Tag: mercy

“Come!”

Posted on by Dorci

“And because lawlessness will abound,
the love of many will grow cold.”
~Jesus
Matthew 24:12

I’ve been thinking about these words a lot lately. It’s easy to read them and assume that it’s the people who practice lawlessness whose love will grow cold, and that’s certainly true. 

But in my own heart I’ve seen how easy it is to simply sit and watch or read about the wickedness going on around us and become angry. Yes, we should have a degree of righteous anger, but if we’re not careful, that righteous anger can turn into self-righteousness, judgment, bitterness, and with them the loss of grace, mercy, faith, and love. 

We can get our eyes onto other’s sins and off our own, and forget how much we need forgiveness ourselves. Over time, a lack of repentance and the guilt that sets in can keep us from sitting in the presence of the Lord, the Source of the love we so desperately need.  

And slowly, replacing a tender heart of love, anger begins to fester, and the enemy slowly leads us away, not from salvation, but from fellowship with our gracious Heavenly Father. 

“You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”
1 Thessalonians 5:5-8

Let’s be alert, filled with the Holy Spirit, resisting the enemy, abiding in the love of Christ, the One who is able to rescue us from ourselves, and remember the hope Jesus gives in the next breath after His words we started with at the beginning:

“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”  Matthew 24:13

That word “endures” means “to stay under or behind, remain, to undergo, bear trials, have fortitude, persevere, abide, patiently suffer…”

Yes, we’re living in hard times, but remember, the things of this life are not the goal, this life is not the end, it is the beginning. It is the training ground for the life to come; it is where we cling to Christ, and even more through those very hardships, receiving His character for ourselves, growing into spiritual maturity, prepared for what He has for us in the next. 

So let us “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

If followers of Christ should be characterized by anything, it should be by His love. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So what should our response be to the violence, the hatred, the blatant disregard for life we see around us? Yes, be angry at the sin, yes, be angry at the enemy and the war he’s declared on Almighty God, and then let’s emulate our Lord and Savior who was filled with love and prayed from the cross that His Father would forgive those who put Him there. 

We, too, can let the love God’s given us through the filling of the Holy Spirit lead us to pray for those who are caught in the sin. We can ask our gracious and merciful Heavenly Father to grant them repentance and salvation, pulling them back from the pit of hell, just like He did for us. 

So, if you’ve drifted away from the Lord or you deliberately walked away for whatever reason, and your love has grown cold, or maybe your faith is there but it’s lukewarm, which Christ said was even worse than being cold (because it’s so deceiving), or maybe you’ve never given your life to Christ and you know there is something missing, something you desperately need and have been looking for but haven’t yet found, today is the day.

Christ is ready, willing, and able to forgive you and receive you and fill you with His love, a love that is able to go far above and beyond all other loves, a love that will quench our thirsty souls, renew hearts and minds, and heal us more than we can imagine, and this is what He says to you:

“The Spirit and the bride (followers of Christ) say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”  Revelation 22:17

“Come!”

 

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer to Be Still

Posted on by Dorci

Oh Heavenly Father, we praise you. We praise the One, the only One, Who is full of grace and mercy. 

Today we simply ask that you would help us to be still and know that you are God. Help us to cease from our works, to cease striving to gain your love and your favor. In your Son you fully love us already and nothing can separate us from your love. 

Help us be still within our spirits and lean into our Savior Jesus. 

You know what we need, and we ask in your great grace and mercy that you would provide for us, and that we would give you all the glory. In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for the Body of Christ

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you. Thank you for your unending, merciful love that brings healing and goodness into our lives. 

Lord, we pray for the body of Christ, for believers whose spiritual walk has been lukewarm, who have allowed themselves to be pulled into the world and the love of things in it, who have been lured into the belief that they have just enough faith to save them, but are missing out all you have for them.

We pray that in your mercy you would open their eyes, soften their hearts, and bring them to repentance and a desire for spiritual things.

We pray our brothers and sisters would be unfulfilled by all the world has to offer, and know that what is missing is you.  We pray you would give them a hunger and thirst for righteousness, that they would seek hard after you, and that you would fill them with the peace and joy they long to have.

We pray you would show them the way to true and lasting faith as they give their whole hearts and lives to you. 

For those who have believed at one time, but whose hearts have grown cold, LORD, please reveal yourself and show them your desire to love and forgive them, to gather them under your wing and heal their hearts and minds, and to make known to them the plan you have for their lives. 

For those who are abiding in you, but maybe there are some areas of their lives they have kept from you, please give your strength and courage to let you have it all. That we would give you our whole hearts, even the hard things, the things we can’t face alone, and face them with you, knowing you are compassionate and full of grace. 

Father, help all of us yield our whole selves to you, that we can experience all you have for us, every healing, every blessing, every gift, and every bit of spiritual growth while we have time. And may we be a light, Lord, for the whole world to see how great is your love. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer of Rejoicing

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and precious name. We give you glory for all you’ve done to bring us salvation – nothing short of giving your own Son to be born, to grow up and reveal to us who you are, to be the exact representation of your being, and then to give Him as the perfect sacrifice in payment for our sins so we could be reconciled to you. 

Father, we are so grateful for loving us in such an extravagant way. 

As we get nearer to the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, help us to not let the busyness of this season overshadow the miracle that took place in the stable all those years ago.  

We truly rejoice in the grace and mercy you gave us, wrapped in swaddling clothes. 

We rejoice that you spoke through your prophets about where He would be born and who He would be so we wouldn’t be left to wonder if He really was the Savior. 

We rejoice that He was born with a body like ours, was tempted as we are and identified with us in every way, yet remained sinless, both God and man.

We rejoice in all the miracles surrounding His birth – that Mary and Joseph were obedient to you with such an overwhelming calling, that the angel of the Lord spoke to the shepherds telling them the joyful news of the Savior’s birth, and that a star led wise men from so far away to worship. You brought people near and far to rejoice in you and spread the good news that a Savior had been given to the world. 

Lord Jesus, we rejoice in You and give you glory, proclaiming that you are the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior, the Christ, that you are the good news, the best news the world has ever or will ever know. You’ve given the world hope, and we pray the weary world will turn to you and rejoice with us. 

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving us a reason to rejoice. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer to Live Worthy of Our Calling

Posted on by Dorci

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you for this beautiful day you’ve made. We praise you for your holiness and righteousness.  You are the Almighty God, the King of kings and Lord of lords. You are our good Father from whom all blessings flow. 

We look to you Father, to fill us again with the hope of your promises, with a steadfast faith, that we may act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with You. 

Father, as we fix our eyes on you, our supreme Hope, help us remember to “submit ourselves for Your sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by You for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is Your will, that by doing right we silence the ignorance of foolish people. That we will act as free people, not using our freedom as a covering for evil, but using it as Your bond-servants.” 1 Peter 2:13-16

Father we submit those authorities into your hands and pray that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We pray for the salvation of each one, that they would fervently seek you and your wisdom to govern rightly.

In everything, with hope and faith, may we live worthy of the high calling you’ve placed on our lives, as children of the King.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. 

In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen. 

 

Thankful Thursday – Mercy

Posted on by Dorci

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
 1 Chronicles 16:34

There is so much going on in the world right now that our minds can get pulled into a million different pits, so I thought it was important to start Thankful Thursday again.

I don’t have to tell you how despairing and overwhelming the state of this world is in right now. 

But God’s mercy endures, now and forever, and when we remember that, and give Him thanks, we will have hope. 

The words of David recorded in 1 Chronicles were part of a psalm spoken when the ark of the covenant was returned after battle to its rightful place in the tabernacle. God’s glory had been restored among His people.  

Today we’re facing another kind of spiritual battle, and the enemy is doing all he can to hijack the glory of God from this world. 

But God’s glory now lives inside His people. We are His tabernacle. 

And we know that “All the promises of God in {Christ} are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”  2 Corinthians 1:20

In Him we have His immeasurable love and grace and mercy and forgiveness. 

In Him we know He will lead us, give us wisdom, and provide for us. 

In Him we know our eternity is with Him. 

This life is short, and one day, when this battle is over, all wickedness will disappear, and His glory will reign forever more, where we will live in eternal peace and safety and love. 

So, wherever your thoughts have roamed to today, let’s focus them back on our merciful Heavenly Father, who already has the victory (and so do we!), and give Him thanks.  

What are you thankful for today?

 

The Saturday Song – God’s Not Dead

Posted on by Dorci

It’s revival day! 

Today’s the day Franklin Graham is leading Prayer March 2020 in Washington D.C. for the healing of our nation, and the day Pastor and Rabbi Jonathan Cahn is leading his event, The Return, also seeking God’s forgiveness, repentance, revival, and healing of our nation. 

Heavenly Father, we come to you in humility and total dependence on You, praying that in Your mercy You would pour out the power of Your Holy Spirit throughout our country to soften hearts and open eyes to the truth of the destruction of sin, and the truth of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that paid for our sins, that many will turn to You with repentant hearts and that there will be a great awakening and revival of our nation in the name of Jesus Christ.  We pray you would send your warrior angels to bind the hand of the enemy from stopping or disrupting any of the prayer events going on today. We look to You, LORD, for help and hope and renewal. In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen. 

This is the song the Lord put on my heart to share today.

 

 

God’s Not Dead (Like a Lion)
Newsboys

Let love explode and bring the dead to life
A love so bold
To seek a revolution somehow

Let love explode and bring the dead to life
A love so bold
To bring a revolution somehow
Now I’m lost in Your freedom
In this world I’ll overcome

My God’s not dead
He’s surely alive
He’s living on the inside
Roaring like a lion
God’s not dead
He’s surely alive
He’s living on the inside
Roaring like a lion

Roaring, He’s roaring, He’s roaring like a lion

Let hope arise and make the darkness hide
My faith is dead I need resurrection somehow
Now I’m lost in Your freedom
In this world I’ll overcome

My God’s not dead
He’s surely alive
He’s living on the inside
Roaring like a lion
God’s not dead
He’s surely alive
He’s living on the inside
Roaring like a lion

Roaring, He’s roaring, He’s roaring like a lion
He’s roaring, He’s roaring

Let heaven roar and fire fall
Come shake the ground
With the sound of revival
Let heaven roar and fire fall
Come shake the ground
With the sound of revival
Let heaven roar (Let heaven roar) and fire fall
Come shake the ground
With the sound of revival

He’s living on the inside
Roaring like a lion
God’s not dead
He’s surely alive
He’s living on the inside
Roaring like a lion
God’s not dead
He’s surely alive
He’s living on the inside
Roaring like a lion
God’s not dead
He’s surely alive
He’s living on the inside
Roaring like a lion

He’s roaring, He’s roaring, He’s roaring like a lion
He’s roaring, He’s roaring, He’s roaring like a lion (Roaring like a lion)

 

 

 

The Saturday Song – The Steadfast Love of the Lord

Posted on by Dorci

My dear friend posted this song the other day and it was just what I needed.  Duane Clark and his brother, Terry, are pioneers of the contemporary Christian music genre. If you’d like to have some of their music for your own, you can check it out here.

I pray this song blesses you, too, and reminds you of how very much God loves you through anything and everything you go through. 

I pray you’re always reminded of that when you come here, that you’re always drawn to Jesus and His love and hope, and that it causes you to want to walk with Him closer than the day before. 

 

The Saturday Song – Give Me Your Eyes

Posted on by Dorci

If there’s anything God shows us about Himself in His word it’s that He is a personal God. Yes, He loves the whole world, but He also sees and loves the individual. 

He saw Hagar and her son a distance away, alone in the desert, waiting to die, and had compassion on them. 

He saw Hannah, alone in the temple, weeping and praying for a son, and granted her request.  

He saw Mary, a humble worshipper of God, and made her the mother of the Messiah. 

He saw the Samaritan woman, sitting alone by the well, and gave her hope through the greatest message of all time. 

He saw the man with leprosy, and having compassion on him, healed him, restoring his life.

He saw the woman who had bled for twelve years when, in faith, she touched His cloak and was healed.

He saw John, alone on the island of Patmos, and gave him a vision of the Son and of His coming kingdom to give the world.

He sees you right now, too, and whatever you’re going through He has compassion for you.  

 

Father, give me your eyes.