Tag: Forgiveness

Exposed to the Light

Posted on by Dorci

 

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

I bowed my head to pray and to forgive someone who had hurt me years ago.  As I was praying, I started to say things like “they probably didn’t mean it…”  

And the Holy Spirit stopped me right there.  “Don’t make excuses.  Bring the sin into the Light.  Acknowledge it, all of it, so that you can completely forgive it.”

Of course He was right.  If I’d made excuses for the sin and acknowledged only part of it, I would only be able to forgive a part of it, and the rest would continue to grow its bitter root in my heart.

Jesus hung on the cross, wearing only a mocking crown of thorns on His head, fully exposed to the crowd, the elements, the humiliation, and became sin.  My sin and your sin. 

Our sin was on Him, and none of it was covered.  He laid bare before the Holy Light of the Father, with every sin heaped upon Him, offering up Himself as a sacrifice.  Nothing was held back.  No excuses were made.  It was raw and ugly.  Sin always is.

And it was forgiven.  All of it. 

There is now no condemnation…

When we stand before the Father asking for forgiveness for our sin, or forgiving another, bring it into the Light.  All of it.  Acknowledge it, no matter how painful and ugly and humiliating it is.  And let God pull the sin’s darkness out from the roots and plant His peace in its place.

The Day God’s Word Saved Me from Myself…Again

Posted on by Dorci

 

“For the Word of God is alive and active. ” Hebrews 4:12

It was a Thursday morning and I was in the middle of work when the phone rang.  It was my sister calling out of the blue. Our mother’s health had suddenly deteriorated and my sister wanted to know if I wanted to go see her.  I hadn’t talked to my mother in years.

Well, there was a brief and difficult conversation we’d had several months before.  The Holy Spirit had nudged me a number of times over the course of a couple of weeks to call my mother.  What if she didn’t want to hear from me?  What if she didn’t know who I was?  He kept nudging so I gathered up the courage one day and called her.  She knew who I was but didn’t understand everything I was saying. I was able to tell her I loved her, and she told me she loved me, too.  That was basically the extent of the conversation. But God knew I needed to both say it and hear it, and so did she.

I told my sister I’d think about it for a few minutes and call her back.

I grabbed my Bible, walked away from my desk, sat down, and prayed.

What if she didn’t want to see me?  What about work? What about the appointment I have scheduled this afternoon? And what about all those vacant years of not having her there, of not having a mother?  Do I go see her after all that?

I opened my Bible, to what I didn’t know. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. I didn’t have time and my thoughts were swirling. I just wanted to hear from the Lord. The pages fell and I started reading.  One column…and another…and another.  I looked up, asking the Lord again, “What do I do?”

And suddenly it came to me – this is not about me.  This is about her.  All she had in the world, besides the nurses and other residents, was my sister and me.  If I were dying I’d want my sons there, and I knew our mother would want both of us there, too.

I called my sister back and we went.  I sat with my mother for hours as we looked each other in the eyes in a way we never had. Because of Jesus, I was now able to look at her through eyes of grace. Her words were harder to understand now, but I smiled at her and she smiled back. We hugged goodbye and again said “I love you.”

I was able to visit her a few more times in the month after that.  The communication became less and less until that last time when she couldn’t open her eyes or speak at all.

They say the hearing is the last thing to go.

I’m thankful that one of the last things she heard were her two daughters, talking and reminiscing and laughing. I pray that brought her joy.

I know I wouldn’t have gone to see my mother had I not taken the time to sit with Jesus and read His Word. There was nothing specific in my Bible reading that morning that had to do with what He ministered to my heart – that the visit was not about me, but about being there for my mother.  Still, reading it somehow opened a conduit for me to hear what He wanted to say to me. I don’t fully understand it, but His Word really is active and alive.

My mother died exactly one month to the day after that first call from my sister.  Because I prayed and opened His Word, God gave me the gift of one month of good memories with my mother.  I know they were good memories for her, too, and she deserved that.

We don’t have much time these days.  We’re all so busy that finding quiet time seems impossible, and it may seem like there’s just not enough time to read. The thing is, we don’t have time not to read God’s living Word. 

Reading His Word is not just about reading another book.  As Christians, it is our breath, our life.  It is the primary way God’s chosen to let us hear His heart beating and to hear His whispers of love and wisdom. With it He will give us answers to questions that come out of the blue, and make sure we don’t miss something wonderful.  He will make us a light shining for a dark world, and for someone whose days are dimming. 

He will reveal Himself, come near, and our hearts will beat as one.  

 

Preparation Day

Posted on by Dorci

“As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Matthew 26.2

The timing of Jesus’ crucifixion was no coincidence.  God’s timing never is.

It was Passover, a seven-day holiday commemorating the day some 1336 years before when God delivered His people out of Egypt from the bonds of slavery.

In the last plague carried out before their freedom, the Destroyer would pass through Egypt, striking down every firstborn.

But to the Israelites He gave this command: kill the Passover lamb, spread its blood on the doorposts, remain inside, and the Destroyer will pass over the blood-stained homes and spare the firstborn.

This action more than a 1000 years before Christ’s death foreshadowed the freedom from slavery to sin that would be given to anyone who would choose to find refuge in the blood of the Lamb of God.

“It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. ‘Here is your king,’ Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!’”
John 19:14-15

It was the day before the Sabbath. In the Hebrew culture, no work was to be done on the Sabbath, so all the arrangements for it – the cooking, cleaning, everything, had to be done by sundown the day before, known as Preparation Day.

Christ died on Preparation Day.

The work given to Him by His Father – His arrest, trials, beating, and His death on the cross to pay for our sins – was completed that day.

And He rested on the Sabbath.

Because Jesus, the Perfect Lamb of God, completed the work given to Him – the shedding of His blood as payment for sins – anyone who takes refuge in Him, who believes in Him as Lord will be forgiven and freed from the slavery of sin.

And those souls can rest in their freedom.

But God wasn’t finished.

Then came Sunday morning.  The guards, the seal, the stone, even death itself could not hold Him.

He triumphantly rose from the grave, showing His power over death. And because He did, not only do we have freedom from sin, but freedom from spiritual death.

Could there be any greater love?  Any greater gift?

Though we are free from the punishment of sin and death, we still wrestle in our flesh until we are brought into the presence of Christ and fully enter into our eternal rest from these earthly bodies.

As we walk toward that day, let us remember that nothing in Him is a coincidence.  His timing, His choosing of our trials, are all to prepare us for that great and glorious day.

Until then, in this preparation time, let us “prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him” as we “continue to work out {our} salvation with fear and trembling” in expectation of the day we enter our complete and eternal rest.

 

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son to die for our sins in our place.  Thank you, Lord Jesus, for obediently finishing the work The Father gave to you.  And thank you, Holy Spirit, for all you do to help prepare our hearts for our day of eternal rest when you bring us Home. We are so grateful, LORD, for your love and grace and mercy in our lives. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

 

Who is Jesus?

Posted on by Dorci

“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’ For this reason they tried all the more to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:16-18)

Salvation does not depend on being a good person, going to church, owning a Bible, or being an American.

It depends on Who we say Jesus is. Some say he was just a good man, maybe a prophet.  He said He was God. Either He was crazy, a liar, or speaking the truth. If He was telling the truth, then what we do with that truth will determine where we spend eternity. If we reject it, we reject God, for the Father and the Son are one.

Jesus Himself said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

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Without accepting Christ and His payment on the cross for our sins, we will stand before God at the end of our mortal lives and the beginning of our eternal ones with no excuse, and we will receive the just payment for our sins – eternity apart from God and the love and peace that originate in Him and flow from Him.

But, if we accept that Jesus is who He says He is, that He is God, and by accepting Him we accept His sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins, then there is no condemnation for us, and will be no judgment for our sins as we stand before God, since Christ paid it all.

Salvation isn’t dependent on what we do or who we are, but what we believe.  If we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, and we will forever live in His presence and all that He is – love, joy, peace, goodness, grace, mercy, kindness…

Who do you say Jesus is?

2016 National Day of Prayer

Posted on by Dorci

2016 National Day of Prayer
 

 

Friends,
Tomorrow, Thursday, May 5, is our National Day of Prayer.

If our beloved country were ever at a crucial crossroads, it is now.  And if we ever needed an opportunity to come together on one day to lift up fervent prayers to Almighty God on behalf of our cracked and crumbling nation it is tomorrow.

I am personally brokenhearted at the direction I see our country moving, at the lives being destroyed and the hatred being shouted.  We cannot continue to live as though there is no God, as if we can govern it or riot it or picket it or troll it all away.  We cannot continue to just hope it will somehow get better.  Hearts must be changed and only God, through faith in Jesus Christ, can do that.  

It is time to humble ourselves and repent of our own sins first, and then pray for God’s mercy on this land.

I believe there is still hope for God’s peace to return IF we will each – in faith – seek Him for grace and forgiveness.

I believe He is waiting for us to do just that.  

May His love and wisdom and discernment in prayer go with each of you.  

 

“…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14

The Only Way to Heaven

Posted on by Dorci

“Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

No other name. Not the allah of islam, not gautama buddha, not mahatma gandhi, not the pope, not good works, not self, not any other god. Regardless of one’s belief, the truth is that there is only one God – the Creator of the universe and of every living thing – on whom we can call who has the power, through His Son’s death, to forgive our sins and prepare a place for us with Him in heaven.

Many believe Jesus to be just another name in a long list of good men, prophets, whatever. But Jesus set Himself apart from all others.

He healed when no one else could, He loved when no one else would. He rose the dead and forgave sin.

Over and over He bucked the religious system – that of every other god – to do His Father’s will, to be the living logos of the Father Himself. He repeated “I and the Father are one.” John 10:30

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

Not a way, not a truth, not a life. He is THE only, and no one else can or ever has claimed that. No one. No one else is the bridge to the Living God but Christ who allowed Himself to be betrayed, whipped, tortured and nailed to a cross to be the sacrifice to pay for our sins.

And then His righteousness and power over death were proved on the third day when, despite the seal on the tomb, despite the strictly ordered guard, the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty.

He had risen from the grave and the Bible tells us He appeared to His disciples and over five hundred people at one time before He ascended back into heaven.

And after He ascended, He appeared to Saul, one of the greatest persecutors of Christians at the time, and Saul believed in Him, his name was changed to Paul, and he became one of the greatest living proponents for the truth of Christ, and he wrote more that became the New Testament than any other author.

Because time has past doesn’t make the truth any less true.

No other god can forgive sins. No other god promises to be the way to heaven. No other grave of any god is empty.

That may sound narrow or restrictive. But in actuality, Jesus is the most inclusive way there is. Every other god says you have to do…this or that to earn forgiveness. Other gods say only certain people can go to heaven. The way of those religions is actually far more restrictive, and they are actually dead ends that don’t lead to heaven at all, but instead to an eternity far from the presence of God and everything that is of God: love, joy, peace and everything good.

Jesus says anyone can go to heaven if they will simply believe in Him. Doesn’t matter their age, their gender, their color, their past beliefs, their past religions, their past sins, their past anythings! If you will believe in who He says He was (and is), believe in what He said, believe that He is the Son of God who died to pay for your sins and who rose from the grave and has the power to give you spiritual life both now and after this life, tell Him right now, ask Him to come into your life, and you will be saved.

None of us has tomorrow promised to us. I think any of us can look around at our own families, to those of loved ones, and to the world to know that’s true.

Don’t wait. Believe in Him now. He waits at the door of your life and He knocks. What you do with Christ is the most crucial decision you will make your entire life. Your eternity depends on it. I promise you, you will never regret it. And you will have a Friend for life.

In Christ,
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Praying for America

Posted on by Dorci

Moses did it when God’s people turned away from Him and worshipped an idol of their own making. Nehemiah did it when the city of God had been overrun and lay in devastating and shameful ruins.

Esther, together with God’s people, did it when they faced annihilation by God’s enemies. Gideon did it when the Israelites had turned away from God and their enemies continually sought to oppress them.

Ezra did it when God’s people turned away from Him yet again.
And Daniel did it when the years of Babylonian captivity were coming to an end.

All these, and many others – men and women just like you and me – lifted up prayers to the God of all mercy to save and protect them and their beloved city, always when their enemy seemed stronger, when evidence seemed stacked against them, when they were few and weakened.

But God loves to show Himself strong on behalf of those who will humble themselves and seek Him with repentant hearts.

He is still El Roi – The God Who Sees Me, and El Shama – The God Who Hears Me.

He is still El Channun – The Gracious God, and El Hanne’eman – The Faithful God. He is still El Nasa – the God Who Forgave, and El Mauz – God My Strength.

He is still El Yeshuah – God of My Salvation, and Immanu’el – God With Us.

I believe God gave this land that we would be a people who would give Him glory and who would stand with His beloved Israel. But we’ve turned far away from Him.

It’s time to look up like so many did before us, and pray for forgiveness and mercy. I can’t imagine this country in another twenty years if we don’t come together and turn our hearts back to Almighty God and live holy lives worthy of the calling we’ve received.

Only God can do this and I believe He wants to. I believe He is standing by waiting for us to call on Him with sincere hearts.

Tomorrow I’ll be fasting and praying for the future of our country and for the body of Christ to rise up and be a light in this dark and dying world. If anyone wants to join me, we can lift our voices together to El Elyon – the Most High God.

“Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” Psalm 127:1

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Spiritual Vision

Posted on by Dorci

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Acts 1:8

“One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”  John 9:25

Up until the very moment I was saved, I had always believed two things: that God and satan were equal powers at opposite ends of the spectrum of good and evil, and that abortion was acceptable.

spiritual visionBut the second I believed in Christ and was filled with the Holy Spirit, my spiritual eyes were opened and I knew those things I had believed were lies.

In Christ, through the Holy Spirit, we have been given a second set of eyes, if you will, that gives us the vision to see, to walk, to know, to trust, in the Spirit. That spiritual vision allows us to see the truth that is Christ, and to walk this journey in the light of God.

We have a choice every day to use only the eyes in our head by feeding our flesh, or to use the spiritual eyes of our hearts by feeding our spirit.

While on the island of Patmos, John wrote that he was in the Spirit as he was given a revelation of Jesus Christ, a vision of Him in all His glory in the heavenly realm.  He saw Him dressed in holy robes with a golden sash, eyes blazing like fire, feet like bronze glowing in a furnace, voice like the sound of rushing waters, a face like the sun shining in all its brilliance.  He was the One Who had the authority to hold the angels and the churches in his hand, and also the keys of death and Hades. 

When John wept because no one was found worthy to break the seals and open the scroll that would unleash the timely events of the future of all things, an elder comforted him with this, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”  Revelation 5:5

When we, too, are walking in the Spirit – praying, worshipping, taking in the Word of God, obeying, forgiving, fellowshipping, loving – our spiritual vision will become clearer, and our foundations stronger.  We will see Christ for who He is, high and exalted, with authority over all things.  We will believe and experience the depth of His power and love in our lives, along with His wisdom and discernment, and no puny trial will take us down.

It’s easy, though, with all that goes on in our busy lives to forget to feed the spiritual life, and then our dim, human eyesight prevails again, the flesh follows it, and we revert back to seeing and living and believing like the world.

We see (and judge) others by how they look outwardly instead of by the beauty of their souls.  We see them through their worldly wealth or poverty instead of by the riches of their inherent value as one made in the image of God.  We see them through their sins instead of as people whom Christ died for and who are in need of prayer and a Savior.

John told us that “…anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.” 1 John 2:11

We can choose, instead, to see with our spiritual eyes – the vision we’ve been given through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Just as we’ll see and know Christ more clearly, we’ll see others through His eyes, the spiritual lens of His grace and mercy and forgiveness.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24

Holy Spirit, please interrupt our busyness and remind us to seek you in all we do. Remind us to stay in prayer about all things at all times; remind us to be thankful; remind us to feed on the bread of your Word; remind us to fellowship with other believers, that we might encourage and be encouraged.  Help us to see with the unique vision You give us, to love You, Your people, and even those who consider us their enemies.  Help us to walk in You, that we might grow in faith and grace, and not stumble when the enemy comes.Help us to be disciplined to allow Your light to shine through us in this ever-darkening world.  Help us to discern Your still, small voice, that we might follow You on our constantly winding journeys, that we might one day hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

In Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen.

The Power of Love

Posted on by Dorci

Hello

I am so excited to be back with you after my long hiatus.  God has been good and faithful and has done some great things in my heart and life during my break and I’m ready to resume our journey with the Lord together.

Life is hard, I know, and the world seems to be getting crazier, darker, and more unstable than ever, but I hope to encourage you to keep focused on Jesus.  He is our compass, our light, our peace, our truth, our hope.

He is our solid foundation.

When all else is shaky, we can walk surefootedly, and we can stand unwaveringly in our faith and trust of the God who loves us.

The enemy would have us get sidetracked, even in things that seem good, but none of it means a thing if our focus does not continue to be this:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”  Mark 12:30

This is the crux of our journey.

Everything we do hinges on God’s love – understanding and receiving it more and more as we grow in our relationship with Him, and loving Him back more today than we did the day before.

God’s love is where all true treasure lies.

From His love all good things flow.  With it we have the power to forgive, the confidence to pray, the strength to serve, the courage to do whatever He calls us to do.  And that’s when an enriched life begins.

As that love between us and God grows, nothing will be able to move us.  No surprise diagnosis, no financial upset, no personal attack, no shocking headline, nothing.

Walking with Jesus we can endure anything, and endure it with a peace and joy that can only come from Him.

During my break each one of you (followers on the website and on the Facebook page) have been prayed for individually, by name.  Let me tell you, it was an absolute joy to do that.  I hope the Lord blessed you through it as much as He did me.

Please feel free to ask for prayer anytime.  You are all on my heart and I love you all very much.

If you follow God Treasure through email, please consider liking the Facebook page where I post scripture and music and other things I may not necessarily post on the regular website.

And if you follow only through Facebook, since FB has a quirky policy of not getting the all the posts to all the followers, please consider signing up on the website – Godtreasure.net – to receive the blogs by email so you don’t miss any.  I promise, I won’t send you anything else! And the more you like the posts on FB, the more likely you are to get the posts.  And don’t forget to share!  

“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26

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The God of All Restoration

Posted on by Dorci

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:10-11

I’ve been reading through 1 Peter again, but this time more through the eyes of Peter.  Precious Peter.

The man who was given three chances to pray along with Jesus on the night He was betrayed, instead fell asleep and three times fell into temptation.

He had looked into Jesus’ eyes and said he would be the lone faithful holdout among everyone else on earth…and then denied Him the very next day.

He had gone so far as to tell Jesus would rather die with Him than deny Him…then denied Him with an oath.

He had impulsively cut an ear off one of the high priest’s servants when they came to arrest Jesus, and then fell so fast and so hard that that very day he called down curses and emphatically swore on oath that he…did…not…know…the…Man.

And then a rooster crowed, and Jesus stopped everything and looked into his eyes. 

Peter fled, found a solitary place and wept bitterly.

It must have seemed like an eternity from that moment until the moment after Jesus had risen from the dead and met them on the beach with fish frying over a fire and Jesus once again looked him in the eye,  asking him not once, but three times, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?” John 21:15-17

 

And three times Peter answered yes.

And in that moment Jesus restored him with his new assignment, saying “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17) And then the command “Follow Me.” (John 21:19)

And Peter became a fisher of men.

The man who had been so filled with pride before became the man who wrote “be self-controlled.” (1 Peter 1:13)

The man who had let fear rule in his heart is the same man who would later write “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 13:14-17)

Peter knew true suffering.  Those days he spent with guilt and shame, far from his friend, far from God, far from forgiveness, were agonizing. He probably spent much of those days with his head hanging down looking at the ground, or into the sea, as he resigned himself to his old life of fishing for fish.  Jesus was gone; his life with Him was over. Simon Peter discovered there is no greater suffering than to be separated from God.

Maybe circumstances in your life have changed and you’re feeling like a failure.  Maybe they’ve left you on the sidelines. Maybe you think God’s done with you.

Let me tell you something: He isn’t.  He wasn’t done with Peter and He’s not done with you.

He’s using circumstances to mature you, to perfect you, to make you wholly dependent on Him. And when the time is right, with His resurrection power, He will restore you. 

You are His domain, His glory.  He started the work and He will complete it. Hold onto to the hope that Peter discovered was not a vain hope.

Be careful not to fill that heartache with something less than God’s perfect will, something of this earth.  Don’t go back to fishing. Keep waiting and filling your heart with truth, hope and His promises. 

Ultimate restoration will come for all of us who trust in Him when we see our Savior face to face.  As long as we’re on this side of heaven and away from the Lord we will feel a longing to be with Him, to be restored body and soul.  In the meantime, keep following Christ on the narrow road.

He’s coming back soon!

Grace and peace,