Category: Promises

The Third Day

Posted on by Dorci

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” John 11:25-26

The whole world thought he was dead.

Their hopes had been so high.  Living under an oppressive rule, he had emerged as a man who performed miracles among the least of them — the poor, the lame, the blind, the leper, the demon-possessed.  So many lives had changed beyond anything they could have imagined.  They were healed, brought back to life, rejoined to their families, all because of one man.

One man had noticed them when no one else had.  When the only other attention given to them was shame or pity, he had seen them.  He had looked into their eyes, into their very souls, and validated their existence.

He had done and said things no one ever had.  He worked on the Sabbath and made no apologies.  He overturned the tables and cleared the temple for making a mockery of it.  He stood in the faces of hypocritical religious leaders and called them blind guides and whitewashed tombs.  He fed thousands with a boy’s lunch.

They’d hoped to make him king.  He was on his way to greatness and they were on their way to freedom.  Just a week before they had celebrated him.

And now he was dead.

His disciples were in mourning.  He had said something to them about being raised on the third day, but who could know what he meant now.  The past three years were gone, and it all seemed a blur. Things seemed to be headed in such a hopeful direction.  Once they thought he’d be their leader and they’d serve alongside him.  He would redeem Israel.  He would be their savior.

Now he was a prophet at best.  Just a good man lying dead inside a tomb.  Where was God? Why did He let it happen? Jesus’ life and theirs had all taken a turn they never saw coming, and all their hopes and dreams were gone.

But things aren’t always as they seem.

Beyond their understanding, beyond their imagination, beyond their greatest hopes and dreams, Christ rose from the dead on the third day, just like He said He would.

Now, with the benefit of 2000 years and God’s Word, we know the end of the story. We know there was a purpose for His death.  We know He was indeed the Christ, the Messiah who was to come, and that He had to die and live again for the remission of the sins of mankind.  We know He stayed with them, teaching them for another forty days, and then He ascended into heaven to the right hand of the Father where He rules forever.

God’s ways were much higher than Jesus’ disciples ever could have imagined.  He didn’t come just to save Israel for this life, but all believers for eternity.  He didn’t come to be just king of a country, but King of our hearts.  We know He wasn’t only a prophet or a good man, He was, and is, God.

And in His resurrection, He showed His power over death.  He proved the words He’d spoken to them: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  John 14:6

Resurrection morning is all about life.  His life and ours. It’s about the Source of life coming down to redeem us and give us new life.  Not only did Christ rise, but in Him we rise.  When we believe in Him we’re forgiven of all our sins and His life courses through our veins.  We have the promise of our souls rising from the grave the moment our life here ends, and our bodies at the end of all things.

But we are not yet resurrected.  We are still bound to these bodies and we battle sin in ourselves and in the world every day. And there are times our lives can take a jolting turn. Like the disciples, we can have plans that God doesn’t have.  Life had been moving along so well and we had it all mapped out.  And then there was the loss of something — a child, a spouse, a parent, a career, a friendship, health.  Something changed and it wasn’t supposed to be that way.  Disillusion sets in.  All our hopes and dreams are gone.

And we can be like the disciples in those long hours after their friend’s lifeless body had been carried away for burial.  We wonder what happened.  We wonder where God is and how things could have turned out so differently than we thought they would. The hours tick by and we wonder if the third day will ever come.  We feel lost, confused and alone.

But things aren’t always as they seem.

In the dark hours of suffering and loss we can understand what the disciples didn’t: that our preconceived notions and personal hopes and dreams have to die if God’s are to live in and through us.  Just as God wanted to do so much more than the disciples could have imagined, He wants to do much more in our lives than we can ever dream.

We see the end of the story that the disciples had not yet seen. And God sees the end of our story.  He sees what He is making us to be.  He sees what’s on the other side of that hill in our journey.  He sees the joy on our faces as He raises us from the dead and we join Him in heaven.  He sees us living whole, glorified lives, our souls freed from every kind of pain to soar forever with Him in new life.

He is the Author of Life, and we can trust Him.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”  2 Corinthians 4:16

Christ’s power over death is at work in us right now.  It may not look like it; it may not feel like it.  But the disciples would all tell us that looks and feelings can be deceiving.  We can have His joy now, knowing our third day will come soon.  And one day that joy will be complete, when the Maker of Life raises us with Him.  His resurrection gives us a taste of that new life now, and a glimpse of the glory to come.

In Him,

 

 

 

Belief is Worship

Posted on by Dorci

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns 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. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said:

‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.’

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.”  Hebrews 3:12-19

Don’t miss that this letter is written to brothers and sisters in the faith, yet the author warns them against unbelief.  How could they not believe once they’ve believed?

I believed in – put my faith in, trusted in – Christ as my Lord and Savior 24 years ago, yet in that 24 years the Lord has told me many things that have been hard to believe.  We believe unto salvation once, and afterward we make countless choices to believe (or not believe) truths unto maturity.

Unbelief is rebellion and fear.  Belief is worship.

Whatever you hear from your shepherd, whichever way He leads you, choose to believe and follow.  Continue to put your faith in Him, and He will lead you into a life of victory.

Grace and Peace,

Go with the Flow

Posted on by Dorci

We didn’t have much of a chance to talk when I was growing up, but later my dad and I would talk for hours.  We were both thinkers and we’d each spend way too much time in our heads trying to work out our problems.  We also both shared an inclination to write things down.  And when one called the other, all those thoughts that had been swirling around in our heads or maybe even made it onto paper, spilled out into our conversations.

We took turns, comparing notes, collaborating, solving the world’s problems since we couldn’t seem to solve our own.

I knew a little bit about the difficult life he’d had, and he knew a little bit more about mine.  Being my dad, I know he wanted to help me.  I don’t know much more of a helpless feeling than to be a parent who can only stand by and watch a child suffer.

He saw me flailing, struggling, and it was as if he were watching me from shore with no boat and no life raft of his own to share with me.

So he’d call out to me the best advice he could give: “Go with the flow.”

“Yeah, I know.”

But fighting came easier somehow.  It was instinctual.

They say if you’re caught in a riptide, swim with the current, parallel to the shoreline, until you’re safe.  But most people fight the current.  They use all their strength trying to swim back to shore in direct opposition to the powerful and relentless current, and many don’t make it.

Go with the flow.  Accept.  Yield.

Paul the apostle put it like this:

“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:11-13 NAS

For God’s sons and daughters, He is that current in our lives.

He blows the winds of circumstances where He will, and to fight them is to fight Him, and no one wins fighting God.

But when we accept the circumstances of our lives as coming from the hand of a loving, all-powerful, all-present and all-knowing Father, we can, with Paul, learn the secret of contentedness, and trust Him to carry us to safety.

It seems to me at this moment a happy coincidence that my dad’s name was Paul, too.

Whether centuries ago or just a couple of decades, truth is truth, and somehow the Lord in His mercy, knowing full well that one day he’d give his heart to Christ, gave my dad what he needed to get through the storms of his life.

I didn’t get it so much when my dad was giving me his advice years ago.  I was younger then and still had the energy and stubbornness to fight.  But I’m getting it a little bit more these days.  God’s patience and many trials have worn me down.   And I’m glad. All that flailing was blocking the voice of God. Now I’m learning to be still and listen.

There are days I wish my dad had lived long enough to be able to read what the other Paul had to say about “going with the flow” in the light of Christ.  To have the chance to take that thought one step further and know that it’s more than just tolerating life’s trials.  That in Christ he could find strength and even joy in the middle of those circumstances, and even grow through them.

Most of the time, though, I rejoice that my dad was able to escape the suffering of this life and receive his reward just five days after he let Christ into his life.

If he were still here, he’d be 76 today and still trying to figure it all out, just like I am.  But he is home now, and he is ageless, living a life more contentedly than he ever imagined.

I wonder if the two Pauls have met yet.  I can just see them, sitting together, comparing notes, but this time without a care in the world.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Love,

Invisible Dogs

Posted on by Dorci

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

There was a period of time I had dreams that a wild pack of dogs was chasing me.  I never saw them, I just heard their snarling, vicious barking and my imagination ran away with thoughts of being torn limb from limb.  I’d be filled with fear and instinctively run for my life.

Night after night this nightmare invaded my dreams until one night when I heard the dogs right behind me and I thought what if I just stand here, turn around and face them?

So I did.

The barking stopped and the dogs were gone.

I never had that dream again. Later I had dreams about bears, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

Because of a series of events throughout my life, fear is something I’ve always had to deal with.  Even when the initial event is over, that fear can linger like a pack of invisible dogs.  And I haven’t always stood my ground and stared that thing I’m afraid of in the face.  There are times I’ve run.

But the Lord’s shown me that if I keep running from the thing I’m afraid of, fear will always chase me.

We all have invisible dogs–those fears that chase after us–and for some inexplicable reason we automatically turn and run.  They don’t even have to be big things.  Sometimes we run from the little things just because we don’t want to be uncomfortable.

And running from those little things puts in motion deep inside us an undercurrent of fear that we may not even be aware is there.  And then when something big comes along, instead of being able to draw on a foundation of courage, we have none.

Trusting God to be with us in the little things grows our faith big enough to trust Him in the big things.

And there is something big God has entrusted to us.

It’s the reason Paul encourages Timothy (and us) to remember that God does not give a spirit of fear.

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,  who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,”  2 Timothy 1:6

Above anything else, we can’t be afraid to use the spiritual gifts God’s given to each one of us for the good of the kingdom of God—to strengthen our brothers and sisters and to witness to those who are as of yet unsaved.

And sometimes that can be a little scary.  A little uncomfortable.

Paul suffered to share the message of the gospel with people who were dying in their sin.  But he so believed in that message—in Christ—that he was willing to risk being repeatedly imprisoned, flogged, starved, shipwrecked, in constant danger, and finally, beheaded.

I doubt any of us will ever face the trials Paul did, but we will serve Christ at a cost.  Like Paul, we are here on a mission.  We are called to share in the sufferings of Christ, to be a living sacrifice, bold and unashamed, living for His glory, not our comfort.

But oh, the gain.  The souls we’ll encourage, the lives we’ll save, the light we’ll shine, the glory we’ll reveal, the crowns we’ll receive and cast at the feet of our Lord.

If we’re willing to turn around and look fear in the face.

A lot of the time those fears will disappear when we turn to face them.  But if they don’t, if they charge us anyway, at the end of day, it won’t matter.

Paul has long forgotten his suffering.  But he will never forget the joy of serving alongside the King of kings, the glory that’s his in Christ, or the souls that are with him now, all because he was willing to use his gift.

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