Category: Faith

It Is Finished

Posted on by Dorci

“Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. 

Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 

Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself.” Hebrews 7:23-27

 

In the world people believe that if they do enough good, if they’re better than the other guy, if they’re more good than bad, if they just tip the scales, they will earn a place in heaven.

Those with no religion believe it, and those with religion alone believe it. My friends, this is a lie from the pit of hell, designed to keep people believing they’re saved without actually receiving salvation.

Sometimes even believers can slip into a subconscious belief that we must add good works to the grace of God given through the sacrifice of His Son, maybe not for salvation, but for acceptance and love. 

The sacrifices of old were given as a forerunner, a sign of the full and complete Sacrifice to come. Jesus Christ, and He alone, was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Any attempt to add onto that perfect sacrifice is sin. It is an offense to Christ and His work done on the cross, and to the Father who gave His Son to do it.

It was given once. No other sacrifice, by Him or any one else, is needed for salvation ever again.

It was given for all. Anyone and everyone – no matter who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’ve done – is invited to partake of the Sacrifice, to receive it by faith, for full payment of one’s own sins, now and forever.

If you recognize that you’ve been trusting in your own good works alone, or as an “add on” to Christ’s sacrifice, or trusting in another person to be the one who sits between you and God, offering up prayers for your forgiveness, or giving you ways to atone for your sin, telling you that through them you will be forgiven, I urge you to hear what Christ Himself said on the cross:

“It is finished.”

That phrase means to end, complete, execute, conclude, to discharge a debt, to pay. It’s done. There is nothing left for us to do, and no other human being needed to remove the guilt of our sins. He is the LORD, and the High Priest who lives forever, and no other can take His place.

All we need to do is believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior sent to die as the perfect and last sacrifice that paid for our sins, and pray, asking God for forgiveness, receiving Christ and His sacrifice, by faith, as a free gift in payment for every sin we’ve ever committed, and ever will commit. And then follow Him. If you want to read more, click on How You Can Know God at the top of this page.

And to my brothers and sisters in Christ who, for whatever reason, struggle with feeling like you need to earn God’s love, to you, and to myself, I say this: rest. Take a deep breath and rest in His abiding love; rest in His grace; rest in His mercy; rest in the finished work of the cross; rest in the resurrection.

You may have had to earn someone else’s love, or try and try and still never receive it, but that’s the world’s way, not God’s. That’s not who He is.

God is love, and the source of all true love. He cannot deny Himself. The Father sent His Son out of love, and the Son came out of love, and died out of love. He is preparing a place for us in heaven out of love. He is maturing and readying us out of love, and will come back again out of love.

It was His love that drew us, and it’s His love that will keep us, and welcome us home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday Song – Our God’s Alive

Posted on by Dorci

 

Our God is alive, and in Him, we too, are the light of the world…

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

Making the Impossible Possible

Posted on by Dorci

“…with God all things are possible.” Matthew 9:26b

With.

There are so many things we pay attention to in that sentence.  It’s a statement of hope, of open doors, of the assurance of God’s sovereignty.

Most of us have held onto those hopeful words at one time or another.  But I wonder how often its true meaning is overlooked and it’s reduced to an inspirational quote thinking all we have to do is know there’s a God, know He can do anything, and then do our best to get what we want or need and it will all work out.

Let’s see what that word with has to say.

With is para in Greek. It means near, beside, in the vicinity of.

We must be with God, and Jesus is the One Who connects us to Him.

It’s not enough for us to know who God is, or even to have invited Jesus into our lives at one point.  We must be with God through a constant relationship with His Son. Connected to Him, yoked to Him, side by side, arm in arm, doing life together.

Besides with, para also translates to the word friend.

Jesus called His followers friends. Not fair-weather friends when everything is working out.  Not long-distance friends. And certainly not just acquaintances.

He wants to be a friend closer than any other, communing with us as we bring to Him every need, every worry, every concern, even if it seems impossible. Especially if it’s impossible.

If you’ve had a close friend long enough, you know at some point you both start sounding alike, laughing at the same things, thinking the same thoughts.

Something like that happens when we walk side by side with Jesus, only more so.  With Him we are spiritually transformed from the inside out.  The closer we walk with Jesus the more we will be filled with His character, thinking like Him, and desiring what He desires. We begin to pray, not our own will, but His will.

And when we pray for something that is God’s will, there is nothing He won’t do, no mountain He won’t move to make it happen.

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

We can do nothing spiritually on our own, or even with another person no matter how great their intelligence, how broad their education, or how full their bank account. In fact, Jesus was saying riches can make doing the impossible, well, impossible. Why?  Because then we can feel like we don’t need God.  

But when we join with God through Jesus, the impossible becomes possible.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a lot of impossible circumstances in my life. Seems most of my life has been impossible.

I think God loves to do the impossible in our lives.  I think He’s waiting for us to get to the end of ourselves so we will call out to Him “Abba!” And then He can, in His time, move the mountain, stop the rain, still the sun, soften the hard heart, bring home the prodigal child, save the marriage, provide a way where there was no way.

What a privilege to do life with God.

I’d love to hear your stories about how God’s made the impossible possible in your life.

Heavenly Father, we desire to do this life with you. We know that we can do nothing without you, but everything with you. Help us to intentionally draw nearer and nearer to you every day.We want your mind to be our mind, your heart to be our heart, your will to be our will. Please give us faith to expand our prayers to the things that are impossible for us, but oh so possible for you. And may we be careful to give you the glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The 7-Year Itch

Posted on by Dorci

“The kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who made a marriage for his son.”
Matthew 22:2

“Let us be glad and rejoice and we will give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself.”
Rev 19:7

“And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband.”
Rev 21:2

God gave marriage as a model of our relationship with Christ, and countless comparisons can be made.

One of those comparisons is the 7-Year itch.  Or 4-Year, or 10-Year, or 20-Year. 

The 7-Year Itch is a term coined to describe one or both spouses’ decline in love for the other after 7 years, or any period of time in marriage. Otherwise known by the phrase “familiarity breeds contempt.”  

The husband or wife begins to tire of the relationship, believing that fireworks should spark every day for the rest of their lives, and if they don’t something must be drastically wrong. Kindnesses are left behind, thoughtlessness ensues, forgiveness seems hard to come by, and resentment settles in.

Sometimes, though, it’s not that drastic.  Sometimes things are just…blah.

Sometimes there’s just indifference.  Life seems mundane. Passion has waned.

Suddenly the grass seems to look a whole lot greener anywhere else. Eyes begin to look outward into the world for something else. And there is always something, or someone, more than willing to be the object of our affection.

Not only does that happen at an alarming rate in earthly marriages, it happens within the Bride of Christ.

I had been searching for something, for God in some way, since I was very young. As a kid I looked everywhere from philosophical books to church to the quiet dignity and wisdom of a shaolin monk on the television show Kung Fu. My life had been painful and I desperately looked for answers, for wisdom, for love in some form.

So at the age of 26 when I walked into a building on a Sunday morning with a gathering of Christ-believing people, where the presence of the Holy Spirit had gathered with them, I felt His love and grace and mercy wash over me, and I knew I had found the One I had looked for all my life. I found the Answer, the Wisdom, the Love, and so much more.

I was dead and now I was alive!

I was filled with an excitement and a passion I could barely contain. That first week I found a Christian bookstore and ran right out to buy myself a Bible and a cross necklace. I was at church whenever the doors were open, soaking up His Word, watching, listening, learning, serving.  The honeymoon lasted for years.

Then slowly but surely, the reality of life, of relationships, even within the church, began to slap me in the face and wake me from my dream. Even in Christ, life wasn’t perfect. In fact it got very hard.  Confusing.  Unsettling. Discouraging.  

The reality settled in that even in the church people were still, well, people. Even in Christ sickness can take hold. Prayers can go unanswered. I thought I had left the pain behind in the world, but it was obvious I hadn’t. Not that I thought everything was going to be perfect, but my expectations were dashed. Fourteen years into my faith I became disillusioned. And I felt alone. 

The way it had been was the way I thought it would always be. Serve God, be good, and everything would be fine. Fireworks.

But God was not healing me, relationships were broken, and I felt as unwanted and rejected as I had in the world.

I prayed and I prayed hard. Where was Jesus? Who was He? Did He still love me? After years of thinking I knew Him, I suddenly wondered if I did.

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the first works…”  Rev 2:4-5a

It didn’t happen overnight. It never does. It happens slowly, methodically. I never walked completely away, but I felt unloved so I let other things come and steal away my attention.  

The world does that effortlessly now. We give it away in smartphones and endless social media and television and video games and news and current events and we fill our lives with noise, noise, noise….

Within it all, we cannot hear the still, small voice of the Lord. And when communication breaks down, the relationship with Him, just like it would with our spouse, suffers.

The love I had at first – the excitement and passion – had waned.  I had let other things come in and crowd out the voice of my Jesus, the One who had loved me so much He died for me, called me, and changed me. The One who had come after me, plucked me out of the world and made me new.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want a relationship with Him.  I still loved Him.  I just got distracted. 

But Jesus tells us it doesn’t happen to us. We leave our first love. We walk away. We make choices, day by day, choices that are not just between good and bad, but choices that either take us closer to Christ or further away, and suddenly we look back and what once was, just isn’t.

They say the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. It’s that middle of the road…blah.

We may think that’s not all that bad, but in Revelation Jesus gave this warning to His church, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”  Rev. 3:15-16

An on-fire faith is best, and even a cold heart is preferable to lukewarm because we would recognize it and know we needed to turn back to the Lord.

But a lukewarm faith deceives us into thinking we’re okay.

It’s so-so, yeah. *Yawn* My faith doesn’t really inspire me to do anything, but it’s there, right? 

But that indifference lets in the world. It lets in sin, other beliefs, other avenues of decision-making, and lots of self. Self-works, self-righteousness, self, self, self.  

A lukewarm faith hurts our relationship with God, that affects the relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and then we begin to lose the witness we might have had to the people God has given us.

The good news is at any moment we can repent – change our minds – and do the things we did at first.  We can leave behind the things of the world, turn down the noise, re-establish communication with the Lord, receive His grace and mercy, (maybe run out and buy a Bible and a cross necklace) and love Him with the passion and excitement and fervor we once had.

I’ve taken steps toward that and eliminated a lot of the incoming noise of the world, and it’s made a huge difference in my ability to hear the Lord speaking to my heart.  

He wants to speak to all of us who are called by His name, and He has much to say. More than ever, we need to hear His voice for wisdom and discernment. We need His passion, and the world needs His love.

I am now almost 28 years into my journey with Christ. I’ve learned that God doesn’t answer every prayer, and He has good reason. He is pruning, disciplining, growing, and preparing the Bride for her Husband.  

I’ve learned I was never was alone; He was always with me and always will be. I’ve learned that if we let Him, He can use those crises of faith periods to cause us to dig deeper into His Word, into prayer, and bring us out the other side with a deeper, more substantial faith and closer relationship than ever before.

 

Heavenly Father, we want to be close to you, closer than ever before. Please take away our desire for those things that would come between us, things that would lead us away from you. Please give us hearts that are passionate for you, for our faith, for our desire to serve you, and make us useful to you. Thank you for what you’re going to do in our hearts and lives. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, amen.