Category: Love

The Saturday Song – Reckless Love

Posted on by Dorci

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:

‘When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.’
(Psalm 68:18)

(Now this, ‘He ascended’—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)”
Ephesians 4:7-10

The word {lower} parts of the earth is katōteros, meaning of Hades (different word than that for hell). 

There’s much more to learn in the scriptures about this than I’ll take to explain here, but Christ was not idly waiting inside the tomb. After He shed His blood and died, sin’s power was broken.

It was time for Him to descend to those who’d already died in faith, whose belief in the Lord was counted to them as righteousness, and were waiting for this pivotal moment to be rescued and taken to their eternal home in heaven.  

If He was willing to die on a cross while we were yet sinners, and He was willing to descend into a part of Hades to rescue those who were His, what is He not willing to do, and where is not willing to go to rescue any one of us?  

 

 
Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me
 
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah
 
When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me
When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me
You have been so, so kind to me
 
And oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
And I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah
 
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
 
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
And I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

The Way Out is To Stay In

Posted on by Dorci

“For the Word of God is alive and active… Hebrews 4:12a

The author of the letter to the Hebrews implores its readers to not drift away from Christ, from His message, from their belief in Him as their Messiah, the final authority, and the only way to be saved. 

Many of us, if not all of us, will at some point come to a trial that will cause a crisis of faith. A turning point. A time when the pressure will be almost intolerable and we will either press in to Him all the more, or we will look for a way out, and turn away from Him. 

God’s Word clearly states that those who have been truly converted are sealed with the Holy Spirit, and I believe God will keep those believers in the faith through trials. 

And those who completely turn away, who choose unbelief and never come back to faith are the ones who never had a belief in Christ that resulted in conversion.  

But there is a third group, and those are the ones who have believed, who have been converted, but at that turning point choose to allow their hearts to be hardened and walk away, or step back to one degree or another, for a time. 

I think any of us can find ourselves in that category if we’re not careful.  

The author of Hebrews exhorts them to keep believing.  

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that runs away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”  Hebrews 3:12-13

Life can get pretty hard. And we can become disillusioned when we think God shouldn’t have allowed something so intensely painful, or that He should have rescued us in a certain way, or in a certain amount of time. 

Right now we’re all facing a trial together. Many are out of work, many are sick, and many have lost loved ones.  

We can choose to be angry and walk away from God, or we can choose to take our pain and our trials to the One who sits on the throne, who’s always sat on the throne, and who will always sit on the throne. The One who’s also taken up residence inside our hearts, and can heal our hearts and bring us through the trials. 

For that reason, God’s given us His word which is “alive and active…” 

Spending time in God’s Word is not like reading just any other book.

It is “God-breathed…“

If we allow it, through His Word God will teach us, rebuke us, correct us, change us, encourage us, reveal to us, cleanse us, fill us with His peace and joy, and draw us closer to Him so that instead of drifting away when a trial comes, our faith will grow stronger than ever before. 

The way out of trials, is to stay in. Walking away from God does nothing but cause more heartache and pain. Stay in the trial, stay in the faith, stay in God’s Word, and let Him bring you out, or through, His way, in His timing, shining with faith.

Did you know it takes 725,000 pounds per square inch of pressure to turn carbon into a diamond? That’s a lot of pressure. But when they come through the process, they are one of the purest, most precious and most beautiful items there is, and because of that, they’ve become symbols of love. 

God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves.  Those trials full of pressure will purify our faith if we let them, if we seek Him and His heart-changing Word through them, if we allow Him to have His way in us. And when we come through it all, we will shine for eternity as treasures of God’s great and precious love. 

 

The Chosen

Posted on by Dorci

Hello friends.  I pray this finds you healthy and hopeful and full of faith.  I want to post things to help keep you encouraged, and one of the most encouraging things I can think of is the video series The Chosen.

I’ve been doing my level best to let my friends know about it, and I want to share it with you.

The first season begins with the life of Jesus before he starts his ministry. You are right there with him as Jesus chooses his weary followers, heals Mary Magdalene, meets with a seeking Nicodemus in secret, and attends the wedding that makes everyone sit up and wonder who this man is that can change water into wine. 

It’s unlike anything you have ever seen before, and that’s because it is completely crowdfunded (the largest crowdfunded media project ever) and was able to be made without the constraints of Hollywood.  

And it’s absolutely free.  Creator and director, Dallas Jenkins (son of Jerry B. Jenkins, who brought you the Left Behind series), is making all 8 episodes free (as it usually is) and fully available, with no restrictions, for the next couple of weeks through their free app which you can find on their website. It’s also on dvd and blu-ray, which include extras and the Christmas Special that started it all, and your purchase can help fund Season 2. 

I hope it encourages you and keeps you focused on the grace and mercy of this Man who came to save us, to know us, to die and live for us, because His love chooses us.

Here’s the announcement made by Dallas Jenkins:

“In light of these challenging and fearful times, we believe the message and stories of Christ are more important and relevant than ever. Not to mention, so many of you are stuck in your homes for weeks, some with uncertain financial situations.

To that end, until the end of March, we’ve decided to make every episode of Season One of The Chosen immediately and easily accessible, completely free and without delay, all over the world. “The Chosen” app is already freely available in every country, but this initiative will make it easy to see every episode with zero restrictions.

Considering that streaming costs money, will this delay our momentum towards financing Season Two? Probably, although if you have the means to “pay it forward” to offset the streaming costs, that would be helpful. But there’s no obligation to anyone, and we believe our long-term goals remain safely in God’s hands.”