Tag: Love

How to Find the Joy We Seek

Posted on by Dorci

One of the greatest joys of being a parent is watching your children come through childhood, with all its arguments and competitiveness and jealousies, grow up, forgive each other, and become good friends. 

To see your children making plans to get together, to sit and have a conversation, laughing and enjoying each other’s company, there’s just nothing like it. Seeing the love between them fills a parent with a delightful contentment. 

I imagine this is a tiny fraction of the joy the Lord has when He sees His children maturing and growing in His love and then loving one another, forgiving and accepting one another in the spirit of godly brother and sisterhood. 

The apostle Paul, along with Timothy, wrote to brothers and sisters in Philippi, sounding almost as a father writing to his children:

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
Philippians 2:1-4

There is nothing so easy to fall back into when surrounded by the world than a worldly, fleshly, prideful, egotistical, argumentative attitude. Kind of like children, right? And the very antithesis of love.

But we don’t need to live that way. 

We are filled with the Holy Spirit, the One who makes known to us God’s love.

And daily we have a choice: we can walk in the Spirit, or suffer in the flesh. 

When we walk in the flesh, not only do we rob God the joy of an unbroken abiding relationship with us, made complete by seeing His children love one another, we rob ourselves of the joy and the peace we all so desperately want and need. 

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…”
Galatians 5:22a

Love is the first fruit of walking in the Spirit, and all others depend on it. Love brings joy, and joy brings peace. 

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Galatians 5:16

As we walk in the Spirit, we won’t be held hostage by our fleshly attitudes. Yield ourselves to the life God’s given us, day by day, moment by moment, and the Father’s love will flow through the Spirit to us, and through us to others. 

What an amazing privilege.

To know God’s love, a love far deeper than any the world can ever know, and to allow ourselves to be a conduit of that love for our brothers and sisters, and even for our enemies who so greatly need Him, glorifying and magnifying the Name of Jesus.  

“It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.”
2 John 1:4-6

In His Love,

 

 

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Discernment

Posted on by Dorci

Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and precious name. We’re so thankful for your faithfulness and patience with us even when we are less than faithful. Thank you for holding onto us and never giving up.

Father, we pray today that you would enable us to discern good and evil. We know the enemy schemes against us, and he is able to take your truth and twist and turn it, add in a bit of untruth, and try to make us believe it and follow that belief away from you. 

Father, may it never be that way with us. We pray you would fill us with such a love for you that we would hunger and thirst for righteousness, that we would fervently seek you in your word and in prayer, that we would grow up in our faith, desiring and receiving the teaching of solid food. 

Mature us, Lord, so that we may be discerning and not allow the enemy to trip us up in even the slightest of lies, deceptions, twists of the truth, or anything that would give him a foothold in our lives. Give us discernment to resist him, no matter who he may be using to spread his lies. 

Give us ears attuned to your voice, and the wisdom to discern it from any others. 

May we be strong in you, Lord, and in your mighty power, alert and filled with wisdom, that we would never accept anything but the unadulterated, powerful truth that brings the spiritually dead back to life, that moves mountains, that brings healing, that gives us the abundant life you came to to give us.  

Thank you, Father, for your everlasting love. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 


If you have a prayer request, you can leave a comment here, on Facebook or Twitter, or message or email me, and I would be blessed to pray.  

In Christ’s love,
 

 

Friday Funnies – The Star Spangled Banner, Tim Hawkins Style

Posted on by Dorci

It’s Friday, ya’ll! We made it another week. We lived, we worked, we prayed, we grew, and now it’s time to laugh. 

Tim Hawkins shows his serious side for just a minute in this one. He and his wife struggled through 2020 like the rest of us, but Jesus was there with them, just like He is for all of us.

But, thankfully, he hasn’t lost his sense of humor. 

Happy Friday, everyone, and have a blessed weekend. 

 

The Saturday Song – Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains)

Posted on by Dorci

Happy Saturday, friends. You know, for the most part I feel called to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ, but every once in a while the Lord will put me in the path of an unbeliever, and that’s where I want to be today. 

In the path of those who have no idea what this Jesus thing is all about, and the path of those who once thought they knew, but they’ve been away for a hundred million different reasons. 

I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart that God loves you more than you can ever know. Yes, He does. You might not feel it right now, but sometimes feelings lie. 

You might have been hurt and blame God. I understand.

You might have done something terrible and don’t think He could ever forgive you. I understand. 

You might be afraid to trust Him again. I understand. 

I’ve been there, done all that, bought the t-shirt and worn it until I didn’t think I could wear it anymore.

But the power of the blood of His Son paid for all of it. 

And thirty years down the road I also understand that if you let Him, God will heal your heart; that He not only can forgive you, He is waiting to forgive you; and that no matter what the future holds, He will be right beside you, hurting with you when you hurt, but through it He will give you His peace and strength to forgive, to heal, to grow in grace and love, into very the image of His own beautiful Son. 

And just like the story Jesus told the people who had gathered around him: “while {the prodigal son} 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 15:20) so the Heavenly Father waits for you to take but a step toward Him, asking for forgiveness, and He will run to you with such compassion and all the love you ever wanted, throw His arms around you, and welcome you home. 

Today’s song is dedicated to you.

Father, let the chains fall…

 

 

Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains)
David Crowder

Lift your head weary sinner, the river’s just ahead
Down the path of forgiveness, salvation’s waiting there
You built a mighty fortress 10,000 burdens high
Love is here to lift you up, here to lift you high
 
If you’re lost and wandering
Come stumbling in like a prodigal child
See the walls start crumbling
Let the gates of glory open wide
 
All who’ve strayed and walked away, unspeakable things you’ve done
Fix your eyes on the mountain, let the past be dead and gone
Come all saints and sinners, you can’t outrun God
Whatever you’ve done can’t overcome the power of the blood
 
If you’re lost and wandering
Come stumbling in like a prodigal child
See the walls start crumbling
Let the gates of glory open wide
 
If you’re lost and wrecked again
Come stumbling in like a prodigal child
See the walls start crumbling
Let the gates of glory be open wide
 
Let the chains fall…
Let the chains chains chains chains chains chains…
 
If you’re lost and wandering
Come stumbling in like a prodigal child
See the walls start crumbling
Let the gates of glory open wide
 
If you’re lost and wrecked again
Come stumbling in like a prodigal child
See the walls start crumbling
Let the gates of glory be open wide
Let the gates of glory be open wide
Let the gates of glory be open wide

 

Where Was God?

Posted on by Dorci

That’s the question on a lot of minds on a day like today.

And I understand that question. There are many events in my own life I’ve wondered where God was.

It was a day none of us will forget for so many reasons. The day quickly became dark and tragic, but there were also more acts of heroism that day, of light in the darkness, than we will ever fully know.

Like 24-year-old Welles Crowther who called his mother from the South Tower to let her know he was okay, and then began to lead others to safety, carrying an injured woman on his back down 15 floors and then returning to help more.

And Rick Rescorla who, as a head of security in the South Tower, ignored orders to keep employees at their desks, saving 2700 people.  

And Army Specialist Beau Doboszenski who was working as a tour guide on the other side of the Pentagon. Upon hearing the chaos, he ran to the crash site and spent the next several hours helping co-workers and running into the flames to help bring people out.

These acts of heroism are amazing enough, but looking at their backstories, we can see just a little bit of the hand of God orchestrating the saving of so many lives.

Like the fact that Welles Crowther had been a volunteer firefighter in his teens and was well prepared to confidently lead. Even the fact that somehow that day he had been wearing a red bandana that was able to keep him from breathing in too much smoke as he saved at least 12 people.  His body was found in a stairwell headed back up with the jaws of life.

And like the fact that Rick Rescorla had served in Vietnam, with distinction, and had the wisdom to lead his people to safety. And for years he had the forethought to have the employees practice fire drills. Because of that, more than 2700 people made it down the tower to safety in 16 minutes. Rick Rescorla’s body was never found.

And like the fact that Beau Doboszenski was a former firefighter and a trained EMT.

Too many lives were lost that day. The enemy of all that is good and right and holy was there to cause death and destruction and what he’d love to leave in his evil wake is a doubt and mistrust that God was there or that He even exists.

But God is the one who prepared people years in advance with special training and placed them where they needed to be when they needed to be there.

God is the Giver of strength, courage, wisdom, and perseverance.

God is the one who instills in people His love, the greater love that lays down his life for others.

We’ll never fully understand the whys this side of heaven, about that fateful day, or about tragic days in our own personal lives.

But God knows.

Years later we can catch a small glimpse into the behind-the-scenes stories of that day, shining a light on some of the good, among countless other similar sacrificial stories that took place among the evil and about how God was there in their midst. 

God sees the full picture. And we can trust He was there that day giving strength to heroes just as He’s with us every day, including our worst days, filling us with His strength, courage, and hope.

And someday maybe God will show us all the behind-the-scenes stories of those awful days in our own lives and how He was right there with us in the midst of it all. 

 

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 Cor. 13:12b


Heavenly Father, thank you for never leaving us or forsaking us. Thank you for preparing a home for us and giving us the hope of being with you someday, when you will have struck down evil for the last time, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.  Thank you for the incredible bravery of so many men and women on that day, for giving what we know was even beyond their own strength . We pray for those who lost loved ones that day. We ask that you would be especially near to them today, and that you would comfort them with your peace that passes all understanding. We know that you will prevail, that you’ve already conquered evil at the cross, and we pray for many more souls to come to know Christ as their own Lord and Savior, even today. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.