Tag: Rescue

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Peace

Posted on by Dorci

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”  Philippians 4:8-9

 

Heavenly Father, you are praiseworthy.  You are true and noble and right and pure and lovely and admirable, and we choose to think about you and all the ways you’ve shown us your goodness.  You’ve rescued us time and time again.  You forgive all our sins and have removed them as far as the east is from the west, and remember them no more.  Your grace is always upon your children, and your mercy, too. 

You have promised to prepare a place for us with you and to come again for us and take us with you where you are, where there is no more crying or pain or suffering.  Your love sustains us, teaches us, and matures us until the day when your wisdom says it’s time to come home.  Lord, in all these constant ponderings throughout the day and night, you give us peace, and we praise you.  You know the trouble we face in this world, but we know you’ve already overcome it.  Help us cling to you, both in the times when things are going well, and in times when things are hard.

Give us the strength to turn to you when the enemy is whispering in our ears that you don’t care.  That you can’t possibly love us after what we’ve done.  Give us the strength to call those what they are: lies from the pit of hell.  Help us cling to the truth, and where our beliefs are false, we ask that you would change them.  Where we believe wrong things about you, please show us the truth.  And where we believe wrong things about ourselves, please break down those strongholds of falsehood, knowing they keep us from living purely in the victory you would have us.  We give you our minds and our hearts to mold as you will.  We receive your peace, and we give you all the glory.  In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

Your Day is Coming

Posted on by Dorci

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God,
you will receive what He has promised. For,

‘In just a little while,
He who is coming will come
and will not delay.’

And,

‘But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.’

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed,
but to those who have faith and are saved.”
Hebrews 10:35-39

Maybe there are things in this life you’ve missed out on.  All around you there are constant reminders of those things others enjoy and you don’t, and maybe in this life you most likely won’t.

Relationships are gone or never were.

That opportunity passed by.

You wonder what it would be like to live a day without pain or some other sickness.

You see the world normalizing behaviors you’re tempted to, but you choose not to indulge in.

Oh, you could run after them.  You could leave the footsteps of Christ and fill your life with all kinds of things.

But you don’t.  You don’t because as much as you desire those things, you desire Christ more.

Still, it’s hard.

I want to tell you what the Lord told me, because as His followers we’re all one in Christ: “Your day is coming.”

He sees the ache in our hearts, the longing for certain blessings, and though in this life we may never see them, our Father will more than make up for it. He sees our faithfulness and our love for Him and on that day we see Him face to face, He will flood us with a reward so powerful, so eternal, so full of Himself that we will instantly forget that we ever missed anything.

All we’ll know is completeness of love and joy. We will never want for anything again, and we will forever know a freedom the world never will.

For now, we remember that if God has chosen not to give us certain blessings now, it is out of an abundance of wisdom and righteousness.  So we keep our eyes on Christ, our Redeemer and the Rewarder of our souls. And we walk by faith.

“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!'”
Revelation 21:5

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me,
and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”
Revelation 22:12

National Day of Prayer

Posted on by Dorci

Today in the United States we observe the National Day of Prayer.  It’s a time to remember our nation and lift it up before the Lord in humility and solemnity.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the headlines and know our country needs prayer.  We need it bad.  I hope we will take this opportunity to first confess our own sins, and repent, that is, turn around and go in the direction of Christ in every area of our lives.

To follow Him, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” and then to show we do as we “love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

Will anything change until we do?

If our country is to be illuminated with Christ’s love and truth, if we desire to live in peace and dignity, we must pray for it, and then live it.

Heavenly Father, praise your Holy Name. Please forgive me for my sin of pride and letting fear sometimes dictate my way.  Fill me anew with your Spirit and a fresh vision and passion to follow you, to consume your Word as my spiritual food, and allow your purposes to be accomplished in and through me.  I pray for revival throughout our country including those in our leadership at every level.  May your Spirit sweep over our land once again, opening the eyes of those who have been blinded, gifting untold numbers with faith to believe in you, to receive you, and to be transformed by your Holy Spirit.  May we be overcome with your love and goodness that leads us to repentance.  Thank you in advance for what you’re going to do.  You are the faithful One, the Good Shepherd, the One full of grace and mercy.  May you be glorified and magnified.  In the Name of Jesus, the Christ, our Messiah and Redeemer, amen.

God bless you,

Saturday Song – Lift Your Head Weary Sinner

Posted on by Dorci

 

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’

So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Luke 15:1-20

 

Maybe you’ve somehow stumbled onto this page, and you’re lost.  You’re searching.  You know you need God but you’re afraid.  Afraid He won’t take you. Afraid of what you’ve done.  Afraid you’re too far gone.

My friend, I promise you, God promises you, you are not too far gone.

Maybe you knew Christ at one point a long time ago.  Maybe it was just last week.  But you’ve done something, and you can’t face Him. You’re afraid, too.  Surely He’ll punish you, you think.  Surely He’s ashamed of you, disappointed in you.  You can’t go back.

My friend, you can.

Whoever you are, whatever you’ve done, get this –

God loves you.

And He is willing at this very moment to forgive you and receive you.

Come to Him, no matter what you’ve done.  Come to Him with your sin; come to Him with your wretchedness, your weakness, your guilt.  Come to Him, like the prodigal child.

He is there, waiting with His arms open wide to receive you right here, right now, to forgive you, to love you, to welcome you back with no reservation.  With no condemnation.

That is how great He is, how great His love and mercy and forgiveness.  Whatever it is, it’s all been paid for on the cross.

Just come. And let the chains fall.

If you need prayer, I would be honored to pray for you.  Simply email me by clicking on the envelope to the far right of the Facebook icon to the right.   

May you bask in the glory of the Risen One, the One Who paid it all.

 

Saturday Song – Run Devil Run

Posted on by Dorci

 

“So let God work His will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and He’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” James 4:7-10 The Message

 

Hope in the Storm

Posted on by Dorci

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.  Psalm 42:5

We’ve all faced a crisis at one point or another. If for some reason you haven’t, you will. Right now, today, you have a chance to prepare for the storm. Those who have faced them before will be wise to prepare for the next one.

I’ve been in the depths many times, sure it would be the last time.  My soul sunk like a stone and laid on the ocean floor dying for a gasp of air. My cries for help seemed hopelessly muffled by the weight of the depths. Light seemed so very distant, the surface too far to reach.

But God’s arm is never too short.

All I have to do is reach up, take His hand and He will pull me to the light again.

The word hope in this emotionally drenched psalm means to wait; to be patient.

Though God takes my hand – and He takes every hand extended to Him – the storm may not abate immediately.

There is purpose in the storm.

Spiritual seeds implanted in my heart must be watered, and those sprouted must grow to fruition.  My mind must be washed of the dirt of ungodly thinking, the air cleansed of my past guilt and shame.

Sometimes the Living Water comes down in a beautiful afternoon rain, and sometimes it comes down in torrents.

But God knows.

He knows what He’s accomplishing in the storms.  He knows the clouds will drift away and the sun will shine again.  And He knows the beauty that will live on afterward.

There are many people and things we can put our hope in when we’re facing a storm, but none them will bring praise to our lips at the end of the storm like hoping in God, our Savior, the One who lived, and died, and lives again to bring us into His presence.

So how do we prepare for the next time we find ourselves in a storm? 

Take hold of His hand today, and don’t let go. 

The Call of the Shofar

Posted on by Dorci

For whatever reason, God put on my heart to look up and post the blowing of the shofar. I did a little research to find out some of the reasons it was sounded, and this is what I found:

“beginning on the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul (and continuing until Erev Rosh Hashanah) the custom is to blow the shofar every day (except on Shabbat).” The Hebrew month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

“It is a wake-up call to sleepers, designed to rouse us from our complacency.”

Do you know what day is the 2nd day of the Hebrew month of Elul?

It began today at sunset.

“Yeshua spoke of the shofar blast from the angels who would ‘gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.'” (Matt. 24:31)

The eclipse took place on Elul 1, the same day that Moses went up on the mountain for 40 days and nights, the same day Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. The shofar signifies spiritual warfare, and God’s victory.

Listen to the shofar. Can you imagine it?

If you want to read more about it, I found these websites:  

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Elul/Shofar/shofar.html and http://www.jewfaq.org/elul.htm

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.