Tag: joy

Finding Peace

Posted on by Dorci

 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”  Luke 2:14

I had always set up our nativity scene on a buffet table right by the front door.  Everyone who came and went saw it. Anyone in the living room or kitchen could see it.  And I liked it that way.  I always wanted Jesus to be front and center of Christmas.

Then we moved to a new house and the best place for the buffet was in the front living room.  You know, that room no one ever goes into.  The one that gets passed by on the way to the family (tv) room and the kitchen.

We started unpacking Christmas decorations and the nativity scene automatically went on the buffet. But I still wanted Jesus to be front and center, so I walked around the house looking for a more suitable place for him.  Nothing seemed right.  I didn’t want it where it could get broken.  Some places weren’t big enough.  Some were too high.

“But people will have to go out of their way to see it” I thought. 

Yes, yes they will.

 

There was a lot going on that first Christmas in the little town of Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding regions. The first census had been ordered by Caesar Augustus, and there was a lot of traffic as people made their way to their tribal towns to be counted.  Joseph and Mary traveled 70 miles…70 miles, from Nazareth to Bethlehem, while Mary was very pregnant.

They came into town, dusty and thirsty and exhausted. Maybe the birth pains had already begun. All they wanted was a place to lie down and prepare to give birth to the King of kings.

But there was no place for them. They knocked on doors, but everyone had gotten there ahead of them and every room was filled. Joseph and Mary found refuge where they could, somewhere near the animals, away from the crowd.

No one knew they were there. Not one person in that small but suddenly bustling town knew that just around the corner, in the still of the night, under the stars, was the center of the universe.

Those who heard were the shepherds out in the quiet field, suddenly hearing from a host of angels that the Messiah had been born. They left their lives for a moment, and went out of their way to see the Savior of the world, the One God’s people had been waiting for.

Some time later the magi left their lives for a moment, and went out of their way to follow a star to worship and bring gifts to the King of the Jews.

Christmas is a busy, bustling, noisy time of year. But really, when are our lives not that way? For most of us, not very often.

Our lives are full of busyness and running here and there.  The world is full of chaos and anxiety, and is as short on peace now as it was then.  It always will be.  Funny though, how we can try looking for peace in the world, right in the middle of all that chaos.

But God calls us to come away.

Like the shepherds and the magi, when we come away from the noise, away from the hustle and bustle of the season no matter what season that may be, to worship the King, to see and hear from the Savior of the world, the Savior of our own lives, we will again find a miracle, wrapped in humility and joy and peace.

When we go out of our way to meet with Him and give Him our whole heart’s attention, He will be there, waiting, and we will be ready to receive Him and all He is and has for us.

 

This is God’s Will for You

Posted on by Dorci

 

“…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Thanksgiving week comes and we hear people talking about the things they’re thankful for. Maybe you sit around the Thanksgiving table and tell one another what you’re thankful for. But maybe you’re a little hard-pressed to think of anything to be thankful for this year.

God tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. All is a pretty inclusive word.

Not just the good stuff. But all the stuff. Now, I know that’s a really hard to thing to do sometimes. When you’re missing family members, when your health is bad, when the money is tight.  Sometimes it’s an act of sheer will, of obedience, of faith that God is going to do something in and with those circumstances.

It’s easy to give thanks once that circumstance has passed and we can see the good the Lord has wrought in it.  But we are to give thanks when we’re in the middle of the mess.

When we don’t see what God’s doing.

When we don’t know how long it’ll last.

When we don’t know how we’ll get through it.

But why is this God’s will?

Giving thanks in the storm makes us humble and crushes our pride.  It keeps us from allowing bitterness and resentment to settle in, creating a Grand Canyon-sized gap between us and God.  It keeps those vital communication lines open and that allows for His peace to flow into our hearts.  It keeps us following Him, allowing Him to do the good He desires to do with those circumstances instead of going through them with no fruit at the end.

It’s no coincidence that God tells us “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

Continually placing all circumstances in the Lord’s hands gives us His peace and assurance, and naturally – or more accurately, supernaturally – the thankful heart will come, and we can confidently go through any circumstance with hope and the joy of the Lord. 

Once we’ve walked with the Lord a while, and I don’t just mean knowing who He is, or going to church on Sundays, but really walk with Him, day by day, circumstance by circumstance, conversation to conversation, we’ll see more and more that He is a Father we can trust.  We can rest assured that He is with us no matter how far down in the pit we are, no matter how bleak the circumstances feel.

Remember, Jesus knows what it’s like.

For the One who gave His life for us, we live a life of worship, and all great acts of worship start with the first one – a thankful heart that’s trusting our Father’s goodness and grace to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.  

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. 

Take Heart

Posted on by Dorci

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 

When He comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. John 16:7-11

Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. John 16:23b,24b

The Grace of God

Posted on by Dorci

That night God opened a portal between heaven and earth, and a pathway paved with the grace of God was let down in the form of a tiny, unassuming, vulnerable baby.

While the world slept, a miracle happened.

While the world groaned with sin, an offering was given.

He was the gift, and still is, and forever will be.

May you be filled with the joy and wonder of the Christ Child this Christmas and always.

 

 

 

Side nugget – I like to look up the exact meanings of words when I write, and when the first sentence came to my mind, portal was the first word I thought of. I thought that didn’t sound right, and maybe I’d want to use another word for portal, so I looked it up and here is its meaning: “a door, gate, or entrance, especially one of imposing appearance, as to a palace.”

Oh my friends, portal is the exact right word. God knew. The doorway opens to a Palace, the Palace, the Kingdom of God, the royal dwelling place of the King of kings, the One Who came down to free us from sin’s hold, and then to one day greet those who receive Him at the Portal and welcome us into His home forever.