Tag: Love

Want to be the Greatest?

Posted on by Dorci

“Then He (Jesus) placed a little child among them; and taking the child in His arms He said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming my Father who sent me!’” Mark 9:36-37

Jesus and His apostles had just traveled through Galilee and had come to a house in Capernaum.   I can just imagine all the things twelve men might discuss on a long, hot, dusty journey. Jesus found one discussion on this journey of particular interest.  Once they were settled, Jesus asked them what they had been talking about along the way.  Of course He already knew.

“But they were ashamed to answer, for they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest!  He sat down and called them around Him and said, ‘Anyone wanting to be the greatest must be the least—the servant of all!’” Mark 9:34-35

And there it is.  The answer to the question we all ask.  We all long for a purpose in life. We all want to be great, to be important in some way, that is, to contribute, to leave our mark on the world.  To know that our life has meaning.

Jesus says God’s way is different than the world’s way. It’s a 180 degrees opposite, in fact, than the way world seeks to find meaning. It’s not about being the richest or most famous or most influential or most good looking or hanging with those who are.  It’s not about climbing the ladder, or being one of the elite so that others will serve us.

It’s about bending down.  It’s about noticing the least of these.  It’s about loving and serving and providing for those who are in need, for those who are most helpless and most dependent on the mercy of others.  Jesus says lead by putting yourself last and being the greatest servant!

Only when we’ve humbled ourselves enough to serve the likes of a child—one who has no ability to give us anything in return–it is with this same humbled attitude that we can then truly submit ourselves to Christ and receive Him to ourselves. Then we will find meaning and purpose for our life.

And when we do feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 “When you did it to these my brothers, you were doing it to me!”

Jesus says that when we serve others, we are serving Him.

And when we do serve these precious ones, like the one Jesus held in His arms, we are most like Christ.  We are His arms and hands and feet.

Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, gives us an opportunity to do just that through Operation Christmas Child.  Every year they collect shoeboxes that people like you have filled with toys, school supplies, hygiene necessities, clothing, shoes, and all kinds of goodies, and then present them to children all over the world for Christmas, along with the good news of Jesus Christ.

And Christmas is right around the corner!

In order to have time to ship the shoeboxes to where they’re going, National Collection Week this year is November 17-24.  That’s only 9 weeks from today!  You can look on their website to find the collection location nearest to you.  The cost for shipping is $7 per box, and you can even donate that online if you want to find out where your box(es) is going. You can find all the information on their website.

What a joy to serve these precious children and bless them in not only practical ways, but to help make a difference in their lives with the love and message of Christ.

Blessings!

 

The Fiercest Battle

Posted on by Dorci

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.

Matthew 10:34-36

Whoa.  That is some pretty inflammatory language Jesus is using here.  Did not come to bring peace?  A sword?  Enemies?

What on earth could Jesus be talking about?

First, we need to understand who He’s talking to.  Jesus is giving instruction to the twelve disciples as He sends them out, specifically to the Jews, as His witnesses to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with skin diseases and drive out demons.

But before they head out, they need to understand His message, and what they’ll be up against.  Many, even the disciples, were under the impression that when the Messiah came He would set up His kingdom on earth and reign over all, bringing peace, ending famine and wars.

But Jesus makes it clear that is not His mission.  Not yet, anyway.

As they went, they were to proclaim this message:  the kingdom of heaven is near.  The Messiah has come.

And He came to be the fulfillment of the law.

The law showed us we were sinners, and sin requires a payment of death.  Jesus came to die in our place to pay for our sins.  He came to make truth known, even as He Himself is truth.  But not everyone wants to hear that they’re a sinner. And of those who know they’re a sinner, not everyone wants to be saved from it.

Jesus references the words of the prophet Micah in Micah 7:6.  Micah lamented about the terrible times in which he lived when sin was rampant, and there were few who held onto faith and righteousness.  And many of those who did found that their sons or daughters or other family members fell into the other camp—the one that reveled in immorality–and that caused strife, to say the least.

Centuries later, the disciples would find that, again, there would be relatively few who would choose faith and righteousness, even among the ancient sons and daughters of God.  Few who would choose to align themselves with the truth—Jesus Christ.  The disciples themselves would be among the few who stood in a world full of people who would rather deny the Christ and live in their own sinfulness.  Even then the disciples were unaware that there was one among them, a friend, a fellow servant, who would choose sin over Christ.

And now, centuries later, the story is the same.  Sin is rampant and there are few in this world who acknowledge their sin and put their faith in Christ.  And even among those who call themselves Christians, there are fewer still who are willing to submit their whole lives to Him, leave the world behind, take up their crosses daily and live upright lives before their God.

And for those who do, for those who know that truth triumphs over sin and evil and destruction and death, for those who desire to live in that truth, we will, sooner or later, be called on to make a choice.

Someone we love, a close friend, a fellow servant, someone in our own family, someone who doesn’t adhere to the truth, will want to sin and drag us along with them.  They won’t understand why we won’t do this or allow that.  And a son will be against his father, a daughter against her mother, a fellow servant against another.

And a battle will ensue.  This is the metaphoric sword Jesus speaks of.

The battle could get bloody.  Sharp words may well be thrown our way. Wounds will be inflicted.  Relationships could die. We could feel as though our heart is being ripped clean out of our chest.  And all the while we’ll need to keep loving them and praying for them.

The inner struggle will be to not to let our flesh take over, to not retaliate with harsh words of our own, but to keep praying, remembering we don’t battle against flesh and blood but against an enemy we cannot see.

Prayer is the real battleground, and whether or not we choose to remain in prayer is where the battle will be won or lost.

Through it all we might have an inkling of the pain Christ suffered on the cross.

Are we willing to risk it all for Him?  Is His cause our cause?

It’s at this moment when the foundation of our faith will be revealed.  Is it sure?  Do we stand on the Rock which does not move, is not shaken and does not compromise? Is our love for Him real?

Or will we falter?  Will we choose sin over truth?  Now is the time to choose, not when we’re in the heat of battle and the enemy is coming at us full force.  Put on the spiritual armor and don’t take it off.

Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy.  He will get at us any way he can, even through family members.  Especially through family members.  He will come and whisper “It’s just a little sin.  Just a little compromise won’t hurt.  And you love them, right? You don’t want them angry with you.”

If we listen and give in, before we know it we’re far from God, and so is the one we love.

Stand strong.

Love them enough not to compromise.  This is not a battle for mere ground or castles or other earthly kingdoms.  This is a battle for hearts and eternities.

And love Christ more.  He saved us and He wants to save the other person in our lives whose ways are at odds with His, whose heart is far from Him and whose eternity will be a bitter one unless they have a lighthouse to show them the way.

Better than keeping a false, temporary peace, be a light shining the truth of God, so they can find their way to Him and experience real, lasting, eternal peace.

One day you may see a glimmer of hope. You’re gaining ground.  Hearts are softening. Christ is winning.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Galatians 6:9

Trials and Triumphs

Posted on by Dorci

A 12-year-old boy kills his sister and later finds the forgiveness and love of a great and merciful God.

An angry man, disillusioned by a God who would allow untimely deaths in his family, is later visited by the presence of God, washed in His peace and finds the love of God is all he needs.

A woman turns to the gay community and lifestyle and later allows the truth of God to dispel the lies as He heals her heart and she finds a new life in Him.

A Christian woman struggles with resentment toward God as she watches her believing mother deteriorate from Alzheimer’s disease, but would in time come to understand that the reason was full of God’s grace.

And my own story of growing up with parents suffering from mental illness and substance abuse, then turning to anything and everything in the world to deaden the pain and try to find love, and later finding real love and the forgiveness of Christ in a tiny church filled with the Spirit of God.

These are just a few of the testimonies of God’s faithfulness, grace and forgiveness in the lives of ordinary people who were touched by an extraordinary God in the book Trials and Triumphs, Hope Beyond Circumstances, Forty Life-Changing Testimonies.

I am so blessed to be a part of this project, one of the forty people who tell their stories of grace–either how they came to Christ, or how they held onto Him in difficult circumstances.  Each fascinating account is authored by the person who experienced it.  Every story is unique, but each one points to the same God, the same Lord Who is willing to forgive and give strength and courage to anyone who genuinely seeks Him.

Any believer can watch the news or look at their own family members, friends, co-workers, and on and on can see that the world needs a Savior.  People are starving for the love and forgiveness that we know only God can give through His Son, Jesus Christ.

But the enemy of God is hard at work lying, deceiving and bringing destruction on anyone who believes those lies.

Revelation 12:11-12 tells us that “They overcame him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;”

People can dispute a lot of things about God, but no one can dispute what God has done in our own lives.  All of us who know Christ as our Lord and Savior have a testimony, the story of who we were before we put our faith in Christ, and how He’s changed our hearts and lives since.  Stories of how He’s loved us, intervened for us in miraculous ways, provided for us and protected us, and another page to our story is written every day.

That, God’s Word says, is how the enemy will be defeated in the lives of those family members and friends and co-workers.  As we tell the truth of God’s love, just as someone, somewhere told us, by the faith given by God and the blood of the Lamb, they will be snatched from the enemy’s mouth and set firmly in the hands of God.

Think of it: we have the privilege of joining with Christ to defeat the enemy that has lingered and lied and destroyed since the Garden of Eden by sharing our witness to those lost and dying in their sin.

Maybe you know someone right now who needs to hear these stories of faith.  Maybe you need to be encouraged and comforted yourself as you face struggles of your own.  I pray this book brings hope and magnifies the grace that is our God in the lives of many around the world.

If you’re so inclined, you can find it on Amazon at the link on the right.

Grace and Peace!

A Mother’s Day Message A Lifetime in the Making

Posted on by Dorci

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8

This won’t be your typical “my mom’s the best mom in the world and everything I am I owe to her” kind of Mother’s Day message.  Nope.

This will be a different kind of message.

These words are, though, a lifetime in the making, and I fought hard for them. I clawed my way through a mountain of pain to find them, and I struggled to find my way back out again.

You might have guessed that growing up I didn’t have a “normal” mother-daughter relationship.  My mother didn’t teach me all the things a mother should teach a daughter.  She taught me things a mother should never teach a child, like how to hold a grudge, and how to mistrust people.  How to take daily criticism and stuff it way deep down inside until it turns into unrelenting insecurity.

As I grew up, I took all those things and so much more, lifted up the ol’ metaphorical rug and swept it all underneath.  Nevermind that the rug was miles high and anywhere I went I had to climb over it.  Nevermind that half the time I couldn’t make it to the top, and instead slid all the way back down again.

As the months and years went by, some of that pain began to seep out from underneath, so I kicked it back under there where it belonged.  As hard as I tried, it kept spilling back out again.  Furiously I kicked and swept and shoved and struggled and sweated and cried.

Slowly I began to realize that it was God standing there lifting up that rug.  He was the one letting me see all that pain.  And He didn’t just let me see it, He gave it to me.

After a lifetime of my own pain and struggles, I’ve had time to reflect on her life through eyes not much different than her own, not just as my mother, but as a human being.

I heard more stories of her painful childhood; I gained more of an understanding of mental illness; I saw that she had been misunderstood and criticized by family, friends, doctors; I saw her struggle with all that under the weight of living with an alcoholic, wayward husband and trying to raise two daughters, one of whom had a very difficult to manage neurological disorder.

And the picture I had of my mother became more and more detailed.  The colors went from black and white to living, breathing, heart-wrenching reds and blues and purples.

I saw that all that time she was crying out for someone to love her, for someone to help her. She just didn’t know how.  The pain and fear and insecurity came out as anger and it pushed people away.  It pushed all of us away.  And I’m sorry.

I’m sorry I couldn’t see that then.  I’m sorry, Mom, that no one ever saw that.  I pray that now you have someone who is able to look past the walls you’ve built up around your heart and love you anyway.  I pray you know Jesus does.

The words I searched and struggled for all my life are this:

I forgive you, Mom.

From the bottom of my heart I forgive you, and hope you can forgive me.  I hope you know the forgiveness of Jesus so that one day you will have the peace and love you’ve longed for all your life.

I forgive you, Mom, and I love you.

 

It’s Time To Break Free

Posted on by Dorci

 

My prayer for us this year is that we would come to realize more and more the wholeness we have in Christ.

That we would submit ourselves to His loving grace and become the people we were meant to be in and through and by the Holy Spirit.  That we would let our old selves go, let His healing take place, and live in newness of life.  That we would put away all lies and live in the freedom of truth.  That we would shine with His love and grace and mercy in all we say and do.

We stay in the cocoon much too long for fear of what’s on the outside, when what’s on the outside all along is freedom!

So instead of wishing you a happy new year, because happiness is so fleeting and dependent on our circumstances, I pray for you a joyful new year.

That kind of joy that comes from deep within when our spirit meets His Spirit, and we break free of all encumbrances–all our own sin and fears and entanglements–to shine in the freedom and beauty that is ours in Christ.

Grace and peace,

Lost and Found

Posted on by Dorci

One of my favorite sounds of the summer (or just about any time of the year here in Arizona) is the distant hum of a lawn mower. The rumbling of the engine as it cuts rows into the grass makes me feel comforted and secure. Instantly I am taken back to my childhood when I heard the same sound in our own yard. 

That choppy, little engine meant my daddy was home. 

I didn’t hear our lawn mower as much as I would have liked, though.  It sat in the workshop much too often, while my dad was out in the world doing other things. 

His absence left an emptiness in my heart, and without a positive, strong father as a role model, I grew up feeling insecure and lost.  I went on to spend my late teens and early 20’s searching for something to fill the void.

There was a T.V. show that ran from the mid- to late 2000’s that illustrates this feeling well. It was a little show called Lost, presumably titled because it’s about a group of people whose plane crashes somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and they become lost on an uncharted island. 

But I think they were all lost long before they became castaways and found themselves battling their inner demons come to life. 

The series portrays a group of people who, for one reason or another, has each endured painful and damaging relationships with their fathers.  As each character’s past unfolds, we get a better understanding of how the pain of those broken relationships has left them confused, lonely, searching for the love of a father and at the same time running from their pain. 

Lost.   

We witness their journeys from inside their pain as they try to fill their own voids, and their struggle toward healing, or not. 

Unfortunately, these kinds of painful struggles aren’t limited to TV shows. Real life is full of them.  The news is full of stories of people who have been flung into the world without the solid foundation of an involved, loving father.   

Why? We’ve come to believe a lie that’s been perpetrated on us for a long time, and the lie has gained momentum.  The enemy of God and of love and truth has lied to us, telling us children don’t need a father, and the world has swallowed the lie. Now we’re paying the price.

The truth is God created marriage.

God created marriage as a picture of Christ and His bride, the Church.  Husbands were created to be an ongoing personification of Christ’s sacrificial love for her. 

God has given both men and women important roles.  They were both created in God’s image, but in case you haven’t noticed, they were created differently.  In God’s wisdom, He’s given each of them separate, distinct characteristics that, when brought together in a marriage, form a more complete picture of the image of God. Opposites attract as a way of bringing two sets of strengths together to a marriage and a family.      

The truth is God created families. 

Moms and dads each bring their unique God-given characteristics and abilities to the raising of their kids.   Too often, though, dads have been pushed out, left, or have never been involved at all.  Whatever the case may be, unless we get back to God’s vision for the family, we will continue to see the eroding of society. 

So what are husbands and fathers to do?

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Colossians 3:19

It starts with the marriage.  Fathers are the first man in a young woman’s life. The example he sets by how he treats his wife is the portrait she internalizes in how she should be treated by a man.  Fathers are the example young men look to in how to treat a woman. 

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.  Ephesians 6:4

God’s discipline is always given with grace and wisdom.  Disciplining too harshly causes children to become bitter.  God says it’s to be done in a loving, nurturing, teachable way.  Not disciplining at all can also cause bitterness and a disrespect for authority.

Fathers are the first impression children form as to who God is, and that impression can last a lifetime. 

Dads, you are needed.  You are important to your children’s lives, and to the prosperity of your family, community, and our society.  The ripple effect of a dad’s relationship with his children can either be an earthquake or a peaceful wave landing on the shore.  I pray you will seek the Lord and let Him show you how to parent your children, that you will be active in their lives, conveying to them how much they’re loved and how important they are to you.  They will carry that into their adulthood.

If your children are alive, it’s not too late to be the father God desires you to be.  Ask Him for wisdom.  Sometimes the most teachable moments and best times of building a relationship are just hanging out together.  Throw a ball.  Make a fort.  Mow the lawn.  Just let them know you’re there for them. 

And if your children are grown, it’s not too late to pray for reconciliation. 

I was able to connect with my dad when I was in my 30’s, just a few years before his death. We didn’t have a lot of time, but the time we had was sweet. The truth is he had his own father issues and searched his entire life for a way to fill his own void of loneliness. I understand that now.  Because of God’s faithfulness, someday we’ll be together again and our relationship will be complete. 

No matter the situation, know that in Christ there is forgiveness and love. 

Sons and daughters, forgive your dad.  It’s the best gift you can give yourself, and your children.  The sad truth is that if he was harsh or absent he probably had his own pain he was grappling with, and unfortunately that pain taints all our relationships. Pray for him. Love him with the love God gives you.

Know that the image we have of our fathers is not an accurate representation of God.  The best of dads (and moms) are not perfect.  Don’t assign your dad’s weaknesses to your Heavenly Father. 

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. Psalm 27:10

I’ve relied on this verse throughout my walk with God.  No matter how lost you may have felt before God, in Christ you are now found.  Christ died for you, rose for you, and sought you.  He wooed you until you were His.  He will never leave you nor forsake you. His love and provision are limitless.  His grace and mercy abound to you.  He is faithful.

God bless you on your journey,

 

 

 

Image credit: mulden / 123RF Stock Photo

The Race is On

Posted on by Dorci

And crying with a loud voice, Jesus said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Luke 23:46 

Faith doesn’t come only when things are good – when the sun is shining, the bills are paid, and everyone loves us.  Who needs faith then?

But when the storms rage, the money jar is empty and the enemy knocks at the door, that is when we need faith.  That is when the exercise of our faith in God is most beautiful and He is most glorified. 

Christ is our example.  Rather than avoid it, He walked through the suffering, through the pain, through the rejection and spitting and scoffing and unbelief – even by His own friends.  Why?  Because He had faith in His Father, the Father who sent Him to the cross.  He kept faith that He had a plan and a purpose in His suffering. 

They would never know anything but how to reject, how to accuse, how to inflict pain unless He died.  Unless He offered forgiveness for their sins and they took it.  Only when their eyes were opened and their hearts were wiped clean of sin would they have the capacity for true love.  So He gave Himself so they could be forgiven and bring love into the world.

And they would go on to trust God through their own sufferings, to commit their spirits to their heavenly Father like their Savior did, so others could hear of Him, have their eyes opened and hearts wiped clean of sin.  So they could learn how to love like Jesus did, completely and unselfishly, and fill the world with it.

The torch has been passed to us, and we are called to do the same.

Grace and peace,

 

The Most Powerful Place on Earth

Posted on by Dorci

I listened to this interview on John Piper’s site a few months ago and wanted to share it with you.  Rosaria Champagne Butterfield tells of her journey from living as a radical lesbian, as she puts it, to being confronted with the truth of Christ, putting her faith in Him, and leaving the gay lifestyle.  But this is not just a story of a lesbian who got saved.

I believe there is a bigger, more universal lesson.  It’s a compelling story of someone who was enslaved by sin, as we all were before Christ freed us, whose soul was moved and whose life was changed by the power of God’s living, breathing Word.

And I think we can learn something very powerful from her story.  Actually, two somethings.

(I would encourage you to listen to the 23-minute interview first if you can, then read the rest of the post.)

            1. There is power in the Word of God.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The Bible is not just another book.  In all the places in the world, the Bible that we have tucked on our shelves, maybe laying on our laps on Sundays, and possibly read a day or two during the week, is the only place we can be assured to find the truth of God.   And there is nothing more powerful than truth.  

If God can use His Word in such a powerful way in the heart of someone who was not yet saved, what could He do in and through those who are saved and dedicated to reading and studying His Word? 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I’m convinced that the Church–those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ–would be tastier salt and brighter light to the world if we would be continually filled with the precious, life-giving truth on the pages of God’s Word. 

And that brings me to the second something.

            2. People don’t need our judgment.  They need Jesus. 

‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’  How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” Romans 10:13-15

It is our feet, yours and mine, that bring the good news of Jesus Christ.  We are the called and we are the sent ones–not just to those who make us comfortable, or whose sins are not readily apparent, or more specifically, not like ours.  But to everyone.   Had a Christian man not befriended Dr. Butterfield, she might not be saved to this day, and many lives would be radically different. 

Christians can get a bad rap and sometimes that reputation is earned.  When we choose to stand in judgment, or speak words of hatred, or refuse to share the love of Jesus to someone because of their particular brand of sin, we’ve failed in our calling.

There is no unforgivable sin.  “Everyone who calls…”  That statement is very clearly all-inclusive.  It isn’t hate or judgment or rejection, but God’s loving kindness that brought us to repentance, and will bring others, too.

Grace and Peace,

 

 

Material distributed by By John Piper. ©2013 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org
Image credit: prezoom / 123RF Stock Photo

The Greater Love

Posted on by Dorci

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:12-13

In the light of the example Jesus gave us at the cross, this is our daily duty – to lay down our lives, our preferences, our wills, in favor of those God gives us.  This is, Jesus tells us, the highest, mightiest, strongest, most powerful love.  It is this love that carries crosses, moves mountains, divides oceans, binds unseen wounds and heals pain that otherwise would never heal.  It is to this love we aspire. 

And it is this love we honor today.  It is this love that leaves behind one’s own dreams, loved ones, births and deaths, to serve, protect, run into harm’s way, fight the enemy even when the odds are down, conditions are at their worst and injuries are unbearable, and risk all to carry our banner.  All for the greater good and love of freedom. 

This love and duty to country has impassioned many to lay down their lives to buy the freedom of an entire nation, and this continued courage and sacrifice has kept us free for over 200 years.  Let us honor these brave men and women with our deep gratitude, but also by following their example of greater love.

When we live our lives with respect for one another, with words that build up and not tear down, with actions that better our own corner of this country, when we live not carelessly, but thoughtfully, we honor those who have fought so hard to make us free. 

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Galatians 5:13-14

May God fill you with strength and courage as you seek to live out His greater love.