know.

But keep holding onto Christ. Keep telling Him how you feel. He can handle it, and He wants to help you through it. It is His grace and mercy that He disciplines us, His children, to mature us. There is no where else to go where we can find the eternal truths found in Christ, no where else we can find the kind of pure, genuine and lasting love He has for us. No where else we can go to find His peace, His joy, His hope. 

Let’s let Him cement our faith in the way He knows we need so it will be absolutely unshakeable, in the way that will bring Him glory upon glory, and take us into the Promised Land where our reward awaits with Him. Oh, what a glorious day. 

Please, if you need prayer, I’m here. You can leave a comment or email me. 

For His glory, 

Dorci
<*)))><

 

Heavenly Father, I lift up each person reading this. May you hold them tight and comfort them as they each walk their journeys, identifying with Jesus in His suffering. May you bring much good out of it – a strong faith, godly character, obedience, perseverance, wisdom, the salvation of souls around them, and the spreading of your love far and wide. I pray it all in the precious name of our Lord Jesus, amen. 

God’s Constant Presence

Posted on by Dorci

 

It’s funny, I never even dreamed of becoming a writer when I was growing up. Oh sure, I loved to read, I loved English class, and yeah, I loved sitting at my desk diagramming sentences. I was nerdy that way.

But even as an adult writing never crossed my mind until sometime after God saved me. I don’t remember exactly how it started, but a friend saw something there, something God had graciously given me, and asked me to write a short devotion or two. From there Lord continued to open up a desire in my heart to share His love, the love I’d always needed, but in Him I’d found in an infinitely more profound, glorious, faithful, healing, miracle-working way than I ever thought possible. How could I not want to share that love with others?

With that being said, I’m so excited to let you know I have another short story that’s been published, this time in the eighth volume-Lifted by His Word-in an 8-volume series called God’s Constant Presence by Guideposts. It is full of short stories written by people who have experienced God’s presence through His Word, speaking to their hearts in one miraculous way or another, the way He wants to speak to all of us.

It was a joy to relive my story from so many years ago, reminding me again what a personal and loving and gracious God we serve, and to share that love with others.

You can order the book through Amazon by scrolling down and clicking on the image of the book on the right, or at the bottom if you’re on a mobile device.

Or you can order directly through Guideposts by clicking here.  You can receive a 15% discount by using the code AUTHOR15. You can also check out all 8 volumes in the God’s Constant Presence series here. 

Happy reading! And may we all invite God’s constant presence to be with us as we journey with Him through this crazy thing called life.